American Fork citizen. [volume] (American Fork, Utah) 1912-1979, 1922-10-28

W sm toSt hnytning Dut lot or
'opcs and time. But ere goes. Wen
double-jack. I've got a big 'ammcr
ere. Xou old the drill for awhile and
turn Il, while sling tn sledge. Thea
you take tn 'ammer and Lor' ave
mercy On my 'ands II you miss."
Fairchild obeyed. Hour after hour
they worked. Then. a. the afternoon
grew late, Harry disappeared far
down the drift to return with q hand.
full Of greasy. candleliks thingA
wrapped In waxed paper.
II knew that dynamite Of yours
couldn't be shipped In time, 30 !
bought q little mp ere" he explained.
az he cut one Of the sticks In two
with pocketknife and laid the pieces
to one side. Then out came coil Of
fuse, TO be cut to It's regular lengths
and inserted In the copper-covered
caps Of Illuminate of mercury, Harry
showing his contempt for the danger
Gus things by crimping them about
the fuse with his teeth, while Fair.
child. sitting on small pile Of muck
nearby, begged for caution. But Harry
only Grinned behind his big mustache
and went on
Out came his pocketknife again as
he slit the waxed paper Of the gelat-
inous sticks, then inserted the cap In
the dynamite. One after another the
charges were showed into the holes.
Harry tsmping them into place with q
steel rod. instead Of with the usual
wooden affair, his mustache brushing
his shoulder as he turned to explain
the virtues Of dynamite when handled
by an expert.
TITS all In the wye you do t." he
announced. III you don't strike fire
with q steel rod It's fine"
''But II you dol"
ooh, then!" Harry laughed. "rhen
It's flowers and a funeral-after
they've finished picking you up"
One after another he pressed the
dynamite charges tight into the drill
holes and tamped them with muck
wrapped In newspaper that he
dragged from his hip pocket Then
he lit the fuses from his lamp and
stood q second In assurance that they
oil were spluttering.
Snow we runv he announced. and
they hurried, side by side. down the
drift tunnel until they reached the
shaft. Ear enough" said Harry.
"A long moment Of waiting. Then
the earth quivered and q muffled.
booming roar came from the distance.
Harry stared at his carbide lamp.
SOne," he announced. Then. 'Two."
Three, four and Ave followed, all
counted seriously. carefully BY Harry.
Finally they turned back along the
drift toward the stope. the acrid odor
Of dynamite smoke cutting at their
nostrils as they approached the spot
where the explosions had occurred.
There Harry stood In silent contempla'
ti0n for long time. holding his car.
bide over the pile Of ore that had been
] torn from the vein above.
( 1T Amt much" came at last. "Not
morsu ART ton. We won't get rich
| At that rata. And besides" he looked
upward--"we ain't even going to ~
getting that pretty soon. It's pinchins
out"
Fairchild followed his case, to 80
In the torn rock above him only mar
row streak now. fully an Inch and .
half narrower than the vein had been
before the powder holes had been
drilled. Il could mean only one thing !:
that the bet had been played and lost.
that the vein had been one Of those
freak affairs that start out with much
promise. sesm 70 give hope Of eternal
riches. and then gradually dwindle to
nothing. Harry shook his hsaA
TT won't last"
"Nce moro than two q three nsge
shots" yairchild agreed.
"You can't tell about that u ~
run that way al through the nsuntain
but what's . four-inch veint Yos en-
90 up ere In the Argonaut tunnel cd
nnd arr . dosen Of them things ~
they don't even take the trouble b
mine. That ID, unless they run Ign n
silver" he picked up chunk q tn
ore from the muck pile where Il had
been deposited and studied Il intsntly
but don't see any pure silves
sticking out In this stun"
But II must be here somewhere.
don't know anything about mining
hui don't veins sometimes pinch Oh
and then show up later ont"
Sure they do-sometimes But III
gamble"
That's all we've had from the be-
ginning, Harry"
"And It's about all we're going e
ave any time unless something bObs
up sudden like."
Then. by common consent. they laid
away their working clothes and LEFT
the mine, to wander down the gulcf
and to the boarding house. After din
ner they chatted q moment with Moth
er Howard, then went upstairs. eacl
to his room. An hour later Har,
knocked at Fairchlld's door. and en-
tered, the evening paper In his hand.
"Eres something more that's nice
he announced. pointing to an item Of
tho fronf na0o II waa the announce