The evening world., 1915-01-23

ehey hoDod might protect the labopa-
tory. They were going 70 strsngthen
Il with bags Of sand. I was AFRAID hs
might como down here lAtar-And that
you might be alone and unsuspsct-
Ing"
From whore they were situns. q.
the foot Of the derrick. the great
boom leaned out over The canyon lake
with IL shadow cleanly cut on the
surface Of the water. Ballard's eye
had been mechanically marking the
limo Of shadow and IL charming POSI-
ton ~ the water-levsl rose In the rift.
Tho reservoir 10 niling mNoh faster
than I supposed Il would" hA SAID. II
cannot account for It."
There have been storms ON the
range all day." she replied father
has . series q electrical akgnal sta
uons In the upper canyon. He says
email tonight"
Ballard nodded. yet he Aas done
nStsihE ," 70 prepare for It At Castle
Absolutely nothing. except 10 re-
arrange tho house lights. And that v
anothsr proof Of what We both be-
neve. Would any sane person refuse
TO-, 70 i:!i =. his guests what was impsnd-
Again Ballard mads the sisn Of 20.
auiescsnos. but this time he aualinsd
None the less. he has prepared for
II In other ways. The cattle have ali
been driven out Of the river valley
below. and the ranch 70 deserted. And
some one told mo to-day that the mine
over yonder had been abandoned"
Hie mention OF tho Sircontum mine
found them both looking across the
chasm. when huge slice Of the dump
slid on and settled into the depths
with . splash. The kings daughter
rose. steadying herself by the hook Of
tho derrick-fall. The KSntuokian rot
upon MS feet and stood bssids her.
What do you seer ne asked.
"The door!" she said. pointing; ~
was closed when We came out here.
am sure Of iti"
II was open now. at all events; ana
presently she went on In . frightened
whisper: "I.ookl there 10 somsthing
moving--among the -binsi"
The moving object defined itself
quickly for the two at the derrick
heel. and for anothsr-young Black
lock. who was crouching behind his
block of stone directly opposite the
mine entrance. 1t took shape a. tho
"sssV W. uous eiouCu-UBtSOo 8UQ
muffled In a long coat. creeping ON
hands and knees toward the further
dam-head; creeping by inches, and
dragging what appeared 10 be q slx-
foot length Of gas-pips. Tho young
woman's whisper was full Of sharp
agony.
"Oh. Breckenridge! its father-1ust
as have seen him beforei He n TO-
Ing to DO somethins despeRAte-can't
you stop him?"
There are crises when the mind,
acting like piece of automatic ma
chnery. flies from suggestion TO con-
clusion with such lightning like ra-
pidtty that all the intermediate steps
are blurred. Ballard saw the fnchinR
advance. realised It's object, and cav
that hs would not have time to In
tervene By crossing the dam. all in
the Same instant. Another click Of
the mental mechanism ana the al
tentative hsd suggested itself. was
weighed. measured and Transmitted
into action.
The looped-up derrick-f fan was q
double wire cable. carrying q heavy
iron pulley with the hooks and Grap-
plins chain. Released from Its rope
lashings at the mast-hsel. u would
swing out and across the canyon hke
. hugo pendulum.
It was q gymnast's trick. neatly
done. Ballard forgot his bandaged
asm when he grasped the pulley hook
And DlaShed at tho roma laahinRa with