THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
WbfS
CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY
"AUTHOR "THC 01 ALICE Of COURAGE,"
ThT ULANO Of RKDIERATIOfVFTC,
AND
CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY JR
CIVIL ZNCWUR.
BERTRAM MEADE FACES ANOTHER GREAT CRISIS AND
APPARENTLY DESERTS HIS SUPERIOR AT THE
CRITICAL PERIOD
Following tlio collnpso of an International bridge which his fa
ther, a noted engineer, had planned, and the old man's sudden death
from dlsgraco and shock, Bertram Mcado takes tho blame for tho dis
aster which coBt many lives and disappears from his homo In New
York. Ho goes to tho southwest, gets a Job under tho name of Rob
erts on an Irrigation dam project and makes good. Meanwhile, Helen
Illlngworth, Meado's sweetheart, and Rodney, an old friend, arc quiet
ly working to clear tho young man's namo and learn his whereabouts.
They are particularly anxious to get hold of n letter written by tho
cider Meado to assume responsibility for tho accident Tills paper la
oecrctly held by Shurtllff, who had been tho old man's devoted private
secretary for many years. This Installment opens with tho threat of
disaster to tho dam through flooding by cloudburst
CHAPTER XIV, Continued.
9
Tho lantern was standing on tho
foadway on top of tho dam. A man
jvras kneeling beyond It, his figuro seen
dimly In tho faint light of tho lantern.
Do was staring intently down tho
!'ront of tho dam at tho water. Tho
antcrn was near tho edgo and it faint
ly Illuminated tho black, ram-lashed
nurfnco below. Vandcventer realized
With a shock of horror how much mora
rapid tho rlso had been. A quick estl
mato convinced him that tho level of
tho water was now within eight or nlno
Toot of tho dam and it was still rain
ing! Tho fuco of tho kneeling man was
bidden by a sou'wester and ho had on
h heavy black rubber raincoat Van
Bovcntcr reached over and touched
Um on tho shoulder.
"What aro you doing hero?" ho
asked.
Tho kneeling man sprang up with an
exclamation. It was Meado. Tho re
lief in Vnndevcnter's mind was great
fet tho recognition.
"I Just camo out to look nt tho wa
ter. I couldn't sleep with all that
Kundlng on tho iron roof of tho qunr
rs, so I dressed and camo out"
Vandcventer opened tho slldo of his
firm lantern and throw tho light on tho
reservoir.
"It's risen eight or ten feet Blnco wo
aw It and with this ruin"
"It's not coining down so hard as
It was when I first camo out here,"
Bald Meade. "I think you can sco It
klackcnlng yourself."
"Yes," said tho resident engineer,
listening a moment, "I bcllovo it is. If
It stops now," ho continued thought
fully, "wo ought to bo safe."
"Yes, I think so," answered Meade.
In tho night alone, together In that
crisis In their fortunes, tho two men
wcro interchanging thoughts and Ideas
pn terms of perfect equality. It did
fcot occur to Vandavoutcr to question
Why, and that they wcro doing so
aroused no surprlso In tho mind of
Ueado.
"Of course," continued Meade, "even
if it docs stop raining wo'll contlnuo
to get a lot of runoff from tho water
shed for sonio time,"
"Yes," Bald tho resident engineer,
''that of course, but If tho rain stops
svorywhero wo can scarcely havo n
rise of moro than flvo or six feet, and
that would still be a llttlo below tho
Uplllway."
"It's Btopplng hero now," pointed out
fcfeado, and, Indeed, tho forco of tho
fiownpour was greatly diminished.
Tho two stood watching tho dam and
tho black lako beyond it in silence for
dtow moments until tho rain practical
ly coascd. Tho air was misty and heavy
with moisture, but tho rain was cer
tainly over for tlio timo nt any rate.
, "Thank goodness," said tho resident
engineer In great relief. "Now If It's
stopped overywhero wo'll bo all right."
"Yes," said Mecdc, "und I'm inclined
to think It has stopped everywhere.
whoever thought it would rain in Jan
wry hero? Thero hasn't n drop, to
apeak of, fallen in January for twenty
pears, or Binco mere navo uccn any
records, why In heaven's namo It
mad to como now I don't see."
"Look here, Roberts," said Vande-
.vonter suddenly, "you know you'ro u
first-class engineer."
Mcado shook his head.
"You can't fool me," said tho older
nan. "I'vo watched you. You know
more about tho gamo than anybody
hero except myself. You don't chooso
to confide In me, although I liko you,
und I am in a position to help you."
"I appreciate what you say, Mr. Vun
dovcutcr," returned tho other; "thero
Is no ono to whom I should rather tell
tho whole story than to you, but I
can't not yet"
"Well, keep your own counsel, but
Jf you over want a friend, count on mo ;
meanwhile, ns a man of experlenco und
ability, what would you do?"
"Get out tho men und build up a
temporary dam on tho top of tho road
way bore, to turn tho flow over to tho
fitast bank and mako tho spillway do
wore work."
"But the rain has stopped."
"And In oil probability will stay
topped still you never can tell. A
lew moro hours of rain llko that wo'vo
;d and the whole thing would go. If
Ill
copyrickt or amine h.kvo.1 conwtr
tho water wcro as high ns tho top
thcro'd only bo two feet of head In tho
uncompleted spillway, and that
wouldn't bo enough to discharge It at
tho rate it's been coming In."
"Of course," said Vandcventer
thoughtfully. "And If tho dam goes,"
ho added, "thero aro ten miles of back
water up thero and millions of cubic
yards Impounded, which would Bweep
down tho valley. Thero wouldn't bo
a thing left of tho camp, the town, tlio
now railroad bridge, or anything else."
"Coming on top of tho International,
tho loss of this big and expensive via
duct would about finish tho Martlet
company," said Meado thoughtlessly.
Vandcventer looked at him Bhnrply.
An Idea suddenly camo to him. Meade
had turned away his head as ho real
ized his slip, bo ho did not observe tho
light In Vnndeventcr's eyes. However,
tho resident engineer was a good sort
"You aro right" he snld quickly. "I
bate to call out tho men, but wo'vo got
llttlo chance, now tho rain has
stopped, and wo can work to advantago
In splto of all tills awful mud" ho lift
ed his foot up nnd disclosed It caked
and clogged with masses. "111 tako
charge In tlio center here, nnd Stafford
on tho left, and I'm going to gtvo you
charge of tlio cast end of tlio dam, over
by tho spillway. If only thoso drills
had been hero six weeks ago."
"Wo might set tho men to work on
that rock now," said Meade.
"It would bo useless. There's too
much of It No, If wo'ro going to snve
tho dam, wo'vo got to build it up nnd
try to keep ahead of tho waters If
they rlso any more. Tho higher wo
can build It tho greater will bo tho
head on the spillway, and tho moro
will bo discharged. I'll turn tho men
out at once."
"But what nro you going to do?"
"I'm going to palisade tho top of tho
dam. There's plenty of timber already
cut down, and wo will cut a lot of
young pines nnd build a pallsado wall
of timber across tho top thrco or four
feet bnck from tho edge. Well banked
on the downstream side, it may hold."
"It might bo worth while to lino that
pallsado with gulvanlzed Iron sheets
from tlio houses." said Mcado.
"A good Idea," said Vandevcntcr,
"nnd we'll pilo what underbrush nnd
small stuff wo havo In front of tho
pallsado aud heap what rocks wo can
find on top of that and wo'll bank It
up on tho other sldo with earth. It's a
poor dependence, but It will hold for n
whllo anyway, and every moment of
tlmo may bo precious."
"How about sandbags, sir?"
"Wo'vo got a few hundred cement
bags, but not enough. I wish wo had
n few thousand; however, wo will fill
what wo have, nnd If tho water rises
nnd begins to trickle over tho ton nnd
through tho pnllsado, wo'll Jam thoso
down nt tho danger points. Can you
suggest nnythlng moro?"
"Nothing."
uoou. wen turn out tno men.
Thoy'vo had six hours' sleep anyway."
CHAPTER XV.
The Battle.
It was now thrco o'clock In tho
morning. In about half an hour tho
men, naturally grumbling and protest
Ing at being deprived of any of their
Bleep, wcro out nnd nt work. Lanterns
wcro lighted overywhero. Tho ruin
had fortunntely not resumed, and tho
air was soon filled with nolso and con
fusion. Men with axes wero busy on
tho hillside cutting tho young pines,
Horses wcro hitched to tho dump wng
ons, tho Btcnra shovel began tearing
away tho hillside. Somo of tho men
wvro ut'uuicu 10 KtiocK uown Bomo
of tho galvanized iron houses and tho
battering of tho hammers on tho metal
added to tho din.
Under Vnndevcnter's personal direc
tion a row of stakes wus driven Into
tho top of tho dam about thrco feet
from tho frout of it Big sheets of
uvL'uiiinmiK Kuivnuizeu iron wero
nailed roughly to tho fronts of tho
firmly bedded stakes and tho smull
branches and brushwood wcro thrown
down beforo It Bowlders and big
stones wcro carried out on tho dam In
tho wagons nnd thrown dowu on tho
brushwood; Bpnro timbers, broken
wagon' beds, old whecU, Joists of ills
mcmbercd houses wcro driven Into tho
earth to serve as braces behind tho
pallsado; n bank of earth was piled
up behind it, on which every mnn who
could bo spared from other tasks, even
tho chiefs themselves, labored with
breathless energy. Tho wntcr wus still
rising, although tho rain had stopped;
tho natural dralnngo would causo that
but the rise was slower.
At dawn Vandcventer personally
carefully measured tho depth of tho
water and gauged It again. It wns a
scant six and a half feet below tho top
of tho dam. If the water roso abovo
the top It was gravely questionable
whether the pallsado would hold It nt
all, yet there was no other way of In
creasing the depth of tho spillway
enough to dlschurgo tho flood volume.
Working ns hard ub they could, they
had barely succeeded in raising tho
earth bank bnck of It a foot high.
They kept at It unremittingly, although
It did not seem to bo of much use.
Vandcventer, Stnfford nnd Meado gath
ered together and scanned tho sky,
seeking to discern tho signs of tho
time, tho purposo of tho heavens. It
was clearer In the enst Tho clouds to
the northwestward wero In violent no
tion nppnrcntly. Lightning flashed
through them and over tho great range
Itself; low, muttered peals of thunder
camo down from tho peaks lost to sight
in tho blnckness overhend. They ob
served all this carefully and Vandc
venter turned nway, shaking his head.
"I don't know," ho began tho three
of them were over on tho cast Bldo
tho better to sco up tho valley "It
looks pretty bad, doesn't It?"
"It docs," nnswered Meade, whllo
Stafford nodded his head.
"And, by tho way, Stafford, havo you
notified the town and tho bridge people
of tho danger nnd bid them prcpuro
for it?"
"I tried to telephone them a while
ago, but tho connection has been bro
ken ; tho storm bus pluycd havoc with
tho lino probably," answered tho as
sistant engineer.
"Well, what did you do then?" asked
Vandcventer n llttlo Impatiently.
"I sent a man down on horseback in
a hurry to warn them that If It rains
again the dam might go, and If it did
It would go with a rush; that tho water
was now only six feet below tlio level,
nnd that they hud better get up on tho
hills. Of course, last night's rain must
have made the road almost Impassable,
but ho ought to get thero by nlqe
o'clock. I told him to tell tho Mnrtlct
people to take whatever steps they
could devise to hold their viaduct and
their mnchlnery," answered Stafford,
ns ho turned and walked toward his
own pnrt of tlio dam.
"Good," exclaimed Vnndeventer.
"There's nothing left for us to do but
keep on."
The resident engineer looked white
nnd haggard. Although it was cold
and raw In tho wet air, ho wiped tho
sweat from his forehead.
"Tho men nro doing splendidly, sir,"
said Meade.
"Yes," Bald Vandevcnter, "mnny of
them havo their wives and children
back In tho town. Somo of the Ital
ians havo bought land on tlio prairie
nnd nro going to Bettlo here. They're
fighting for everything thoy'vo got on
enrth. Whnt do you think of the
chances of this pallsado of ours?"
Mcndc shook his head.
"It's all wo can do, sir, but if tho
water rises moro than seven or eight
feet"
"Say It," said Vandcventer.
"Tho dam would go like a house of
cards."
"Exactly. And look nt that cloud
bank over thero la tho northwest. It's
sprendlng."
"Whnt wind thero Is," Bald Meade,
moistening his linger nnd holding It
up to feci tho direction, "is blowing
the opposite way down here, but you
can't tell what Is happening up there.
Well, all wo cun do Is to fight on."
And fight they did. It was almost at
first sight llko tho hand of mnn ngnlnst
tho hand of God. Thero was no more
room for engineering expedient It
was chop and how, break and pound,
A Man Was Kneeling Beyond It
dig nnd drive, carry nnd pile. Throw
ing off his coat Vandovcntcr seized a
spado and began to work llko any
other laborer, and the rest of tho
higher men followed his example.
At bIx o'clock tho blackness hanging
In tho northwest began to turn their
way. It was coming down tho moun
tain. It wus headed for tho valley.
Vnndeventer buw It, every teamster,
every common lnborer saw It It was
coming. Unless heaven itself Inter
fered thero would bo moro rnln. They
had worked desperately beforo, but
now they applied themselves to their
tasks with a kind of wild fury. A
sort of Insanity took possession of
them. They would not bo beaten. They
cried, nt first shrilly and then hoarsely
and raucously, encouraging words and
phrases from one to another ; In words
vivid, profane, desperate. They stood
thero nnd they heaved nnd dug nnd
piled and hammered nnd hurled nnd
drove fiercely. It was n battle mad
ness thnt camo Into them. They saw
red llko tho berserker of old. Yes, It
was not unllko n battlo In other ways,
for with tho rush of the northwest
storm came ronrlng mighty thunder
nnd vivid nnd terrifying lightning. It
wns as if great darts of light literally
were hurled by somo gigantic hnnd be-
And Shook His Fist at the Sky.
hind the black screen of sweeping
cloud down upon tho granlto moun
tnlns. They saw splinters of Are where
tho thunderbolts struck. The pealing
of thunder was appalling.
Their frail pnllsado bucking was not
half completed. It must bo raining
somewhere, for the wnter was still
slowly rising. It was flvo and n half
feet now from the crest. It wus hope
less if another rain fell, and tho rain
wns coming. Thero was an added chill
In tho still air of tho valley as tho
storm drove down upon them. A few
of tho fainter henrts flung down pick
and shovel nnd ax and stood craven.
Oaths, curses, blows even, from those
of tho braver sort shamed them Into
work again. These bravo hearts and
true might bo swept nway with the
dam If it gave way, but they would
not glvo up, and no man working with
them should flee his task or shirk his
duty. By tho living God, whoso sport
nnd plaything they seemed to be, they
sworo It; nnd so weak and strong,
bold nnd timid labored on desper
ntc, resolved, godllko In their cour
age and persistence.
Tho clouds wcro moving swiftly
now. To tho east It had been clear,
but now it was also black, and then
with a roar greater even than
n thousand thunderclaps, tho wind
tore down tho mountains, through the
narrow canyons, Into tho valleys,
shrieking In the pines, nnd fell upon
them nnd hurled them down and
brushed them bnck. And nftcr the
wind, tho ruin. A drop or two struck
Vnndeventcr'fl cheek; another, anoth
er, nnd then tho flood. He lifted his
head and stared and shook his fist nt
the sky and turned to tho human ter
mites he commanded.
"Carry on,, carry on, boys," ho cried,
shrieking to bo heard abovo the thun
der peals, "wo'll beat It yet."
A cheer rose about him and was
caught up and ran along tho top of
tho great dam. The half-munlacal yell
wns bucIi a cry as men might give
vent to In tho heat of battle, tho ex
citement of wild charge, and then they
fell to It again. Tho moro Ignorant,
unawaro of tho feebleness of tho pali
sade, tho moro knowing Indifferent to
It seeing only tho Job, alike realized
only their duty to fight on, to answer
tho appeal to their manhood, to refuse
to admit defeat even when llfo trem
bled In the balance.
Yes, to uso tlio ancient simile again,
tho fountains of tho great deep wero
broken open. What had befallen them
beforo was nothing to this. Tho hard
rain of tho night seemed trifling com
pared to this avalanche of water. This
was a cloudburst indeed. And to
mako it worse, to make their task
harder, to render their efforts useless,
tho high wind ronrlng down tho valley
piled the wntcr up and drove It In
thunderous nssaulting waves agulnst
tho great mound of earth on which tho
men struggled and labored frantically.
Vandevcnter, shovel In hand he did
not dnro to throw it down, lest his ac
tion bo misconstrued went from gang
to gang, from man to man, talking to
them, appealing to them, pointing out
weaknesses hero and there, Inspiring
them, holding them up ns n mnn might
hold a stricken lino ngalnst tho on
slaught of n victorious and overwhelm
ing force. And ngalnst wind and rain
In that thick darkness, blinded by tho
flashing lightning, stunned by tho peal
Ing thunder, with zenl superhuman
they tolled on und on nnd on.
Back nnd forth went tho chief, show
ing himself a leader of leaders, und
wherever ho stopped tho fury nnd des
peration of tho effort to stem tho tide
Increased. When ho camo plodding
nlong tho muddy roadway to tho part
committed to Mcado bo did not find
tho engineer.
"Where's Roberts?" ho yelled above
tho noise of the Btorin.
"no nnd two men havo gone, sir."
"Gone?" cried Vandcventer, cut to
the heart at what ho thought wns n
desertion. "Well," ho shouted, renllz
Ing thero was nothing ho could do then
and that ho had neither breath nor
tlmo to waste, "there's moro need for
tho rest of us to tako their places."
He drew a man or two from the
other gongs to re-enforce this danger
point nnd himself directed their work.
Now it tnkes tlmo for wnter to rise
flvo feet, even In n cloudburst or a
succession of them. Tho rain constant
ly seemed to Increase ns the wind
drovo It on. Vnndeventer knew thnt
the dum wns doomed, thnt tho sluice
und the hnlf-flnlshcd spillway com
bined could dlschnrgo only a small part
of tho flow, but ho knew that he would
havo two hours at least to work be
foro tho water could pass the crest,
undermine, and butter down the pull
sldo nnd begin to trickle over. Just
as soon ns It did roll over tho top,
unless they could stop It, the whole
thing wns gone. For thoso two hours
tho supermen lnbored unremittingly In
tho downpour with n persistent and he
roic courage thnt should havo been re
corded In song and story but which
wus not It wus remembered nftcr
a while by none save n few. To tho
many it wa only "all In tho day's
work 1"
The undcrslulce In the side of tho
dam which would Inter servo us head
gate for the canal had been Intended
to pass tho smnller floods which might
occur during tho construction nnd had
been open since tho rain began. It
curried off a great volume of water,
but hopelessly little In comparison with
the flood. Foot by foot In the torren
tlul downpour tho wnter rose. At half
after eight it reached tho level of tho
splllwny and commenced to rush
through In ever-Increasing volume, but
tho flow Into tho reservoir wns fur
greater thun the splllwny's cnpuclty.
Still the sight of tho rushing wntcr
encouraged the men. Every ono of
them felt that if tho pallsudo held the
discharge would bo Increased enough
to stop tho rlso, but nt present tho ef
fect was small. By nlno o'clock It wns
within a foot of the top. They began
to measure Its rlso by Inches. Although
tho dum hud been curefully kept level
ns It was built, tho trample of horses
and men, tho present digging nnd pali
sading and revetting hud caused llttlo
depressions. Now tho water roso to
tho level, nero and thero It began to
trickle over I
Tho rain coming down from tho
mountain tops was as cold ns Ice, yet
tho men wero In n fever of excitement.
They had got their second wind. They
wero too enthused, too desperate, to
feel their wenrlness. They hnd not
worked before as they did then. It
wns the last possible nervous outburst
with most of them. They could keep
It up n little longer till they dropped
dead. As the mad thoroughbred falls
In his strldo on tho track, pushed be
yond his power of endurance, ns even
tho common carthorse cun bo mndo to
go until ho drops, so these men, white,
haggard, nervous, drawn-faced, sweat
mingling with the rnln on their sodden
bodies, would go till they broke. They
hnd not quite reached that point yet.
Thero wero somo Ave hundred heavy
cement bngs which had been filled with
sand and piled up on tho rondwny nt
convenient points. As n forlorn hope,
as a last try, Vandeventer called all
tho diggers and ditchers, nnd hewers
and drivers, und bade them tackle the
sandbngs. The timber wnll that rose
to four or five feet was now packed to
n height of three with an unequal wall
of earth.
Tho waves wero beginning to roll
against tho rampart, although their
forco as yet was broken by tho brush
wood. Vandeventer Jumped up on the
pallsado near tho center. Thero were
some large logs there where he could
stand, nnd whence he could get ns
clear a view of the whole top of the
dam as wns possible through the driv
ing rain.
"There," shouted tho engineer, point
Ing to a red trickle It seemed to him
llko blood, taking Its hideous hue
from tho red clay of tho banks where
tho wnter had found n low spot and
wns washing across the top and
trickling through "tho new wnll and
down on tho other side. Even as he
pointed, the trlcklo became a stream
and the stream bade fair to be a flood,
Men ran nnd dropped sandbags over
In front of tho palisade, right whero
tho leak had occurred. Other men
heaped up tho earth behind tho wnll,
seeking to smother It nnd stop It The
water checked there, they wero forced
to do tho same tiling nt another place,
Desperately they dropped their sand'
bugs, sturdily they piled their shovels
in tho mud; scrambling and yelling,
they ran from leak to leak. They lift
ed tho heavy bags of sand ns If they
had been louves of bread and Jammed
them down. They swung pick nnd
shovel like toys, nlthough tho rnln
made all the earth sticky mud nnd
the work nil tho harder. Tho water
wns clear over tho top of tho dum now,
nnd strenmlng through tlio revetment
of brush and surging against the pall
sade. Where It did not let tho water
through, tho lino of stakes was begin
nlng to bend backward.
Tho men who hud expended their
sandbngs and could get no more, In
ono'flnnl effort ran to tho palisade, dug
their heels madly In tho wet slimy
earth and put their shoulders ngalnst
tho bending stakes as If- to hold them
up by main strength. Thin strenms
wcro flowing hero nnd there, now un
heeded. Checked nnd held in ono spot,
the water broke through at another.
Tho spillway could not control the
rise.
"She's goue, she's gonol" gnsped
Vandoventer under his breath. He had
fought n good fight Ho could do no
more. There were no moro bags of
sand. Savo for tho men straining nt
tho wall hero and thero nnd every
where, there wns left nothing but to
stnnd nnd wait, having done nil. As
one man saw another the whole hun
tired nnd fifty caught tho contagion
and threw themselves ngiuast the pall
sado, wet and chilled from the rain,
but yet madly, recklessly, Americans
nnd foreigners nllke. They would hold
It by main strength for another min
ute, they sworo, oblivious to the fact
that Just as soon as it went It would
go with n rush.
The stockodo would bo swept away
first, and they would go with It What
of that? The men back of It matched
their brawny nrms against rain and
wind, tho powers of man against the
powers of God, but not mockingly. It
Is perhaps doubtful if they realized
whnt they did. It was instinct, habit
blind desperation now. If tho flimsy
wall failed under tho terrific wnter
pressure, they would bo hurled beneath
It swept down the slope of the dam,
burled In the debris ns it was swept
awuy, caught up If they by uny chanco
survived so fur, nnd hurled, broken and
battered, down the valley In the ter-
rlblo flood that would ensue. What
did they know about that, or knowing,
whnt did they care, as they strained
nt tho wnverlng timber wnll? And
still they held ns tho rain poured down
on them, soaking through their soggy
clothes, the colder on their exhausted
bodies for tho keen wind that blew
across them.
Well, they hnd done everything they
could. Vandeventer Jumped down and
pressed himself ngalnst the nearest
timber with the men nnd wnlted, silent
Ho hud never sustnlned such a pres
sure in all his life. Liko Atlas, ho
felt ns If ho were holding up n world.
And the mocking thing about It all
wns his feeling, nay his realization,
that he was not really holding any
thing, that if the palisades failed, his
pressure, his reslstunce nnd that of all
tho other men amounted to nothing.
Yet ho held on, nnd they, too demi
gods. CHAPTER XVI. '
The Ancient Art of Fascination.
And much of the lust wild hurricane
of work took plnce under tho observe
tlon of a woman 1
From the top of tlio big mesa there
was a clear view of tho new reservoir,
from the dam on one side far back Into
the hills on the other. In spite of
the tremendous downpour and tho
fierce gale Helen Illlngworth stood ex
posed to both nttneks, and, Indeed, In
different to them albeit protected by
slicker and boots und sou'wester fus
clnated by the titanic struggle between
nature and mun of which sho was
witness.
The general Investigation by Rodney
nnd Miss Illlngworth hnd produced
Helen Illlngworth Stood Exposed to
Both Attacks.
no results. A cureful study of Rod
ney's notes upon the subject hud only
served tho moro thoroughly to convince
them thnt Mende was blameless. But
tho most assiduous effort with the
heartiest will in tho world and the
promptings of devotion und affection
could not muke n caso out of these
suggestions nnd their Inferences that
would hold water. They could not es
tablish their contention beyond pernd
venture In tho fnco of Meado's direct
admission and Shurtllffs corrobora
tion. They could not establish It In tho
public mind by any evidence nt all If
Meado and Shurtllff remained silent
If either one or tho other of tlio two
conspirators could bo brought to tell
tho truth, Meado could bo restored, at
least sufficiently so for the purpose of
argument; the nrgument that Helen
Illlngworth sooner or later must mako
to her father. It was that to which she
gave tho most thought, it was for that
sho planned nnd longed.
Two people cannot resolve, even by
mutual consent to dismiss from their
dally thought nnd conversutlon any
subject whatsoever without Introduc
ing In place of It n certain constraint
It Is as futile to attempt to dismiss
anything absolutely from tho humnn
mind ns is the oft-suggested euro for
rheumntism doing certain things
without thinking of the disease sought
to be cured I
The next Installment farinas
the climax of tho 6tory. Tho
most Important developments In
tho lives of Meade and his
friends are described.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Old Stuff.
"A scientist cun take one Done and
reconstruct n dinosaur."
"That's nothing. Our laudludy enn
take one bone and reconstruct a din
nor." Louisville Courler-JournaL