The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-11-16

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him. Then he withdrew and nodded
sageiy. @
THAT'S what 1t istn came his an
nouncement at last. "You can ear It'll"
2"But what?"
Get up there and lay your ear
against that vein. See IL you ear any
thing. And be quiet about it. I'm
scared to make a move, for fear
somebody II ear me-" &
Fairehild obeyed. From far away,
carried by the telegraphy of the earth
and there are few conductors that
are better-was the steady pound,
pound, pound of shock after shock as
1t travelled along the hanging wall.
Fairchild turned, wondering, then
reached for Anita.
"You listen" he ordered, as he lift
ed her to where she could hear. do
you get a~nything?"
The girls eyes shone.
81 know what that is," she said
quickly. "Tve heard that same sort
Of thing before-when you're on an
other level and somebody's working
above. Isn't that it, Mr.. Harkins?"
Harry nodded.
"That's it, came terseiy. Then
bending, he reached for a pick and,
muffling the sound as best he could be-
tween his knees, knocked the head
from the handle. Following this, he
lifted the piece Of hickory thoughtful
~ and turned to Fairchild. "Get your
self one" he ordered. Miss Richmond,
I guess you'll ave to stay ere. I don't
see low we can do much else with
you"
"But can't I go along-wherever
you're going?"
There's going to be a fight" said
Harry quietly. "And I'm going to
knock somebody's block off!
"But-Pd rather be there than here.
II don't have to get in it. And I'd
be scared to. death here, I wouldn't If
l vas along with you two, because I
know" and she said it with almost
childish conviction-"that you can
whip EN-"
Harry chuckled.
"Come along, then. I've got a lunch,
and I can't sye it now. But it'll come
out in the wash. Come along"
They started up the mountain side,
skirting the big gullies and edging
about the highest drifts, taking adj
vantage of the cover of the pines, and
bending against the force Of the biz
card, which seemed to threaten to
blow them back, step for step. No
one spoke; fnstinctively Fairchild and
Anita had guessed Harry's conclu-
sfons. The nearest mine to the Blue
Poppy was the Silver Queen, situated
several hundred feet above it In aIti-
tude and less than a furlong away.
And the metal of the Silver Queen
and the Blue Poppy, now that the
strike had been made, had assayed al
most identically the same. It was
easy to make conclusions.
They reached the mouth of the Sill
yer Queen. Harry reconnoitered a
moment before he gave the signal to
proceed. Within the tunnel they went,
to follow along it's regular, rising
course to the stope where, on that
garish day when Taylor Bill and
Blindeye BOZeman had led the enthu-
siastfc parade through the streets, tae
vein had shown. Il was dark there
no n was at work. Harry unlocked
his carbide from his belt, lit 1t and
looked around.
st amt coming from ere" he an
nounced. ITS" then his voice
dropped to a whisper-"what's that?"
Again a rumbling had come from a
distance, as of an ore car travelling
over the tram tracks. Harry extin-
guished his light, and drawing Anita
and Fairchild far to the end Of the
stope, flattened them and himself on
the ground. A long wait, while the
rumbling came closer, still closer;
then, in the distance, a light appeared,
shining from a side Of the tunnel. A
changing noise, followed by clatter-
ing sounds, as though Of steel rails
hitting against each other. Finally
the tramming once more-and the
light approached.
Into view came an ore car, and be-
hind it doomed the great form of Tay-
lor Bill as he pushed it along. Straight
to the pile of ore he came, unlocked
the front Of the tram, tripped It and
piled the contents of the car on top
Of the dump which already rested
there. With that, carbide pointing the
way, he turned back, pushing the tram
before him. Harry crept to his feet.
"We've got to follow !" he whispered.
"It's a blind entrance to the tunnel
som'eres."
They rose and trailed the light along
the tracks, fiattening themselves
against the timbers Of the tunnel as
the form Of Taylor Bill, family out
lined in the distance, turned from the
regular track, opened a great door n
the side Of the tunnel, which, to all
appearances, was nothing. more than
the ordinary heavy timbering of a
weak spot In the rocks, pulled It far
back, then swerved the tram within.
Then, he stopped and raised a port
able switch, throwing 1t into the OPEN
ing. "A second later the door closed
behind him, and the sound Of the tram
began to fade In the distance. Harry
went forward, creeping along the side
Of the tunnel, feeling his way, stop
ping to listen now and then for the
sound of the fading ore car. Behind
him were Fairchild and Anita, follow
Ing the same procedure. And all three
stopped at once.
The hollow sound was coming an.