The Dolores star. [volume] (Dolores, Montezuma County, Colo.) 1901-current, 1917-09-21

eaFtA - ossvs ~ braces beA1na ~
palisads: . bank of earth wus piled
up behind II - whieA ssssy - Who
could b. Dare1 1fo1 othoe taann even
the eAis1s themselves, labursa WITH
breathless ensrgy. m water was still
rising. although tAe rain bad stopped
the natural drainage would Gauss that,
but the riss mas slower.
~ dawn vandsventse persuaally
carefully measured tAs dspth e the
water and gauged Il again. Il WAS q
scant nix and Q half fest below he top
Of the dam. II ths water roe above
tho top II was sravsiy quest1ooable
whether the palisade would hold Il ut
an. yet there was no other way Of In
creasing the depth Of the spiIlway
enough to discharge the Hood volume.
Working - hard a. they could, they
had barely succeeded In raising the
earth bank back Of it o foot high.
They kept at II unremittingly, although
Il did not seem to DO of much use.
vandeventer, Stafford and Meade gath
cred together and scanned the sky,
seeking to discern the signs Of the
time, the purpose Of the heavens. It
was clearer In the east. The clouds to
the northwestward were In violent ac-
ton apparently. Lightning flashed
through them and over the. great range
itself; low, muttered peals Of thunder
came down from the peaks lost to sight
In the blackness overhead. They OBJ
served all this carefully and vande-
venter turned away, shaking his head.
II don't know" he began-ths three
Of them were over on the east side
the better to see mp the valley-'it
looks pretty bad, doesn't t?'
at does" answered Meade, while
Stafford nodded his head.
"And. BY the way. Stafford. have you
notified the town and the bridge people
of the danger and bid them prepare
for lit"
II tried to telephone them q while
ago. but the connection has been bro
ken: the storm has played havoc with
the line probably" answered the as
sistant engineer.
swell, what did you do thenr' asked
vandeventer a little impatiently.
II sent q man down on horseback in
a hurry to warn them that II It rains
again the dam might go. and II 1t did
II would go with rush that the water
was now only six feet below the level,
and that they had better get mp on the
hills. OF course. last nights rain must
have made the road almost impossible,
but he ought to get there by nine
O'Clock. I told him to tell the Martlet
people to take whatever steps they
could devise to hold their viaduct and
their machinery" answered Stafford,
as he turned and walked toward his
own part Of the dam.
''Good," exclaimed vandeventer.
"There's nothing left for us to do but
keep on"
The resident engineer looked white
md haggard. Although 1t was cold
and raw In the wet air. he wiped the
sweat from his forehead.
'The men are doing splendidly. SIR"
said Meade.
EYES," said vandeventer. ''many Of
them have their wives and children
back In the town. Some of the Ital-
ians have bought land on the prairie
and are going to settle here. They're
fighting for everything they've got on
earth. What do you think Of the
chances Of this palisade Of oursr'
Meade shook his head.
cts all we can do. sir, but If the
water rises more than seven or eight
feet"
''Say It," said vandeventer.
'"The dam would 60 like . house Of
cards."
Exactly. And look at that cloud
bank over there In the northwest. It's
spreading"
'What wind there is." said Meade,
moistening his finger and holding 1t
up to feel the direction, sis blowing
the opposite way down here, but you
can't tell what Is happening up there.
Well. all we can do Is to fight on"
And fight they did. 1t was almost at
first sight like the hand Of man against
the hand Of God. There was no more
room for engineering expedient It
was chop and hew, break and pound,