The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-04-10
RHYS, COWARD
By WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE and
WILLIAM HENRY EADER.

His great frame filling The door
fay, Dynamite" John glanced up
the snow-comb hanging over the
fountain edge far above. She'll
p loose. some day and smother us
pr sure" he said.
That's what" agreed Drawn,
18th a sly glance at Davie Rhys,
be butt Of the mine. "Bet un she
omes down this very night"
Hello, Davie, bye! Be thee go
big to get out of the track of un?"
bered. a third.
81 am" said Davie. "Th-re be no
lace for me in a snowslide. I'm
10 top man"
"That ye're not" scofed Drawn;
Ian no frst-class headsman would
wn you for his trammer. either"
A slow flush crept into Davies
Bomely honest face. He knew him
elf for a born coward, and he knew
hat these rough, reckless miners
klso knew him for one. The risks
hey took without a thought in the
lark depths of the mine made him
jhudder. Yet he was a man grown,
is big and strong a Cornishman as
they.
"Aw, leave the bye alone" spoke
bio Jennie Lord, the cook. "It BEES
BIO fault Of his that un's a six-foot
baby. I mind Of a story I heard
when I was a little un."
eye an yer %stories!" growled Dy-
hamite. What matters it to thee
kf we have , bit fun with the bye?"
Ind the man slouched out into the
Btarlit night. w.
Better get outside. Davie," said
Drawn, leering at Jennie.
81 will, mon. If there be snow
elides comm, I want to be where
/ can run" said Davie, c~ontemptuous
bf his own weakness.
He strobe out Of the cabin in a
rage with himself, a volley Of guf-
laws following him.
He stood on the ledge in front of
the cabin, looking down into the
eanon below. From the edge there
was a sheer drop Of fifty feet, and
that a descent for nearly a
mile to the river, on the edge of
he could see the shining lights
of the Blue Bell stamp-mill. Half
q mile to his right ran the ore tram
way of the Blue Bell, connecting the
mine far up on the shoulder Of the
with the mill in the canon
Except for that aerial route, there
was no meal of communication be-
tween the miners above and the mill
Davie glanced up at the great
above, and s~huddered. If
1t should break, and if the slide
should catch their clubhouse in its
descent! A moment, and he vas
frantically tearing open the cabin
door. The miners looked round, to
see framed in the opening the face
OF Davie, wild and haggard.
"There do be a snowslide a.
eomin'?" he yelled, 81 hear the comb
breakin' ava from the ridge now. Git
ye out quick, cause Dynamite's gone
an left thee, an I'm. a-goin'!!"
"Ha! hal" yelled the chorus Of
miners.
Drawn shouted. "Ho, no, Davie,
ibyei Think thee is goin' to work
our own game on us? Go ava! Go
awa!"
But Davie had already gone, dar-
ing to pause no longer before the
downward sweep Of the swirling,
cracking, roaring white terror. He
clambered madly up the side Of the
gulch in a desperate, heart-pounding
scramble for life. Behind him he
heard the thunderstorm rush of the
slide scoring its way down the noun
tain ravine. Safe on the rim he
paused at last, his ears deafened
with the roar, his eyes dilating fear
fully, his head Keeling.
Gradually the terrific noise sub
sided, the white swirling pail settled.
'Davie, trembling IN the rock ledge,
peered fearfully down into the path
of the slide. The cabin ne had left
not five minutes before was no.
where to be seen. The avalanche
had wiped the bluff clean.
He knew his comrades must be
buried, alive or dead, under forty
feet CT snow at the foot of the ledge
on which the cabin had stood. He
knew, too. that even If they were
alive help must reach them soon or
they would smother.
Turning, no sped swiftly along the
trail in the direction of the COM
pressor-house. From out of the dark
ness his voice rose in a shrek: "Dy-
Mantle! Dynamite!" But no answer
ing voice mingled with the echoes
Of the shrill cry.
Dynamite, the men be covered
in the snowslide!"
Yet although the hills cried his
terror back and forth, no other an,
swer came. Davie, before the black
depths Of the unlighted compressor,
house, stopped to wiring his hands
despairingly. 81 cannot dig un out
alone! Where be Dynamite?"
He would have given anything fol
. glimpse of Dynamite John, the
camp bully and hero, that he might
thrust the responsibility upon hi:
broad shoulders. But that doughty