Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-05-14

ply, lie nau taken rev steps NEei
he felt hand upon his shoulder ant
Denzil Graham joined him. The two
boys walked on in silence side by
side for a short distance, then Denzil
said earnestly:
Look here, Caleb, you don't mean
what you said about going away to-
morrow9"
"Yes, answered Caleb. You see
/ didn't know they hated me OF
wouldn't have staid so long
"They don't hate you, said Denzil.
. Its just their talk They don t
know you as do, that's all"
you spoke up for me like brick,
Denzil, and Caleb's coarse, honest
face lighted up with an affectionate
smile; II thank you, but l must 60" "
Il will come to your room this
afternoon. said Denzil. I'm going
back to the others now, but | think
shall have something to say to you
then that will alter your feelings.
The two boys shook hands warm
| ly; Denzil returned to the party on
the lawn, while Caleb went to the
carriage house whore his bicycle was,
and mounting it rode away at great
speed.
Denzil Graham had invited q num-
Der of boy and girl friends to spend
a part of the vacation at his fathers
place, the Mill Farm, situated in a
beautiful little valley among the La
comic mountains. Among others he
had asked his classmate, Caleb Or
ton, to come Poor Caleb had few
friends, but Denzil had learned to
know what sterling good fellow
there was hidden under the boys un-
| couth exterior and he believed that
the rest of the party would soon
come to like him as warmly as he
himself did. But the result had been
quite contrary to Denzil's eXpecta-
tons, and Caleb's. first week at Mill
Farm had been one of the unhappiest
of his life.
For few moments as Caleb rode
along the silent country road his re.
Elections were very sorrowfJll; then
gradually he forgot his own troubles
in discovery which he believed he
had made day or two before. The
Mill Farm had received its name
from the saw mill which stood some
distance from the house, on the bank
of the brook which ran through the
midst of the valley. Half a mile
above the dwelling a heavy stone
dam had been built across the stream,
making pond of some acres in ex-
tent, which supplied power to the
mill. Riding about the country alone
on his bicycle, Caleb had found this
dam and had visited it frequently.
There had been a heavy rainstorm
at the beginning of the week and the /.
water III the pond had risen to the
very brink of the dam. The struc- |
ture was old, and the pressure of the /
water had started a number of seams |
in the masonry. This was Caleb's |
He had spoken of this to Mr..
who had laughed at his
fears, saying that the old dam had .
lasted fifty years and would last an
other fifty. But Caleb had not been
satisfied. He had made a journey to
the pond every day and had seen
that the cracks in the wall We're sure
ly growing wider, while the escaping
water was increasing in quantity. On
the previous afternoon he had found
a new crack i'll the stonework, near
the middle, from which a small tor
rent was rushing. Though MIR.
Graham certainly out to know best,
Caleb felt uneasy about it. He was
sure there must be danger of the old
wall crumbling away.
When he reached the pond, and
leaving his bicycle in the road
climbed down to the foot of the dam,
he was startled first by loud roar
ing sound and then by the sight of
mass of brown water pouring through
a large gap in the wall which had
not been there on the day before.
Wide cracks scanned the masonry in
every direction, AS he rested his
hand against the stones he felt them
as under a succession of
heavy blows.
While he stood there aghast there
came loud report and another crack
opened in the wall from top to bot
tom. Almost at the same moment
huge block of masonry fell out fol-
lowed by q tremendous rush of wa
ter. Every instant smaller pieces
orumbled down and new jets of wa
ter burst forth. The dam was going!
Poor, slow Caleb stood clutching a
sapling, wondering what he ought to
10. He knew that the Mill Farm
dwelling was in the very center of
the narrow valley and if this great
mass of water We're to rush down
upon it suddenly it must surely be
swept away with all in or near it.
In the midst of his doubt and ter
ror another section of the wall gave
way, and driven by blind impulse
Caleb climbed the bank, mounted his
bicycle and raced down the road like
.he wind. Behind him he could hear
lhe deepening roar of the water, and
Is he turned into the gate at Mill
Farm, shaking with fatigue and
alarm, there came a dull, heavy
Doom that seemed To shake the pond.
The dam had given way!
A number of the boys and girls
we're sitting upon the porch. He did ,
lot pause to see who they were, but I