The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-01-07

IOIIN BLATCffFORD, ciyN engineer.
d sat out in the open. with his eye
resting rcNcctiyely On q round inairi-
ment, with figures enrireling II. and
a needle. 1t rcsemblrd an auoroid ba-
rometer, but 1t was not, If was a pc
COLLAR air gauge, a Scottish invention
and Blatchfori had not seen ono Of
the kind since he had helped build
the great bridge at Chcpultepcc, in
Mexico, Then he was a subordinate
assistant, now, al Extraordinarily,
he was engineer Of the Marbury tun-
mel, under The liver of that name, Just
ontAide the important manufacturing
town Of Belehcster.
ijlatchfotd's fccolIcctiOns Of tropical
Chepnltepec, although doubtless eH~
citing, were, however, suddenly Inter
rnnted by the advent of a young girl,
whose footsteps he had not heard, and
who now stood timidly before him,
The young engineer was IN his feet
In an instant. He had q very gallant
bearing with women irrespective of
class but he was particularly atten-
tive IL they happened to be pretty
women.
"Did you wish to see mc?'' he asked,
smiling.
"Oh, no. sir" faltered the Girl; Il
thought~-that isl came with a mes
sage to-"
"one of the men, perhaps"
"yes.f'
"fou have a brother working down
In The air chamber"
The Girl hlushed Not Il brother
d friend"
HAhi Well, The men will he up
shortly for dinner, You had better
whit. You see. we are rather short
handed at present, and | am obliged
10 tend Tho gauge myself. Sit here
and wait"
She seated herself, looking very pref
tW, Blatchford thought, with her neat,
simple attire and thick auburn tress-
es; and the very first thing that caught
her eye was the clOck-faced object
which Blatchlord had called the
gauge" He saw her glance rivited
upon II. and ~good-naturedly undertook
to explain that 1t registered the amount
and pressure Of air in the working
chamber far below the river. where.
III that moment, seven stalwart men
toiled at the tunnel,
Ifs 1t very dangerous she asked.
.What-the work? Wen, that de-
Ponds. You see, air seems innocent
enough, but It is a power not to be
trified with, Every man down at the
bottom OF this shaft is working at d
pressure of IS pounds to every square
inrh Of him. 1t is almost like being
Rugged by a bear. When | press this
lever--this way-more air is forced
down" He touched one Of the lev
ers just below the gauge and pointed
10 the needle. There. you see. it is
now $50, 81, IS, 80 pounds to the square
inclE and by a mere touch Of my fin
gerfit could be forced higher--even up
to G5. That is almost strong enough
to crush o man"
How wonderful that mere air should
be S strong exclaimed the girl But
what ls the use of it-this air?n
Use? Why W. harness it and make
IL work. II helps us dig our tunnel
under the river, by forcing ont the
water and mud. Then. besides. 1t is
for the workmon to breathe. But,
hello. why ara you SO pale?"
Kate Maxwell smiled ~neryously,
displaying twin rows Of perfect teeth,
'a)h, nothing. Only 1 was thinking
1t must be very terrible TO work down
there. Suppose something were to go
wrong with the air-pipes, and they
we're TO get too much or too little atr?'
|Blatchferd, who, young as he was,
was familiar with death and danger.
shrugged his shoulders.
Eve must take risks in every trade.
II the men got too little air, the river
-ov part Of it-would pour in and
drown them; II they got TOO much and
there WAS no way for 1t to escape, it
would crush them, But, after all, it
is little likely that either of these ter
rible things could happen, because, you
see, 1t is so carefully regulated and
the gauge is SO accurate and reliable,
Anyone Of intelligence could keep the
supply at 35 pounds, which is as much
as a man ought to stand"
lie 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
east an or1inous glance at the great
iron door which barred the entrance
IL tlas afr lock and led to The working
rhamber, as 1t was called, under the
liver.
Rcbert.ta formed itself teiuatarily
N WI ilpa