Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-01-31
spoke for the moment. Then she called
to the sheriff:
'Mr. Black! Oh, Mr.. Black!"

spoke FOR the moment. Then she called
to the sheriff:
''Mr. Black! Oh, Mr.. Blackv'
He strobe toward her.
eyes, yes. Miss Coyne. What is it,"
"Oh, the lights! Look, look!"
He gazed around and then back to
her. mystifed. Il see nothing wrong"
he said.
She spoke almost incoherently, as
though doubling her own mind.
1T may be-only an idea-but I
thought saw-a signal-the lights
Suddenly she grasped Black by the
arm ard, pointing to the Pickering
bulbs, cried out:
eyes, yes! Look, it Is signal. He
Is calling to us for help-there-one,
two, three, four the lights of the town
flashed up and down as she counted)-
that is H. There goes the single flash
that is E. There-see that long
drawn out flash-that is L. and there,
five quick fashes-that Is p. Oh, he Is
calling for help! He has been calling
for days, and never guessed it. Oh,
l never guessed!' Ii hi h
The faces of the mep,remained blank.
and even the sheriff did not quite grasp
her meaning. "Who is calling, Miss
Coyne?" he said. "You do not mean
- Eyes, yes-from the mountain. 1t is
the Morse code. I taught him, you
know. He has been flashing those
lights up and down and calling to us
for help all these nights, and no one
has needed it. See-H-E-L-P-there!
Do you believe it now? Oh, dear,
what shall we do; what shall We do?"
She turned and ran into the booth
and began a wild search for her code
book.
She came out, turning over the pages
of the book and tearing some Of them
in her excitement. She held up the al
phabet where all might see, and the
thickening crowd following her finger
as she pointed, spelled out the mean
ing of the flashes for themselves. But
it was stranger still and awesome
when new word came forth-a word
which opened with the letters Mad
and then terminated suddenly, leaving
the crowd which had been spelling
sturdily and the town in darkness.
It was ten miles to the canyon, and
the way over the foothills was up and
up. The mountain itself was a hard
climb in summer and no one had ever
attempted it in winter, for drifts filed
the passes End landslides often block.
ed the trail. Yet they were not PEG.
pie to stop short of impossibilities.
They built great fire on a neighbor.
ing hill in the hope that it might be
seen by the men on the mountain and
give them courage to hold out until
help arrived. Then they organized a
relief party and before midnight a
dozen men led by Sheriff Black were
halfway to the mountains foot.
They followed the wires straight
across the hills on the way that had
been blazed by the pole planters. but
on the mountain itself they were com.
PEELED to take the trail. They tied
themselves together with long rope
which they had brought for the pur.
pose and went at it like Swiss noun.
taineers. Just before dawn they
reached the "hermit's seat" which is
a fat rock jutting out above the Sec
ond plateau, and here they built fire
that those in the village might note
their progress. When day broke they
could see the pipe line which led the
water from the falls to the canyon
covered with snow and ice and CLEAN.
ing like snake in the sunshine. They
followed the pipe as long as they could
and the roar of the water within
guided them whenever the big tube
dipped out Of sight in snow bank
But presently it got away from them
altogether when it ran out on the high
trestle that spans the gully between
the upper spurs.
1T would be short cut if we could
cross that trestle," remarked Lem Git
fort, who made one of the party.
They were slipping and sliding down
the slope and the pipe. riding on the
slender framework, was then 200 feet
above their heads.
YES" remarked the sheriff dryly.
Il can think of no easier way of com
hitting suicide"
They followed the torrent that cross.
ed the gully, and rs they entered the
canyon they shouted all together to
make known their arrival. An an.
swering shout came back, reverberat.
ing like the echo of their own.
my God! Look there!"'
It was the sheriff. and he was gaz'
ing straight upward at the pipe on the
trestle where it left the embrasure in
the canyon wall. There on the brink
two men were struggling-pulling one
another backward and forward, ap
parently oblivious to the peril of their
situation. They painted and cursed
and the noise they made came down
with the pebbles that ratified on the
heads Of the men in the gulch. The
sheriff was quick to act.
1T is Richards and Joe Hutchings!'
he cried. ''They've had run in
After me, boys! TO the top! To the
top" And, with a stentorian vel! tt
the men on the trestle, he ran up the
slope, his party following perforce.
Evidently their coming put new en-
orgy into the men above, for the lat
ter redoubled their efforts. Once j
seemed that the man astride the pipe
who was Hutchings, had conquered
for with a powerful effort he go
Richards of his feet, and there wa!