The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-04-02

GuuhllY UdTu nv, lnOuEn HtlbutI
thought for moment that the other
had been impressed by the pretty and
engaging young teacher Before fhe
mutual discovery occurred, moreover,
both had become still more deeply en-
tangled, and when at last the truth
came to light, dismay fell upon each,
as they looked at each other. Treloar
was the first to recover from the shock
His face was white and his mouth
drawn and set, as he slowly said:
Jim, lad, do'st zee care for her great
Iy?"
Jim, with panied eyes and trembling
lips, made answer:
Jack! She's just all there is to me-
Then silence fell again, and the two
brooded, shielding their faces with
their hands, no longer looking at each
other
Treloar's voice, low and yet strained,
at last almost whispered:
"Lad-Jim--count me out of the run.
ningr Then a pause, and evidently
with difficulty: stand thou up to the
rack, boy! I'll do all l can for thee!"
There was no more talk on the sub
ject. Pennart accepted the sacrifice,
after his manner, perhaps cheapening
it, for the quieting of his conscience,
with the assumption that his friend
really did not care much for the girl.
Treloar did not appear to feel the re-
nunciation deeply, though he knew in
his heart of hearts that he had missed
the best life could hold for him, and
through even his modesty could hardly
have failed to realize that Alice looked
upon him with special kindliness. But
he kept his word Loyalty as ever, and
when he found that by continuing to
visit Alice, though with single
minded purpose to advance the wooing
of his friend, he was only complicating
matters by developing the girls liking
for himself, he determined to keep
away, and thenceforth did so. Still
Jim Pennart'S suit did not prosper
Alice Minton was no coquette, but a
very candid and ingenious girl She
did not dislike jim, and she did not re-
alize that her feeling toward Treloar
was more than one of strong friendli-
ness. 1t was only as his absence became
more marked that she caught herself
pondering upon its possible cause, to
an extent that surprised her when she
reflected upon it. Still the full truth
| remained unsupported by her, and as
Fennart's visits became more frequent
sense of habitude commended him to
her and she was in fair way to be
prepared for his offer of marriage,
when something occurred which
changed the situation, tragically and
definitely.
All the workings on the Comstock
| lode are lined and rooted with heavy
framed timbers, from foot to eighteen
inches square. Even these large beams
have often proved unequal TO the tre-
mendous strain upon them; and when
they do not give way it is found neces-
sary to replace them at intervals, their
fiber being destroyed by the pressure.
! The great heat of the lower workings
also dries these timbers, so that they
become dangerously inflammable; and
when, as sometimes has happened, the
rock itself is at very high tempera-
ture, mere contact with it may set the
! wood on fire.
| How the great fire in the Yellow
Jacket mine started will never be
| known, for those who were alone
likelv to know the truth perished in
/ that disaster. The foulest rumors were
afterward spread abroad to injure the
superintendent of the mine, notwith-
standing that he had riSked his life in
| trying to rescue the imprisoned men.
1t was the night before this disaster
that John Treloar dreamed a dream
He thought he was down in the mine
on the welve-hLndred-foot level, and
that some serious accident - but he
could not make out what-had hap
pened. Whatever its nature, he found
himself with his mate, Jim, struggling
to reach the shaft; and as they labored
through the passage there was the
sound of heavy fall. and 10! the way
was blocked before them by the col.
lapse of the roof. And he dreamed
that he and Jim set to work to dig
themselves out, but that his own
strength failed under the heat and foul
air, and that Pennart had to drag him
through t9e opening they had made.
Toward tl>e end, the dream became
less distir, It, and the last he remem-
bered was /. slowly broadening CLEAN
of light, WI ich, he thought, represent.
ed their approach to the shaft
Then he ,Holle, and at breakfast he
told his DIRE am; and his comrades did
not like it 81 all, but shook their heads
and one or iwo of them determined
then and tk&re that they would ''lay
off" that day and not venture to &c
down the Ye.Io Jacket.
Now, the Itrangest part of this
strange story - that on this same night
Alice Minton dreamed about the coun
terpart of JohH Treloar's dream-bu
with difference which can hardly bt
regarded as foItIitous She, too, founC
herself in the n:ne, and looking on in
a great agitation. At first she saw
only a crowd of e2Gi,Gd miners, shout
ing and running this way and that
Then she seemed to float away from
the crowd, and into o comparatively
silent working, he2e two men were
frantically digging az /. heap of rocl
and earth that filed the passage il
front of them. She LOOKED and recog
nized the two friends, but she coulC
not speak or make herAelf known tC
them. Presently a narrow opening
was made between the ruli and the
top of the fallen mass, ard then the
men seemed to be talking, but she
could not hear what was sai2. After
a pause, one of the men sank bach
upon the ground, and the other slim bee
the obstruction and made his way
through the opening. AT this moment