The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1896-08-19
NJ.
ruE RuILp1Na or A srA1n.

Good resolutions, backed by whatever
plea of advisability or necessity, are not
always certain to bear fruit after their
kind. When Ringbrand flung himself
down beside the log to wait for the
dawn, he fully intended keeping awake
in order to take advantage of the earliest
light for the beginning of the new en-
deavor. SO ran the alert determination;
buthewho watches may not lie quietly
with closed eyes, and when Ringbrand
sp-erg to his feet out of sound sleep
tie cc.n;ng sas far advanced.
Rcc-oGchiag himself remorsefully
for his wsnt If vigilance, he recalled the
details of the plcE which raS suggested
itself in the night, und wentiInrrcdiote-
" to work. He first ascertaincd half
the length of the log by measuring it,
with the rope, and with the dimension
thus obtained he gaugeG the varying
width of the cavern until he found
point where the walls approached each
other so nearly as te make the interven-
ing space correspond exactly with his
measurement. =,
The next step was to cut the log into
two pieces of equal length, and, drag
ging it out into the better light under,
'theaperture, he narrowly missed throw
ing it down upon another package of
food similar to the one found in the
same spot on the previous morning. 1t
was welcome surprise, and he stopped
work long enough to devour the hard
corn-bread and greasy bacon, thinking
that the dainticst breakfast ever
brought him by the well-trained waiter
in the grill-room of his New York club
had not been eaten with keener relish.
ut must be the woman he solilo-
quized; "it can't be anyone else; and II
these fellows have put their devilish
plot in motion I'll get no more rations
from that source, because they were to
send her away to-day. After all, though,
l don't know as it makes much differ
ence; if another night finds me still in
this hole / shan't care much what be-
comes of me-"
Putting the shadow of despondency
into words had the effect of defining it.,
and he shook it off resolutely. "That'll
never do; there must be no ifs and ands
about it: I've just got to get out OF here
while this daylight lasts"
He swallowed the last mouthful OF
bread and fell to work again, beginning
to cut groove around the middle of the
log by incessant and careful strokes of
the pick. In turning the piece of
timber, he saw where the mountaineer's g
shot had plowed deep furrow in it,
and he knew then that the bruise on his
arm had been made by the glancing and
half-spent bullet. He scarcely needed
the grim reminder, and as he bent patti
emily to his work he thought how quick
ly the school of privation and hardship
begins to impress it's lessons OF indiffer-
ence upon the mind.
There are many things easier of &C
complishment than the cutting in two
of six-inch stick of tough oak with the
dull point of pick as substitute for
an ak; and the muscles of Ringbrand's
back and arms were in painful ulrebellion
and his hands were sore and bllstered
lu.3 before the thing was done. AS q
college man. he had been rather fond al
athletics, and the training of the
university gymnasium, reaching VI
through the everything years of Sc
dentary habit, gave him the power o.
endurance and enabled him to keel
steadily at work in spite Of the protests
Of back and arms and hands; but thi'
did not lessen the acuteness of the pain
nor did it dull the keen agony ofappre
hension that seized upon him as he saw
how slowly the cutting progressed
Notwithstanding his perseverance an'
the feverish energy with which b.
worked, the hands of his watch marke'
the hour of noon when the last remain
ing tibers OF the wood gave way unde
the blows Of the pick, and, stopping
only long enough to get drink of waite
from the pool, he carried the pieces t
the point determined by the measure
ment with the.rope, and began to q
one of them breast-high between th
vertical walls as the first round of hi
ladder.
-4By Jove talk about special prov
dencc-what chance would have
this bit Of timber hadn't tumbled dow