Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1883-08-31

il not very light there. aud tho air Il
Close and heavy. Some ug The younger
men are complaining q lhe heat 10 no
gentle loneA.
"l'hats 40 good says Gaskell %
one man, "leave ofG roar swearing and
gn 20 work, Il ala't a.golng 10 be no
cooler for all your eusslng, y
An you're right lApra, Master Gas
kell. comments q hrawny iflshmAn
near; "itsnot swearln lhai'll coo the
air for Mike, and It's like 10 make Il a
dale hotter for hun b the next worruld.
OF else Father Casey'sa liar
There Il q laugh al this, aud Mikes
grumblings aad curses are siloneed for
tlnio
vlts time Mahailey WAS back, y Gas.
kell Is beginning, when a handful Of
sand and gravel falls close 10 him.
Mind what you're about up there, !"
| he calls. hut as he looks up be scos
1 there isno one near the edge, and just
then larger handful Of earth falls on
The other side u him, lleturps 10 see
I from whence Il has fallen, aud all tho
color In bis check leaves II instantly.
for all along on the western wall Of the
cutting, where he had declared boards
should be placed. pebbles are falling
and the loose sand Is sliding down.
Gaskell well knows what all this
means. Hs
Make for the ladders, men,N he calls.
"And quick, too. he adds. hurriedly.
Some Of the men have already pushed
their work beyond him, and these are
between him and the nearest ladder.
Almost as soon as Gaskell, they per-
ceve the danger, and, dropping their
tools, they hurry toward the ladder,
hustling aud beating each other in their
mad haste. These will save them
selves, Caskell thinks; but what of the
othersP K0 frFNF
"flurrg menl hurryr' no calls sharp
", and swiftly the men, their faces
blanched with fear, fly past him.
And now the sand is sliding down
rapidly, and the cutting Is shallower by
a foot or more in the half minute since
Gaskell gave the alarm, and still the
men are running past and are crowding
about the foot OF the ladder nearest, too
much crazed by terror TO hasten to the
ladders beyond, where they might be
safe. From where he stands Gaskell
looks at the throng.
Pretty poor chance for me, he
says to himself; and Just then the sand
stops sliding, and for moment the rat
Ting Of pebbles stops. *fsNf
"a false alarm, may be-" Gaskell |
SAYS, half aloud @ 1885
The men are nearly all up the ladder
BY this time, and GaskelI himself is
moving toward it az The last laborer
comes near him. He is an old man,
too old for such work, Gaskell has often
said, and he did not mean TO have him
employed below the surface
:" / didn't know YOU were here, Jim,n |
he says to the elder man. "Johnson
should have kept you up there with
him. But you must be mighty quick
now to get out of this. y
The other scarcely lreds what Gas
kel is saying, but pushes on as fast as his
rheumatic legs will let him, and Gas
kell follows. When they have gone a
few feet further the sand once more be-
gins sliding and she pebbles fall more
rap dly. Frank gives groan as he
perceiyes this.
Hurry, Jim,n1 he calls; YOU are
Older than \ 50 yosl must go up the lad
der first.n #&N
As they hasten onward over the Yield
ing sand now covering the bottom Of
the dark path an abandoned tool, which
the uncertain feet OF the old man have
strangely missed, is stumbled upon by |
Gaskell, who falls heavily Fh
/" Hurry, Jim" he calls once more, as
he rises, bruised, and with difficulty;
you'll get there safe.n
II is but q few moments since the
alarm was given. but now the sand is
falling all about him, and as Frank ad-
vances q few PAGES from where he fell,
part of the western wall comes down
upon him in one swift, terrible rush.
Round about him rises the soft yellow
sand. 10 his knees, 10 his waist, then
higher to his neck, and the rush is
STAYED.
As jim painfully tolls up the ladder
and reaches the surface. 4 dozen voices
,all to him:
sgaWllere'ss1ffs Gkskelfpp Il
ta Down theroh' answers lin noint-
no in i bewiIdered way to the iii from J
which he has escaped.
AT this the Others hasten 10 tbe ea,,e
ust as tae western wall falls, but a FEW
eet to the north Of them.
ats all up with moor Mr. Caskeln y J
ay several yoices ~. 9F N'ss 4
Mo. itlsn,t.I can see him. i some ft
me saws who 4 peerjnc cantionslv ovsr !
EST the treacherous earth shonl3 civa 4
yay NJ that noint also and then ibav :
lear Frank ]. clear Yoice.- e
sssfs ~ htre hots So,a.v IN ,,iva va,,,t i
mother iob butI oness yon,u 7bayss ~ 4
Iig me ant az iris. fefa,,,t gef f III alo,a
-ou know z
aIndadc. Muster Gashen wan Y
surrnk Il oct vez out a. lonr a. ro "g
Il arruiis , sxclafr tho men in or orost =
eIsf al hearing his voice again. =
Buf how 10 do This n mai easv N teIl II
he sand has stopned falling Int even y !,
footsteb an the b{nk raar mar, oa,,sa y
to fall. The eastern wall. however =