Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-11-28
LOVE Or MONEY;
OR,
A PERILOUS SECRET.
BY CHARLES READE,
Author of 'sPut Yourself in His Placs."
etc., etc, etc.

turned, to lntermIt again: they exhaust
ed but did not infuriate; but the rage of
thirst became inceSsant and maddening.
Ben Burnley suffered the most from
this, and the wretch came to Hope for
consolation.
said he, ito be burned to deeth WI
drought? Let's flood the mine, and
drink or be drooned."
"HoW can / flood the miner" said
Hope.
you know best, MASTER" said the
man. why, how many tons Of water
did We draw from yOn tank every day"
"We conduct about five tons into a
pit, and we send about five tons up to
the surface daily"
Then how much water will there be
in the tank now?'
Hope looked at his watch and said,
"There was a good deal of water in the
tank when you blew up the mine; there
must be about thirty tons in it now"
well, then" said Burnley, "yOu that
knows everything, help me burst the
wall o. tank; it's thin enOW."
Hope reflected.
eff we let inthe whole body of water"
said he. cit would shatter US to pieces,
and crush us against the wall Of our
prison, and drown us before it ran
away through the 0bStructed passages
into the new workings. Fortunately,
we have no plckaEe, and cannot be
tempted to self-sl@ughter."
This silenced Burnley, for the day,
and he remained sUllenly apart; still the
idea never left his mind. The next day,
toward evening, he asked Hope to light
his own lamp, and come and look at the
wall of the tank.
mot without me-" whispered Grace.
81 see him cast LOOKS of hatred at you"
They went together, and Burnley babe
Hope observe that the water was trick
ling through in places, a drop at time;
it could not penetrate the cOaly veins,
nor the streaks of clay, but it Oozed
through the porous strata, certain strips
Of blackish earth in particular, and it
trickled down, a drop at time. Hope
looked at this feature with anxiety, for
he was man OF science, and knew by
the fate of banked reservoirs, great and
small, the strange explosive power of
little water driven through strata by
great body pressing behind it.
you'll see, it Will burst itSen," said
Burnley eXultantly. "and the sooner the
better for me; for I'll never get alive
out on E mine; VOW bowed me to the
men, and they'll break every bone in
my skin"
Hope did not answer this directly.
There. don't 90 TO meet trouble, my
man" said he. Give me the can. Grace.
Now, Burnley, hold this can, and catch
every drop till it is full"
"Why, it will take hauf day to fill
it," objected Burnley, "and it will be
hauf mud when all is DONE"
iii filter it," said Hope. "You do as
you are bid"
He darted to partof the mine where
he had seen piece of charred timber;
he dragged 1T III with him, and asked
Grace for pOckGt-handkerchief. She
gave him a clean cambria one. He took
his pOcket-knife and soon scraped off q
little heap Of charcoal; and then he
sewed the handkerchief into a bag-for
the handy man always carried needle
and thread.
Slowly, slowly, the muddy water trick
led into the little can, and then, the bag
being placed over the larger can, slowly,
slowly, the muddy water trickled
through Hopes filter, and dropped clear
and drinkabe into the larger can. In
that dead life of theirs, with no Incl
dents but tormentS and terrOrS, the
hours passed swiftly in this experiment.
Hope sat upon a great lump of coal, his
daughter kneeled in front of him, gaz-
ing at him with love, confidence, rev.
erence; and Burnley kneeled in front of
him too, but at greater distance. with
wolfish eyes full of thirst and nothing
else.
At last the little can was two-thirds
full of clear water. Hope took the large
iron spoon which he had found along
with the tea, and gave full spoonful
to his daughter. "My child" said he,
''let it trickle very slowly over your
tongue and down your throat; it is the
throat and the adjacent organs which
suffer most from thirst" He then took
a spoonful himself, not to drink after
an assassin. He then gave a spoonful
to Burnley, with the same instructions,
and rose from his seat and gave the can
to Grace, and said, 'the rest of this pit
tance must not be touched for six hours
at least"
Burnley. instead of complying with
the wise advice given him, tossed the
liquid down his throat with a gesture,
and then dashing down the spoon, said,
"Ill have the rest ont if / die for it"
and made a furious rush at Grace Hope.
She screamed family, and Hope met
him full in that incautious rush, and
felled him like log with single blow.
Burnley lay there with his heels tapping
the ground for little While. then he
got on his hands and knees, and cTaWled
away to the farthest conner of his own
Mace and sat broOding.
That night when Grace retired to rest,
Hope lay down at her feet, with his
hammer in his hand, and when one slept
the other watched. for they feared an
attack Toward the morning of the
next day Grace'S quick senses heard a
mysterious noise in Burnley'S quarter;
she woke her father. Directly he went
to the place, and he found Burnley at
work on his knees tearing away with
his hands and nails at the ruins of the
shaft Apparently fury supplied the
place of strength, for he had raised
quite large heap behind him, and he
had laid bare the feet up to the knees
of dead miner. Hope reported this
in hushed voice to Grace, and said
solemnly, Poor wretch, he's going
mad. / fear"
"Oh no." said Grace, that would be
too horrible What ever should we d0%
Keep him to his own side, that is all, >
said Hope.
But" objected Grace, in dismay, I'll
he is mad, he won't listen, and he vii
come here and attack me-"
IF he does" said Hope, simply, q
must kill him, that's all"
Burnley, however, in point of fact
kept more and more al0of for many
hours: he never lett hiswork till he lait
bare the whole body of that miner. anC
found picAaXe in his dead hand. This
he hid, and reserved it for deadly uses
he was not clear in his mind whether Il
brain Hope with it, and so be revengel
on him for having shut him up in tina
mine. or whether to peck = hole = tn,
tank and destroy all three by q 81
death than thirst or starvation 4 ht
savage had another and more horrible
reason for keening out of SIGHT: mad