Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-08-04

$) ish, cleaning thing that
brought life buck into him with a
thrill Of horror. was Howland's first
vision Of returning consciousness. 1t
was dead in front Of him. on a level
, 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 bis lips. He strove
to move. to fight himself away. but
there was no power Of movement In
his limbs. The eye grew larger. He
saw that It was so bright 1t cast a
halo. and the halo witlened before
his own staring eyes until the dense
gloom about It seemed to be melting
away. Then he knew. 1t was Ian
tern In front OF him. not more than
ten feet away. Consciousness flooded
him. aud he made another effort to cry
out. to free his arms from en- tnvisi-
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 be saw that It was rope. and
he knew that he was unable to cry
out because Of something tight and
SuffOcating 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-
memberei tina: 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 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 be looked down. and the cry Of
horror that rose In his throat died in
a muffietl groan. The light fell dimly
on sack-two Of them-three-a
tightly packed wall Of them.
He knew now what had happened.
He was imprisoned in the coyote, and
the sacks about him were filed with
powder. he was sitting on something
hard-a box-fifty 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 1t 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
bis back. Like words Of fire the last
warning OF Meleese burned in bis
brain. you must 20 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
row-or they will kill your 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. 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 flendish us 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 u terrible night
mare, a raving aud 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 time.
scarcely breathing There was no
sound save the beating Of his own