The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-02-16
CHAPTER x.-Continued.

Being stopped off short in every
other direction, we finally gravitated
over to the shaft-house and went to
work in an aimless sort of fashion
gathering up the wreckage of the
smashed gear train and putting things
%shtpshape again. With steam up, we
turned the machinery over a few
times, just to see that everything was
ia working order again, and | threw In
the clutch Of the centrifugals. merely
for the satisfaction of hearing the
flood rushing through the outlet. When
the pumps were going at full speed I
went to look down the shaft. AS be
fore. when we had run the pumps for
q week on end, there was a slight dis
furbance OF the water, but nothing
more. My makeshift ioat-and-pulIey
gauge showed no change in the level.
Suddenly a freak notion seized me
going on down in those black depths
into which the suction pipes of the
big pumps led.
Daddy, I'm going to try to find out
something" | declared and forthwith
began to strip my clothes off. We've
seen the water coming out at the 9th
err end of things, and now. by George,
/ mean 60 make sure that its going in
at this end"
He didn't try very hard TO diSsuade
me, and a minute or so later | was
crawling down the shaft ladder in the
habiiiments that old Mother Nature
ave me-. 1t was my first exploration
of the shaft, and l was surprised to
= find 1t so well and tightly timbered:
''boxed' is the better word, since the
g timbering was really a substantial
wooden box built within the square
outlinings of the pit. Common sense
fold me that thfs must have been lone
to prevent the caving in of tie sides:
and afterward I remembered wonder
ing, at the time, that the shaft should
have been sunk in caving material
when the remainder of the bench upon
which the buildings stood appeared to
be little else than solid rock.
BY feeling with a free foot | could
determine that the pump suction pipes
went on still farther, and then the
real adventure began. The ladder
suddenly gave out, quit, ended. There
were no more rounds below The one
upon which I was standing. That be-
fng the case there was nothing FOR II
but to dive, feet foremost. and taking
n deep breath, / let go of the ladder
and began, to swim downward. Almost
before | realized it | was fighting des-
perafeiy for dear life. One of the big
suction pipes had taken hold of a foot
and leg, like a tentacle of an enor-
nous octopus, and / was unable to get
loose. h.
After all, it vas Daddy Hiram who
saved my life. Suddenly the thunder
of the pumps. magniied a thousand
fold for me in that icy pit of death,
stopped short and the mechanical
squid let go of my leg. With lungs
Bursting I shot to the surface and
weakly cIutched the ladder. Framed
iii the square of daylight a dozen feet
overhead I could see Daddy hanging
over the mouth OF the pit; saw him
and heard his shouted words ssFreeze
To the ladder. boy-I'm a-cornin' down
after yer Z
was freezing all right. fn botf
senses 81 the word. but I found breath
NJ warn him back, and presently man
a9ed to crawl mp the ladder and roll
ont upon the shafthouse floor. In
sssantly the old man pounced upon me
buiEetInx. siapping and rubbing. maui,
~ axsan A4avNNAn khar 1890 ~, 80 III. ~ il