The expected had happened.  During Eves’s harangue, the water had been eating away the pile of soil and rubbish which had been loosened by Mr. Noakes’s exertions. Without warning, the dam against which the man was leaning gave way.  He fell backward; there was a swirl and a flurry, and Mr. Noakes, carried off his feet by the rush of water, was rolled down stream.  His new soft straw hat, which had betrayed him, floated on ahead.