The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-07-13


lA at him 6xedly from out Of
S1S( impenetrable gloom. an ogre
2) ish, cleaning thing that
brought life back into him with
thrill Of horror, was Howland's first
vision Of returning consciousness. 1t
was dead front of.yAitas onyasl6yel
with his face-a ball of yellow FIRE
that seemed to burn into his very
soul He tried to cry out. but no
sound fell from his lips. He strove
10 move. to fight himself away. but
there was no power Of movement In
bis limbs. The eye grew larger. He
saw that II was SO bright II cast q
halo. and the halo widened before
his own staring eyes until the dense
gloom about 1t seemed to be melting
away. Then be knew. 1t was Ian
tern in front Of him. not more than
ten feet away. Consciousness flooded
him, and he made another effort to cry
out, to free his arms from en- invisi-
BILE clutch that held him powerless.
At first he thought this was the clutch
of human hands. Then as the lantern
light revealed more clearly the things
about him and the outlines Of his own
figure he saw that 1t was a rope. and
he knew that he was unable to cry
out because Of something tight and
SuhOcating about his mouth.
The truth came to him swiftly. He
had come up to the coyote on sledge.
Some one had struck him. He re-
membered that men had half dragged
him over the rocks, and these men
had bound and gagged him and left
him here with the lantern staring him
In the face. But where was he? He
shifted his eyes. straining to pene-
trate the gloom. Ahead Of him just
beyond the light there was a black
wall. He could not move his head.
but he saw where that same wall
closed in on the left. He turned his
gaze upward. and it ended with that
same imprisoning barrier Of rock.
Then he looked down. and the cry Of
horror that rose in his throat died in
q muffled groan. The light fell dimly
on a sack-two Of them-three-a
tightly packed wall Of them.
He was imprisoned in the coyote. and
the sacks about him were filed with
powder. He was sitting on something
hard-a box-ffty pounds of dynamite.
The cold sweat stood out in beads on
his face. glistening in the lantern glow.
From between his feet thin. white.
ghOstly line ran out until it lost itself
in the blackness under the lantern. 1t
was the fuse. leading to the box Of dy-
Mantle on which he was sitting
Madly he struggled at the thongs
that bound him until he sank exhaust
ed against the row of powder sacks at
his back. Like words of fire the last
warning of Meleese burned in his
brain. you must go tomorrow-tomor-
row-or they will kill you" And this
was the way in which he was to die
There famed before his eyes the terri
BILE spectacle which he had witnessed
few hours before-the holocaust Of fire
and smoke and thunder that had dis
rupted mountain. a chaos of with
Ing. twisting fury. and in that moment
his heart seemed to cease its beating
He closed his eyes and tried to calm
himself Was it possible that there
lived men so fendish as to condemn
him to this sort of death? Why had
not his enemies killed him out among
the rocks? That would have been
easier. quicker, less troublesome. Why
did they wish to torture him? What
terrible thing had he done? Was he
mad. mad, and this all terrible night
mare, raving and unreal contortion
Of things in his brain? In this hour Of
death question after question raced
through his head, and he answered no
one of them. He sat still for a time.
scarcely breathing. There was no
sound save the beating of his own