The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1922-10-19

route without throwing the company
into liquidation. And Kitty held con
troll.
The thought of that strengthened his
resolve. He could not bring himself
to go to Molly with the dependency
upon him, but busted himself that af-
ternoon examining the wreck.
Fol- about a month he had had a
strange protege. One evening Jules
Halfhead. the deaf-mute, appeared at
the o Of MS shack. and quickly as
sumed the are of Ii. He was nearly
always TO be found there In Wilton's
absence. Sometimes, however, he
would betake himself back to the port.
age, and he was free OF the camp,
where he ran errands and messages for
the engineers, and was the butt of mild
practical jokes.
Wilton came to the conclusion, how
ever, that the M~uskegon's mind was as
acute as any mans, and that his appar-
ent simplicity was nothing but the out.
ward aspect Of his infirmity.
When Jules had cooked Wilton's sup.
pei Una cNthiHB ut tuIut llto the olliCt
In a state of excitement. The man had
loved the work. He was often to be
G on the t~restle, clinging for dear
life to a plank as the trucks rumbled
past within an inch of his head. When
he saw the wreck of the embankment
had burst into ears. Now he was evil
IDENTIFY trying to describe something TO
Wilton In pantomime but Wilton could
not follow his meaning.
Suddenly he seized a pencil from the
desk and, STOPPING, began to draw a
picture OF the trestle upon the wall
with remarkable skill.
Wilton's interest was at once
aroused. Eyes" he said; nodding to
Jules. what about itr'
Ii was his habit to talk, although the
deaf-mute could not hear his voice.
Jules had an instructive faculty of un-
~derstanding. He looked ut Wilton and
nodded back.
He next drew four uprights-the
long, heavy trunks of considerable
girth that were driven into the ground
TO support the trestling. Then he made
a smudgy line across each. Then he
drew a Ratchet. He looked M at viii
ton In pathetic eagerness. and nodded
again.
"YOu mean that some one tempered
with the tr~estling?" shouted Wilton.
Jules, who had watched his lips.
nnIInd aa.arlxs n,.t NJ hn ,,o -. nnt
ded when he was spoken TO. little
meaning could he attached to that.
Wilton wondered If hat was what
he did e II the uprights had been
tempered with before they were set In
to the ground. by ax-cuts or otherwise,
the weight Of the ballast would un
aoa5:saiiy have broken them. The
break would not have been immediate
~ apparent, but the trestling would In
such case be practically imposed upon
the surface Of the swamp. without sup
port. The ballast would have spread
over the muskeg. causing the entire
structure to subside.
"Who did III" asked Wilton, speak
ing slowly and carefully.
Jules. who was still watching him,
suddenly turned and, will, lightning
movements, drew a caricature OF Lee
Chambers on the wood So-x OF the
wall.
Wilton looked at II and drew In his
breath. Then he nodded. Jules nod.
ded In return, smiled. and left the
room. Wilton reflected deeply.
II Chambers was a spy OF Bowyer's.
why had he shown him the bedrock al
all? On the other hand. assuming that
Wilton must eventually discover IL
himself. Bowyer might have sent
Chambers to make a virtue of q neces-
sity and 10 secure a position at the
camp. where he could be of service to
him.
In any case. Wilton could afford to
take no further chances with him. II
would serve no purpose to accuse him
Of having tempered with the trestling.
he would give him II post somewhere
where he could do no harm. aud thus
get rid OF him.
Fighting down the burning rage In
his heart. he went down the road to-
ward the shack which the engineer oc-
cupied. This was q reconstructed
shed. There was only one In II.
but Chambers had asked TO have this
rather than share the quarters Of the
other engineers
The men were hack In the hunk
houses, but the door or the shed was
padiocked. Thinking that Chambers
might be in the camp. he made his
way foward the other quarters. But
presently he heard some u calling
HIN and. turning saw Andersen run
ming after him.
Were you leaking for MI Chain
hers. STRIP asked the loren ain.
Yes. Where Ii hs.?-
"Why. he weni hack 20 clayton this
Ro0n. Mr., Carrunhers, He said be Was
sssaS IL sse. sea;
wllton's suspicious sud ieniy famed
up. "Tie keyr" he siso ited pultinr
AT the paddock.
II guess he took Il With him." said
Andersen.
Have the staples pulled nj
once"
Wilton waited. fuming, until Amber
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