The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1909-04-03

QereQ Dy the 0uVeTcQ euQS Of tW18lc0
and shattered wood. and be meath this
was yawning hole several feet deep,
broken electric wires. and the great
| slab of metal.
| Norma, as If the excitement of the
discovery had acted as q tonic, re-
| leased herself from the supporting
arms, walked to the shining brass
structure. and leaned against it.
Brockton pulled OF his cap and
scratched his head In Z puzzled way,
and Jenkins removed the glasses from
his nose and began nervously polish
ing them. The other engineers gaped
at each other, at the inventor and then
back to the hole whereby to all appear.
ances was buried the thing on which
they hae built all their hope. "Old
Bill" Roberts stood by its edges. look
ing down and examining the broken
wires. a picture Of perplexity or de.
spair. He came back and crowded
through their midst, examining con-
nection and tracing out one of the
strands, and then stood in listless at
titude, his brows drawn into a frown.
, and,his arms hanging loose and pendu-
lous from his shoulders. The time
stretched into minutes, and jenkins
and Norma began a. discussion, to
which the others listened, striving to
understand the phraseology Of cleo
trical science, Of which many of them
had little more than the layman'a
: knowledge. Suddenly sharp CRY
came from the inventor.
They looked to the other side Of the
: room, whittier he had retreated. and
beheld him jumping up and down like
mailman. His fists were clenched
and thrust into the air. where they
opened clawlike and waved trefnolt
Of excitement I've got IT." h
: screamed. I've solved it,"
They drew back from him. fearing
= that failure had loosened his brain
|, but he rushed through the group, ex
: citedly calling for men to repair tn
2, break. The admiral, unused to BIZ
!. periods Of enthusiasm, stared at hin
:, blxnkly, his lower jaw unconsciousk
" dropping until his mouth yawned 4
cavernous suspense. In his min
4 nothing but insanity could account TO
q this outburst.
II Norma, on the other hand. laid
A restraining hand on his arm and said
Father, what's the matter? Whs
al is it,"
j We've been working In the dark!
he answered yehenently. and the
= with the jubilation of . boy but IN
a calmer tone continued: by IN q
4 cident we have discovered powers
n our combination of electricity An
metallurgy that we have not dreame
u Of, and which, II we can control then
i make the resistant armor we can
Il down here to manufacture as useles
n as wooden hull!"
III The admiral suddenly dropped b
NJ bulk to a stool. Good God" 4
al gasped, ARE you mad?"
II Norma, like one from whose eyes
III hoodwink has been suddenly remove
n and appearing almost to have read b
NJ fathers mind. put her hand out to q
M shoulder and looked at him searchin
NJ ". A slow grin of great exultati'
III swept over the lean old face IN
n which she peered, drove the wrinkl
a into the corners of the eyes, and
III mass of radiating burrows round 4
mouth.
you've guessed it." he said, a
then turned to the admiral. "Brocktt
j YOU don't know what that hole mean
Il but in an hour from now I'm going
~ show you. That is, Norma, my
sistant, and will"
Then in a sudden frenzy for VIC
he asked them all to leave until
sent for them, and they, wonderi
and speculating on his next endeav
obeyed. Only the workmen, who p
descended into the cavity and w
preparing to hoist the plate and me
and the admiral. by special invitati
remained. The clang of hammers
sounded hollowly through the 70
as the timbers beneath the moor "
| shored up by the carpenters; Il
| came the setting of another and
ger tank than the one which had b
so unexpectedly driven into the cal
The smaller plates which had been
tended only for experimental purpo
Fl were exhausted, and therefore q
. had nothing on which to operate .
two immense castings weighing mi
tons. Wide sliding doors rolled b
ONE and workmen. from the foundry. '
'ang straining muscles and clinging Z
slowly pushed in low-wheeled cars
ster which rested the huge pieces Of me
/ in A. steel crane projected its ungal
hose arm, reached slowly down, and !
hich Titanic grasp picked up one pi
hair, moved it into position over the
her bed, and deposited it in great p
IONS whose material indicated that 1t w
be able to withstahd'Any heat.
~ a. hrx>{uh oxnhor&