Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-03-24

grow . trifle hardened to it the clam
or stopped as abruptly as it had be-
gun and the silence which succeeded
was even more deafentng than the
noise had been. While I nncied I
could see dim figures stealing down
the road that led to the bench below,
heard Daddy say: Now, what in
the name O. Jehoiacl,in-'
He had turned, away from his peep
hole n I could sense, rather than
see. that he vas flushing his eyes.
Then I realized that upon me, also,
a sudden blindness had fallen; the
interior Of the shafthouse had become
as dark rs the inside Of a pocket.
The effect was 50 Supplying that 1t
took 10Th OF US a minute or SO to un-
derstand tina some change a yet un-
definahle had been wrought either
III US or In our SURROUNDINGS during
he noisy interlude. ~
: Great Jehu!" exclaimed the j old
r,an-though he was within arrn's-
reach I could make him out only al a
dim shadow-"Grcat Jehu! I-I
blieve I'm goin' blind, StAnnie! III
can't see nothin' a-ta(l!'
Don't worry" I fastened to say;
I'm in the same boat. We've been
SSNAAt wv Si6 olku 0lS0Ally' IuIOukA
those auger-holes. It'll pass in a
But it didn't pas and presently. tn.
voice Of my old sidepartner came
again out Of the darkness. a.
"P'raps its cloudin' up some" he
suggested ina half-whisper. ~ c8n't
see no stars through them windows
AT this l looked toward the window
openings, but the interior blackness
had plotted them out completely. AL
most instfnctively I-turned back to
the door and put an eye to a loophole.
One glance was enough. The trouble.
whatever it might be, was with us and
not with the sky. The. stars. were
shining as brightly as ever.
Don't move. Daddy" I Cautioned,
and then CROPPED my way along the
wall and climbed to the top Of GU.
earth-sack breastwork at a point
which ! guessed to be under the near
est Of the two windows.
thrust a hand through the opening
the mysterious darkness was ex-.
planned. The window embrasures were
stopped up. both Of them, ON the out
side by something that felt like a
heavy canvas curtain, though how the
curtain was held IN place l could not
determine. But III was firmly braced
IN some way. With all>the purchase
I could get-which want muth-I
couldn't dislodge it or push it aside.
Making my way back to the door
I told Daddy what I had found. \
HUH" he said: that old tarpaul-
In that was u yonder in the ore
shed. How dye reckon they got it
there. Stannie?"
"1t's hoisted on a framework Of
aonae kind, and they did 1t while we
were ~rubbaring and trying to find out
what all hat noise was about.s
We We're not kept very long in
doubt ar to what the. next enemy
move was to be-. With the Cessation
Nof h tom.tom clatter the collie had
grown curiously restless. We couldn't
see him, but we could hear him run
ming from post to pillar, shifting at
the cracks and occasionally giving q
whining Erowt. Presently he began to
cough and sneeze; then he came racing
back to us,. ~flattening himself to hold
his nose to the crack under the door
and taking long breaths as II he were
half-stifled. I stopped to pat him and
Immediately imagined I was smelling
burning sulphur matches.
Get down here, Daddy, Ind smell
this dog!" I Whispered. rs it old
fashioned matches. or what? {"
One sniff was all that the old man
needed. '
he
caoked; them devils are smokin' ia
out! That's why they stopped up than
window holes; 50 we couldn't ret n
air!"
There appeared to be listle enough
time tor any defensive move. the Is.
phy1iating sas was coming stronger
every moment. and any search for ito
source seemed utterly hopeless. Yet
We vent AZ It. coughing and choking.
and stumbling over everything In the
darkness as a matter OF course.
After all II was Barney who II
honor. him with the human 3pronour
bAcanSe he certainly deserved ttl A.
was Barney who showed us tho devtlSi
doorway. The red glow WA now send
ing enough light through cracks and;
cEevtces ana the bullet rippinSs over
head to make our inner darknesa n
degEee or 20 less than Syrian Misdnr
the dog for . moment at our com.
NOR breathing hole, we aw him elf.
cling a particular spot In the foo
and snarlinE at It ~ II It were some-
thing alive.
At that we both remsbered that
the s~hafthouse floor was raised a foo!|
or o from thN rocky ledge ON the
down-mountatn stde ana that the
DADDY pointed Is tho circline dos
"Barney's rot IT." he painted.
They've run their chimney up und4r
the floori" Then: Where. In aaIn|
Hill did you leave that IA?
The At was near At hand ana / rat1
for II. Ho ldin3 my breath / NeeSn IA
chop madiy at the floor planktns. Hx|
this time the AIR wAS % hAA tkat M
va lrapossiple 70 breathe Il. Ana aft.