The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-27

"NoaO you 1Cant my second thou1htsf"
balks and cants of sawed lumber in thir
ribbons Of deep pure blue, and some
times it protruded through knothole,
hanging down like solid pouring water.
And hour by hour, day and night,
Kelley Or his brother patrolled the tun-
mel, which was now like leaking ship.
They doubled their redoubled care and
watched the massey framework per.
petually. The roof was treble timbers,
each 10 inches square. They UNDER
pinned it again and set angled struts
in a complex latticework against the
doubled walls. And the flat floor Of the
tunnel became convex.
They saw it, and for a day assured
each other thrt 1t was not go. But at
night they set long straight edge
across the floor and leveied it. 1t touched
the middle, and, mailing both ends to
the side frame, they left 1t.
By the early dawn the middle Of the
straight edge was ~ inches sunk in
mud. The foreman said this was the
end of it. But Kelley sent for more
stuff, and, leveling the floor again. he
set in solid bottom IA inches thick
and beat it down with sledges. Along
the sides be set timbers lengthways,
and on them three more struts against
the roof And he saw the floor was
level.
But the roof was convex, bullying
downward.
"We'vo done all we can" said the
contractors. eff it holds now, we shall
have made nothing And If it doesn't
hold
For in the contract the finished tun.
mel was to stand month before accept
ance.
They went to their tents and played
poker to pass the time. But, though
they were now idle and their men dis
charged, the hill was busy.
The next day cards were WEAKNESS
They paced the groaning hole from
dawn to eve. Men going east or west,
who had heard Of the mud tunnel,
looked in, and the strange noises scared
some of them. On Sunday half the men
from the contractors next above them
came to view it, The end Of the track
was now but five miles away. and some
Of the track layers came too. They
offered bets against its standing. Ross
came down and shook his head as he
rode back.
II give it week." he said
But in less than week Kelley Hol-
dredge came up to him.
"You'll have to make a cut Of it,
after all" he said.
"Can you take on the jobs" asked
Ross.
"We're going over to the lakes, SIR"
answered Holdredge. GIVE had letter
from Andy Onderdonk. 1t was gam
BILE, and the cards were against us. -
They shook hands and parted.
The tunnels chorus was now porten-
tous. 1t shrieked and cried and set a
mans teeth on edge with horrible graf
ing noises. The steps on which the up
rights stood were crushed through; each
standards heavy heel was set in mere
wood fiber, as soft, it seemed, as hank
Of coir yarns. And where the side thrusts
were greatest the short blocks splinter
ed. The ceiling was now downward
hanging arch. The bullying was very OBJ
vious. And by no trick Of forcing the
imagination could the eye behold level
floor Little shakes and splinters rose on
it, as when man bends lath to break
ing. And every hour or 80 came sound
like gunshot when some drier, over
wrought beam gave way utterly.
Though its sound brought seeming ST.
lence in moment more the cries Of the
strained wood were greater and more
terrible
myself. who write this was then at
work for another. contractor two miles
up the pass, and one hot Sunday in An.