The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-04-15

time without hatred.
why have you come into my life?
Why do you begin 20 play a part in
itT she whispered. as II In terror.
Suppose you let me assist you up
the bank. Mademoiselle. before / an
swer your question. We can hardly
discuss that matter here" said Hilary.
She seemed TO recover her self-pos-
session. There is no need to answer
me- she replied scornfuhy. Never
theless she permitted him 10 brush the
dust from her skirt and to give her
his hand. They scrambled up the side
Of the gorge and stood breathless upon
the road again. Far away Hilary
heard the crash of the logs, flung over
the dam and shooting toward the boom.
Madeleine Rosny turned and faced
Hilary. 'Well, monsieurT she de-
manded.
ut is because / want us to be
friends" he said. And he took the
girls hand frankly in his.
She let II lie there for a moment,
gazing at him in establishment and
puzzlement. Then. to Hilary's sur
prise, he saw the look Of fear come
into her eyes again.
at is too late she whispered.
"Surely not, mademoiselle. We have
misunderstood each other, perhaps,
but"
Il tell you II is toe lste. Oh, why
did you not come to ne and say this
before?" she cried, and suddenly broke
into understandable sobblng. II thought
you were grasping and wicked. and
hated you / wished you evil. Look
to your booml No. let me go, mon
sieur Look to your boomr"
And. snatching her hand away, she
ran, still sobbing wildly, down the
road. leaving Hilary staring after her
in uncomfortable dismay.
He could not understand her mean
ing, though her last words SIN rang
in his ears. He watched her as she
fed through the trees like a hunted
deer. She was out of his sight around
the bend of the road almost in an in
stant, her shoulders heaving and her
hands Outstretched in blind panic be-
fore her.
Hilary heard the shouts of the work
Ten still more plainly. rising above the
awful smashing of the logs. Then,
while he still looked after Madeleine,
there came a sound louder than any
he mad heard. rivaling that of the ex-
plosion itself, as If Thor's hammer had
Changed upon leaden anvil. as If the
earth were rent In twain like stitched
garment.
There was no need to wonder what
had occurred. Hilary began running
down the road. His eyes were fixed
ahead where the log boom lay rent like
a straw pipe. and the great burden of
logs which the Rocky river had borne
so long was plunging down the cata-
ract.
He ran. on. breathless, and the stu
pendous spectacle went on before his
eyes. A mighty barrier, piled up for
a few moments against the rocks that
spanned the cataract, gave promise of
arresting the debacle. Behind 1t the
logs spun and twisted. All the freight
Of the river. far back from the hills,
was sweeping onward. an irresistible
army. forging past stone and boulder,
whose cement wall was now SUBJ
merged, swept by the milk-white tor
rent to where had been the boom. The
clashing Of the logs against that wood
en- wall was like battering rams against
a city wall. Then swiftly, as Hilary
still ran. he saw the picture dissolve.
The wall of logs went down into the
cataract, and a column Of spray rose
higher than the fiume, flared funnel
wise and caught the sunlight into pris-
matically banded hues like rainbow,
and went down.
Over the cataract swept the logs, un-
impeded now. The river had burst its
chains and spewed its burdens into the
Gulf. Fanlike, the lumber began to
spread and stain the gray st. Lawrence
surface with mottled brown.
Hilary reached the waste place be-
side the mill. The workmen stood
there, impOtently watching the ruin of
their toll. II was the wreck of every
thing. There could be no hope of build
ing up the boom In the face of that
torrent of water until the river was
lew enough for the closing of the dam
gates TO keep II pent back. And long
before that time the entire lumber
load of Rocky river would be In the
Gulf. Hilary looked on In embittered
silence. He might as well give up now
and go home. Brousseau and Nature
had united to thwart him.
The workmen had been Joined by
the mill hands, who had left their
work and hurried down to the boom
when the catastrophe occurred. They
seemed all to have lost their heads.
They were chattering excltedly; Hill
airy could not understand word. but
Connell started and looked about him.
"What is itf' Hilary asked.
where's Jean Baptiste?' said Lafe.
II don't know. He set off the dyna-
mite, and that ended his lob. Why?"