The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-02-22

and could not 1beak, but he held up his
finger and struggled with half chewed
chunk of beef When he had gorged it.
he spoke
''That was my hungry opeenion, boys,
and maybe my afternoon one Wilma
differ much. But though they say
Scotchman fights best with his belly
empty it was never my way, and I've
mair doots in the early morn than any
other time. Courage comes out Of feed
ing and moderate use Of speerits and,
above all, not too much tobacco And
I've mair faith full than hungry, wheth
er it's in materials or in Providence
And that's a strong good argument
against asceticism and silly scorn CT
Gods good creatures.
| He showed no scorn of them till it
was obvious he could eat no more.
Barring the pipe, I'm done till sup
per time, he said presently, land after
one smoke I'll play the wise physeecian
! again and put my finger on the pulse of
the big hill and tell you what's what
in two shakes of a lambs tail And l
! don mind saying out straight that my
experience is as big as that of carload
of the common run CT engineers. y
| He went through the tunnel again,
and the brothers followed. Once OF
| twice he stopped and spoke to laborer
as well as the foreman.
"You wonder, he said to Bill Hol-
dredge, that I'd speak to these men
and hear what they have to say, for l
see all they see and mair. But I've
learnt to trust to feelings, man, as well
as cold knowledge, and till you do you
may be a school engineer, but the books
are across your eyes and heavy on your
mind.
| When they reached the far end, he
| invited them to sit on a fallen tree.
''And now you want my second
thoughts!''
"Aye, said Kelley.
And Gordon filled his pipe
eff You can drop it, and if you hae
enough to start on something else. my
advice is to do it I'm not asking any
thing and don't know how you and
Ross fixed it up But to go on is to
gamble.
against a certainty?" asked Bill.
Gordon screwed up his mouth and
shook his head slowly
''I'll no say that, but its long odds.
"And if we go on. what 2" asked
Kelley.
Double timber her throughout and
get some har6 wood if you can. But
my advice is to cut Your losses and
your labor. There's naething in the
world SO peetiful as honest la Dor wasted.
Goodby, be. : and good luck to your
He rode back to Laggan whistling.
They'll try it; they'll try it, he
said. "And I've nae doot they'll bear
the catastrophe like men-nae doot at
! all. .
And that very night the second set
of timber was ordered. What they could
buy they bought But suitable hard
wood there was none within 1000
miles, and to set that hill on oak pill
lars was to buy $40 with golden
eagle AS makeshift new pine and fir
fell on fiat and mountain slope, and the
trees of daylight We're daily buried in
the pit.
1 They found the western end, which
was Sitty UOpCCluCSl, luIuSSl W uCul
with. and there they doubled the steps
and struts first and drove some hard
wood wedges in, and under such they
blocked the inward. thrusting mud
with heavy green planks, measuring
by TO- that came from sawmill hum
ming near the summit But that here
the uprghts showed no sign of buc-
king at first was the deadliest sign Of
all. for where the cement bottom was
it was necessaryto put in square blocks
betwiSt each huge standard. And even
then the groaning was more horrid,
4 new strains We're established, the mass
of timbers became more organic and
piped perpetually. Day by day the for
ests sent tribute to the devouring
dragon of the underhill, and soon it
was almost impossible to see the clay
save upon the bottom. Yet here and
there it SQUEEZED ont between close sci