Sioux County pioneer., 1922-09-14
CHAPTER viil-continued.

tairchild turned at the entrance Of
the mine and waited for the first of
the miners and the accompanying
gleam Of his carbide. Then they went
within and to the shaft, the light
shining downward upon the oily, black
water below. Two objects floated
there, a broken piece of timber. torn
arom the side, Of the shaft, where
tsomeone evidently had grasped hastily
:'afy 1t in an effort to stop fall, and
a New, four-dented hat, gradually be-
Gaming water-soaked and sinking
.slowly beneath the surface. And then.
for the first time. fear clutched at
FsjrchilQa .heart-fear which hope
sconld not Ignore.
> "Inere's his hat" It was a miner
staring downward.
Fairchild had seen 1t but he strove
to put aside the thought.
'True." he answered, "but anyone
could lose a hat, simply by looking
over the edge of the shaft. Harry's a
strong man. Certainly he would know
how to swim. And in any event he
should have been able to have kept
ahoat for at least few minutes. Ro-
dane says that he heard shout and
ran right in here; but all that he
ec'a'd see was ruffled water and float
zig hat. l." Then he paused sud-
denly. 1t had come to him that Ro-
daine might have helped in the demise
Of Harry!
Shouts sounded from outside, and
che roaring of motor truck as 1t
made its slow. tortuous way up the
toulder-strewn road with its gullies
End tnnumerable ruts. Voices came
flmbling and varied. Lights. Gain
ing the mouth Of the tunnel, Fairchild
could see a mass of shadows outlined
BY the carbldes. all following the lead
ership of small. excited man, Sam
Herbenfelder. still seeking his dla-
mond
The big pump from the Argonaut
tunnel was aboard the truck, which
was followed by two other auto We
hicies, each loaded with gasoline en-
f'nes and smaller pumps. A hundred
men were In the crowd, all equipped
with ropes and buckets. Sam Herben-
felders pleas had been heard. The
search was about to begin for the
body OF Harry and the diamond that
ctrcled one finger. And Fairchild has.
sened to do his part
Until far into the night they worked
and strained to put the big pump into
position; while crews of men, four and
i've in a group, bailed water as fast
as possible. that the aggregate might
be lessened to the greatest possible
extent before the pumps, with their
hoses. were attached. Then the gaso-
line engines began to snort, great
lengths Of tubing were let down into
the shaft. and squirting water started
down the mountain side as the task
Of unwatering the shaft began.
But 1t was slow job. Morning
found the distance to the water length
ened by twenty to thirty feet, and the
bucket brigades nearly at the end of
their ropes. Men trudged down the
hills to breakfast. sending others in
their places. Fairchild stayed on to
meet Mother Howard and assuage her
nervousness as best he could, dividing
his time between her and the task be.
fore him. Noon found more water
than ever tumblin2 down the hills
the smaller ,umps we're working now
In unison with the larger one. After.
Aoon--and most Of Ohadi was there
Fairchlld could distinguish the form
Of Anita Richmond In the hundreds o.
women and men clustered about the
sDenlng Of the tunnel. and for ono,
n