Gunnison news-champion., 1922-04-14

down. there was nothing bat the bare
rex sides of the square pit swept by
the receilnE food
A. roi c,4e hollow noarirs noise
zbich had followed the crasr - the
,.Piosion. and which still contlnue,i.
there was god and sufficient reason
plainly visible from the pits mouth.
some twenty feet down. and on tie
eastern side of the shaft. 4 strean q,
wafer biz en"usL To- run gocf-siK..f
hyiro-electrlc plant was pouring into
the f-rIendicular cavern. and IL Wn-
IT. piunEius dsSrent into the bowels
% the earth which was making the
uimlc thunder
Eras'ey Vas the first TO find speech.
Where the biaz-s Is all that water
opuin' FRONT he exploded.
That's Just what we're going to
ind out barkel. Can you and
Daddy handle my weight In n rope
.tingT-
They both protested that they could
handle two Of me II necessary. and
sling was quickly rigg-ti and I was
lowered into the pit At the nearer
view thus obtained. some Of tn. mys-
ts-ri-s were instantly made clear The
r.HsoB why the wooden boxing disap-
peared below a certain point in the
,hafi was that u had never extended
any farther down. II had been mere
ly a box with bottom and all those
pir"-dr.am Impressions which had
tried to register themselves on the
day when | had my struggle with the
sactiOn-pipe octopus were instantly
translated into facts. could have
sworn, then. that there was bottom
In the box. and there oas bottom.
And that other imprrssIon-that l had
encountered an inrushing stream ~
ioe-coid water In tn. chilling depths I:
BsNcr-fHlltng cataract. pouring in
through q perfectly good and substan-
tial conduit Of twelye-lnch iron pipe
In fash the whole criminal mys-
terry Involving the Ostensibiy flooded
mine was illuminated for me Haul
away!" ! called To the two above I:
and when they had drawn me up To
the pits mouth and I could get upon
my feet. ! yipp.d at Daddy aud the
marshal to come on. and led them In
an outdoor race along the mine ledge
10 the eastward: hundi ed yards
dash which brought US to the banks
of tn. swift Iifil. mountain torrent In
the right-hand gulch.
A brief search revealed precisely
what was expecting to find; what
anyone In possession Of the facts pre-
ccd-nt would have expected 20 find.
In the middle Of small pool slightly
upstream from the path level-a peck
eted bit Of water neatly screened and
half hidden by growth Of low
branching spruces-we saw cone
shaped whirlpool swirl into which =
good third OF the stream flow was
vanishing Below this pool an appsr-
entity accidental heaping of rocks
formed small dam which kept the
little reservoir full.
without word, Daddy Hiram and
the Angelic marshal plunged reckless
iy Into the stream and with their bare
hands tore away the ioose-rucs dam.
With the removal Of the slight barrier
and the consequent clearing Of the
course OF the stream. the pocket reser-
voir Immediately sucked dry. the inlet
Of the cataracting pipe WIS exposed.
and the secret OF the flooded Cinnabar
was a secret no longer
The scheme which had been eiab-
GRATED and set In motion TO soak"
Grandfather Jasper WAS n premedi-
lated ''holdup." The Cinnabar. In op-
Grafton and producing to its capacity.
was worth. so Beasley asserted. all
that my grandfather had paid for IL.
and more. But with the branch rail-
road built TO Its very door. its value
would be doubled. Two alternatives
had thus presented themselves to the
owners, who were Cripple Creek
mining spectators who had bought in
the stock At low figure while the
main vein was Ms yet unexploited: they
could 60 on mining the ore and stor-
Ing II against the time when the rail-
road. with Its cost-reducing advan-
tages. should come along: or they
could suspend operations for the SAME
length Of time. setting the losses of q
shutdown over against the Increased
profits when they should start up
again.
With our discoveries Of the morning
the plan Of the robbery became per-
fectly plain. Some giant of finance
among the spectators had evolved a
scheme by which the mine not only
might be shut down during the inter
val Of waiting for the railroad to build
over the bench. but at the same time
be made to yield a bumper crop Of
profitA
Taking Its various steps In their or
der. the first move In the game was to
sell the mine to Grandfather Jasper
while II was still going proposition; I;
snd this was done. But one of the
conditions Of the sale (Beasiey told us
this) WAS that the selling corporation
should continue to operate the mine