The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-02-11

out to the younger man such measure
of chastisement as he thought the case
demanded, paying for his satisfaction
: few days later with a broken arm,
shattered by the bullet of an ambushed
enemy. This incident was conducive
! to another interval of peace, for two
reasons-it taught the colonel that un-
| less he were willing to adopt the un-
scrupulous tactics of his antagonists he
,, was likely 10 lose his life in an unequal
contest; and the Bynums were re-
strained from further immediate ag-
gressions by fear of some such conse-
quences as had overtaken their father.
Col. Latimer was quite as popular in
his way as had been the squire; and
there had been ominous threats of an
other outburst of public indignation
after the breaking of the colonel's arm
threats which were loud enough to
cause the elder Bynum to disappear for
u time, rumor said in Texas.
The fire of cnmity, however, was
never suffered to die. There were fit
ful bursts of flame from time to time,
and fresh fuel was added when the
sleepy village of Tregarthen awoke one
morning to find itself the headquarters
of the Tregarthen Coal & Iron COM
pany. All of the coal and iron land on
the mountain belonged originally to
the Latimer estate, but the Bynums had
disputed with the colonel the owner
ship to one of the coal veins which
cropped out near the boundary of Nc
Nabb's cove. They were defeated in the
litigation that followed. and the old
feud lost none of its rancor by the de-
cision of the courts. When it's right to
the McNabb vein had been established
the company had cndeavored to open it,
but the overhanging stratum of sand
stone proved to be singularly intracta-
Able, and the further development Of
the vein was postponed pntil such time
as the depth Of the other workings
would make it less costly to timber the
Nc Nabb tunnel. Opinions varied as
to the cause of the difficulty in the
McNabb. Expert mining engineers
had declared that the sandstone form
ing the roof of the tunnel was as
tenacious as that everything the other
veins, and that there WAS no apparent
reason why it should require timber
ing; but the indubitable fact remained.
While the work of development was in
progress, the miners frequently found
the labor of week undone in a single
night by caving of the roof which
filed the tunnel with broken rock.
Ludlow had its own theory about these
mysterious accidents. but he kept it to
himself. 1t was suggested by the smell
of black powder which he detected
one morning when he was examining
the debris that had fallen during the
previous night. 1t struck him as be-
ing curious, because he knew that the
miners were using dynamite; and it led
to series of casual inquiries among
the dwellers in Harmony Valley near
est to the entrance to McNabb's Cove.
The replies were not ntirely convinc-
ing, because the nocturnal noises heard
by the valley folk might have been
nothing mere than the concussion of
the falling rock; but Ludlow heard
enough to make him believe that when
it became necessary to take coal from
the McNabb vein night=guard at the
tunnel would possibly avert disaster
more efficiently than the most elaborate
system of timbering.
1t was during the progress of the
lawsuit that JEFF Bynum returned to
the farm in MpNabb's Ceye; and the
rumor which had pointed to Texas as
the objective of his migration was con-
firmed by his own story of his wander
ipgs. Not eontented, however, with
this tribute TO its yeracity, gossip again
busted itself with bis affairs, and there
were vague hints of lawless sojourp
in the Lone Star state, coupled with
still more indefinite intimation that his