The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-03-17

man.
Meade. ST.. was thankful that the
/ younger man had not said Il told You
-u" n- we'll H. might. Bur really his
..-..r- .. '." was SD p'tuI that
-.. ~.. a.. heart.
.....-~.. E.-tla. g.. .. .om-
pany ar once. =. 1~Ecr..
"What shall We say" e.. ... o.f
man. uncertainty.
The Young man shot quic', look at
him. that question evidenced the viu-
louce of the shock. His father was
old. broken, helpless, dependent, ut
last.
Give me the blank" he answered.
I'll wire in your name"
He repeated the telegram thar he
had sent 10 his father and added these
words aS he signed the old mans
name To il:
Put no more load on the bridge. With
draw men and traveller.
Il can't understand why We don't
hear" said the young engineer TWO
hours later, walking up and down The
room in his agitation. Two kilograms
and now We can't get a telephone con
nection. or at least any answer after
our repeated calls"
Its Il holiday there as well as here"
said the older man, There is no one
in the Office at Martlet"
I'll try the telephone again. Some
one may come in at any time"
He sat down at the desk, and after
five minutes of feveriSh and excited
waiting he finally did get the office of
the Martlet Bridge company. By Il
happy fortune it appeared that some
one happened to come into the office
just at that moment.
This is Meade" began the young
man, the consulting engineer of the
International bridge. Well, at ten
thirty this morning l sent n telegram
To Colonel IllingwOrth and an hour
later | sent another. What's that?
Both kilograms are on the desk? Give
me your name-JohnSon-y one
of the clerks there? Well. telephone
Colonel IllingwOrth at his home
what. He isn't at home? Is the vice
president thpre-the superintendent
anybody? How far away are they?
Twenty miles, There's no telephone?
Now, listen. Johnson. this is what you
must do. Get a car, the strongest and
fastest you can rent and the bOldest
chauffeur, and a couple of men on
horses too, and send up to that place
wherever they are, and tell Colonel
IllingwOrth that he must telephone me
and come TO his office at once. There
are kilograms there that mean life or
death and the safety Of the bridge.
You understand? Good. He says he'll
do IL. father. We've done all we
can" he added. He hung up the re-
ceiyer, sprang to his feet, looked at
his watch. ITS so important that I'll
go down there myself. l can catch the
two O'Clock train, and that will get me
there in two hours. You stay quietly
here in the office and wait until l get
in touch with those people. l mean. |
want TO know where l can reach you
instantly"
I'll stay right here, my boy. Go,
and God bless you"
As usual when in a great hurry
there were unexpected delays and the
clock on the tower above the big struc-
tural shop was striking five when a
rickety station wagon. drawn by an ex-
hausted horse, which had been driven
unsparingly, drew up before the office
door. Flinging the money at the driver,
Meade sprang down from his seat and
dashed up the steps. He threw open
the door end confronted Johnson.
Did you get him?" he cried.
'He isn't here yet. 1 sent an auto
mobile and two men on horseback
and"
The next minute the faint note of
an automobile horn sounded far down
the valley.
Il hope to God that is he" cried the
young engineer, running to the win
dow.
That's the car I sent" said John
son. peering over his shoulder. And