Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-11-29
The Silver Siren.
(BY FRANCIS LEEDs.)


bearing this announcement, --latest
Novelty-Silver Sirens"
1t was in direct consequence of the
delusive glamor Of Silver Siren thai
my spirits were, at present, so de-
pressed, that my luck seemed to be q
traitor and my whole destiny thwart
ed. Hence as / read this sign !
paused. Being an engineer by pro
fession, | had gone to Nevada some
months previously, to superintend 9
pumping process in some silver
mines, and while there my interest
in the science OF hydraulics had been
superseded, owing to the babblings
of those sirens Of the West who wills.
pered their alluring deliriums into
my ear. At their behest / laid aside
my professional work and launched
into the vortex OF speculation, with
disastrous results to myself, my fam.
lily and my friends. The briefest men
ton OF the huctuating hope and
annihilating despair of that under.
taking must suffice. My kilograms
to my governor" were daily para
doxes, the buoyant optimism Of one
day defying the predestined pessim-
ism of the next.
Defeated, disguised, heavily in
debt, my father seriously handi-
capped by mortgages and forced
sales on his property, ! had come to
England to see what could be done,
and it was on the morning of my first
meeting with my creditors in the
city, as l was returning from my
club, that l noticed the sign of "sil-
yer sirens" in the shop windows. /
glanced with grim curiosity upon
that confused mass OF burning gems
and FURNISHED gold in the jeweler's
window, and as did so shopman
advanced to the light OF the door at
tending young girl. He held in his
hand a silver whistle which 1 soon
found was the very object of my in
terest. l overheard the man say, with
subservient blandness:
"These are whistles, my lady,
made on the principle of our fog
horn sirens or semaphores. They are
the latest novelty and are much
used by the yachting clubs this sea-
son ut Cowcs."
He placed the thing to his lips and
breathed upon it. Although the
act was quite gently done, a low,
croning noise, which rose and fell
with plaintiff graduation filled the
air with such n penetrative quality
that several people on the sidewalk
paused and glanced into the shop. l
determined under one Of those sudden
impulses which seem, sometimes, to
make of us irresponsible factors in
our own destinies, to buy the bauble,
and few minutes later it was dang
ling from my watch chain. In q
short time, however, under the pres
sure of grave cares, ! had forgotten
all about it.
l soon began to seek some means
of modifying the distressing condition
to which my absence of caution and
reliance on chance had brought me.
Fortunately for me company in
London whose confidence in my ca
pacity as an engineer had not been
shaken by my lack of judgment In the
West engaged me to conduct q large
engineering scheme in some salt
mines in Russia in which much CAPT.
tai had been invested.
/ need not say was glad of. the
chance this offered me. / was glad
also to get away from London, where
/ found subtle condemnation
Of my acts in even the glances of my
friends. l was very sore and sensi-
tive, and when q man who had al
ways been one of my favorite friends
and relatives called out to me from
the pier at Calais, in one OF those at
tempts at pleasantly which so often
contain sting: Il say Francis,
don't 60 and buy salt mine in Rus
siav' / felt that the time had come
for me to cancel such speeches by
some new line Of action.
was confident about my mission.
Several engineers had failed, it is true,
but the many fail, the one succeeds.
These mines could not be worked
owing to the percolation of water
into them. To check this flow of
water and redirect its channel was
my task.
l hurried across the continent, and
had made good time. Haste was inn
perative for winter was closing upon
the heels Of autumn and the deep
SHOWS would delay my progress. All
went well with me as crossed those
lonely versts, over which there seems
ever to dwell brooding melancholy.
My kibitka, or hooded sledge, was
very comfortable. 1t was drawn by
sturdy Finn ponies, which were ex-
changed at the different stations
along the route.
When about two days from the end
Of my journey my yamschik, or
driver, fell seriously i'll. When these
strong and intrepid sons of toll yield
to the influence of disease the on
slaught is usually sudden and vio-
lent, like wind which fells, with
crashing fury, the oak which has
long swayed to the storms rough
lashing. / wrapped the poor fellow
in my rugs and placed him in the
easiest part of the kibitka. AS the
lights OF Woleki twinkled in the dis
lance, while guided the Finn ponies
as dexterously as / could over the
roads, knew from Varikas terrible
delirium and fever that the poor
yamschik was making his last life
struggle.
My Russian vocabulary was put to
the feat ma I nulled the Monies nm Mt