The St. Charles herald., 1922-10-14

the flow deprecated greatly; ins.eH
of the steady gush of water, a S nd
silt was coming out now, spraying
splattering about on the sides oi -.
drainage ditch. Wildly Harry ""'
monstrous paw. ro,r.
"Shut 'em Off" he yelled " .,
child in the dimness of the 49,
Its sucking the muck out ~ We. ~
sump! That means the ole u'-' 10
unwatered." "a,
"Then the pumping jobs overT
"Yeh." Harry rose. "You stay ere
and dismantle the pumps 50 We Iai
send 'em back. I'll 60 to to"n' we 'o
got to buy some stun.
Then he started off down the trail,
| while Fairchild went to his work. And
he sang as he dragged at the heavy
hose. Work was before MIN. work
which was progressing toward goa'
that he had determined TO seek, IN
| spite of all obstacles. The mysterious
| offer which he had received gave evil
dence that something awaited him, that
some one knew, the real value of the
Blue Poppy mine. and that If he could
simply stick to his task. II he could
hold TO the unwavering purpose to win
in spite of all the blocking pitfalls
that were nut in his path, some day,
some fine the reward would be worth
| it's price.
More the conversation with Mother
Howard on the previous morning had
been comforting; it had given a WON.
as's viewpoint upon another woman's
aStions. And Fairchild intuitively be-
Ksyed she was correct.
A shout from the road. accompanied
bv the roaring of motor truck, an
nounced the fact that Harry was max
ing his return.
Five men were with him, to help him
carry in ropes, heavy pulleys, weights
and large metal shaft bucket, then
to move out the smaller of the pumps
and trundle away with them, leaving
the larger one and the larger engine
for a single load. At last Harry turned
to his paraphernalia and rolled up his
sleeves.
"Ere's where we work." he an
nounced. cts us for a pulley and
bucket arrangement until we can get
the 'oist to working and the skip to
running. 'Elp me 'eave few timbers." :"
It was the beginning Of a three
days Job, the building of heavy stag
ing over the top Of the shaft, the affix-
ing Of the great pulley and then the
attachment of the bucket at one end,
and the skip, loaded with pig iron, on
the other. Altogether, it formed a
sort of crude, counterbalanced ele-
vator, by which they might lower
themselves into the shaft, with various
bumpings and delays-but which
worked successfully, nevertheless. To
gether they piled into the big, iron
bucket, Harry Juggling along spikes and
timbers and sledges and ropes. Then.
pulling away at the cable which held
the weights, they furnished the neces-
sary gravity to travel downward.
An eerie journey, faced on one side
by the crawling rope Of the skip as 1t
travelled along the rusty old track on.
it's watersoaked ties, on the other by
the still dripping timbers of the aged
shaft and it's broken, rotting ladder,
while the carbide lanterns cast shad-
ows about, while the pulley above
creaked and the eroded wheels Of the
skip squeaked and protested! Down
ward-a hundred feet-and they col
lided with the upward-bound skip, to
fend off from it and start on again.
The air grew colder, more moist. The
carbides spluttered and fiared.
A slight bump, and they were at the
bottom. Before them the drift tun-
mel. damp and dripping and dark,
awaited, seeming to throw back the
flare of the carbides as though to
shield the treasures which might lie
beyond. Harry started forward step.
then pausing, shifted his carbide and
laid a hand on his companions shoul-
der.
"Boy," he said slowly, 'we're start
luS at SOLnttIiHS HOW-duu Jun
know where it's going to lead u.s..
There's a cave-in up ere, and if we're
ever going to get anywhere in this
mine, we'll ave to go past it. And I'm
afraid of what we're going to find
when we cut our wye through!'
Clouds of the past seemed to rise
and float past Fairchild-clouds
which carried visions of white, brok-
en- old man sitting by window, wait
ing for death, visions Of an old safe
and letter it contained. For a long,
long moment, there was silence. Then
came Harry's voice again.
"Tm afraid 1t amt going to be good
news, Boy. But there amt no wye
to get around It. It's got to come out
sometime-things like that won't stay
'idden forever. And your fathers gone
now-gone where it can't 'urt 'im."
II know" answered Fairchild, in .
queer, husky voice. HE must have
known. Harry--he must have been will
ing that it come, now that he is gone.
He wrote me as much"
''It's that or nothing. II we sell the
mine, some one else will find 1t. And
we can't 1t the vein without following
the drift to the stope. But you're the
one to make the decision"