The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1896-06-11

from the pool, he carried the pieces to
the point determined by the measure
ment with the rope, and began to fit
one of them breast-high between the
vertical walls as the first round of his
ladder.
"By Jove! talk about special provi-
dence--what chance would 7 have If
this bit of timber hadn't tnmbled down
here?" 1t was a comfort to think aloud
in the dead silence of the place. Now,
if can wedge this so it will hold me-"
A half-dozen trials went for nothing,
and lie sat down to worry it out in
theory. TITS too long that's what's
the matter with it; but If cut it off it
may be too short for the next place, and
that won't do. Let me see; l wonder if
1 couldn't dig little step for the lower
end.
He was on his feet again in moment,
picking shallow hole in the soft sand
stone. The expedient answered the
purpose, and when the log was adjusted
he tried it, first by Titles and then by
climbing up and jumping upon it. 1t
held, and he forgot his aches and pains
in the exultant joy Of success.
+. "That demonstratesit if can fit one,
can fit the Others And Ill get the
hang of it presently, SO l can work
faster. 1t oughtn't to take more than
six of these to carry me to the top; six,
or possibly seven"-scanning the cleft
above him-''and I've got five hours or
such matter to do it in. AT thatratc
it'll be dark when get back to Lud-
lows: but that won tmatter. An hour
will give me all the time want at Toms,
and we can figure safely up to ten
o'clock" Then the folly Of planning
so far ahead while he was still in n
prison that for two days and a half had
! resisted all his efforts to break it
struck him like the rebuke of task
master, and he. slid down from the log
with mild imprecation pointed at
his own vagaries. That's just like
me- he muttered, "sending my imagin-
alton across the river before the bridge
is even planned. Work is the word, you
speculative IDIOT! Do you hear that ?
Work." M ER
TO his great astonishment, the word
seemed to bring an answer from the
! upper world, and he ran to the other
end of the cavern to listen. The halloo
was repeated. and he answered it with
all the strength Of his lungs; once again
he heard the cry, but this time it was
fainter, and after that the silence was
undisturbed. Alive to the Importance
OF utilizing every moment of time. Ring
brand returned to his work; but the ex-
piring glimmer of the hope raised by
the answering shout left feeling of
/ depression which would have un.
manned him had he known that one of
the searching miners had actually
! looked down into the cavern at the
moment when he was climbing down
from the first step of his predetermined
stair.
Fitting the first round of the ladder
from the solid standing ground offered
by the bottom of the cave was much
easier than the adjustment of the Sec
ond, but Ringbrand had his plans well
thought out now, and he worked care
fully and methodically, saving the pre-
cious moments in every possible way.
Climbing to a seat upon the round al
ready placed, he hoisted the other
piece of wood after him by means OF
the rope; and, balancing upon the pre-
carious footing, he succeeded after
many cautious trials in hewing out a
resting place for the second step in
his stairway. With the fixing of this
round. however, the difficulties immedi.
ately doubled, because the subsequent
steps must be fitted each from the slight
scatfolding afforded by the other. Max.
ing a final trip to the floor of the cavern
Ringbrand tied one end of the rope tc
the pick, and, carrying the other end
with him, he assembled and fastened
1t to the first piece of wood. Then
climbing to the second, he repeated
the former operation, dislodging the
lower round by gentle upward blow:
with the swinging pick and drawing
it up until he could grasp and raise il
to point still higher, in the cavern
The plan was completely successful
but its slow progress consumed the
time remorselessly, and the strain O
! work and anxiety began to tellupon him
4 He fought desperately against the ris
ing fever Of impatience, knowing wei
enough that everything now depended
upon his ability to go on with persist
emit determination and with steady
hands. As he neared the roof of tbs
cavern, where the shadows were deeper
the difficulty of placing the cross-pieces
increased so greatly that he grew fain'
and dizzy with lifting and reaching
and while he was raising the last steI
in the stair to its place between the
walls, he suddenly became blind ant
tremulous, the heavy log slipped from
his hands and went crashing to the bot
tom of the chasm, and a second after
ward he lost his balance and followed
it, catching frantically at the uneven
walls as he slid back to the sandy floor
The sharpest encouragement il
sometimes blessing in disguise. TIL,
shock of the fall and the apparent fail
ure of his carefully laid plan seemed
to inspire Ringbrand with an energy
born of despair. Struggling to hi'
feet, and gathering new courage from