Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1920-01-23
CHAPTER Vii.
Wook to Your Boom!"

himself or his men. Hilary, little
puzzled by the little mans sullen man.
ner toward himself, attributed it to his
personal distress at what had hap
pened in Ste. Marie. He did not know
that Baptiste was aware of his pres
ence there, and felt happy in the con-
sciousness that he had done him some
service Nothing would have pleased
him better than to have seen his suit
with Marie Dupont successful.
The strengthening Of the boom was
finished. The wooden structure had
been immensely fortified with great
trunks. lashed and nailed together,
resting in concrete which had been
nodded into the crevices Of the rocks
on either side of the cataract. Hilary
examined and approved Of the work.
1t seemed to remove all possibility of
danger.
Everything depended on the first
minute after the jam was broken. If
the torrent could be carried off through
the sluice gates, in the main, the logs
would find an easy passage over the
dam into the lake. But actually the re-
enforced boom seemed TO resist the
torrent without any likelihood of
breakage.
The charge was to be exploded at
three in the afternoon. That day Hill
ary was kept busy in his Office, going
over the pay roll in preparation for
the October changes. Gangs. of men
had been returning from the south
shore, and he had signed on a number.
He was aware that some of Brous-
seau's agents had been at work at
| tempting to dissuade them; however,
the men wanted work, and even
Brousseau could not hire them and
keep them idle upon his skeleton COM
pany at Ste. Marie. Hilary discov-
cred that the Ste Marie enterprise ex-
listed only upon that of st. Boniface,
and, like the parasitic plant, withered
when its prop and sustenance was
withdrawn.
1t was two o'clock by his watch
when he pushed his papers aside and
strolled up the path that led through
the woods toward the gorge. Hilary
had left st. Boniface behind him and
was approaching the gorge, from which
he could hear the shouts of the gang
making preparations for the discharge,
when he saw Madeleine Rosny riding
along the road toward him.
She had evidently been to the Ste.
Marie territory, and, he suspected, on
visit to Brousseau. The path was
narrow, with the descending bank of
the wooded gorge on one hand and a
steep, shelving ascent, overgrown with
young spruce and pine, upon the other
Hillary drew to one side, to give the
girl passage. He was watching the
trotting horse, now swiftly nearing
him, and wondering whether he ought
to make any sign Of recognition, when
he was almost thrown from his feet
by vibration of the ground, followed
by a. dull roar that grew into an in
fernal crescendo and rolled away un-
derground in a prolonged reverbera-
ton. The charge had been exploded.
Hilary saw the horse rear, curvet,
and then. maddened with fear, leap
wildly forward. An instant later it be-
came clear that it was no longer un-
der control. The terrified animal bolt
ed at full speed along the road to-
ward him, while the girl pluckily kept
her seat and pulled with all her might
but unavailingly, on curb and snaffle
She was a practiced horsewoman
for none other could have kept her
| arir a
backward; but no amount of skill
could avail unless the beast were got
under control before the downhill into
the village was reached. There was
gate across the track, which Hilary
had closed. Flung over this, it woulC
be a miracle If the girl escaped witt
her life.
Hilary made his decision in an in
stant, made it with the roar of tht
released torrent in his ears. and the
thunder of the breaking jam, the crasl
! Of logs hurled free and reboundins
from and buffeting one another. III
planted himself directly in the cours'
of the maddened animal, whose hoof
churned up shower of stones.
keep your seat |" he shouted to tn,
girl.
For one instant he saw her, pale
with frightened eyes, but firm in tn,
saddle, still pulling against the curb
while the open mouth, distorted b.
the bit and chain that pressed the IN
derlip, foamed, and the white of tn
eyes cleaned wickedly beneath tn
ears, fiat with the head. Then Hilar,
saw the horse rear and the shod hoof
( uprise. Then, somehow, he caugh
] the reins and leaped for the shelvin
: bank, and missed.
: He lost his foothold, but he clun
: to the reins. while the horse plunge
$ and reared, each jerk almost tearin
:. his arms from their sockets. Now h
] was swept against the branches of tn
trees that overhung the road, an
!. blinded by the swishing twigs an
s boughs. now the precipice was unde
e him, and the gorge below. where th
!; logs cracked and thundered as the
n battered their way down the rive
e He saw the girl clinging to the saddle
then to the beasts name; he tried
| hCl Will Ills DuL nO COui
not stop the bolting animal; and the
7, he was flung free, and the riderles
g horse went galloping down the roa
l. toward st. Boniface.
u He must have been stunned for
: few moments, for when he opened hi
e eyes he found himself lying upon
y ledge a little distance from the top {
Is the steep bank. On the same ledg
"a was Madeleine Rosny clinging to
q swaying sapling that overhung IL
river, and trying to rise.
y Hilary scrambled to his feet, to fir
1t that, in spite of painful bruises,
er was uninjured. He gave Madeleir
D. his hands and pulled her out of Il
branches; and they stood looking
~ each other.
d, "Your horse bolted," explaint
lie Hilary. 81 am sorry you did not kno
er about the dynamiting."
At his words q look of fear can
)" upon her face; and then it harden,
and her prav ewes flashed anprilV.