The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1919-03-29

lOiSCu " uiOp Hlp uHtChOI oAu w ~ 4
tightly with both hands to the It,
He had not contemplated such diff
Guilty.
He dared not release one hand with
which to fasten the cut rope to the
ring-bolt, because he leaned~-overbal-
anced-aboye the abyss. He dared not
wait, as each minute cost him SO
much strength; so he must, perforce,
release one hand to accomplish any
thing Tugging desperately. he man
aged to fiatten the suit on one side
and to hug little closer the face
OF the dam; balancing there, he tight
ened his grip on the bolt, and with
quick downward movement caught the
broken rope where it dangled from
under the arms of his suit. He
grasped the ring with both hands lust
as he swayed over the cliffs, and it
seemed to him for moment that his
arms would be torn from their sock
cts by the strain.
Desperately his fingers worked I'M
til he knotted the rope in the ring.
At last he was secure from the aw-
full fear of falling, the rope pulling
straight away from his chest and hold
ing him securey. Slowly, cautiously,
ne commenced cutting the suit at the
knees with the knife from his belt,
and managed to kick Off the heavy
lead shoes, one at time, standing
now on his stockinged feet. Still more
slowly, for his strength was not what
1t had been, he ripped up the suit on
the side under the arm-pits and out
to the wrist, where it was held by
heavy rubber bands. The great he'll
met swung and rolled at the end of
the rope, and finally rested just where
his feet should stand.
Free at last; but free to do what?
The blows from the pile-driver had
Jolted the mattress down until the
hole was closed; but the water still
streamed through the openings in the
brush, and, unless the interstices
should be closed with rock and &C.
ment, 1t was plain to all who watched
that the river would not reach the
crest of the dam in time. A supply
OF this material was dumped slowly
along the slanting face of the mat
tress, and at last the water began to
gain. Right over the section of the
dam where Dakus stood on the ledge
below, one course Of the masonry was
unfinished for space of so feet; but,
when the stream began pouring over
this lower part, 1t was estimated that
there would be ample in race-ways to
complete the conditions of the CON
tract. So Dakus, as he slowly made
his way along the ledge, was now
under the fall of this water as it
poured over the edge above. He
could never tell how he made the
last ten feet. He continued to move
along the narrow ledge, although he
knew OF no goal to which he might at
tain; he could scarcely hope to crawl
to either end and then climb the face
Of the wall to the crest Of the dam.
Blindly, gropingly, he crept along, the
increasing volume of water pounding
harder each minute on his head and
shoulders. Foot by foot, and, towards
the last, inch by inch, he struggled.
climbing like limpet, his face
pressed against the rock as he
dragged himself slowly, strangling-
choking-all sense and reason gone
except the blind animal instinct to
fight for life. Something hard blocked
his way, and he found he had reached
the side of the race-way, and, to his
intense joy, discovered that he was in
the corner where the ledge ended,
partly sheltered from the falling wa
ter by the masonry of sort of tower
where the hinges of the race-way
were embedded.
Bolivar, Gould and the United
States Engineer had left the scow and
now stood on the race-way, intently
watching the rising water, so that
none of them noticed poor Dakus. as
he stood almost directly under their
feet, hidden by the thin veil of broken
water The engineer glanced at his
watch and remarked quietly:
We'll, gentlemen, l think you will
make it,"
Bolivar did not seem to hear him.
for his eyes were fixed on something
below, as though it were a ghost.
my God, men!" he almost shrieked.
Look there: what is that?"
Gould. with great presence of
mind, shouted to the engineer, as his
glance followed Bollivar's rigid, out.
stretched arm:
It's Dakus! Get me that rope!" AS
the gray-haired, compactly-built en-
gineer sprang to help. Bolivar shout
ed to the foreman:
Run here, all hands; here's Da-
kus!" He pointed down into the wa.
ter.
For second the foreman stood
picture of uncertainty, then shouted
back:
THE mattress still leaks; II we stop
it will be too late to save the pre-
MUM"
.'D-n the premium!" shouted Bolli-
var, in perfect frenzy of excitement
Save this poor fellow; let the pre-
MUM 80 and I'll pay the Forfeit"