The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-10-19

Donald went out ahead of them.
l"Always like that-happy as a
boy most of the time, loved by
the men, but the very devil him.
Iself when he's riled. Don't know
what this camp would do without
him."
This same thought occurred to
Rowland a dozen times during
the next two hours. Macdonald
seemed to be the life and law of
the camp. and he wondered more
and more at Thorne's demeanor.
The camp chiefs and gang fore
men whom they met seemed to
stand in certain awe of the
senior engineer, but it was at the
little red-headed Scotchman's
CHEEKY words that their eyes light
ed with enthusiasm. This was
not like the old Thorne, who had
been the eye, the ear and the
tongue of the cempany's greatest
engineering works for a decade
past, and whose boundless enthu-
siasm and love of work had been
the largest factors in the win
national. He began to note that
there was a strange nervousness
about Thorne when they were
among the men, an uneasy alert
ness in his eyes, as though he
were looking for some particular
face among those they encoun-
tered. MacDonald's shrewd eyes
observed his perplexity, and once
he took an opportunity to whis-
per:
II guess it's about time for
Thorne to get back into civiliza-
ton. There's something bad in
his system. Weston told me
yesterday that his injuries are
coming along finely. l don't I'M
! derstand it,"
A little later they returned
with Thorne to his room.
II want Rowland to see this
lsouth coyote go up" said Mac
donald. Can you spare him?
Wen be back before noon"
Certainly. Come and take
dinner with me at twelve. That
! will give me time to make memo
randa of things l may have for
) gotten"
I Rowland fancied that there
was a certain tone of relief in the
seniors voice, but he made no
,, mention of it to the superintend-
ent as they walked swiftly to the
| scene of the blowout" The
a e., Ey.iv
they arrived. The coyote itself
"a tunel of fifty feet dug into
the solid rock of the mountain
and terminating in a chamber
packed with explosives-was clos
ed by masses of broken rock,
rammed tight, and Macdonald
showed his companion where the
electric wire passed to the fuse
within.
''It's a COMPOUNDED mystery to
me why Thorne doesn't care to
see this ridge blown up!" he ex-
claimed after they had finished
the inspection. We've been at
work for three months drilling
this coyote, and the bigger one to
the north. There are four thou
sand square yards of rock to come
out of there. and six thousand out
of the other You don't see shots
like those three times in a life
time, and there'll not be another
for us between here and the bay.
,, What's the matter with Thorne?"
/, Without waiting for reply
) Macdonald walked swiftly in the
direction of a ridge to the right.
Already guards had been thrown
, out on all sides of the mountain
) and their thrilling warnings of
' Fire = Fire - Fire." shouted
through megaphones of birch
bark, echoed with ominous mean
ing through the still wilderness,
where for the time all work had
ceased. On the top of the ridge
half a hundred of the workmen
had already assembled. and as
Rowland and the superintendent
came among them they fell back
from around a big, fiat boulder on
which was stationed the electric
battery. MacDonald's face was
flushed and his eyes snapped like
dragon-fiies as he pointed to a
| tiny button.
God, but I can't understand
why Thorne doesn't care to see
, this" he said again. "Think of
/, it, man0seven thousand FIVE hun
! dred pounds of powder and two
hundred of dynamite! A touch
, of this button, a fash along the
wire, and the fuse is struck.
Then, four or five minutes. and
up goes a mountain that has stood
here since the world began. Ism t
lit glorious?" He Strengthened
himself and took off his hat.
"Mr. Rowland, will you press the
button?"
| With a strange thrill Rowland
bent over the battery, his eyes
turned to the mass of rock loom
ing sullen and black half a mile
away, as II bidding defiance in the
face of impending fate. Tremb-
lingly his finger pressed on the
little white knob, and a silence
like that of death fell on those
who watched. One minute-two
I-three-five passed, while in the
bowels of the mountain the fuse
was sizzling TO Its end. Then