The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1905-02-04

wells unaccountable misgivings were
not without justification Even as
the pair bad been talking, 20 feet be-
low where they stood, a 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 fued had for some time existed be-
tween young Leslie and another OF the
pressure-workers, Edward Dart, and
this fued, of which Kate Maxwell was
the hapless origin, had of late, for
some cause or other, increased, at
least, on Darts side, to great intensity.
Dart had always borne good repu-
tation in Belchester, and was the sole
support of widowed mother; but his
temper was none of the best, and 1t
was known that he could be vindictfve.
At first the fued took the form or
sarcasm, but this quickly developed
into great bitterness of language.
Burly Jim Burns, the foreman of the
gang, was Obliged to act the part OF
peace maker dozen times a day,
when, as he put 1t, ''the youngsters
tongues got a-waggin.
Let him alone, Ned" he would say
| to Dart; what dye want to be always
worrying Bob for?" Or it would be,
Drop 1t, Bob, or I'll 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 gibe and repartee continued as the
| two rivals descended the narrow tube
| at the base of the shaft into the bow
| els of the earth and so far from bet
tering the situation, Leslie's self-sat-
| isfied air ard affected carelessness only
| made matters worse. For he was not
| without reason for satisfaction, al
| though the truth was known only to
| one other man in Belchester. Kate
Maxwell had promised on the previous
| evening to be his wife. And Edward
Dart, the rejected sutton, knew this
knew 1t from Hates 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 a bigger and stronger man
than Leslie, and would relish moth
ing better than to carry the quarrel
to blows. There was something grim,
mcanny, in the idea of these two NOR
tai rivals being shut up together in q
narrow, dimly-lighted box, 20 feet I'M
foreground, for hours at a stretch.
Once inside the air chamber, they
worked for several hours silently. Then
just about noon, Leslie's pick acct
dentally struck upon Darts foot
There was an oath, shuttle; like
mastiff Dart was at Leslie's throat
In this small space-hardly bigger
| than a ships cabin-five men fiattened
themselves against the sides while
Dart and Leslie fought like demons
in the darkness, for in the struggle the
lamp had been extinguished. Their
there was piercing cry-Dart had goi
his hands on pick; he was seeming.
ly about to WELD it. But too late! his
antagonist forced him backward; hi
fell with crash upon heap of tools
and Darts arm and ankle were bro
ken, swapping like faggots.
For many weeks there had beer
peace between the successful and the
unsuccessful sutton for the hand o.
Kate Maxwell. The affair in the all
chamber, which had deprived the .tun-
mel of Darts services, was put down tt
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 to see how the man witt
whom he had so long been at enmi
ty, and with whom he had so latel!
come to blows, progressed toward re
covery. Dart had been rather a ia
vorite of Mr. Blatchford, and was no
unpopular among the men, SO tina
there was general regret at the in
jury he had sustained.
When the news came, therefore, tina
the engineer of the works had Offered
the convalescent man the not very ar
duous post of lock-tender, Leslie wa
one of the first to congratulate Dart.
But in her timorous, illogical, wo
: manly fashion, Kate, remembering tn
conversation she had had with Mr.
Blatchford, was not much pleased a
the news, though she brought hersel
at length to laugh at her fears. Their
was safety in numbers, and, after all
J 1t was not very likely that even on
ten times more vindictive than tn
man she had rejected as lover, woul,
injure seven men in order to gratif,
grudge to single one. Besides, di'
Dart still cherish a grudge? If sc
it was so well concealed that nobod
noticed it, not even Kate Maxwell. \
But one day, coming across tn
, fields, she observed small launch Il
the river just over where the tunne
, lay, making rapidly for the othe
! shore, where similar works were ais