The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-03-16
FRANCIS -EYNDEz
ScoPYRIGHT' BY CHARLES SCRIBNERS Sons ~
(con,i,ued;fron last weekly
CHAPTER. XIV.
. ,Hfoh Explosives.

The IDEA was. one. which ought to
have suggested itself MUCK sooner.
The Steam supply pipe for driving the
big 6 rtrifugals at the shaft mouth
came through the wall over our heads,
Ind 1t was the sight Of this pine.
steaminR even on the outside of itS
thick Insulating jacket of asbestos -un ;.
Oar the :wetting from the water Jet,
that had set me thinking.
A spinning twIrl. of the engine
throttle valve set our machinery In
notion.; apd when had thrown tile
pump clutch tin,.. we crouched again in
the least-wet corner to watch the index
Of the tell::talc steamgauge connected
Into thS supply pipe
We knew that the centrifugals were
voracisus ,steam-eaters; we had proved
that when we were running them in
the wsekJepg test. had a notion
mat maybei Bullerton had fired only
one OF the. battery of three boilers to
run his shower-bath machine, and the
result speedily confirmed this assump-
ton. IN a few minutes the steam
pressure had dropped to point at
which It would no longer drive any of
the pumps, eftherS ours or the one out
side. and tbe window cataract stopped.
"This win be' only q breathing
space" !" prophesied, getting up to
squeeze SOME, 0f-the superfiuous water
out Of my clothes. ,"Bullerton will DO
one Of two things: fire the other two
boilers, aa,saissannect this steam pipe
Of ours"
Reckon so2" said Daddy.
You'll see In a minute or So"
The attack began even while we
were speaking, sundry hammerlngs
and twistings that shook the pipe over
head proving that the besiegers were
= going to stop. the leak by cutting us
OF from the. boilers. So.
Take, your .whiri at the inventions,
this tinie.. Daddy r<I urged. "when
they get. tels ,sppRly nipe cut out, we'll
be In for another ducKing--and one
that we cdhtt Stbp::s* :;
Daddy *&stsRakins his head and
wringing the moisture-and mud-out,
Of his beard.,
"Jerusaaem.to-gosh, Stannie, we e6t
to take.a chancep' he mutteted.. "Anyi
ways. rdsabeut.. ~ i, lief die as be-
drowned to death. Werl have to- muss
that blacksmith shop up and get it. out
o the way, somehoH Almme match
out o that TIN 'b6Ssa your'n-if. they
ain't-all soaked to a pz-Yhizzlpn'. sop"
found the matches, which. luckily,
were stiH Nty9saiH sksiThffdad him one.
Before i 'f4say~reestged what he WAS
geing TO do he had taken One OF the
dynamite cartridges. out Of its bucket
hiding place am wSs. splitting the fuse
with his po&ketxhif&
"open thai there door into the shop"
&c Somiia,iaet, anI wien 5SSSyed
mechanically. out went the bomb, fiz.
zing and sputtering. to land in a heap
OF scrap iron piled on the farther Side
Of the .st6ne:built. forge. The sight OF
It smoking and splitting sparks in the!
heap of scrap ha1khyphotizet me, /
guess. for I stood gaping at 1t, with
the door held open, until Daddy Hiram
jerked me away. slammed the door and
yelled to me to Help him bar II. -
We had barely time to get the door
closed and fastened with the heavy
wooden bar and. to throw ourselves
nat on the floor behind the hoisting
machinery before the crash came. As
i have previously said, the blacksmith
shop wds rather fimsy, shed-iike
affair, rooted With raeorrugated iron.
and II. seemed to us as Ii broken tim
bsrs and pieces: of sheet METAL were
raining, down for a full minute after
the blast wentsoff. - :"
The shock to everything inr the vicin-
ity was, of Course, tremendous and.
the stout old shaft-house itself rocked
and swayed likesa tree in n hurricane.
But: the walls stu stood intact. aRd
when we got up and peeped through
hole which piece of the flying
scrap had torn In the door, we could
see what we had done. .Itwas .a-plsn-
ty. The blacksmith shop had 'disap..
peared, leaving nothing But a scatter
Ing Of wreckhge. sThetheavy anvil had
been thrown. from its block and the
forge looked as II a giant had kicked
1t. Out by the fpiler.shed q rack OF
cordwood had been toppled over and
under 1t man wts struggling to free
himself. When nd saw. the imprisoned
enemy that mild-nannered. s0ftsapoken
old soldier that u was shut up with
would have opened the door and shot
the struggler If hadp1 stopped him.
This blowing up -of the hfiop settled
the showerbath business for MS def
initely. With the ilfpedlpenfS out iof
the way we had a clear view on this
third side; could command the row
Of miners cabins, nsr&eif Es sfhss boifs
ers In their open shed. When got
through persuading Daddy Hiram that
we couldn't afford to murder the
wounded. the fellow who bad been
wrestling with the wpodpile had made
his exit and there was nobody in
sight. Shortly afterward a bullet,
fired from somewhere in the forest
background, wbAnged upon our roof,
and there were several to follow; but
tside from punching a few more holes
IN the iron they did no harm.
!!Looks Ike the Hercules is the one