The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1911-07-27
The
BY JAMES OLIVER
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
CHATTER VII.
THE HOUR or DEATH.

1 RED, uuWlHklnR eye blaTlHP
at him fXedly from out OF
hs1s.=-i impenetrable gloom. an ogre.
1871 ish. cleaning thing that
brought life back into him with a
thrill OF horror. was Howland's first
vision of returning consciousness. II
was dead in front Of him. on level
with his face-a ball OF yellow fire
that seemed to burn into his very
soul He tried 20 cry out. but no
sound fell from his lips. He strove
20 move. TO 6Cht himself away, but
there was no power Of movement in
his limbs The eye grew larger He
saw that II was so bright II cast a
halo and the halo widcned before
/ his own staring eyes until the dense
/ gloom about II seemed 10 be melting
away Then he knew It WIS a Ian-
[ tern IN front of him. not more than
/ ten feet away. Consciousness flooded
/ him. and he made another effort 10 cry
[ out. 10 free his arms from an invisl-
bile clutch that held him pOwerless.
/ At tirst 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 It was a rope. and
I he knew that he was unable to cry
out hecanae Of something tight and
sunOcatlLg about his mouth.
The truth came to him swiftly. He
had come up 10 the cO"Ote on sledge.
Some one had struck him. He re-
membered that men had half dragged
him over the rocks, and these men
had hound and gagged him and left
him here with the lantern staring him
in the face. But where was he? He
shifted his eyes. strainlng TO pene-
trntc the gloom. Ahead Of him just
beyond the light there was black
pm'i He could not move his head,
but he. saw where that same wall
closed Ia on the left. He turned his
gaze upward aud Il ended with that
same imprisonlng barrier Of rock
Then he looked down ana the cry Of
horror that rose IN his throat died I'm
mullcd groan. The light fell dlmly
on sack two OF thcm-three-a
tightly packed wall % them.
He knew nuw what had happened.
He was imprisoned In the coyote. and
the sacks about him were filed with
powder He was sitting on something
hard-n box-Rfty pounds of dynamite
The cold sweat stood out In beads on
his face gllstenlnE in the lantern glow.
From between his feet thin. white
ghostly line ran out until It lost itself
in the blackness under the lantern. It
vas the fuse. leading to the box Of dy-
Mantle on which he was sitting.
Mndly 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 20 tomorrow-tOmor-
row-or they will kin you" And this
was the way I'm which he was to die.
There famed before his eyes the terri
BILE spectacle which he had witnessed
few hours bcfOrc-the holocaust Of fire
and smoke and thunder that had dis
ruptcd a mountain. q chaos Of with
Ing, twisting fury. and in that moment
Ills htbll HNflilNAl W NflNt il1 btuAllibs
He closed his eyes and tried to calm
himself, Was IL possible that there
lived men so tiendish 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. aud this all terrible night
mare, raving and unreal contortion
Of thugs In his brain? In this hour OF
death question after question raced
through his head and ne answered no
one OF them. He sat still for a time,
scarcely breathing. There was no
sound save the beating Of his own :