The Ordway new era., 1916-07-14

/, ,oyner of the superstition. Hating on
tha way. he dashed up into Seasrue.
room and told him what had nappeno.'
..The main tunnel Ct the SupeIsu-
uon mine has collapsed. ne ciio
"We're on the way out IN ca.
| ph,nelander. Storm and crew d 'no
men are caught insiGe'
sorry to hear that said seasiue'
shortly. GO on. port lose any .mn
Iu follow" He called to ms sei'a
for his coat and hat as tho a'o'o,
ran out. Putting on the coat ne ns
totcd changed his mind. ana deciueu
not to 20. He threw his hat ana c'a'
an the table again and sat down.
In the tunnel the men had oeen
caught like rats In trap.
ser;ols as their situation was. nohe
| -, them lost their heads. AID Rhihe-
lander and Storm. in particuiar-
| neither CT them unused TO great pe,"
we're calrl. But what to 90 IN CIR
cuustarces so strange to them' 'he
two coult, not tell. A hurried exam
nation Of the cave-in showed .heii
exit completely cut of. This Tistor-
,,,r, however. did not paralyze their
activities.
with the two railroad men encour-
| ,,;,, them the rren worked nara 10
| cot through the obstruction in lrcht
~ ttem They toiled unremittingiy'
knowing how every hour WITHIN their
rrisca W ould lessen their chahces io'
| life. One OF the Eien. exhausteu p'
| tie labor, picked up water caH'een'
II was broken A canvass was maue
of the situation and it was found the!
had no water. Gloom settled lot
time on ther,. Thereafter. question
ing the foreman carefully. Rhineianc-
or oicke6 a place where the eNPerf
enced miner thought they might, WIN
n little work get through ana turEea
to the men. Dynamite through THIS
WALL he said.
The men began. The moment 'he
blast was ready. it was set on ara
they were back again at their drills
nrennrinc fer the next. Working thus
with frenziel energy. they tore great
holes into the tunnels side. but see.h-
insly with no hopeful result. Ana the
work was beginning to tell en- theh.
By the time they had gotten what tbey
hoped might he the final shot ready
Rbinelarder and the :piners-all IN
The tunnel except Storm-were on the
verge of collapse.
Nerved to final effort by the hope
of life, the shot was fired. No ray OF
daylight greeted their straining eyes
as the smoke thinned away. The air.
| now foul, had so overcome them that
few could crawl forward to examine
the shattered wall. One grizzled fel'
low, sturdier than his mates. stag
cerei to 1t. He locked for a moment
at the rock and cried out. Animated
by fresh hope. the exhausted men re
spordea 5y dragging themselves tc
him.
The blast had not given them the
hoped-for avenue Of escape. Bu'
broadly lined across the Jagged sur
face new dislodged. they saw starini
at them as il in mockery OF thei
state, the lost vein. the lead OF pre-
cious quartz again before them. Un
tolc riches confronted them.
Seagrue. in his rocm, had heard tn
distant report OF the explosion, but h
had been drinking of late and hi
nerves were on edge.
he strobe up and down the room r.
yoiying in his mind the situation {
the men irnirisoned within the big tul
mel, He knew enough of the mine
understand perfectly the peril of the
position and the necessity OF quic
rescue II their lives we're to be save
Further than this. he charged his mir
with nothing OF responsibility; indee
re would hardly have walked acre.
the street to save one OF the impe
lied men. Yet. strangely Iersiste
| curiosity moved him to want to knc
!. more of the fate of these who we
thus struggling for their lives.
A decauter stood CT the buffet al
ut he turned to it. While he pour
ig brandy into a glass. he heard stran
I'd ncise liz an adjoining roon-a scu
h. as II of a Einer's doublejack.
ne startled him urpleasantly. He call
as to his servant and the man, thus 1
er ruptly SUNNI oned. came quickly, C
to rying an ice pick.
or What's that noise? What are y
Fn doing?" der-anded Seagrue. harsLly
Gu The man in a half-frighteped W
NJ began to laugh. "Cnly picking a
70 tie ice, sir" he said. apologetical
Seagrue. without answering. snatch
the ice pick frc,n his hand. &C
- me my hat and coat" he exclain
with anger. Ard as the man hurri
ly produced them, he added curt
Get out" And serving himself,
- Ea1e ready to start for the mine.
,he Atten.rt after attempt en- the par
.,t Rhinelanjer. Storm and the miners
I'm open a way OF freedom was fall
me and overcome by the foul air. the n
-. oae after another, lad sunk down fl