Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-12-24

AHo HolseHidh WAS tne engineer.
He was riding slowly, and his face
was turned from me as if he were
inspecting the turbulent stream as he
followed it's coursein reverse toward
the upper canyon. I OWNED. his pur-
pose. Some one-Selter, l think it
was-had commented upon the un-
safety of the timber coffer-dam
which Wykamp had put in to divert
the course of the stream while the
workmen were making the excava-
ton for the foundations of the per-
manent structure; and the engineer
was on his way to see how the
temporary barrier was standing the
pressure of the night flood.
1t was no concern of mine, and but
for the fact that in the act of rising
I heard the house door open 1 should
have gone in to put idle speculation
to bed. But it did not seem worth
while to arouse curiosity touching
my late vigil and Icrouched still lower
in the shadow ofmycottonwood when
a man crept out at the slowly opened
door and went off at shutting run
across the nearest field. 1t was
Setter, and I wondered if he had been
sharing my vigil, and to what end.
He came out into the road at the
point where the ditch crossed it, still
running; and when he held on up the
dry bed of the ditch instead of keep
ing to the road, understood his OBJ
ject. By following the line of the
ditch and crossing the canyon on it's
flume above Macpherson's placer, q
man on foot might reach the dam
workings in the upper canyon in adj
vance of horseman on the trail.
Again I said 1t was no concern of
mine; and if Setter had carried his
rife-as he did not-he should have
gone unfollowed by me. Once more
my hand was on the gate-latch, and
once more the warning wind brought
the click of horseshoes on the hard
surface of the road. Looking east
ward I could make out the figure of
a horseman rising and falling in a
rapid gallop up the gentle ascent
from the schoolhouse. Some vague
premonition drove me to the shadow
Of my tree again, and l saw the
horseman as he cantered past; saw
his face and caught a glimpse of the
short repeating rifle of the cowboys
unslung and lying across the saddle.
1t was Macpherson; and Mans long
absence was explained as clearly as
need be. It was to the young stock
man that she had carried the proof
of Wykamp's villainy, though to what
end no man might guess. But the re-
suit was before me. Macpherson had
forgotten his promise to Winifred;
forgotten that vengeance belongs to
God and not to man; and was on his
way to call the engineer to his ac-
counting.
was in no doubt as to the out
come. I knew Macpherson well
enough to be sure that he would give
his antagonist fair chance to de-
fend his life-and no more. AS I
have said, 1 saw his face as he rode
past me. There was no passion in
the fixed stare of the eyes or in the
out-thrust jaw. 1t was rather the
cold and unflinching determination of
mild-mannered man goaded past
endurance, and it was terrible to be-
hold.
At the moment was sure of moth
ing but that the tragedy must be
prevented at any cost, and I set out
to run after him as fast as sick
man might. With presence of mind
y,rbin
forsook the road at the point where
Setter had left it, running up the
dry bed of the ditch which traversed
the small inner valley beyond the
"hogback" on higher level than
that followed by the rough wagon
road. AS it CHANGED, the choice of
the ditch saved my life, though when
l had wallowed painting quarter of
a mile in the dry sand of the chan
mel l was fain to curse the impulse
which had made me forsalse the trail
A hundred yards below the dam
workings my ditch crossed the trail
below and the stream by box-fume
bridge: crazy structure on spind-
ling stills that weaved and racked
under me as / ran. i did not dare to
look down or aside until l had won
across; and then ] saw that l was
too late, and that I was on the
wrong side of the stream, The
| wooden coffer-dam was built out
from the other side of the canyon;
and the engineer, leaving his horse
where / had once left mine, had
climbed to the top of the timbering
to look down into the seething food
hammering at its upper side and
sweeping foam-fecked past it's outer
extremity. And on the trail below,
with his horse neighboring playful
ly with Wykamp's, was Macpherson,
waiting quietly until the engineer
should finish his inspection and come
| down.
My end of the fume was in the
shadow of the canyon wall, and
knew that neither of them could see
me, but l stood up and waved my
arms and shouted to them, MY
tongue claye to my teeth, and
whether my cries were louder than
whispers, l know not. 1t mattered
little; the thunder of the torrent
was deafening. and no warning shout
of mine could dominate it. With
shaking knees climbed a little
higher en- the canyon wall to lay hold
OF gnarled tree growing from a
cleft in the rock. When I looked
again, the engineer had turned to
creep back over the clubhouse tim
bering of the coffer-dam, In the bal