The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-06-02
Don't 90. cricG Murphy.

But Meade shook them off and hade
them keep back What was his dam
Ter compared TO the issue involved?
That last charge had t. be exploded.
He stepped quickly toward it. and as
he did 50 hv threw his eyes up toward
the gray, rain-hllcd heaven in one last
appeal.
Did he hear The blind roar, did he
see the uphur~GuS masses of Soddcu
earth was he conscious Of the fact
that the whole side Of the hillock had
been blown away. that the last c1plo-
sion had completed the shutteriug work
of the tir>t-lhHt they had succeeded?
Did he mark The WhrIlng water. driv-
en- backward at first by HE violence of
the explosion. returning and rolling in
vast mass through the great opening,
did he see it plunGing down the slope,
through the trees ana bushes. and
pour thunicrOuSIy into the bed Of the
rayine? 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 foamiug, ter
ribIe, 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 bowldcr that had been
thrown upward by The explosion and
had struck him on the breast, and
lying battered under Il rain Of smaller
stones and earth, lie was us one deud.
"By heavens" cried Winters in great
excitement on the crest Of the hill,
hes done it. HE'S saved the dam;
that's a man."
Don't you know him?' screamed
Helen IIlingWOrth in his ear.
No"
MEADE :"
Winters caught her by the arm.
Hes dead" she cried high and
ShrI. but he saved the dam and the
bridge and the town. He's made atone
ment."
Yes, yes; don't faint" cried Win
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 VAL
ley?
Hold it, men, hold it; for Gods
sake, hold it," shouted Vandeventer,
rising from his crouching position
against the palisade to resume it
instantly he had spoken. keep 1t
up. If it goes down, let's go down with
it. Hang on-hang on! Wen hold it.
We aren't beat yet"
Broken words, oaths, protestations,
curses, cheers, explosives 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. Here
and there man not weaker phys
ically, perhaps, but less resolute. less
spiritually consecratcd, 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 We're 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,
1t 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 l,enk
Of mighty range. What had happenedf
''Here," said Vandeventer.
How white he looked, how haggard,
streaks of cray in his black hair that
had not been there before, but his eyes
were blazing. He was still the indom-
liable chief of the Spartan band. The
nearest men gave him a hand. He
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 1t, yet it was true. The
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 dam
was doomed. The water still trickled
through the palisades in many small
streams. That had been q gallant eff
fort they had made, even if vain one.
For ten minutes he stood silent, ex-
hausted. Then he saw. The water
was not rising. No, it was falling:
only a trite, but enough. Presently 1t
had stopped filterinS through the re-
vctment. He looked back. Not drOD
ran on the other side of the palisade.
knew that the water must
be discharging somewhere. The lake
must have broken through somewhere.
JJn only nna5c6 fbot hint to ronnII ~,