Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-09-08
AN AWFUL SUSPENSE.
THE ADVENTURE THREE MINERS
HAD IN A PROSPECT HOLE.


Bound Barrel FeIl-simpson Had Sighed
for Death but He Found 1t Too Near
Big Sandy Thompson and Simpson, his
partner, had finished filling the ore bucket
with goodly load of the tough, worthless
rock In which they had been burrowing for
months, and leaning on their shovels
watched 1t go swinging slowly up toward
the little by patch Of daylight that
showed the entrance to the shaft, 1877 feet
above them
Down the deep hole came mufTled screech-
ings from the rope as it wound upon the
drum and the creaking of the i'll adjusted
within" and they could hear Ike Wisdom 3
vicious objurgations as he urged their sui
len little beast round and round in the
dusty circle In which he had plodded, pull
Ing up the bucket, until he had grown one
sided.
Simpson was dumpish and morose He
scraped ENORMOUSLY In the rock dust with
his shovel and roundly brrated tie luck that
had sent him to Colorado TO dig in hole
for nothing He cursed Colorado and he
cursed Park county; he cursed the bacon
on which he subsisted until, rs lie patheti
cally said, he was ashamed TO look a hog
old Sandy Thompson, who sat idly pound
Ing away a nice round hole he was finish
Ing up with artistic care for the reception
OF dynamite stick.
Old Sandy grinned quizzcaly at Simp
son through his bushy red whiskers and
pulled silently at the malodorous black
pipe,whlch was the Joy of his life. Hey was
used to Simpsons discontinued mutterings
ha oil ,,II .;
old Scot no more than the buzzing of fly
IKE's cARELEssNEss.
Ike, at the top of the shaft, when the
bucket came up, kicked the board under it.
The lopsided beast turned in his tracks
and let the load swing down, and Ike
tugged it out on the dump and emptied it
with much painting and eifusion of sweat.
Then he dragged the ponderous tub back
slowly. Empty, 1t was pretty good load
for man, being built Of thick, oil soaked
slaves, hooped almost solidly from bottom
TO top with heavy irons, and thickly in
crusted with hard, heavy clay and bits of
rock driven into every crevice by long use
Ike prided himself much on the dexterity
with which he handled this big bucket by
Its great wrought iron bail He swung it
jauntily over the mouth of the shaft, and
as he had done "A thousand times before
with graceful success, kicked the board
from under 1t MS he swung the rope around
TO hook 1t in its accustomed place.
But the hook changing against the bail
failed to catch The great bucket disap
peared like shadow into the shafts dark
mouth.
Ike lunged wildly forward to catch it,
lost bis foothold and he, too, went into the
shaft.
Down ut the cool bottom of the hole
Simpson was still ut his dismal cursngs.
II wish" said he petulantly, 81 had
never seen this cussed hole. wish was
dead. I--good God, Sandy, the buckets
loosep
THE FALLING BUCKET.
Sandy's burly frame flew up like an aero
bats. In the twinkling of an eye he was
pressed into the corner of the shaft, clutch
Ing back so hard against the rocky walls
that the tips of his tanned fingers whit
ened.
Simpson had dropped his pick, and he.
too, was pressing the rocks, holding back
his breath, flatteninR his outstretched
hands against the resistless walls
And still the open space In the center of
the shafts bottom seemed scarcely big
enough to drop a hat in.
Simpson tried to close his eyes, but tried
In vain. They were fixed beyond the power
Of his will upon the falling bucket. He
copld see 1t dropping, lunging from side to
side of the narrow hole. He saw it tear
clouds of dust from the clay hardpan, saw
II reach aud strike the deeper layers of por-
phyry.
It bounded from side to side of the hole;
striking now and again on n jutting frag-
ment and tearing 1t loose 1t ratified and
shattered against the hard rock. 1t seemed
TO come so slowly-far more slowly than 1t
nsed to when the rope had let 1t down.
To Simpson years, centuries seemed to
pass rs the bucket changed and ratified
against the sides of the shaft. He thought
with the all vivid rapidity of men thus
facing impending death. He saw his old
home In the Missouri bottom lands, his
mothers face and the face of the maiden
who waited his return.
And he saw the blood dabbed face of the
man he had stabbed over the faro table
down in Tuscon. He wished now that he
had never quarrelcd with that man.
THE SUSPENSE ENDED.
II was an actual relief to see that the
bucket was coming faster now; wherever
its iron bound sides touched the porphyry
they ground Streams of sparks that gilt
tered wickedly in the half darkness. Its
ratings and clangings had merged into
continuous rolling ear stunning roar. He
made his eyes close at last.
There came crash terrific and resound-
ing, and Simpson found himself standing
stiffiy against the rock wall, laughing fee
bly, like a hysterical schoolgirl and stu
pidly lingering mt long rent in his flannel
under which he was beginning to feel the
smart of an equally long red furrow
scratched across his breast.
Across the tangle of twisted and bent
hoops and splintered, riven slaves that filled
up the bottom of the shaft he saw old
Sandy also standing sturdily up. Sandy
was gazing up the shaft, his red whiskers
bristling with rage. Simpson followed his
gaze. Ho saw hanging by his wrenched
arms from the fifth round OF the ladder
that run down the shaft, Ike Wisdom,
twisting about to look down upon them
with scared white face. He had caught Mt
random upon the ladder as he tumbled into
the shaft.
Sandy shook his fist Mt the clingins man
vehemently Now, we think ye're domned
smart" he roared.
And they had to lay off three days while
they went down the trail to Fairplay and
lugged back the half of n coal oil barrel
wherewith they fashioned n new ore bucket.
All the odd moments of these three days
were spentin impressing upon Ike Wisdom
the positive necessity OF hooking the rope
TO the new bucket before he kicked away
the board.-Kansas City Times
The Ears Made Useful.
The Anchorite islander Sits his ears,