Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-01-23

u u " " ShA
"Did you eve think how you'd feel
to look down at your hands-big.
strong and willin'. but helpless to pro-
vide for them dependin' on you-and
then see a pair of soft white hands
carelessly wastin' what would be life
to you and yours?
That's how it looked to us. For
times had been hard with us, and. as
/ told you. old Keswick had always
calculated that the losses must be
evened up on wages somehow.
"'And this Teller, III be bound he's
never invented nothin' more useful
than a new tie to his cravatv says Jim
Bryce. He'll fool away no end of
money, and then either the mill will
have to go down or wages will. and
mine has got about to the foot of the
ladder now
"'Oh. there's no doubt We'll go down
unless some of his experiments blows
him up. Wish they wouldv answers
Tom. only he put it rather uglier than
that.
"Of course twas only talk, but the
feelin' was under it, and after awhile
from hopin' somethin' would happen
the boys went a little further and got
to plannin' how to make it happen.
81 amt goin' to tell much about any
plot. l took care not to know much
about it for fear I'd run across some
thin I'd feel bound to bender, and |
didn't want to bender nothin', that's
the fact. Only there was no murder
nor nothin' like that in it; the men
wasn't that kind-leastways, most Of
'em wasn't.
"'No, we amt a-goin' to hurt NAM
my's darlin' bless his pretty little
heart!-not less he gifts in the way
when he'd better be out of it. says
Tom. with a grin. But if the play
thing he's so tickled over jest flies to
finders some day and the noise scares
him so that he gives up and runs home
it'll be the best thing for him and all
the rest of u.s.
Seemed like nobody doubted he'd be
easy scared, and so the whisperin' and
black looks and secret meetin's went
on.
JIM ooy III ILL q " was
brought into the room Wit we work
ed. shall always remember that
day, just how everything locked. 1t
had been a bright. warm mornin'. but
, about noon it clouded up slowly. and
every breath Of wind died away. Not
a leaf moved Oh the trees.
"Inside the mill everything looked
darker and gloomier than usual in that
, queer gray light. Great piles of cast
ms throwed black shadows over the
5 slippery floor; the long iron shafts was
like hungry arms forever reachin'
down and DRAWN back empty, anG
from under the brick archway the
, round door of the furnace seemed glar
in out like a big red eye.
+ "Nothin' seemed to go that day the
way folks had calculated. That mis-
er'ble little box had no sooner been sci
down in the room thar somebody call
ed: Hist! Look out!' And there was
9 Boss Darlin'. comm back from his din
ner at an onarthly hour when he's
never been known to come before
He had a rose stuck in his %buttonhole
and looked like a dancin' master goin
to a party as heard Bob mutter as
he slipped the box out Of sight undeI
a pile of stuff at the end of the room
They couldn't carry out their plal
then, so there wasn't nothin' left TO
EN- but to hide it.
1.-THE boss looked round kind o
smilin' and pleasant-like. He'd go
that model he was busy with abou
into workin' order, and he was wonder
full pleased over it. And what did h
do that day but have it brought int
our room. because the weather havir
turned gloomy-like there was bette
light by a big window there. So ther
he stayed. fussin' over it. just as if h
was on guard.
"Then it began to thunder, and Their
was a sudden dash of rain. so that Jill
Bryce's little girl who had come dow
with his lunch basket wouldn't G
home. Jim vas a pieceworker and Il
ways said he could do twice as niue
work in an afternoon if he had
snack bout 8 o'clock.
Jim looked sort of uneasy now an
then when little jimmy d get of to tt
back part of the room anyways mig
where that box was. But he couldn
say nothin'. and maybe there WASH
K any danger, only l "a sure he didn
like her round there and was gla
is when she wandered off into the roo
r. beyond-a storeroom. where she w;
let stay sometimes while she waite
K. for har fathar'c hoSknt
IS 1.-The storm grew heavier instead
u lighter till we could hardly see
Ok work. All at once there was a blindi
fash Of light and a crash as If tt
a whole earth was tearin' to pieces. al
IL. we all started and tumbled in eve
direction. The minute we could g
be our senses and look round we -four
tie that the whole end Of the room W
tie bowed off and a gully plowed W
an down to the foundations like as If
gh bombshell had tore through.
Beyond that ragged openin' t
great brick wall was still standin', b
to we could see that 1t was swayin' al
y's wa vim inst ready 10 fall. I've new