Cheyenne record., 1917-07-26
CHAPTER xIx-Continued.


right" said Winters enthusiastically,
''becnuse he'd be in the thick of the
fight"
81 doubt If you can recognize any
one, even through the glass, at such
distance" said Rodney, after he had
focused it and taken q look himself.
"Yet if he were there. he certainly
would be in the thick of it. He's that
kind. You look. Dick"
81 can't see him." said Winters In
turn. "But what a fight they are max
ing to save that DAM"
"Will 1t hold?" asked the woman.
impossible" said Rodney.
II give it one hour" said Winters,
handing over the glass.
mot more than that" nssented the
other, after another look. "See for
yourself. Miss nlngworth."
From where they stood. high up on
the roof of the world. they were spec
tators of great battle, witnesses Of
a terrible contest. In which herculean
effort, desperate courage, human will,
all eXerted to the limit, finally de-
generated into blind, mechanical habit
of continuous and frenzied endeavor.
The spirit of reckless continuance had
got into them and moved them to the
Impossible. As men ir a battle, charge
go on even with wounds enough to kill
them in ordinary circumstances, as SOL
diCrS at Winchester. though shot in the
heart. actually struggled after Sher-
dan until they fell, or even us COM
mon horse may so be imbued with
blind intensity of determination that
he gAllops on until he drops dead,
80 these men gave their all in unmatch-
nhle persistence
They'd better get off that DAM" said
Rodney. when it once fails it'll go
with rush and then it'll be too late"
Look at them. They're not going
co get OFF," said Winters. They're
going down with it. Fools. God bless
'ein!" he shouted. throwing up his
arms in exultution over manhood and
courage and determination.
"Perhaps you had better go back,
Miss lllingworth," said Rodney, think
Ing of the horror she might witness at
any moment.
II wouldn't be elsewhere for the
world" said the brave girl, white but
with firm lips-she was made of the
scemed-"aven If he were there, fight
Ing that great 5uttle. 1 should wait to
see the end"
"Wc're not the only people In this
wilderness. Look yonder :" cried Win
tcrs.
He pointed down through the cease-
less rain toward the lower edge of the
mesa. There. far below him, were
three sodden figures. The water in the
lake had flooded the slope of the hill,
and on that side 1t was tapping the
base OF the cliff. The trail had, of
course. been covered. and there was no
way of progress except by taking ad-
vantage of the broken rock at the foot
Of the cliff. which here and there still
stood above the water. 1t was place
where men could only pass by carefully
choosing their way and calculating the
distance of the next point toward
which TO leap. These three were mov-
ing like mndmen. splashing through
the water. hurliug themselves from
rock to rock. falling against the wall,
II
the lake. saving themselves from
drowning apparently only by the ca
price of complacent fortune, which
they were trying to the utmost limit.
One man carried miners pick. a
spnLe AMI I surveyors range pole, the
other another Gpude and two long
stakcs which looked like the separate
legs of tripod. The bareheuded man.
who had thrown his rubber coat down
IN the reddish yellow water. carried n
good. sized oilskin bag. He was the
most hurried of the three. He ran
some distance In front of the others.
They noticed how carefully he sought
10 project the bag. When he slipped
or sec.nrd about to fall. he always
thrust II fruntically away from the
rock with 'utstrctched arm.
What the three men would be ut of
course no one knew. 1t was obvious
thar they were In n desperate hurry
and that the thing in the bag must he
carefully carried. Naturally the watch
ers connected the men with the dam
builders. They were dressed as the
men engaged in such labor would be
dressed. The pick. the spades and the
pole and stakes bore out that conclu-
sion.
whats Ia the bag" asked the
woman.
"He carries It as though 1t might
De gold or ciamonds." said Winters.
Rodney shook his head. Suddenly
ne .hvined the reason for the extreme
care with which the bag was carried.
The men were Immediately below the
three wntchers now. He could make
out pretty well what wns the SIZE and
shape Of the objects that bulgsd the
waterproof bag.
81 have It," he shouted. 'DyLamite!" !"