The diamond drill., 1922-01-27

dy hiram leauing the attack ana be-
ing the first 10 stick his head through
what remained OF the tangle and hang
II over the edge OF the shafts mouth.
"Hooray!" he yelled his voice
sounding as II II came from the inside
Of barrel and then again. ''Hooray,
stannie. son by the ghosts Of old
shadrach. Meshach and Abednego.
Charley Bullerton's done gone and
done eggs-zsc'ly what he said he could
do---dreened your mine for yel Climb
In here and take look at her. She's
empty-empty as q gourd--but. at
that. she amt goin' to be, very longi"
A few more minutes OF the strenu.
Gus toll cleared the pit mouth so that
we could all see. The bomb which had
exploded In the shaft had wrought q
complete transformation. The stand
ing food. which all OF our pumping
attacks had failed to lower by SO
much as fraction OF an inch, was
gone. and with II had vanished the
two big csntrIfugsis. the platform
upon which they had stood, and their
pipe connections. Gone. likewise. was
the greater part OF the heavy wooden
shaft-lining. A little of this remained
I'm the upper part OF the shaft. but
from = point possibly twenty-five feet
down. there was nothing but the bare
rock sides Of the square pit swept by
the recedlng flood.
AS for the hollow roaring noise
which had followed the crash OF the
explosion. and which still continued.
there was a good and sufficient reason
plainly visible from the pits mouth.
Some twenty feet down, and on the
eastern side OF the shaft, a stream OF
water biz enough to run a good-slzed
hydro-electric plant was pouring into
the perpendicular cavern, and II was
It's plunging descent into the bowels
OF the earth which was making the
mimic thunder.
Beasley was the first 10 find speech.
"Where the blazes is all that water
comm from?" he exploded.
"That's just what we're going 10
find out - / barked. "Can you and
Daddy handle my weight in rope
sling7"
They both protested that they could
handle two OF me IL necessary, and a
sling was quickly rigged and l was
lowered into the pit At the nearer
view thus obtained, some Of the mys-
terles were instantly made clear. The
reason why the wooden boxing disap-
!. peared below a certain point In the
shaft was that IL had never extended
any farther down. IL had been mere
iy box with bottom l-and all those
pipe-dream impressions which had
tried 10 register themselves on the
day when / had my struggle with the
suction-pipe octopus were Instantly
translated into facts. could have
sworn, then, that there was a bottom
In the box. and there was bottom.
And that other impression-thatI had
encountered nm inrushlng stream OF
ice-cold water In the chilling depths;
here was the stream; foot-thick,
neyer-failing cataract, pouring In
through a perfectly good and substan-
tlal conduit OF tweIve-lnch iron pipe !
In a fash the whole criminal mys-
tery involving the ostenslbly flooded
uIne was Illuminated for rue. Haul
swayw I called to the two abovc;
and when they had drawn me up to
the pits mouth and could get upon
my feet. I yipped at Daddy and the
marshal 10 come on. and led them In
an outdoor race along the mine ledge
20 the eastward; hundred yards
dash which brought us to the banks
af the swift little mountain torrent In
the right-hsnd guich.
M A brief search revealed precisely
what was expecting TO ind: what
anyone la possession Of the facts pre-
cedent would have expected to mod.
In the middle OF n small pool slightly
upstream from the path levei--a pock-
eted bit OF water neatly screened aud
half hidden by growth of low
branching spruces--ws saw conc
shaped whirlpool swirl into which .
good third of the stream now was
vanishing. Below this pool an sppsr-
emily accidental heaping OF rocks
formed a smaii dam which kept the
little reservoir full.
without a word. Daddy Hiram ana
the Angelic marshal plunged reckless
ly into the stream and with their bare
hands tore away the loose-rock. dam
with the removal OF the slight barrier
and the consequent clearing OF the
course OF the stream. the pocket reser-
yoir Immediately sucked dry. the Toilet
OF the cafaracting pipe was exposed
and the secret OF the flooded Cinnsbar
was a secret no longer.
The scheme which had been eiao-
grated and set Ia motion to soak
Grandfather Jasper was a premed''
tated '.hcIdup." The Cinnsbar. In op'
GRAFTON and producing 10 It's capacity,
was worth. so Beasley asserted, all
that my grandfather had paid for lt
and more. hut with the branch rsil'
road built to its very door, It's va'us
would he doubled. Two alternatives
had thus presented themselves 10 tns
owners, who were Cripple Creek
mining speculafors who had bought ~