The Dickenson County herald. [volume] (Clintwood, Va.) 1927-1930, 1930-01-16

vast and naked workings of an engi.
neering achievement which was cost.
ing fifty million dollars. He felt no
exultation or thrill Of pride, and In
his eyes was far-back. somber gloom
What he saw was to him an amending
and nauseous pit into which steady
aud monotonnus drizzle Of rain was
falling. There were fifteen hundred
men on the job below him working in
three eighlhou shifts, and neither
darkness nor storm could stop them
lie could see them moving and crawl
ing about like ants al their labor In
his mind they added nothing to the
scene, unless it was e. give grimmer
reality to hell that was smoking and
boiling over. Everywhere a rumble
and din, everywhere the fierce and
heartbreaking labor of men. every
where the ugliness and madness of a
uan-made place of torment
Paul was thinking this even with
Carla Haldan in his mind He could
with their cement and steel walls, and
the monster sections of the almost
completed DAM which was to harness
northern waters TO the production of
light and power for twenty million
people. Three years OF human effort
and millions in capital lay under his
eyes. Yet about ii al was only one
excusabIe and beautiful thing for him.
That was the rim Of wilderness, the
! green and black ard purple boun-
| dares of the forest which chung like
a frame about the workings.
His contemplation Of the scene In
the valley WIS interrupted by voice
at his Office door, and he turned to
greet the most intimate of his friends
In the field, Colin Derwent. who was
the companys medicai man Even on
rainy days and with Lis boots clogged
soul With his Frenchy little mus
| tache, his smooth cheeks. his iveIi.
ness of movement and his appreca-
ton of all phases OF life. he con
| tinued to bear the appearance of
boy, though ne had li,ed an important
chair in medicine in Johns Hopkins.
| He nodded to Paul dropped off his
rubber coat ana began to fill his pipe
as he looked ON ovei the workings.
81 wish all the boys in he world
could stand in his window and see
what's going ON down there. he said
| ''rhat idea gets in'n my head every
| time come here II would fill 'em
/ a.. L
done, give en- something to live and
work for Rotten da. isn't il?"
| "Rotten. agreed raul
| But foi q man wtics done that
| it ought to he SUNSHINE all he time"
added DerWcnt Iighfir,g his pipe and
| putting at il With great contentment.
splendid work. Fam Something to
be proud of all your life. Some
| thing"
81 hate il" inlorrn:ed Paul. 1--WE
hated it from the beginning I've hated
| it for three years
Derweni nodded Il knew it."
Paul turned from tiie window with
| a ferceiy eloquent gesture, AT thirty
| eight his lean 1.-THE figure was more
| like an Indians than when he was a
boy. There was something in the cut
| of his chin his neck his shoulders,
| and The Iook in his eyes which seemed
| to set him widely apart from the
scene he had moodily surveyed mo
ment before Shadows we're hidden
| behind them. restless and troubled
| shadows. which revealed themselves
| only now and then like ghosts whose
grief cout' not always he kept behind
walls of flesh Ills eyes were a deepe,
blue than -w'rr his mother had known
thing whicl, Was Forever Struggling
against the powerful will of the man
Occasionally The prisoner was re
leased, and when this happened there
was a singular far-seeing almost
poetic beauty In them and the steel
went out of his flesh, so flat he
seemed all al once 10 come under the
passing warmth OF an influence other
than that which had become so deep
ly rooted in his life
Derwenf's analytical mind had ar
rived al the truth Of the matter a long
time ago He nodded again and re
peated: n know you don't like It.
But it's great work Just the same"
Paul looked at hin with grim
smile and Deweni surrounded him
self with cloud OF smoke.
do you think | am quite fool,
Colin? Do you really believe could
be Oh job Of this kind for three
years without getting pretty &C
curate measurement Of myself? The
fraud OF il all makes me sick The
hatiery OF my friends-everybod
treating me as II | were an omnis.
GENTLY powerful godhead OF soma
kind tell. y0n It's all a lie, and |
hate it. I'm glad | didn't build that
outrage down there Fin glad there
isn't mark OF my hand upon it.
Good Cd would die by inches
rather than destroy n beautiful river
for thing like that -desecrate q
masterpiece toI Il few dollars profit,
prostitute n Gift whicn God put there
when the world was n ade that few
worms like you and me may turn il
to our selfish ends Ii there Is
Power that mounts the storm and