The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-01-03
.sfoh, OHN BLATCHFORD, civil


circiing it, and a needle. 1t resembled
an aneroid barometer, but it was not
1t was peculiar air gauge, a Scottish
invention, and Blatchford had not seen
one OF the kind since he had helped
build the great bridge at Chepultepec,
in Mexico. Then he was a subordn-
ate assistant; now, at eighty-and-
twenty, he was engineer of the Mar
bury Tunnel under the river Of that
name, just outside the important
manufacturing town of Belehester.
Blatchfords rccollectlons Of tropical
Chepultepec, although doubtless excit-
ing, were, however, suddenly interrupt
ed by the advent of young girl,
whose footsteps he had not heard, and
who now stood timldly before him.
The young engineer was on his feet
in an instant. He had very gallant
bearing with wOmen--irrespective OF
class-but he was particularly atten-
tive IL they happened 10 be pretty wo-
men,
"Did you wish 70 see me?s he asked,
smiling.
oh no. sir!r faltcred the GIRL Fl
thought-tbat ISL came with mes
sage To-
"One OF the men perhapsg'
YES"
"You have a brother working down
IN the air chamber
The girl blushed. Not brother-a
friend"
'Ahl Wei, the men will be up shcrt-
Is for dinner. You lad better wait.
You see. we are rather short-handed
ut present, ana am Obliged to tend
the gauge myself. Sit here and watt
She seated herself looking very
pretty, Blatchford thought, with her
neat. simple attire and thick auburn
tresses; aud the very first thing that
caught her eye was the clock-faced OBJ
ject which Blatchford had called the
gauge He saw her glance riveted
upon it. and good-naturedly undertook
10 explain that Il registered the
amount and pressure OF air in the
working chamber far beneath the
river, where, at that moment. seven
stalwart men tolled at the tunnel
is IL very dangerousf" she asked,
"What--the work. Wen, that de-
pends. You see. air seems innocent
enough, but 1t is a power not to be
trihed with. Every man down at the
bottom OF this shaft is working az
pressure OF thlrty-five pounds to every
square inch OF him. II Is almost like
being hugged by bear. When press
this iever-this waymore air Is forced
down" He touched one Of the levers
just below the gauge and pointed to
the needle. There, you see. II is now
shirty-six, thirty-sevcn, thirty-elght,
thIfty-nine pounds TO the square inch;
ans Iiy mere loucf OF my finger ii
could be forced higher-even up %
sixty-Hve This is almost strong
enough to crush a man."
How wonderful that mere air
should be so strongw exclaimed the
girl but what Is the use OF it--this
airf''
Use? why. we harness II and make
Il work. II helps us dig our tunnel
under the river, by forcing out the
water and mud. Then, besMes, it is
for the workmen 10 breathe. But,
hellol why are you so palegv
Kate Maxwell smiled nervously. dis
playing twin rows of perfect teeth.
"0h. nothing Only | was thinking
II must be very terrible to work down
there. Suppose something was to 90
wrong with the air-pipes. and they
were TO get too much or too little airy
Blatchford. who, young as he was,
was familiar with death and danger,
shrugged his shoulders
I'VE must take risks in every trade
II the men got too little air, the river
or part OF it-would pour In and drown
them; II they got too much and there
was no way for II to escape, 1t would
crush them. But, after all, Il is little
likely that either OF these terrible
things could happen, because, you see,
it is so carefully regulated and the
gauge is so accurate and reliable.
Anyone OF intelligence could keep the
supply at tnirty-five pounds, which is
as much as a man ought to stand"
He pulled out his watch and looked
at the time.
Hello" he calculated, in surprise,
''the men are late in coming up to-
day"
The girl shuddered at his words and
cast an ominous glance Mt the great
iron door which barred the entrance
TO the air lock and led to the working
chamber, as it was called, under the
river.
"Robertr' formed ITSELF involuntar-
ily on her lips.
Although none knew il, Kate Max
wells unaccountable misgivlngs were
not without justification. Even as the
pair had been talking, seventy feet be-
low where they stood, terrible scene
was being enacted. 1t had been
struggle for life in the darkness and
oppressed atmosphere OF the subter-
ranean air chamber, and her lover,
Robert Leslie, was one of the actors
A feud had for some time existed be-
tween young Leslie and another OF
-