The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-02-01

he was. sure that it could not be very far
away.
1t was some minutes before Foster dis
covered the older mans. disappearance.
When the accident took place he was
standing with his back to the road, driving
his spade into the frosty clay. The roar
Of the storm and the shrieking of the
whistle had prevented him from hearing
Wetherbee's cry He carried the shovel
fuls of earth through the gloom before he
missed the engineer A flash of lightning
came as he struggled toward the dam with
his third shovelful; he looked about, but
his companion was nowhere to be seen.
The light died out.
Foster stopped short, horror stricken.
Had Wetherbee fallen into the quarry? 1t
seemed only too likely, Hardly daring to
expect reply, he shouted at the top of
his lungs
Crank! Frank
A faint voice seemed to answer him
from the darkness below. Distrusting his
Gals, uC w dlIcu lOI duOIuCl udoh. IL SdLiO,
and there on his back in the middle of the
ice glazed road lay the engineer, his right
foot barely yard from the brink of the
pit.
Chow could the younger man rescue his
superior? He could not get within eight
feet of him on that slippery slope. 1t was
too far to reach down hovel-handle.
There was coil of rope in the boiler
house, but could he safely spare ten min
utes to 60 for it, with several leaks still
threatening the dam? 1t was Wetherbee
himself who decided the matter. His
voice came feebly up to the hesitating lad:
Elk the dam first, Bent. If the water
gets the start of you, IN done for. You
can get the rope after you've made every
thing tight. "
Foster grasped the situation. The
leaks, still undammed and every moment
growing larger, must be stopped at once.
With blistered hands and straining back
he resumed his labors On the strength
and endurance of his two arms hung the
life of his companion. Why did not some
one hear that shrill whistle, screeching SO
loudly for help?
A low, hoarse cry from the blackness
terrified him?
Good. by. Bent! I'm slipping"
The engineer, chilled and cramped, had
stirred slightly to gain an easier position;
the support under his foot had given way,
and he was again sliding slowly but surely
downward In vain he stamped madly on
the CLASSY surface. At last, just in the
nick of time, he stopped; it was not an inch
too soon. His left heel had caught against
some protuberance, his right had slid out
over the verge of the roc Il
Almost despairing, Foster again called
out
care you there, Frank?
Back came the answer, barely more
than hoarse whisper
"All right! Work quick p
1.-THE younger man had already laid
aside his macintosh; now he tore of his
coat as we'll, and flung away his cap, ex-
posing himself to the full fury of the
storm. Back and forth between bank and
dam he toiled, hurting himself with fury
on his task till the stout shovel handle
quivered, and the steel rang against the
frosty clay. He knew that Wetherbee s
life hung in the balance. Oh for two or
three barrow loads of dry, gritty dirt in
stead of that slush!
Meanwhile the engineer, prone in the
muddy stream, gazed up, now into impen-
etrable blackness, now into binding light;
rain-beaten and chilled to the bone, he was
conscious chiefly of that horrible emptiness
under his right heel. He felt carefully
behind his head and on each side, but his
fingers glided only over ice and slippery
rock. He remembered what had happened
before, and did not dare to stir. Another
slip would be fatal.
He suffered far worse in mind than in
body. Horrible fears tormented him.
Again and again he imagined that the lit
tie nodule beneath his heel was giving way.
Was it ice or rock? Whichever it might
be, it was the only thing between him and
certain death. He was oppressed with
leaden dread Of the frailty of the dam.
Let it give way, and the sudden rush
would sweep him like grain into the
quarry
Fatigue was overcoming Foster. Smaller
and smaller grew the shovelfuls as he stag
gered back and forth. Meanwhile he
wrestled with knotty problem /: When
should he 60 for the rope? If he ceased
work before the dam was safe, its breaking
might destroy the only chance of rescuing
the engineer. If he labored overlong,
Wetherbee might slip at any moment from
his perilous perch.
At last the leaks were almost stopped.
Fresh energy came to the assistant as the
lightning showed him that his task was
nearly completed A few more trips, and
he flung down his spade. In the darkness
he ran his hands along the top of the dam
to make sure that no water was coming
over. All was safe. He shouted the glad
news to Wetherbee:
'All tight! Hold fast! I'm going for
the roper'
Back he hurried round the quarry to
the boiler house, and in ten minutes had
returned with the coil and an iron bar.
Driving the bar into the bank and fasten-
ing the line to it, he dropped moose within
reach of the engineer and drew him up to
safety.
John n in Nepro Church.