Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-01-20
A Mystery
Romance
#
CHAPTER XIII.
copyrAgask. as09. by Dodd.
r1ead q. Go.

HE following morning James
Lawrence Chafloner did that
which he had never done since
his marriage-he started out to
look for job. Had he been given to
self analysis he would have known
that It was Miriam's wrath in her adj
versity that had kindled into fame the
dying spark Of his manhood.
4 II must find work" he said over and
lover to himself.
At the end OF two weeks he found
himself at the end Of long line of
Fltalian laborers seeking employment.
The foreman called out in surprise:
What do you want?"
'Workw replied the man inside the
(sheil Of Challoner.
With the .ginneys?"
with the 'ginneys,'" assented Chal-
Homer.
The foreman stared.
"All right. Let's have your name"
Challoner hesitated. A new light
EShone in his eyes as he said:
"Challoner-J. L."
And all that day he worked-worked
with his hands and with his feet
worked with the gang tamping con-
Icrete. After two hours Of it Challoner
Thought he would drop in his tracks.
It SO happened that his work was on
h new department store. Concrete had
suddenly come into prominence as a
building material. Challoner and the
tgang stood inside wooden mold some
1.-TWO or three feet wide and as long as
tthe wall which they were building;
[another gang poured in about them a
mixture Of sand, cement and stone.
bSand, cement and stone meant nothing
10 ChaHoner except that when those
three things were mixed with water
and dumped into his trench he had to
pift his tamper and pound the mixture
into solidity in order to make the wall
thard and smooth.
For days he was stiff, lame and sore
jail over. In his soul he wanted to die
but he lived on. And then, much to
This amazement, he found that the
Harder he worked the better he felt
tThe poison Of his dissolute living was
b1y0rking toward the surface.
Finally the doctors allowed him to
visit Miriam in the hospital.
'Fve got job, DEAR he whispered
Ito her. Those five words were a his.
Eofy to Miri. N.
4 Aftsr a little while Miriam put out a
lthin hand and let It rest In his, say.
ing:
+How much do they give you, dearY"
Not without suggestion of pride in
his voice, answered:
"A dollar ana half a day"
a mere pittance, yet the womans
face was radiant with joy.
It was not long before Challoner
found that his arms and back and
shoulders were perceptibly enlarging.
And then-a greater joy-he realized
that his soul was surging back into
his body. He had driven it out, but
It would not stay away.
From time to time Challoner noted
that the tamping was developing him
too much on one side. With the long
broom handle, the weight down at the
end. his downward stroke had been a
right handed one. So now he tried
using force from the left side. And
with that Challoner made a discov-
cry!
After many experiments it had been
gradually borne in upon him that light
but incessant and vigorous tamping in
one spot was more effective than the
heavy. battering strokes employed by
the Italians.
m the hampers were only light
enough" he argued to himself, ga fell
low could almost use two Of them
ono IN each hand"
And so he tried it with the two lamp
ers that were on the work, but they
proved to be too heavy. Then one
night he made pair Of lighter ones
and axperimsnted with them. 1t was
too much of a strain. He could not
handle them satisfactorily. Somehow
the work needed the concentrated eff
fort Of two arms.
All one night he sat up trying to fig
nrs u out. and yet" he assured him
SELF repeatedly. I'm on the right
track" And SO it proved, for at
o'clock in the morning the idea came.
I've got it." he exclaimed, jumping
10 his feet-"a pump handler
A week later Challoner rugged up a
simple continuance depending upon
strong leverage that would do the
work of man much more easily.
1T viii do the work Of tsoo," he told
himself.
But when Chalioner had taken it to
the works the authorities refused him
permission to use It,
This here is real job. We haven't
time to monkey with things like that"
they told him with sneer.
But Challoner was not to be turned
aside 90 easily, and still he persisted:
IT will do the work of two"
He now rugged himself up small
trial mold, bought some sand and ce-
ment and rock and demonstrated the
superiority Of his pump handle con-
triyance with its strong leverage its
regularity and its strong, steady beat,
bsat beat, with two light hampers upon
adjacept spots. When they knocked
OF tie mold these same authorities
found that Challoner was right. This
bit Of concrete wall was as solid as If
Il hsdt been cut out of smooth azoic
rock. SO they called out:
AL right. Challoner. Try It ony'
ChAIloner tried it on the big wall. It
worked like a charm.
At the nav WindQW at the end OF