The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-12-13

comfortably again. ! had acquired a
beautiful spanked blush where | had
been blue-aII bur the great bru-Se,
ring-shaped. where rhe suction pipe
had biz me.
or course. Daddy was choek full OF
sympathy and concern. mixed up with
good bit of curiosity.
''One of the suction pipes" / ex-
planned beginning To crawl back into
my clothes Il was foolish enough 10
get under il and II grabbed and held
me. If you hadn't stopped the pumps
I'd have been gone goose. was just
about all in. as il was
We'll. you found out the pumps are
suckin' all right. anyhow, he re-
marked
They sure are: you'd think so II
you'd been where I was" Then be-
gan TO recall some of those mixed and
mingled Impressions I had gathered
What kind of soil is there under this
floor. Daddyy" asked.
Huh :" he snorted; what soil there
is on this here ledge you could mighty
near put in your eye. l reckon faint
nothin but rock. and blame hard rock
at that"
THAT was my notion. But If the
shaft f. in rock. why did they box II
SO strongly with timber? Surely there
wouldn't he any danger Of cave in
solid stone
"WeIl. now, I'm dingedl" he re-
turned, musingly Long as I've been
mOnkeyini round mines and such. IL
never once come TO NE TO wonder about
that -
Speaking or the wooden bulkheading
renewed that other impression. or rafh-
er two of them; one of having the feel
ing that / was shut in a tight box at
the moment of the fiercest struggling
and the other of fancying that ! had
felt Swirling thrush of the liquid ice
as well as the sucking outrusl But
the recollection was 50 confused thai
/ attached no Importance to it. When
"a man is fighting for his life ten or
twelve feet under water. pipe-drc:ns
are nothing tn the things he can inn
agine.
II was while we were sitting at the
Shaft-house door. hammering away at
the old puzzle of why the water level
never varied so much as fraction If
an inch in the shaft in wet Seasons or
dry-as Daddy testified 1t never did
and why the subtraction OF two six
inch streams at velocity sufficient TO
stir up veritable whirlpool at the
ifaf.a
preston upon it. that j began to no
tice the queer actions Of the pie-faced
collie Barney. First he would come
and stick his cold nose into my hand /:
then he'd trot over to the cabin and
back, and maybe loaf little way down
the road toward the bench level Com,
ing around To the shaft-houSa again
he'd sit beside Daddy Hiram awning
and painting as 4 he were waiting i'm.
patiently for us to stop talking and
pay some attention to him.
Poor old Barney's homesick. and ]
don't blame him. said. I'm feeling
good bit that way. myself, Daddy
Then to the dog: Come here. old
boy -
The collie came to lick my hand. and
while | was petting him | found a
pretty bad cash just behind one of his
ears
"See here, Daddy" 1 broke out
the dogs hurt !"
We examined the wound and decided
at once that it was not a bite Ii was
Il bruised cut. looking as if il had been
made by some blunt instrument or
weapon. | had a hOt-fiash vision of
Fullerton kicking the dog with his
iron-shod heel in an attempt to drive
him back home, and it was so real that
/ couldn't shake il off.
When 1t began To grow dusk in the
shaft-hOuse we shut up shop and went
over to the cabin to cook our supper.
The dog went along. but evidently with
reluctance While we were crossing
the dump head he turned back and
once more started off down the road
toward the bench below. but when he
found that we were not following him
he came to heel again. Still. neither
of Us had dog sense enough TO guess
what was the matter with him.
Daddy Hiram and /, being merely
stupid humans, were commenting upon
his queer actions. and laying them to
Jeanies absence, when again the dog
started off down the road, looking
back and barking when he found that
we were still sitting on the doorstep.
At that. since even solid ivory can be
| penetrated If the wOuld-be driller of ii
stays on the job long enough, we final
| ly caught ON.
Say. Stannie he's a-tryin' to tell
us to come ont" Daddy exclaimed
starting to his feet. ''Methuselah-tO-
gracious did il have to take US a hun
endurin' afternoon to figger out that
much dog-talk?"
1T looks that way" | admitted but
now, having fingered" il out, We made
na delay Daddy got his rifle and cart
| fYdge-belt, and told me To take Jeanne S
pistol for myself-which / did And
/ thus equipped we took the trail, In
dian-fling down the mountain road in
the darkness. Daddy Hiram. with his
gun in the crook of his left arm, set
ting the pace, and the collie running
on ahead TO point the way.
CONTINUED Tomorrow
A good bargain is to get what you
want when you want it at a reason