The Yale expositor., 1905-04-14


picked a dangerous passage back and
forth carrying pals of redhot coffee
which Mrs. Hathaway constantly pre-
pared. The cold water numbed the
mems hands. With difficulty could
they manipulate the heavy chains
through the anger holes; with pain they
twisted knots. bored holes. They did
not complain. Behind them the jam
Quivered perllously near the bursting
point. From II shrleked aloud the de-
mons OF pressure. Steadily the river
rose an inch an hour. The key might
snnp at any given moment. they could
not tell, and with the rush they knew
very we'll that themselves. the tug and
the disabled pile driver would be swept
from existence. The worst of it was
that the blackness shrouded their ex-
perience into uselessness. They were
utterly unable to tell by the ordinary
visual symptoms how near the jam
might be to collapse.
However, they persisted, as the old
time river man always does, so that
when dawn appeared the barrier was
continuous and assured. Although the
pressure of the river had already forced
held the strain well.
The storm had settled into its gait
Overhead the sky was filed with gray.
beneath which darker scuds flew across
the zenith before a bowling southwest
wind. Out In the clear river one could
hardly stand upright against the gusts.
In the fan of many directions furious
squalls swept over the open water be-
low the booms, and an eager boiling
current rushed to the lake.
Thorpe now gave orders that the tug
and driver should take shelter. A few
moments later he expressed himself as
yatisfed. The dripping crew, their
harsh faces gray In the half light,
picked their way to the shore.
In the darkness of that long nights
work no man knew his neighbor. Men
from the river, men from the mill. men
from the yard, all worked side by side.
Thus no one noticed especially a tall,
slender, but we'll knit individual dress
ed in n faded mackinaw and n limp
SLOUGH hat which he wore pulled over
his eyes. This young fellow occupied
himself with the chains. Against the
racing current the crew held the ends
of the heavy booms while he fastened
them together. He worked well, but
seemed slow. Three times Shearer hus-
tied him on after the others had finish
cd, examining closely the work that
had been done. On the third occa-
sion he shrugged his shoulder some
what impatiently.
The men struggled to shore. the
young fellow just described bringing
up the rear. He walked as though
tired out. hanging his head and drag
ging his feet. When, however, the
boarding house door had closed on
the last of those who preceded him and
the town lay deserted in the dawn he
suddenly became transformed. Cast
ing a keen glance right and left to be
sure Of his opportunity he turned and
hurried recklessly back over the logs
TO the center booms. There he knelt
and busted himself with the chains.
In his zigzag progression over the
Jam he so blended with the morning
shadows as to seem one of them, and
; he would have escaped quite unnoticed
had not Il sudden shifting of the logs
under his feet compelled him TO rise for
a moment to his full height SO Wal
lace Carpenter, passing from his bed
room along the porch to the dining
room. became aware of the man on the
logs.
His first thought was that something
demanding instant attention had hap
pened to the boom. He therefore ran
at once to the mans assistance, ready
to help him personally or to call other
aid as the eXigency dema-led. Owing
to the precarious nature of the passage
he could not see beyond his feet until
very close to the workman. Then he
looked up TO find the man, squatted on
the boom. contemplating him sardonlc-
ally.
"Dyerr' he exclaimed.
Fright, my son." said the other
coolly.
what are you doingT"
'If you want to know. am filing
this chain"
Wallace made one step forward and
so became aware that at last firearms
were taking part In this desperate
game.
"You stand stillw commanded Dyer
from behind the revolver. Its unfor
tunate for you that you happened
-vZeZ