The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-05-11
What the Dam Meant
By GREGORY GRAY
g by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Service


thought him too absorbed to be
aware of the beating rain en- the
unsubstantial roof.
AS a matter of fact, Paul Bassett
was so dominated by the rain that
everything else was driven from his
mind. 1t even made him forget the
party on the hill whose foregoing he
believed had cost him the heart and
hand of it's hostess, Claire Hen
bricks.
This downpour. unprecedented at
this season of the year, was threat
ening his uncompleted dam and with
it the labor of four hard years. The
weather bureau had prophesied an
other twelve hours of it.
"Of course" he had told Claire
over the phone, my common sense
tells me the dam will stand. Even
unfinished, the factor Of safety is
ridiculously' high"
"Then | should think" said Claire
petulantly, that you could surely
come to the party"
81 am afraid not" he said ruefully.
aft anything should happen-well, it's
like the captain and his ship. Duty
before pleasure
Imagined duty!" came back Claire's
taunt. "Thank heaven. Abbott Wayne's
bonding business is not so demand
ing"
With that unkind last word the
conversation ended. Wayne was the
man Paul had for some time been
fearing was rival.
At midnight there came a sudden
lull in both gale and rain and it
occurred to Paul that it would be q
favorable moment to take a read
ing of certain gauges down at the
dam itself which. Embedded in the
structure, registered their recordings
over wires to special instruments at
the surface.
Picking his way by flashlight
along the narrow path that skirted
the great piles of debris. now being
washed and quilted into fascinating
patterns, he reached the dam and
made his readings.
For moment ne stood watching
the turbulent race of clouds over his
head. Then. as he turned to go, a
glimpse of something moving in the
shadow of a derrick caught his eye.
A girl, wrapped in a cape, her hair
wind blown. was standing there. For
a minute his heart leaped. Had
Claire run down for a moment?
Then he saw it was not Claire. but
Abbott Wayne's little sister. who had
made the dam project her own ever
since the first shovel Of dirt had been
turned.
what on earth, Dot" he demand
ed, "are you doing here?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders. Il
love the racket of the storm. Be
sides, haven't l seen this dam grow
from the very start? couldn't help
worrying about it. Wanted to see IL
it was all right"
For the first time in the four years
that she had the run of the place, Paul
really saw Dorothy. And she wasn't
the mere child that he thought.
''Why aren't you at the party?" he
said.
1.-TWO reasons" she retOrted prompt
ly. "Unimportant one being that I'd
rather be here. The Other-well,
wasn't asked. l may be eighteen, al
most, but Claire thinks me kid"
Eighteen! Paul would hardly have
thought so, but now he saw that it was
rather because of her slim little figure
and girlish ways than from any child
ishness. 1t flashed across him that
she would make an excellent wife for
an engineer. She would understand,
as Claire never could, that intimate
bond between a man and the thing he
has created.
She startled him with little cry.
look, oh look! l do believe the old
weather bureau was wrong! There's
the moon!"
Sure enough, through rift in the
clouds, the whole disk of the moon,
just past full, could be seen.
1t was true that the crest of the
flood might not be reached until noon
tomorrow, but the chances were that
the dam would hold if the rain was
over. Paul felt like Seizing the Sen-
der hands of his companion and whirl-
ing her round in dance of celebra
ton. Yesterday he would have done
that very thing. But somehow, not
tonight.
Il must go back" she was saying.
IL wonder if you would mind walk
ing up to the top of the hill with me
where | can see the light in my win
dow. It's really later than thought.
l suppose" and she threw glance
up at the big house on the hill where
strains of music were floating down
everyone knows now of Claire's en-
gagement to my brother"
Paul stopped short. "Claire-your
brother?"
"Why, yes. That was what the
party was for. Abbott told me before
he left. But it was to be grand sur
prise. Claire loves surprises"
By rights, Paul should have felt as
if a knife had been turned in his
heart. On the contrary, he felt and
lie was amazed at the sensation, as if
he had just received reprieve from
some dreadful fate.
Tie rain had ceased. The girl who