The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1943-01-28
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group of men surrounding Gary.
'No water. Somebody has cut
our line. Get your car quick"
Gary ordered. We'll have to
find the break and fix il"
The rumble of the boilers died
as the fire was extinguished.
Men hammered in the slabs Of
wood that held the heavy joint
steady in the casing. Hickey lit
his pipe and sat down on the tool
box, but Gary and Adelaide ran,
stumbling and painting in the
dark, to the garage.
MAYBE we can get it fixed
without telling Dad" Adelaide
said breathlessly, as they drag
ged the doors open. "He's had
so much trouble already"
"Take it easy" cautioned Gary,
as she backed out with roar
and he jumped aboard.
Shut up and quit grabbing
things. I'll get you there"
They found the break a mile
down the road. The pipe had
parted clean, as from an ak blow
an done end of it stuck up,
threshing around wildly, spout
ing water like a fire hose. An
irate man with a hoe was dane
ing around it, trying to lead the
water off into little bitches be-
fore it flooded his yard.
"And I worked hard on those
pansies-"
every pansy will be replaced
Gary insisted. "You haven't a
phone here, have you, mister?"
mo. But there's one down at
Ripley's filling station"
GO there, Adelaide. Tele-
phone the water company and
ask them to send out somebody
to turn the water off on this
line; and then call your father
and tell him to send Hickey down
with a couple of men and some
wrenches and tWo-inch pipe
one length of it. Can you re-
member all that?"
Gary squatted on his heels in
the dark, hearing the precious
water wasting away in the gut
ter, knowing that that was Har-
vey Mason's money running away
down there. Then, after about
twenty minutes, the flow of wa
ter stopped He drew a deep
breath of relief, went down to
straighten the pipe and wait for
Hickey. An old truck with two
men in it had slowed to stop,
dimly visible in the dusk, and
one man got out and lifted the
hood and stood fiddling with
something about the motor. Gary
sensed that this was a stall, that
the man who still sat in the
his partner. He was certain of
truck was watching him, and not
this when a car Whirred by,
honking, and the flare of the
headlights showed, briefly,
brand new ak lying in the back
of the truck. He walked boldly
out to the truck.
"You fellows want something's"
he asked
The man at the hood let it
down with a bump. Amt hit
ting right he mumbled. whats
up? Got trouble on your water
line?"
mo, we didn't know nothing
about it. Just seen you standing
there"
"You saw me standing there
and you knew something was
wrong with our line. You'd bet
ter get going-the sheriff's on his
way out here now"
They swore at him, and the
truck tore away, but not before
Gary had noted the license num-
Der.
At one in the morning the
break had been repaired, the boil
ers and pump were going again,
and in short time the drill was
turning. But Gary and Harvey
still sat on the tool box, and AIDE
laide insisted on staying with
them.
"Well, maybe nothing more
will blow up before morning,
Son." Harvey scrutinized a piece
of paper in his hand, by the light
of a match, "I've seen this Ii
cense number you got off that
truck before. I'm trying to re-
member where"
"You can find out from the
tax records who owns the car, ,"
Gary said. "But we can't prove
that they actually cut the line.
The thing we have to do now is
to see that it isn't tempered with
again"
"Could put it underground
but we won't need it long enough