The Lamar register., 1901-08-14
CHAPTER I1.-lcontinued.l

<4ng loaded the bucket he labored Slow
~ up the vertical climb on the LADDER.
XII The Indian glided nearer to the edge.
he could hear every step on the rungs
of the ladder, could ever detect the
aGound of the roughened hands grasp
+, Ing the wood. Leaning far over, he
3Daw the candle, fastened on the miners
Mat Nearer, nearer 1t slowly came,
Aickering. throwing goblin shadows
( Against the somber walls, contending
4aintly against the encompassing
2 Sloom. .
N4 The shaft was now alive with hollow
! ochoes of the labors of the man. On
came the light. 1t was 10 feet AWAY
81 was five feet-two. The head and
the light emerged above the yawning
{ chasm.
~ With movement swift, strong,
onake-like, Mingo thrust out his pow
erful hand. 1t came across the min
Ner's eyes and nose; then the head was
5wrenched quickly, violently backward.
The hands, surprised. tried to cling,
b ailed. They loosened. waved wild
1y, clutched at the air. and then, with
the body and head, were overtoppled.
Headlong. twisting turning. the man
WAS hurled to the swallowing abyss.
The light on the hat gave forth the
sound of flame in the wind and was
off by the rushing dark
1ness! A shrek issued forth from the
mouth of the tomb.
"Susie! little Susie!" was the cry.
y Sounds of a striking-a bounding
back and forth. DULY. against the
Jagged sides-a crash at the bottom
and silence deeper than stiffness en-
sued.
The door swung open and Mingo. the
Washoe. glided forth and away in the
twilight, into the sage brush; and
rabbit would have made greater
rustic.
The stiffness of midnight, seeming
tattribute of masses of shadows that
fcrouched from the waning moon, be-
hind the rocks. the brush and every
salient thing, was timidly broken. The
creak in the hinges of the mine cabin
door sounded weirdly clear-a wall.
an omen, thought the Indian girl. An
awesome darkness filled the silent
shed. Susie, on her knees. went creep
ing, feeling with her hands for the
edge of the shaft. There she clutched
the windlass post. and leaned her
breast against it.
Frank" she cooed. in low, sweet
tone that wavered with the effort made
to keep 1t cheerful, Frank, my sun
shine-Frank."
sound save that a piece OF rock.
somewhere down along the pick
SCARED walls of the shaft; loosencd and
fell, down and down. striking the sides
with diminishing sounds. till shostly
echo announced its bottom rest. Then
deeper silence.
Dear one. are you there?" she called
again; but the sound of her voice. re-
bounding on herself, made her fright
ened and awed.
Pressing her heart against the post
again, to still its audible humping. she
sat a moment in dread. Suddenly,
then, strengthened by the thought that
he might be there, wounded. perhaps,
and needing her sadly. down in the
gloom Of the yawning mine. she
groped her way to the ladder. Moan
ing of instinct there in the darkness,
she slowly descended, down and down
in the mocking, echoing tomb.
In the utter blackness her hands
discovered his face. and she CRIED
aloud, till the shaft was full OF an
guish.
A boneless mass. inert and fitted to
the Jagged surface Of the loaded buck
ct of ore, into which he had fallen, she
found. His head hung Imply athwart
the buckets edge; the eyes. which her
fingers sought, were closed.
Beside him. kneeling, she sank, to
moan and Groom. combing the dark,
curling hair with her fingers, kissing
the face-and seeing nothing. She
fancied that beat, slight and feeble,
livA in his breast. Calling his name,
she coaxed and wooed. and then, de-
spairing. stood up and prayed for
help.
God, If the Indians. too, have souls,"l
she said. "give my aching soul to him
let him live! Give me something,
Great Eternal Spirit-something of
hope!"
With an esoteric summoning of a
marvellous strength, she lifted the
dropping form; the arms and head fell
listlessly across her shoulders. Then
to the ladder! And with all the pow
er of arms and limbs, thewed by des-
peration against the giant task, she
started toiling up and up, like one who
shoulders up crushing weight, to
gain the air and freedom. Her palms
were burning, her knees shook and
trembled, her breath came in gasping
lung clutches painful to bear; the
darkness swan thickly about-she was
sitting. smothered, congested with
blood, yet she forced her way aloft.
Across the floor of the cabin at last