The Opelousas courier., 1899-08-12

ASs L uA SoAAS w uo ~! Lie LC
peated to himself, trying to persuade
his conscience that he was keeping
faith with his grandfather, because thu
old gentleman had said nothing abou
the dump.
Ben studiously ooeyed theSetter o
his promise, but to its spirit HAswa!
deaf. He'walked out ON the Whit
like dumping platform; he stationSS
himself a few feet from-the edge ant
gazed into the abyfs from which hf
had climbed; he threw rocks as far az
he could, and watched them scatter
the waters of the swollen Coyote
when they struck. Then he began te
Investigate the machinery, and Frank
soon joined him.
The wire rope>was abont the only
piece of mechanism left on the prop.
erty; and W. that had been stripped
Of its buckets. All else was dis.
mantled.
II wonder why it Says so in the
middle" said Frank,
because it's loose" said Ben; and
to prove it he hung with his whole
weight ON the upper rope, which was
at an inviting height.
"Ben!" shouted Frank, "What ii
it should break?"
Even as he spoke, the weight of
Ben's body set the cable in motion,
and the next moment he was SO near
the end Of the platform that he was
afraid to let go.
Then before he could think, almost,
he found himself swung off into space.
Out-out-over the terrible chasm
was slowly carried by the running.
cable, while Frank Stood paralzed with
terror upon the mountain.
Had Ben's grip relaxed for on in.
slant, he must have been hurled
against the bottom of the narrow gorge,
hundreds of feet below; but the boy
was strong Of arms and hands.
When Frank could move, he tiled
frantically to stop the cable; but not
until he found the brake was he able
to check its speed. By the time he
stopped it, Ben was but q few feet
from the other landing.
"Let it rum" he cried, when he saw
Frank at the brake. "Don't stop it!'
Frank did not hear. He was en-
d%eavoring to make the apparatus run
up-hill-trying to draw Ben back oyer
the abyss.
Ben saw his peril. He knew that
he could not hold on much longer.
There was but one thing to do. He
must make the remaining distance
hand W hand. Very carefully and
slowly he proceeded. The broken
ends of wire lacerated his hands, and
in some places but two or three rusted
strands remained to the cable Of its
original strength.
"Ben! o Ben! Are you hurt?"
shouted Frank, when he perceived
that his friends weight no longer bur-
dened the cable. He received no ans
wer.
II am going for help!" Frank cried.
after waiting in vain for some re-
Ben, when he felt the solid earth
again beneath his feet, had swooned
away, When he returned to
consciousness he found himself lying
On a small shelf, blasted into the side
Of the mountain.
Below him on the one side extended
long, steep slope of pulverized rock,
.eading to the three hundred feet to
he river. Above him and across the
stretched che cable which had
been his undoing. What if he should
have to spend the night there!
The hours passed by, and still no
came to his assistance. The sun
lad set behind the mountain while it
vas yet afternoon, the wind blew in
old aud raw from the sea. Ben
paced back and forth to keep warm;
mt the chill struck him to the bone.
Toward the close of the day he de-
ermined to reach the smelter while it
vas yet light; and to that end Piled ]
lis Ratchet with some effect on the
canty woodwork about him that he
DON had q pair of stout, sharp slaves
+ hand, ready for the descent. With
be assistance of these he slowly and
aboriously made his way down the
teep and dangerous slope. (.
The descent was more difficult than !
9 had imagined. Now and then o
would become loosened, and
rash and bound along until it flew
lto splinters at the foot Of tho slope. i
t times the whole mass would threat {
n to give way and engulf him in a {
eneral landslide. When he finally
cached the bottom his clothing was Z
! shreds and his body covered with '
He set about at once to find t
i'm a shelter for the night. ]
The old smelter stood as on the day T
was abandoned. Great batteries OF L
amps lined the path the glittering d
re must take on its way to the reduc- t
g cupolas. Theywere covered inch
eep with stone dust, as of old. In
10 engine house the antiquated en-
mes still waited the signal of the s
orrow that was not to come, to re- 4
their labors. -
Ben wondered if the machines -
new that they were getting old. n
t~eam-engines, like men, require con- Il
ant work to keep them young and i
rong and healthy. Il
Ben could not decide which portion /;
the immense buildings was the 4
dreary: but after he had looked a.
them all he concluded that II
, would rather sleep on the table in 4
Office than on the floor Of the en- h
ne room where bugs and lizards +;
light crawl over him. a
He was brushing off the table when h