The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-08-07
WITHIN An ACE or DEATH.
IFrom the Penny AIagazine.l


IFrom the Penny Nfagazine.I
The water main has burstl Frantic
men rush hither andd thither. Ruin,
destruction. perhaps death, stare them
in the face.
How can the water be arrested2
Only by closing the slices at the bot
tom of the reservoir. A huge. bricked
tube, like a sewer, leads down to the
machinery that controls the sluices-
The descent to the bottom is gradual
and at the bottom itself a perpendicu-
lar shaft leads up to the top of the
reservoir.
Who win go along and operate the
machinery?
The chief mining engineer steps for
ward. He is John Sulman- He seizes
a lantern and a rope and prepares to
do his duty. The safety of the mine,
the lives Of his fellow workmen, rest
in the balance.
Down the steep and Shiny passage he
cautiously creeps. Everything is dark,
noisome and foul. He slips and Stun
bles along, hoping against hope that
the water, which has already burst the
pipes, will not overflow into the shaft.
He reaches the bottom and rests his
lantern on a ledge. Before him he sees
the WindlaSs of the great sluice- Like
a Trojan he labors at his task. The
sweat pours from him in streams, and
his breath comes in gasps- The work
is heavy, but ne falters not, and a sigh
of qualification escapes him when the
windlass will turn no more and he
realizes that the sluices are closed and
the encrOaching waters damned back.
With a cheerful heart he picks up his
lantern and prepares to retrace his
footsteps when suddenly his face
blanches, his legs tremble beneath him.
even as the splash of water sounds in
his ears.
What has happened? He raises his lam
tern and gazes around. Water is falline
The reservoir itself has burst. and al
though the distributing pipes are closed.
shaft and all his efforts will be in vain.
He must hurry to the entrance, close the
hurries up the incline at his topmost pace.
Assistance must be secured to barricade
the water may prove the stronger
He reaches the. exit of the shaft. The
They are closedi
He staggers back in horror. Well he
realizes what has happened. The work
men, while he has been laboriously clos
ing the sluices, have discovered the burst
rush Of water viii be- tremendous. haVe
given up Sulman as lost. closed the gates
Horror stricken he stands for some mo-
mentss helpless. Then, frantic with des-
shrieking to be let out. But the thick
iron gates only echo back his agonized
can not penetrate those massive panels.
Is there no hope for him? Must he
For a brief second or two he ponders
over his hapless position, when there
daWns upon him the great hope that. al
ter all he may escape He remembers
that the vertical shaft has an iron lad
der running up the side to the top of the
reservoir. If he can get to this shaft
and climb the ladder he might escape, but
will the water at the bottom of The slOp-
ing tunnel permit him to reach the shafe2
He starts down the slope at a run, the
light of his lantern casting weird shadows
OH the Shiny walls. His feel splash in
icy cold water and a. sickening fear comes
over him that the bottom end of the tun~
mel may be completely submerged.
How long can he keep his breath? Can
he last until he reaches the ladder ana
draw himself up SO that his head viii
ments of agony are as years to him. He
reaches the bottom Of the shaft his hands
and his strength is going from him There
is the frightful, overwhelming impulse to
open his moutn-to breathe-to shout. His
cropping hands grasp the ladder again, he
draws himself up-up-up- Win he never
reach the surface2 It seems like eternity.
But at that supreme moment, when he
feels that his palsied fingers can nolonger
rises above water. and the revulsion. or
feeling that comes over him as he takes
his first breath is so great that he nearly
swoons- For. some seconds he can do
nothing but hang on to the ladder and
take in deep drafts of the revfvifying air.
but the water IS still rising. He must
mount the ladder and reach the outlet.
Hand over hand, foot over foot, he la
boriously climbs. Suddenly his upward
against something He puts up his hand
and grOpes about
He IS foiled again.
The. workmen have closed the top of the
With the coming of the sun of the next
day some miners approach the shaft ana
remove the cover in order to see how FAR
discover John Sulman more dead than
alive.