Gunnison news-champion., 1922-04-14
rss Crash Came Almost Ir,ueaIa,.ly

spccula,lns very cuTiuusly upon any
thing else. Two more of tn" giant
CRACKERS had fallen 10 the right ~ ~.
uuc ~ them Into the wreck of the
blacksmith shop. to send ~ "a spout.
Ing volcano of scrap which fell Sec
oud or s" later Ia o thunirruus rain ;
and then
For q lIttlng instant u s"'mcd IS II
IL must drop squurely in front 81 the
iron shield under which wc wcrr
jamm"d-in which case even the un-
dcrtnkcr wouldn't have been needed
not any Whatsoever. as Daddy Hiram
would have said. But Mt tn. critical
point To its Night II" LurylluE thing
licked" rhc top of the hoist frame
and ms downward course was defect
cd the needed huir's-nrcadth. causing
II to com. down beyond the machin-
cry. and not ou our side of things
Nevertheless. we Wcre covering in an
tlCipa,iou ~ a blast which would most
likely hcave the entire machinery az.
grcsqtion over bodily upon US when
the explosion came
We saw the heichlng column OF
flame and gas going skyward beyond
the machinery barrier, taking a full
half Of the roof with II, ns II the blast
had come from the mouth OF gignn-
tic cannon. We were dazed and deaf
ened by the shock, and half choEed
by the fumes. but neither OF US was
so far gone as not to hear distinctly a
prolonged and rumbiing crash like the
thunder OF small Niagara. coming
after the smash
The shaft" shriiled Daddy Hiram.
In a thin. choked voice: 1T went OF
what-alI's that were a-listenIn' to
nowl'
II there had been a dozen OF the
bombs rnining down don't believe
the threat of them would have kept
us from bursting out of our dodge hole
to go and see what had happened In
the mine shaft. But before we could
determine anything more than that
the mouth Of the shaft was complete
ly hidden under a mass OF wreckage.
and that the mysteriocs Niagara roar.
dwindled somewhat. but yet hollowly
audible, was still going on under the
concealing mass OF broken timbers
and sheet-iron. there was masterful
interruption. Shots. yells. shoutings
and hot curses told us that a fierce
battle Of some kind was staging itself
just outside Of our wrecked fortress !;
whereupon Daddy Hiram began paw
ing his way TO the door, yelling like q
man suddenly gone dotty.
That there's old Ike Beasiey-
dad-blame his old hide! =" he chittered
There amt nary mother man in the
Timanyonis at can cuss like that.
He's come with a posse, and they're
layin' out Charley BulIerton's crowd Z"
There was fine little tableau
spreading itself out for us when we
had clambered over the wreckage and
had withdrawn the wooden bar and
flung the door wide. Daddy Hiram
had called the turn and named the
trump. The large. desperadoish-look-
Ing man who had once interviewed me
at Angels. and a little later had
paused In his combing of the noun
tains In search Of me to usurp my
place at the Twomblys' breakfast d.
AiA this bawhiakered Giant with .
goodish bunch Of foilowers-hard.
boiled to man. they looked to be-
had surrounded fair half Of the
would-be Jumpers" and were hand.
cuning them with a celerity that was
truly admirable. And Beasley. him.
self. square-jawed and peremptory,
was showing Bullerton up against the
side Of the shaft-house. swapping the
Irons upon his wrists and counselins
him. with choice epithets infermin.