Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1935-12-07
IMPENDING
DOOM!


words: Mature stronger than the pFade
o. men" WAS It. Simon HardrCu Wuasfo
prove Il wasn't. He stared inflexinly
ahead Nayior made q desperate elfort
and they were over.
Hardrons mouth had grim mockery
rs they climbed again. The road bo-
fore them was clearer now; the snow
had thinned on this slope. That was
how nature went down before the ma
terial power 8 millionaire could use
II against t. All this sentimental old
mumbo- jumbo Of Higher Forces
he put cut his hand quickly to save
himself. The car had swayed and SKID
ded badly.
i They had turned and dipped 10 &
valley. As they did so the wind and
snow had smashed sideways at them
with a redoubled fury. IL howled about
them, seemingly bent on pushing them
| into the deep ditch beside the road
| And the road before them had grown
fantastic. II was fun Of white masses
on the move, whirling and piling, this
way and that; burying whole stretches
in so flat a white that even hedge tops
were lost. Naylor looked back anxious
". Hardron sat tight-mouthed looking
ahead.
Over a slow, twisting mile OF read
and drifts Naylor forced the car on
4 ward; then. as they reached the
Drannyg boundary, they came up 20 3
shallow dip that was now not q dip,
but an eddying, featureless level Of
snow.
There was a deceptive CLINT of clear
road a quarter Of mile ahead. but
how It turned and twisted in between,
II
to butt through, driven by the hard
eyes behind him. but quite suddenly
there was 8 sickening lurch and drop,
the big salon heaved sideways and they
we're ditched.
Even in the minute that Naylor tried
to wrestle the car clear with reversed
engine, the wind gathered about them
with an impish fury. It piled the snow
so thickly against their weather side
that it was plain that It would take
no time at all to enguH them in q
drift.
Still Hardron was Hardron, not the
stuff to yield anything to nature or
man. His eyes had picked out a line Of i
close set trees and bushes ahead.
THAT leads downhill, an avenue to
Drannys," he shouted to Naylor "It1l
shelter us to the house. Open the door,
the SHOWS blocking it."
tered side Of the car. From waist deep
in snow he said: you can't do it, sir;
better leave me to get help"
Hardron did not answer-nobody
told him what he could do or could
not do He stepped out, up to his
waist, took another step and went
down and down into SOFT clingine,
choking nothingness. 1t was only Nay
lor's strong arm that caught him back.
rln lnG FL
ing strangely as he stood on firm
ground again.
eyes, sir, bitches and dips all over
the shop, no telling where" Naylor
said. you can't do 1t, sir. You amt
so young-better wait in the car TIL
I get help"
He wanted to glare Naylor down, but
something had happened as the ground
went away from his feet something
that had given him a queer sense Of
feebIeness that had brought a tlnge
of doubt even to MINIATURE telling
him how she could break even thei
power and pride OF millionaires.
The iron in him seemed shaken as
he climbed back into the car, huddled
the camel rug round him, piled the fur
one onto that.
eweli, don't stand gaping all day !
Naylor," he rasped. "Shut that door :
and be off for help sharpl"
How strong and pitiiess world 1t
seemed without the presence OF even
4 hiFeling chauffeur. Hardron felt
tark and small in 1t while the cold
rev and mastered him in spite Of ex-
Oensive rugs. And that something else,
that revelation of his real position in
The scheme OF things, seemed to tdueeze
MIN smaller and smaller.
First the wind drove that feeling
eakrs 81 al p
ng II like a dog. showing, 1t seemed,
! sort Of scorn at the ease with which
{ could trap and intimidate million
aires. The wind gave him the queerest
Iense Of nttleness. He who had alwayst
'elt so mighty in his harsh power off
money; Of little account in fact Of its
ItorTntng vastness.
But soon there was q worse thing
han the wird-the absence Of 1t. Dead
t iirfr Creeping down on him as the
now piled deep on the weatherside,
.rept over the roof of the car and shut
nut the noise of the living world.
Sitting slowly stiffeniug with colds
,e seemed to be sinking into the ST
ence Of the tomb as the snow silently
md swiftly and relentlessly buried
Inn He was being buried alive and
rozen to death. just as any ordinary
nan might be when caught out by Ma
uthless Will could help him. He was
ust mere item in Nature, being wiped
nut in Natures casual way.
And nature found him easy. You
int so young" Naylor had said. He
vasn't. Sixty-two had seemed the prime
I his powers, sitting in an office and
aging down the law to those who
ould not or dare not resist. But in the
ace Of the eternal verities, he was