The Tomahawk., 1917-09-20
"DOn't so. trieu Atu.a.ny

them Keep BACK. w liut W;lS HIS uttl1'
ger compared to the issue involved?
That last charge had to be exploded.
He stepped quickly toward it, and as
he did SO he threw his eyes ZIP toward
the gray, rain-tilled heaven in one last
appeal.
Did he hear the blind roar, did he
see the upbursting masses Of sodden
earth, was he conscious of the fact
that the who ! side Of the hillock had
been blown away, that the last .explo-
sion had completed the shnttering work
Of the tirst-that they had succeeded7
Did he mark the whirling water, div
en- backward at first by the violence OF
| the explosion, returning and rolling in
vast c,ass through the great opening,
did he geo it plunging down the slope,
through the trees and bushes, and
pour thunderously 3nto the bed of the
ravine? Did he see the tremendous
rush of the water from the great lake
that man had created tear earth from
earth, and ever widen and deepeN the
opening as it crashed in foaming, ter
| rible, red cataract through the outlet,
striking down great trees, roaring,
boiling wildly to the bottom Of the
gorge far below?.
No. he saw nothing. Broken, beaten
down by huge bowlder that had been
thrown upward by the explosion and
had struck him on the breast, and
lying battered under rain Of smaller
stones and earth, he was us one dead.
"By heavens !" cried Winters in great
excitement on the crest Of the hill,
hes done it. He's saved the dam;
that's mani"
"Don't you know him?" screamed
Helen nlingworth in his ear.
mo"
"Meade!"
Winters caught her by the arm.
"He's dead" she cried high and
shrill, "but he saved the dam and the
bridge and the town. He's made atone
ment."
Eyes, yes; don't faint" cried WHIP
tiers.
"Faint! I'm going to him."
"How?"
'"The nearest way" screamed the
woman, letting herself down over the
cliff wall to the broken rocks, by which
only the hardy could reach the lower
level.
What of the dam below in the vals
ley?
Hold it, men, hold it; for Gods
sake. hold It," shouted Vandevcnter,
rising from his crouching position
against the palisade to resume it
instantly he had spoken. keep it
up. If it goes down, let's go down with
it. Hang on-hang on! Well hoh it.
We aren't beat yet"
Broken words, Oaths, protestat1ons,
curses, cheers, expletives In strange
languages from the polyglot mob Of
men burst forth. Even towards had
been turned into heroes because they
had fought by the side of men. Hers
and there a man not weaker phys
ically, perhaps, but less resolute, less
spiritually consecrated, less divinely
obsessed, dropped out Of the rank that
pitted itself in furious, futile, but SUBJ
lime fury against the wavering wall.
Some Of them fell backward and lay
still. Some had tainted and some of
them were half dead. A few here and
there sank down on the trampled, mud
dy embankment and buried their heads
in their hands. sobbing Historically.
But most still blind, mad, sublime,
held on. And the palisade did not fall.
It did not bend back any further.
The throb that told of the tremen-
dous pressure of the waves the culver
that experience could feel the prelude
to failure, began to die away, to stop
What did it mean? The thunder grew
still, the rain diminished, it ceased, the
clouds broke. Some great hand, as of
God, swiftly tore the black vault of
the heavens apart. Faint light began
to glow over the sodden land. Through
the rift they saw dimly one great peak
Of mighty range. What had happened1
"Here," said Vandeventer.
How white he looked, how haggard,
streaks Of gray in his black hair that
had not been there before, but his eyes
were blazing. He was still the indom-
table chief Of the Spartan band. The
! nearest men gave him hand. Flo
clambered up to his former vantage
point on top Of the highest log Of the
stockade and stared down. The rise
Of the water had stopped! He could
not believe it, yet it was true. Ths
rain had ceased again, but by every
natural law the drainage from the hills
would continue for some time in full
volume. Yes, by all rights the daE,
was doomed. The water still tricklesl
through the palisades in many sman
streams. That had been a gallant eff
fort they had made, even if a vain one,
For ten minutes he stood silent, ex-
hausted. Then he saw. The water
was not rising. No, it was falling;
only a trifle, but enough. Presently IL
had stopped filtering through the re-
vetment. He looked back. Not drop
cir aF{ @o