The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-01-03
IN THE AIR CHAMBER.
BY STEPHEN AALLETT.

| lulU kltdl UilAtlltro VI ANS hA ~
Burly Jim Burns. the foreman Of the
gang, was obliged 10 act the part Of
peacemaker dozen times a day.
when. as he put it, "the youngsters
tongues got a-waggin'."
LET him alone, Ned" he would say
to Dart; what dye want to be al
ways worrying Bob forY Or it would
be, Drop It. Bob. or III set old Widow
Dart on We. She'll make 1t lively for
We, / reckon
On this particular June day, the al
tercation between the pair began on
their way to the tunnel and Kate,
who had heard of the angry dispute,
experienced a dread Of open trouble
between them which greatly affected
her spirits all that morning. The flash
OF glbe and repartee continued as the
two rivals descended the narrow tube
at the base Of the shaft into the
bowels of the earth; and so far from
bettering the situation, LesIie's self
satisfied air and affected Carelessness
only made matters worse. For he was
not without reason for satisfaction, al
though the truth was known to only
one other man in Belchester. Kate
Maxwell had promised. on the previous
evening, TO be his wife. And Edward
Dart, the rejected suitor, knew this
knew it from kate's own lips. This
( fatal knowledge. fatal to all his hopes
and dreams. entered the soul Of Ed
ward Dart like bar OF red-hOt iron.
He was bigger and stronger man
than Leslie, and would relish nothing
better than 70 carry the quarrel TO
blows. Thgre was something grim.
uncanny, in the idea Of these two NOR
tai rivals being shut up together in
narrow, dlmly lighted box. seventy
feet underground. fcr Eours at a
stretch.
Once inside the air chamber, they
worked for several hours silently.
Then, Just about noon, Leslie's pick ac-
cldentally struck upOf. Darts foot.
There was ain oath, a shuttle, and, like
mastiff. Dart wag at Leslie's throat
/ In this small space-hardly bigger
than a ships cabin-fye men fattened
themselves against the sides while
Dart and Leslie fought ike demons in
the darkness, for in the struggle the
lamp had been extinguished. Then
there was a piercing cry--Dart had got
his hands on a pick; he was seeming
/ ly about to WELD 1t. But too late. his
antagonist forced him backward; he
fell with a crash upon a heap Of tools,
and Darts arm and ankle were
broken, swapping like faggots.
For many weeks there had been
peace between the successful and the
unsuccessful suitor FOR the hand Of
Kate Maxwell. The affair in The air
chamber. which had deprived the tul-
mel OF Darts services, was put down
to an accident. Mr.. Blatchford never
heard Of the battle between the two
men. Leslie made point Of looking
in at the Dart cottage on his way
home from work 10 see how the man
with whom he had so long been al en-
nifty. and with whom he had 50 lately
come to blows. progressed toward re-
coyery. Dart had been rather a IA
vorite OF Afr. Blatchford, and was not
unpopular among the men, SO that
there was general regret at the injury
he had sustained.
When the news came. therefore, that
the engineer Of the works had Of
fered the convalescent man the not
very arduous post OF lock tender, Les
lie was one Of the first to congratulate
Dart.
But in her tinorous, illogical, wo-
manly fashion. Kate, remembering the
conversation she had had with Mr..
Blatchford, was not much pleased at
the news, though she brought herself
at length to laugh at her fears. There
was safety In numbers, and after all. il
was not likely that even one ten times
more vindlctive than the man she had
rejected as a lover, would iajure seven
men IN order to crafty a grudge to u
single one Besides, did Dart stlll
cherish a grudgey Is SO, it was so
well concealed that nobody noticed
it, not even Kate Maxwell.
But one day. coming across the
fields, she observed a small launch in
the river just over where the tunnel
lay, making rapidly for the other
shore, where similar works We're also
in progress and mad been 70. months.
On 1t she recognized the forms Of
Barns. Tyler, Pocock, and several of
the workmen employed in the tunnel.
AS the gang were usually at work on
the north side Of the river at this hour,
she stopped an acquaintance, in The Vi
cinity of the tunnel, now approaching
completion. and asked him what it
meant.
oh" said the man. they're gone
over with Mr.. Blatchford to work at
tie other end OF the tunnel"
Kate closely scanned the occupants
of the boat, and even took ont her
handkerchief and fiuttered it ii hope
OF reply from her lover. There was
no response. Perhaps he was there
and did not see her. Disappointed, she
turned away, but wended her way to
the head of the north tunnel shaft,
thinking he might have been left be-