Gunnison news-champion., 1922-03-24


Glimpse Of Doors and Windows
Gazing In.
but In the fash Of the reudlng explo-
sion We had glimpse ot doors and
windows caylnE inward and a section
Of the splIt-shinEle roof lcaping toward
the spacious Ornament on high.
Now. duru ye," was Daddy Hiram's
morose comment. made with an eye 10
pcep-hoIc, nov. durn ye. maybe
youTl let folks sleep pnaccable for
little spell 90
OF course. in the darkness. made
thicker by the cloud Of dust the explo-
sion had kicked up, We couldn't tell
v hat haI become OF the cabin gar.
risou. or whether or no we'd killed all
or any 81 Il. But the immediate re.
suit was perfectly soul satisfying
There were no more roof lombard.
Dcnts. and after We had remained on
watch together for perhaps half an
hour Daddy sent me To the blankets
FOR ms forty wluks did this, and after
ward played low-duWn trick On me.
broken rest. and the more or less eN.
citing and strenuous day. slept Ike
n tired baby. and when | awOke the
sun was shining In az the two high
window holes at something more than
an acute angle. and Daddy Hiram was
making coffee and frying bacon and
baking pan-bread over chip FIRE
built on piece Of boiler iron we had
turned down for hearth purposes the
previous evening.
The old angel took my reprOach-
full abuse for his unselfshness quite
good natureily, as he did most things,
and made his report OF the nights
doings Up 10 midnight there had
been nothing stirring; but after that
there had been noises on the black
smith shop side. and indications tina,
the Jumpers were nt work on some
thing In the boiler shed. Since this
lay beyond our field Of vision. we
couldn't see what was going on. nor
could we apply the dynamite remedy.
Shortly after We had finished break
fast the work noises began again. but
with the blanSetins blacksmith shop in
the way We couldn't see thing and
could only make wild guesses at what
the raiders were up to. Along about
the middle of the forenoon they fired
up one or more Of the boilers; a whifY
Of wind coming along the side OF the
mountain blew the smoke over so that
some of It drifted into the shaft-house
through the high windows. Still we
were completely lost in the guessing
wilderness.
II was little after noon. while we
were sauatting on the floor to eat
another meal warmed up over the chip
fire, that we found out the answer
TO all the guesses and learned what
the mechanical noises of the night
and forenoon had been leading up to.
One of the left-overs from the work
ing period of the mine was q good-sized
steam force pump which, We took 1t.
had once been Installed on one of the
lower mine levels and had been hoisted
out of the shaft ahead Of the advanc-
ing water flood and pat under shelter
In corner Of the boiler she'd As
was passing my tin cup for more Of
Daddy's excellent coffee the rattle and
clank of a pump began to make itself
heard, together with the coughing
chug-chug of the steam exhaust there
from.
That's that iow-levei pumpr l ex-
claimed. They must have connected
n nm with tho hoil-"
Whoosh. that was just as far as
got In the middle midst Of the word
boilers" a two-inch Jet OF muddy wa
ter came curving up through one of
the window openings to arch over and
fall. splash, all over US as we sat
munching our dinner. Everlastingly
ruined the dinner. put out the fire. up
set the coffee pot, and made drowned
rats of both Of US In less time than II
takes to tell lt-much less
So much for that OF course, we ran
and ducked and lodged, like the
drowned rats speak Of hunting for
4 hole. But now Bullerton's devilish