The diamond drill., 1922-01-13

tAt1i huI r<t ihtS titAAnAASs
A spinning twirl OF the engine
throttle valve ser our machinery In
motion, and when I had thrown the
pump clutch In, we crouched again In
the ieast-wet corner to watch the index
OF the tell-taIe steamgauge connected
into the supply pipe.
We knew that the centrifugals were
voracious steam-eaters; we had proved
that when we were running them In
the week-long test had notion
that maybe Bullerton had fired only
one OF the battery Of three boilers TO
run his shower-bath machine. and the
result speedily confirmed this assump-
tion. In few minutes the steam
pressure had dropped TO point at
which IL would no longer drive any OF
the pumps, either ours or the one out
side and the window cataract stopped.
'This VIII be only breathing
space" / prophesIed. getting up TO
squeeze some OF the superfiuous water
ont OF my clothes. "Bullerton VIII do
one of two things: fire the other two
boilers, or disconnect this steam pipe
of ours"
Reckon sof" said Daddy.
You'll see In a minute or So"
The attack begnn even while we
were speaking. sundry hammerings
and twistings that shook the pipe over
head proving that the besiegers were
going TO stop the leak by cutting US
of from the boilers.
take your whirl at the inventions,
this time. Daddyr urged. when
they get this supply pipe cut out, well
be In for another ducking-and one
that we can't STOP"
Daddy was shaking his head and
wringing the moisture-and mud-out
Of his beard.
gosh, Stannie. we got
TO take chancel" he muttered. "Any-
ways, I'd about as lief die as be
drowned 10 death. Wen have 10 muss
that blacksmith shop up and get IL out
o. the way, somehow. Gimme a match
out o. that tin box o. your'n-if they
amt all soaked to jlz-whizzlin' sop"
I found the matches. which, luckily,
were still dry, and handed him one.
Before I fairly realized what he was
going to do. he had taken one of the
dynamite cartridges out OF its bucket
hiding place and was splitting the fuse
with his pocketknife.
"Open that there door into the shop"
he commanded; and when l obeyed
mechanically, out went the bomb, fiz-
zing and sputtering, TO land in heap
OF scrap iron piled on the farther side
OF the stone-built forge. The sight OF
IL smoking and splitting sparks in the
heap Of scrap half hypnotized me, /
guess, for / stood gaping at It. with
the door held open, until Daddy Hiram
jerked me away, slammed the door and
yelled to me to help him bar IL.
We had barely time 10 get the door
closed and fastened with the heavy
wooden bar and 10 throw ourselves
fiat on the floor behind the hoisting
machinery before the crash came. AS
have previously said, the blacksmith
shop was rather flimsy. shed-like
affair, rooted with corrugated iron.
and II seemed TO us as II broken tim
bers and pieces Of sheet metal were
raining down for full minute after
the blast went Off.
! The shock TO everything In the vicin-
ity was, of course, tremendous and
/ the stout old shaft-house itself rocked
I and swayed like n tree I'm hurricane.
I But the walls still stood intact, and
when we got up and peeped through
n hole which q piece OF the flying
scrap had torn In the door, we could
see what we had done. II was a-plen-
ty. The blacksmith shop had disap-
peared. leaving nothing but scatter
ing OF wreckage. The heavy anvil had
been thrown from Its block and the
forge looked as II a giant had kicked
IT, Out by the boiler-shed rack of
cordwood had been toppIed over and
under IL a man was struggling to free
himself. When he saw the imprisoned
enemy that miid-mannered, soft-spoken
old soldier that I was shut up with
would have opened the door and shot
the struggler II I hadn't stopped him,
This blowing up OF the shop settled
the shower-bath business for US def
initely With the impediment out OF
the way we had clear view on this
third side; could command the row
Of miners cabins. as well as the boil
ers in their open shed. When I go,
through persuading Daddy Hiram that
we couldn't AFFORD 10 murder the
wounded, the fellow who had beer
wrestling with the woodpile had made
his exit and there wns nobody In
sight. Shortly afterward n bullet
fired from somewhere In the forest
background. whanged upon our roof
and there were several 10 follow; but
aside from punching n few more holes
In the iron they did no harm.
Looks like the Hercules Is the one
thing they're most skeered Of" said
Daddy, with his queer little suffering
chuckie. "Now maybe they'll leave us
have time to get ourselves dried ou'
n mite"
Totting up the results of the shower
bath we'd had, bread famine prom
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