The suburban citizen., 1901-02-23

ture seemed to give mute pledge that
spring was come.
Twenty miles east of the Dakota
line, in the southwestern part of Min
nesota, Rock River finds its way in n
southwestern direction to the Big
Sioux. Its course is down a valley
varying in width from three hundred
to four hundred yards. For miles the
prairie is unbroken on either side of
the valley, when suddenly there is n
sharp descent of seventy-fve or one
hundred feet to another level The on.
posite bank is equally abrupt, and tic
valley looks rs IL it had been formed
by part Of the prairie sinking and
leaving perpendicular bank on each
side.
The engineers who surveyed the line
for the railroad found 1t hard to de-
termine how this valley should be
crossed, the problem not being solved
until a narrow gulch was found lead
ing from the east to the bottom of the
depression. From the mouth Of this
gully the line makes a sharp turn
northward, running mp the valley
short distance to a point where anoth-
err ravine leads up to the prairie level
westward.
The men who constructed the tele-
graph system avoided the dip into the
valley by running their line Of poles
directly to the top of the descent. on
the very verge of the precipice. Here
a spile, one Of the kind used in bridge
work, had been erected and on the
opposite side Of the valley another
stout post had been placed From
these two poles the wire was strung
across The valley, saggiug in the mid
die, and hanging but a few feet above
the tops Of cars passing on the track
below.
When Hardrubble reached the poiot
where the tciegraph-line led slightly to
northward from the railroad. he lifted
his light velocipede from the track
and walked across the prairie toward
the descent, AS he approached the
spile supporting the eastern end Of the
wire suspended over the valley. he saw
that an iusulator bracket was loose.
permitting the wire to sag. His climb.
ers were strapped to his feet, and he
quickly made ready to replace the loos-
ened bit of wood.
With his task finished the boy rest
ed his weight on his steel climbers and
sazed on the scene before him. The
| top of the pole at an elevation of twen-
ty feet gave him Il view Of the prairie
for distance Of a dozen miles in eth
or direction. OF to the west thu lire
Of rails, winding and twisting across
tie prairie, led toward the three spires
and twoscore brown roofs Of Pipe
stone, where q dark blot on the land
scape indicated that the east-bound
through passenger train was at that
moment leaving the station. North
and south, as far as the eye could
reach, stretched the valley Of The Rock,
and down its centre rOared the river,
in summer n tiny stream that might
! be forded anywhere, but now a tor.
rent fed by melting snow
The water was brown and white and
| yellow, and here and there great cakes
Of ice had Jammed, sending the cur.
rents back against themselves until
! parts Of the valley were transformed
! into lakes. He saw that at the rail-
road bridge below him one of these
dams had formed, and that the ice was
| piled high against the structure. And
| then he saw what caused his heart to
! beat faster and the blood to leave his
cheek. The western end Of tie bridge
! had been torn from its fasteniugs by
the pressure Of ice and water. and the
rails from the west led out Of the gul-
| ly and around a point Of bluff, and end
ed over a gulf filed with a foaming
tide and masses of grinding ice-cakes.
This meant disaster to the coming
train and perhaps death to train crew
and passengers, unless warning Of the
danger were quickly given.
For miles in either direction no bridge
spanncd the river, and to wade or
swim the stream was impossible the
strong current and moving ice making
the attempt almost certain death.
Where the gorges had formed, the ice
was a grinding mass, and a glance re-
yealed the fact that these could not
be trusted.
Young Hardrubble's glances wan
dered up and down the valley and then
across the prairie to the westward,
where the faint blur Of smoke of a few
minutes before had increased to a long,
black cloud. In ten minutes the train
would be swinging around the sharp
curve of the gully into the valley.
Then his gaze returned to the river.
The only thing spanning the current
was the rusty telegraph wire, leading