The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-05-19

And th.rr were thoughts personal rs IN
we'll as general. If he died. whether 81
successful or not. men would tel ah"u'
hi, cudrayor. 81" would near II :,
came to him aftcrward. VIE" H. pi
learned how she had looked down upon
him ~ ne ran. that he had somehow n
rnlr her presence. not 81 presence I'M
milling him - look M. but presence W
rrfyin., him ON. lie lost his hat. h' TORE r.
off his long coat and threw II ASIDE II
~ no uIun-rd on with his precious ha- /
in his hand. He did not dare /" loon Il
or his watch. he did not stop i"r any :
thing hut il seemed that he must nave 4
sp,ut hours in that mad ScrambI" over L
the varpr-covrrcd rocks. He h'aN'u Y
deep breath of relief when he r""iI''" e
the mesa and struck the trail ~" ~
WAS the going it was nothing To what 4
/ they had passed over.
/ Presently he broke out int" the open
/ slope and there before him was NV
rounded curve of the hOghack To gam
which ne had riskcd 50 much. Were
they in time? Yes, the water III Inc
lake was not flowing, il WAS only RS
ing Evidently the dam still held. ii"
ran along il till he reached tn" mar
rnyypst mart of il. twenty feet VIDE
between watcr-covcred valley ana
sharply descending ravine. The short
est separation between Picket WIZ"
land the Kicking Horse! The water III
the lake was within three feet OF IN"
crest, The rain was coming down
stcodfIv. He could realize by the wa .
fer level where he stood that it must .
; he Iapping the top of the dam now
or little above it. He had five MN
utes-ten at most. He was stu III
time. The thoughts came to him as he
, ran. And as he saw the place again
= he made his instant plan.
, He laid the dynamite down just as
| Murphy and Funaro reached him anu
!. stood painting. their heavy breathing,
f the sweat mingling with the rain In
+ their wet faces. evidenCing their eN-
X haustion. From Murphy. who had been
: the faster, Meade took the two TRIPOD
t. legs. stout oak slaves about an inch
5 and a half thick, with sharp metal
o points. He jammed them down into
e the ground about five feet from the
edge of the Kicking Horse ravlne ana
IS about fifteen feet apart.
p Holes, there" he shouted, deep
e, enough for five cartridges"
lie Funaro nodded. He knew exactly
w what to do Murphy had often seen
I'd the explosive gang ut work. lie was
a ouick-witted and he had only TO follow
IS, the Italians actions. The work was
a. simple Selling their spades, the two
to men cut into the sod, using the pick
H. 10 dislodge small powders and break
;" ND the earth. The soil was light and
porous, and 1t had been well soaked
lie, by the rain. After they had made III
ur excavation about two feet deep, they
laid aside their shOvels, and with the
al iron range pole as starter and th'
bigger tripod stakes to follow, the!
made two deep holes in the ground
forcing the pole and then the stalk
into the earth, which the COntinuin;
is, rain tended to soften more and more
Ill. They made these holes about four fee
ed deep below the excavation, driving i
'as and twisting and churning the stake
ian by main strength.
di- They could by no means nave accom-
IN. plished this save for the Softening a'
zen sistance of the rain and the furiOu
in energy they applied. They had bee
the working since four In the morning /
not the dam, they had made that dithcu
ad, run at headlOng speed, yet they Lahore
ept like men possessed. They even waste
breath to call challengingly and pr
ite, vokingly and to set forth their prosre
no each TO the other. In almost less tin
vas than it takes to tell it, they had col
bo, Melted the holes and so informed Il
engineer triumphantly.
COS Meade. as usual. had reserved
how himself the more dangerous, if less {
liant duouS task. Covering himself wi
bir big Murphy's discarded slicker, viii
q as fell over him like shelter tent as
,stv knelt down, he opened the box
, of dptonatOrS, selected one. and attach
Of the fuse in position carefully. IN
the he unfolded the paper about one OF I
NOT cartridges and placed the detOnat
hing wrapping the paper around it the
the after. He prepared two cartrid;
and this way with the greatest care.
nary The men rapidly but carefully
had Sits in the covering of the cartride
story and lowered four cartridges down e;
and hole, forcing them gently into pl
pack. with the butt ends Of the tripod STA
ncer. and COMPRISING them 50 that Il
lyna- filled the holes completely. II
Y. If Meade placed his two prepared stl
= m with the dctonatOrs on top of the OF
the four. He cut the fuse +" the pr"
mo Ien,th i'm each case. and. Keeping
rer- carefully covered with the raincoat
heSi- held il while th" others filled III
way holes and the excavations ana @
, and fully taprpcd down IA" earth MI
had rrmaincd was the liGhtin- of the /
And And ther? Would the dynamite
h his off? With fuses il was uncertain II
notion nj boost. and although Il
went fuses were supposed To be :" prep'
town as To be independent "f weather
Idren ditious. more often than not
,yould Spuilrd blast. If this blast faiI'
: act was good-hy dHm-go"d-hy "veryti
IF the Meade drew out from the pock'