Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-07-28

that II was not 1ncOmpetenCy tnat was
taking the two senior engineers back
to the home Office. He had half ex.
pected to find the working end in the
same disorganized condition as Its
chiefs. But if Gregson and Thorne had
been laboring under a tremendous
strain of some kind It. was not reflected
In the company's work. as shown in
the Office records which the latter had
spread out before him.
That's big six months work." said
Thorne when they had finished. Good
Lord. man. when we first came up
here jack rabbit couldn't hop through
this place where you're sitting, and
now see what we've got-tifty cabins.
four mess balls. two of the biggest
warehouses north of Winnipeg, post
Office. a hospital. three blacksmith
shops and-a shipyard!'
"a shipyard!" exclaimed Rowland in
genuine surprise.
Sure. with fifty ton ship half built
and frozen stir In the ice. You can
finish her in the spring. and you'll find
her mighty useful for bringing supplies
from the head of the Wekusko, We're
using horses on the ice now. Had a
deuced hard time In getting fifty Of
'em up from LIE Pas. And, besides all
this. we've got six miles of roadbed
built to the south and three to the
north We've got a sub-camp at each
working end. but most Of the men still
prefer to come In at night" He drag
ged himself slowly and painfully to his
feet as a knock sounded at the door.
THAT'S Macdonald. our camp super
intendent." he explained. Told him
to be here at g. He's a corker for TAX
ing hold of things"
A little. wiry. red headed man hop.
ped in as Thorne threw open the door.
The moment his eyes fell on Rowland
he sprang forward with outstretched
hand. smiling and bobbing his head.
"Howland. Of course!" he cried.
"Glad to see you! Five minutes late
awful sorry-but they're having the
devils own time over at coyote we're
going to blow this morning. and that's
what kept me-"
From Rowland he whirled on the
senior with the sudden movement of
q cricket.
Flows the arm. Thorne? And II
there's any mercy in your corpus tell
me If Jackpine brought me the ciga.
rettes from LIE Pas. II he forgot them,
as the mail did, I'll have his life as
sure
HE brought them" said Thorne
"But how about this coyote. Mac7
thought it was ready to fire."
so it ts-now. The south ridge Is
scheduled to go up at 10 o'clock. Well
blow up the big north mountains
some time tonight. It'll make glo
rious fireworks-125 barrels Of powder
and four f1fty.pound cases Of dyna-
mite-and II you can't walk that far
Thorne. We'll take you up on a sledge
Mustn't allow you to miss it,
Sorry. but I'll have to. Mac. I'm
going south with the mail"
Macdonald seemed to be the life and
law of the camp. and he wondered
more and more at Thorne's demeanor.
He began to note that there was q
strange nervousness about Thorne
when they were among the men. an
uneasy alertness In his eyes. as though
he were looking for some particular
face among those they encountered.
II want Rowland to see this south
coyote so up" said Macdonald. "Can
you spare him? Well be back before
noon"
Certainly" replied Thorne. "Come
and take dinner With me at r."
Rowland fancied that there was a
certain tone Of relief in the seniors
voice, but he made no mention of 1t to
the superintendent as they walked
swiftly to the scene Of the blowout"
The coyote was ready for firing when
they arrived. The coyote itself-a tun.
mel of fifty feet dug into the solid rock
Of the mountain and terminating in a
chamber packed with explosives-was
closed by masses Of broken rock, ram
med tight, and Macdonald showed his
companion where the electric wire
passed to the fuse within.
Its a COMPOUNDED mystery to me
why Thorne doesn't care to see this
ridge blown up!' he exclaimed 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 1900 square
yards Of rock to come out Of there and
6.OOO out Of the other. You don't see
shots like those three times In q life
time. and there'll not be another for US
between here and the bay. What's the
matter with ThOrne?"
Without waiting for a reply Mac
Donald walked swiftly in the direction
Of ridge to the right. Already guards
had been thrown out on all sides of
the mountain and their thrilling warn
ings of "Fire. fire. fret" shouted
through megaphones Of birch bark.
echoed with ominOus meaning through
the still wilderness. where for the time
all work had ceased. On the top of
the ridge half hundred Of the work
men had already assembled. and as
Rowland and the superintendent came
among them they fell back from around
q big, fat bowlder on which was sta
toned the electric battery. MacDon-
aids face was flushed and his eyes