The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-02-11

In the glow of the light the girls
face shone pale and tense. They had
gone twenty PAGES in the chamber.
Suddenly he stopped.
You're not afraid, are your" be
asked.
.'No-o-O-o-not afraid. only-two
hundred cases OF Dynamite
He laughed again, with Joyous
ring Ia his voice, and in this moment
as they stood alone under the noun
tain, with the faint glow OF the lantern
lighting up their faces, it seemed the
most natural thing in the world for
him to take the little hand that still
chung to his arm.
''It can't hurt as, he said. NYou
could build q bonfire in here and moth
ing would happen. Look He held
the lantern high above his head. and
she saw that the rock wall of the
chamber was four or i've feet above
them. 1.-THE dynamite and the pOws
der are under US, he went on, with
the exception of fifty cases which are
piled up at the end OF this chamber.
There's ten feet Of space here, and the
chamber is twenty feet wide. 1t runs
back a hundred yards under the noun
tain. The dynamite and the powder
are covered over with six feet OF ce.
ment and broken rock The wire goes
under ground just outside the mouth
of the chamber, and causes the explo-
sion from. BENEATH Now" He
was talking to her eagerly In his en-
thusiasm. "Now-by leaving this air
chamber-we viii get more than one
explosion. There will be three or four,
where II there were no air-chamber,
and no vent, there would be but ONE,
and we would lose three times the ex-
plosive force we will now get. The
first or second explosion will explode
the fifty cases Of dynamite back there
at the end of the chamber. BY George,
it ought to rip thunder out Of the
mountafn!"
by George. IT WILL" she cried.
and for an instant he felt her fingers
tighten about bis own.
I'll beg your pardon" he stam-
mered.
For what?" she demanded. BE
enough in real work to FORGET
YoURSELF7 It's glorious! wish
were a man. II were ibid do
mething-somethfng big-like blow
ing up mountains, building rail-
roads"
"You really think it's big?'' he asked
in whisper. thought-you
know"
Eyes, / know what you thought" the
girl interrupted, as he hesitated.
Everyone thinks the same. II ! were
man I'd BE q mani"
This time he could not see that curl
Gus Tightening of her lips.
"I1l show you the dynamite, - he
suggested. You're not afraid?"
mo"
He led her deeper into the chamber.
No sound came to them now. In the
intensity Of the silence he could hear
the girl at his side breathing quickly,
and when he raised the lantern above
his head he saw that her eyes we're
wide open, and their pupils big and
dark. a moment more and the Ian
tern glow began to reveal row upon
row Of boxes in their path.
That's the dynamite" he said, and
his voice sounded hollow and unreal.
ugh! shuddered his companion,
and he felt her pressing closer to him.
Almost In the same breath she clutched
his arm with her free hand. WHAT
WAS THAT7"
Nothing" he began-and stopped.
He had heard the sound, faint at
first, like a shovelful of gravel falling
upon the rock floor behind them. It
was followed now by strange rush
ing sound that seemed to send throb
through the mountain, and Philip
whirled toward the mouth OF the coy
ote. Back there he should still have
seen the pale light of day fltering
through the outlet. n place OF that
- all a
held the lantern behind him, and
looked hard. 1t was still black, and
there rushed over. him 8 feeling OF
horror. II he had been alone he
would have cried out, and would have
run like mailman to the place where
the light should have been. In fash
he knew what had happened. A rock
had loosened over the mouth OF the
chamber, letting down slide OF rock
and earth. They were shut IN! he
tried TO speak calmly, but Miss Rod
ney had felt the thrill Of horror that
passed like an electric shock through
his body.
IT guess it was q little dirt falling
over the mouth OF the tunnel he said.
sI'm afraid you'll have to soil your
dress getting out, Miss Rodney, and
incidentally you'll have the pleasure
of seeing me work for few minutes.
Miss Rodney did not reply as they
retraced their steps. The lantern light
revealed the coyote vent choked with
earth aud broken trap, and when Phil
10 saw the trap, wedged and crushed
in the hole. he placed the lantern on
the floor. so that the girl could not see
his face. He dared not speak for .
moment, and turned from her to strip
on his coat. With little CRY Miss
Rodney sprang to the lantern. and IN
another moment she was holding It
close to his face, staring into his hor-
ror-hiled eyes. His fare was as white
as death, and his ii were set u .
hard. tense line. In the girls face
Philip did not see what be had ez-
pected to see. She said nothing. Her
eyes were almost black The lantern
shook in her hand. He knew that she
had seen in his face all that he could
have told her, and yet in her own
, there was none Of the weakness that
he had feared. It was like a white