The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-11-04

telephone him. lie can NOT aHOfC
to miss the opportunity OF beholding
this odd spectacle" Impulsive
y Prof Mellins lot his enthusiasm
have full sway; and with the final
'umblng sound echoing in his ears, he
dashed madly down the hill to the
hotel.
His impatience and anxiety caused
him to speak harshly to the hello
girls, and by the time he got San
Francisco his mind was turbulent
Nevertheless telephone facilities in
the Far West eventually bring about
the desired connections, and Prof
Mellins' heart beat rapturously as
he recognized 3r. Endln's voice over
the wire.
"Yes, this is I. Mellns; am at
Steamboat Springs, New. Big earth
quake here last night. Springs went
dry, but cracked other big assures in
rarth's surface. Subterpanean rum
blings plainly audible. Come up at
once; bring Profs. Smith and Landers.
Wonderful, tell you-it's wonderful.
Hurry"
DR.. Endlin. the noted geologist,
| placed deal of confidence in Prof.
Mellins, and as he felt the earth
quake in San Francisco, he thought
the professor certainly had due rea-
son for his graphic phone message.
"All right, Mellins, We'll be up in the
morning"
"Greatest recent phenomenon, doc
tor. guarantee you"
"Thank you, Professor, will be
! glad to investigate it, See you in the
morning. Good-by.'
"Good-by"
! Prof. Mellins paced nervously be-
tween the dry basin Of the late
Queen of the Springs and that fresh
rrevce at the tunnel. He heard with
satisfaction the irregularly repeated
rumbles, denoting unparalleled in
terror disturbances.
Hours will slip by. no matter how
tedious the minutes hang. DR.. End
in, with profs. Smith and Landers and.
couple of newspaper reporters,
alighted the following morning from,
the bright yellow "V. & r." coaches.
Prof. Mellins greeted them with de-
light, his ruddy face beaming as only
mans can who has played the stel-'
lar part in commendable act.
Time was a valuable item to these
scientists. and. directly after a light
lunch, the party sailed forth to in,
vestigate the outbursts of Dame
Nature. Prof. Mellins piloted them
to the gaping hole where the madly
boiling waters were so suddenly and
completely ingulfed. This sstensible
fact duly impressed the learned men,
and they examined everything in q
practiced and professional manner.
But we fail to hear the internal
explosions, Prof. Mellins." {,
"Ah, that you soon will, DR.. Endl;n:
pray. accompany me up this hill, and l
will conduct you to the spot"
Now, various reports had spread
rapidly and over wide field in regard
to this shaking up of the earth at
Steamboat Springs. Accounts varied
from faint rumor describing a
aried.up spring to the disappearance
of the whole Steamboat station. 1t
depended, of course, on the number
of times the tale had been repeated.
Curiosty-got the better of q number,
Of these good people, consequently the
scientists beheld at least a score of
nen and women persistently following
heir wake.
The assures still zigzagged into the
tunnel; hot, vapory clouds hung over.
the crevice; but the activity of the
steam Jets could not be compared
with those of the proceeding day.
Prof Mellins looked slightly crest
fallen. The two prospectors not
having reputation at stake, took
,hee,ier view of things. Besides, they,
were not excruciatingly eager to have
their bonanza tunnel forever filled
with steam and uncnnny noises echo
ing through it. Therefore, after II
few minutes spent in silently and
fruit'essly endeavoring to catch
Bubterranean crash. one of the pros
pectors interceded with; "Well, Doe,
this here phepom kinder goes by fits
md starts, and it pears to be restin'
betwixt fit and start right now;
but just you wait spell"
And they waited spell-nearly half
an hour: long enough to disgust the
simply curious,and several retraced
their steps toward the hotel, letting
fall rather uncomplimentary remarks
about a "pack of fools" Even the
patient DR.. Endin strobe back and
forth somewhat perturbed in think
Ing about his fatiguing trip and the
precious time wasted
Ru, the long-expected really hap
pened. A fierce column of steam
secthed up from the assure. quickly
succeeded by two lesser upheavals;
then rasping groan, drawn out in
ierky notes, each more weird and PEN
etrating than the foregoing 1t
created big sensation rybody
looked at everybody else; the incredu-
lous ones trembled, and the pros
pectot, who uttered the suggestion
"wait SPELL" shouted out, "whatd
l tell you!"
When the last vibrations of the sur
prising din died away, Prof. Mellins
fairly hugged himself for joy. DIR.
Endlin said nothing when pressed for
an opinion. The lesser lights volun-
teered their private theories; those
who had deserted in disgust appeared
upon the scene once more.
An interval Of quietude prevailed
and scarcely a sign Of steam could be
observed at the jagged rent in Mother
Earth. Nevertheless, a dozen men