RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF
i i m w " i i.. . .----. .i -ir . i i
:
it
- i i l " ' Jf
WEB
OF STEEL
:By
CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY and CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, Jr.
Author and Clergyman Civil Engineer
Copjrifht b? Fleming II. fUvatl Co.
TRY AS HE WILL TO CONCEAL HIS EXPERT KNOWLEDGE
OF ENGINEERING, MEADE FAILS AND PROMOTION
COMES TO HIM RAPIDLY AT THE DAM
Following the collnpso of n great bridge which his father, n noted
engineer, hnd plnnned, and the old man's sudden death from disgrace
and shock, Bertram Meade takes the blame for the disaster which cost
many Uvea and disappears from his home In New York. He goes to
the Southwest, gets u Job under the name of Roberts on an Irrigation
dam project and makes good. Meanwhllo Helen Illlngworth, Meade's
sweetheart, and Rodney, an old friend, re quietly working to clear
the young man's name und to learn his whereabouts. They aro par
ticularly anxious to get possession of a letter written by the elder
Mcado to assume responsibility for tho accident. This paper is secret
ly held by Shurtllff, who hud been the old man's devoted private sec
retary for muny years.
CHAPTER XII Continued.
"I believe you are right," said Rod
ney, leaning back In his chair and
staring at her through his glasses. "IT
we can only rnako him speak But
vrbero Is ho?"
"Working for my father."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I suspected him from
the first, and as there was an opening
for a private confidential man, who un
derstood engineering a vacancy made
by tho promotion of my father's pri
vate secretary I prevailed upon him
to give the position to Shurtllff. Fa
ther hates tho nnmo of Meade, but h'o
worships efficiency and ho knows that
Shurtllff is the very Incarnation of the
particular kind of ability that ho de
sires, so ho is with my father con
stantly and I havo him always under
my cyo. When wo go nway In tho car,
be goes along."
"What aro yon going to do?"
"Win his confidence, his affection If
I can, appeal to him, and"
"By Jove," said Rodney, "I bellevo
you can do it. You can't drlvo that old
man."
"I know it," said tho woman.
"You haven't told him that you
thought it wns his fault?"
"No."
"I couldn't do anything with a man
Ilka Shurtllff. You can. You can win
his devotion, you can let- him see how
much tho reinstatement of Bert Mcude
In honor again means to you. You can
do It"
"Meanwhile you will help me, won't
you?"
"In any way, in every way. Do you
know whero ho has goncY"
"I haven't tho slightest Idcn. no
might bo In Africa, or South America,
or out West, or up North. Do you seo
thoso flowers?" she pointed to u great
bunch of American Ileyuty roses,
which had been forced for her appar
ently, and which she hnd received on
that very day "Dards, you know, the
Madison nvenuo florist, sends mo n box
of magnificent blossoms roses, vio
lets, orchids, always different every
week. They speak to me of him."
"Havo you ever tried to trnco them?"
"No. I know whenco they como and
that Is all. Wo will hear from him
somo day, somewhere, somehow.
vr1
-
He Had a Natural Instinct for Topog
raphy. Meanwhllo wo will work, work, work l"
"And you will allow mo to sny be
fore I go that slnco I havo hud this
conversation with you I do not see
bow even lovo for his futhcr or his
family namo would havo led Mcado to
do it"
"Don't say anything against him,"
said Helen Illlngworth quickly. "Ho
was mad witli anxiety, shame, regret
Whatever ho did, I lovo him just tho
same."
CHAPTER XIII.
Working Up.
The autumn went by as a dream.
Winter, warm and mild In that far
southern clime, was at hand boforo
Meade realized It An ordinary engi
neer of half tho ability of Bertram
Meude, so suddenly reduced to the
ranks, would have chafed against tho
position of subordination und would
have resented the humble duties with
which he was rhnrged. But Meade
was happy to be following, even In this
extremely modest way, tho profession
that ho loved. And ho did his unim
portant work with zeal and enrc. It
Is not much to say, but ho was tho
most efficient of tho Junior engineering
forco on the dam.
It was not because Meade was un
social that ho kept to himself not at
all. From his own galvanlzed-Iron
quarters ho used to staro longingly at
the men grouped around tho big enrap
fires, for tho nights woro growing chill,
smoklug and laughing, exchanging ex
periences and telling stories. Nothing
would havo pleased him better thnn to
linvo Joined in, and ho could havo told
stories and related experiences that
would have been unique even In that
gay crowd of young adventurers. But
he did not dare. Ho feared to betray
himself. What ho wanted above ev
erything wus to preserve his Incognito.
It would be fatnl to his chances of ever
working up to anything worth whllo
If they found out who ho wns.
And he hnd a tremendous pride to
sustain him. They respected him now.
As a matter of fact, they put his with
drawal of himself down to vngurles of
temperament or causes they could not
Imagine, und they grew rather to like
htm even as they left him nlone. And
a few of tho men of tho humbler sort
to whom ho hnd been kind on occasion,
nnd helpful, wero Btoutly devoted to
him.
Tho Idleness of tin nlmless life did
not appeal to him even In his off-duty
periods. Doing nothing hnd no attrac
tion. Ho could not get relief that way.
Even rumbling nlone nbout tho hills
would not serve. So quick nnd active
a mau, so vigorous und buoyant n
spirit, so strong a body and mind wero
not calculated for aimless wandering.
Meatlo was u very accomplished en
gineer Indeed. There wus no branch
of tho art about which he did not know
a little, although hydraulics und struc
tural steel were the things thnt most
appealed to him. Ho got relief In tho
duality of his affections for theso
branches of his profession. Neither ono
of them ever palled on him because ho
did not work monotonously nt either of
them. Ho hud a natural Instinct for
topography, und Instead of purpose
lessly strolling about tho country, ho
mndo a careful Inspection of tho valley
which wus to bo converted Into n hugo
reservoir by tho dum.
Tho dum itself wns, perhaps, an
eighth of u mile long at tho bottom and
touched the receding hill on one side
and tho spur of Spanish mesa on tho
other at the top u hugo mound of
enrth with u cluy core extending from
side to side ut tho narrowest part of
tho valley. When completed It would
bo 123 feet high nbovo thu old river
bed, with n roudway 20 feet broad on
top of It. Below the hun nnd on tho
low ground between tho mesa nnd
Baldwin's knob tho camp, with Its gal
vanized Iron shops, bunkhouscs, dining
halls, kitchens and officers' quarters,
hnd been erected. Tho configuration
of tho ground was suclt that, although
It was unusual to put them there, con
venience had rendered it deslrublo In
this case.
It was Intended to complcto tho dnm
beforo tho early spring of next year,
which wns, If nny tlmo in tho country
could bo so characterized, tho rainy
season. Of course, just ns soon as tho
dnm hnd begun to rise, tho How of tho
Picket Wlro below It hud been stopped,
except when au occasional freshet hnd
been allowed to pass tho underslulce.
It was known that tho run-off of tho
river In tho rainy season of somo years
wus so small as scarcely to All the res
ervoir, and It had been decided to store
all tho flow of tho autumn nnd winter
so that even if the spring rainy season
wero deficient, tho beginning of tho
next summer would find tho reservoir
full and tho now irrigation system
could commence operations success
fully. Vandevcntcr, like tho lost Abbott of
tho International, was also a driver,
who spared neither his men nor him
self. ' Tho work had proceeded with as
tonishing rapidity, ulthough this wus
partially uccounted for by tho fuct
that tho spillway, which should have
occupied their attention, bail as yet
been only partially excavated. Now,
to those Ignorant of engineering, an
earth dam may seem n temporary ex
pedient, although most of the great Ir
rigation dams of the world aro of that
rharactcr; and everybody knows that
If the water should rlso high enough to
overflow an earth dam it would not last
longer than it tukes to describo Its
utter giving way. A flood would sweep
It out of tho way at once.
The device whereby possible floods
uro controlled nnd such dangers avert
ed, consists of a broad channel nt one
sldo of the dam, and at such a dls
tanco below Its crest that If, through
any mtschuncc or natural happening,
such ns the failure of tho sluice gates,
excessive rains, cloudbursts, or floods,
the height of tho water Is increased
until It promises to overflow the dam,
this opening will carry off the surplus
harmlessly. An earth dam without a
spillway would presage almost certutn
destruction to all who lived in the val
ley below it
In the case of the Picket Wire dam,
the spillway had to be cut and, in part,
blasted out of the mountain side that
Is, through the spur of the mesa, which
reached down from its high wall
towards tho narrows. There had been
a series of blunders and mishaps,
which Included the explosion of a ship
ment of dynamlto on tho railroad, with
very disastrous consequences to accom
panying rock crushers and mixers, nnd
other machinery. Tho splllwayjikd not
been completed. Its opening should
havo been about twelve feet below tho
level of tho dam. Vundeveutcr was not
responsible, of course. The chief engi
neer had fumed nnd protested, but had
been directed by headquarters to go
abend with the other work and tackle
tho spillway inter. Thero was, Indeed,
llttlo reason to hold up the building of
thnt particular dnm because of tho
noncomplctlon of tho spillway.
That was a country, so tho most de
voted Inhabitants freely admitted, in
which it was always snfo to bet that
It would not rain, no matter how
threatening might be tho uppearanco
of tho sky ; for In nlnety-nlno times out
of n hundred the ncgntlvo would win
tho bet Suld Inhabitants did not say
the hundredth time might compensuto
for all tho other failures. Tho wcuther
was Uko tho llttlo girl with the pro
verbial curl when it did rain thero
was no doubt In anybody's mind as to
the fact. Sometimes tho fountulns of
tho great deep, which, in Holy Scrip
ture nt leust, extended overhead, would
bo broken open nnd the vlolenco of tho
fall and the quantity of It, and sudden
ness of It, would bo such that the West
erners would graphically call It a
"cloudburst," which, Indeed, It seemed
to be.
Outside tho rainy season cloudbursts
wero unhenrd.of, nnd even In thnt sea
son extremely rnre. For the valley
of the Picket Wlro nnd In the plain
beneath cnrefully tabulated reports of
tho rainfall for years hnd been consid
ered by tho engineers. They hnd cho
sen the right senson for the bulldintj
of tho dnm, but when its crest begun
to rise above tho designed level of tho
splllwny tho delny In opening tho chan
nel guvo cause for somo alarm. It is
not tho probable or certain that is
fenred. An old version thut, of "omno
Ignotum pro magnlflco" It Is only tho
unknown of which men are afraid, or
only tho unknown to be feuredt Still
there wns notldng Vnndeventer could
do but obey orders nnd go ahead. Tho
danger, after all, was trifling. Another
conscqucnco of tho waiting wns thnt
In his Inability to work on tho spill
way, lip had more hands to devote to
the dum und It roso tho quicker.
Tho shnpo of the country behind It
wns such thnt when tho Picket Wire
flowed with sufficient volumo to till It,
n long lnkc going back through tho val
ley, or canyon, nnd twisting among tho
hills for somo miles would result. In
othcV words, tho dam would make u
beautiful artificial sheet of wnter bor
dered on ono sldo by a high rnngo of
hills, on tho other by tho dnm, und on
tho third by tho hills nnd tho low hog
back nbovo Spanish mesa, which sepa
rated tho Picket Wlro valley from tho
Kicking Horso gorgo up which tho rail
road rnn.
Burled In his own thoughts, com
muning with himself, considering cense
lessly his position, dreaming of tho
woman ho loved, planning a new ca
reer, Meude yet explored every foot of
tho valley nnd ravine. Ho climbed to
tho top of Spanish mesa, nnd from Its
height tho wholo country clear up tho
valley to tho main rnngo wus vlslblo
to him. no could look down Into tho
deep rnvtno of tho Klcklug Horse, nnd
noto tho marvelous beauty and airiness
of tho arch brldgo for all It so solidly
carried tho heavy freight trains of tho
rnllwny.
Ho could seo far up and around tho
crooked courso of tho Picket Wire. Tho
big grnss-covcrcd, but othorwlso bnro
and treeless hogback, thnt run from
tho upper end of, tho stono Island of
tho mesa was equally vlslblo to him.
As It was tlu low tldo of tho new res
ervoir, ho descended to it and studied
it carefully. On another occasion, hav
ing said nothing to anyone about his
excursion, be took udvantago of a half-
fcolldny tc go out and Inspect tho Sog
bnck nnd ascertain its elevation with
relation to the dam. Of course the en
gineers who planned the great Irriga
tion works had done that, but he want
ed to do it for himself. At one place,
where tho distance between what
might be cnlted tho edgo of the valley
and the head of the rnvino was narrow
estIndeed, ho estimated after pacing
it thnt It meusured not over twenty
feet across he discovered thnt tho
rounded enrth crest wns slightly lower
than the Intended level of the top of
the dam.
When he returned to the office, he
found on examining the construction
drawings that an earth dike was
planned to run along the hogback so
that the top level should be higher
than that of tho dam. This dlko would
bo only n hundred and fifty feet long
and a few feet high, and could be built
in a few days' time. Work on the main
dnm being more lmportnnt, nothing
had as yet been done on tho dike.
Mcnde had been promoted toward
tho end of the fall and in a rather
unusual way. One of tho transit men,
a young engineer, got n better Job
and left his Instrument. Vnndeventer
called Meade before hlra.
"Roberts," he said, "there's a va
cancy for a transit man. You've done
sucli good work so far and shown such
familiarity with fleldwork, that I'd
give it to you If I had any Idea that
you knew anything about handling In
struments." "I think I may be trusted with one,
sir," answered Meade, his eyes bright
ening. "Yes, perhaps; but I hove watched
you in odd hours. The young men
around here are constantly practicing
with tho transits. I've never seen you
put a hand to one. How about It?"
"I'm not exactly a youngster, Mr.
Vandeventer," returned Meade, "and
I really didn't think It necessary to
practice, but If you trust mo with ono
I believe I can manage it"
Old Vandeventer leaned back In his
chair In tho office and looked care
lessly away from Meade to all appear
ances. He clasped his hands back of
his head nnd seemed lost In thought.
Suddenly he began humming a llttlo
scrap of verse about another college
which Cambridge men sing with zest:
1
"Good; tho Instrument Is yours."
That was tho first step nnd the next
step came very shortly after, when,
having further demonstrated his ca
pacity in other wnys, Meude was giv
en charge of the work on tho cast end
of the dam,
"I don't care who he Is," said Van
deventer to his chief subordinate, "he
knows what he's nbout, nnd if you
watch him you'll rpc He's keen on
handling men. The other section fore
men will be hard put to keep up with
him. He keeps watch on himself. He's
got somo secret he won't betray. Ho
doesn't mingle with the crowd, but
every once In n while something slips
out. What he doesn't know nbout en
gineering nobody needs to know, I'll
wager."
"How do you account for his being
out hero?"
"Oh, It's the old story, I suppose;
he's come a cropper somewhere
down and out nnd wants to begin
ngaln, nnd can't do nnythlng but this.
It's not our business,' Stnfford; he does
good work for us nnd we're satisfied."
CHAPTER XIV.
The Former and the Latter Rain.
Tho work on tho dam was progress
ing splendidly. Vandeventer, driving
ids men hard, shared in all their furi
ous efforts. He was not only their
lender, but their inspiration. He hud
surrounded himself with a body of
ablo assistants, nnd 'his teamsters and
workmen hud been culled until they
had become a small army of picked
men of which to bo proud.
Among all these Meado stood very
high. In the four months lie had been
with Vundeventer ho hud shown such
a grasp of things, such an ability to
handle men, In one or two Instances
when, with intention to try him, the
resident engineer hnd given him
I'm a physical wreck.
From tho grand old Tech',
But & h of an englnccrl
He stopped abruptly, whirled nbout
In his swlngchnir, and shot a quick
glnnco at M&ade. It was a trap. And
as ho sprang It Vandeventer surprised
the ghost of a smile, repressed quickly
but there, on Meade's lips. Tho chief
engineer was satisfied. Beforo this,
llttlo things bad betrayed a fellow
alumnus, or at least a fellow student
of the old Lawrence Scientific school.
Vandeventer was pleased at his adroit
ness. Ho did not, however, refer to
It
"There's a new transit in that box
on tho floor there," ho said, resuming
his indifferent manner. "I've had tho
enso opened, but I haven't taken it out
Get It, and we'll go outside and see
what you can do with It."
Now a transit, for all It is used In
rough fleldwork, is ono of tho most
expensive and delicate of Instruments.
It Is cnpable of tho most accurate ad
justment, and If it Is to bo of nny
renl use, the refinement of these adjustments-must
not be Impaired in any
degrco by unskilled and reckless pack
ing. The boxes in which tho Instru
ments aro shipped arc very curcfully
constructed " In accordance with tho
principles which experience has shown
to bo necessary, and each ono Is espe
cially fitted to tho particular Instru
ment to bo contained therein. Tho
box Is a complicated thing nnd tho
trnnslt cannot bo taken out or replaced
except In ono way. With a knowledge
of tho combination, so to speak, It Is
comparatively simple to tnko a transit
from the box ; without that knowledge,
which none but an expert transltmnn,
or tho packer himself cun have, it is
rather difficult without running a risk
of ruining the Instrument.
This commnnd wns another of Vnn
deventer's tests, therefore. Meade
knew this ns well us his superior. In
splto of himself, ho would hnve to be
trny his familiarity. Well, ho had
brought himself to tho conclusion that
he could not continue his work with
out very soon disclosing tho fnct thut
he hnd been an engineer. And in caso
of tho inevitable, the sooner tho bet
ter. So long as ho had to betray him
self, ho would havo nil the advantages
as well as tho disadvantages, no un
locked tho door of tho box, slid tho
instrument out quickly, accurately,
without a moment's hesitation, and
rapidly unscrewed tho head from tho
slide-board, and screwed It cnrefully
on tno tripou. vnnueventers eyes
spurkled.
"Como outside," ho said, leading the
way to tho sldo of tho hill, "and set It
up thero over tho tack In thnt stnko
nnd level It"
Bcgmncrs hnvo been known to tnko
ten minutes to get n trnnslt set up,
leveled and centered. It Is good work
If It is dono insldo of a minute; thirty
seconds Is very fast. In forty-flvo sec
onds Meado reported, "all rcudy, sir."
Ho could havo dono it in less, but ho
wns a llttlo out of practice, he said
to himself.
"Look here," said Vnndeventer, "you
can't pull any moro bluff on me, Rob
erts; you'ro nn engineer, nil right"
"I know something about tho practi
cal sldo of It, sir," answered Meado,
turning a llttlo polo and wondering
how far Vandeventer would press his
questions and what ho would learn.
But tho engineer was a man.
"Practical, yes, and theoretical too,
Til bo bound, but I don't seek to pry
Into your antecedents. It's enough for
me If you do good work for me here,"
Til do my best, air," ,
He Had Accompanied the Younger
Man on One of His Rambles.
charge of somo special work, that
Vandeventer unconsciously looked to
him In nny emergency. He actually
found himself consulting Meado on
occuslon.
Ho had accompanied the younger
man on one of thoso rambles which he
had hitherto taken nlone. He had not
broken down Meade's reserve, hut he
hnd won his ndmlrntlon nnd regurd.
Vnndeventer wns not unknown In en
gineering circles. In earthwork he
wns by way of being an authority.
His experience hnd been varied and
extensive. Meade's reserve nnd reti
cence rather hurt tho older engineer.
Ho hud invited confidence nnd hnd
even given his affection. He Intimat
ed delicately thut If the other were
under a cloud Vandeventer might be
In a position to help him.
It was fortunate for Monde's pur
pose of concealment, for his Incognito,
thut most of his engineering work had
been dbuc abroad nnd that lie hud
been out of touch with American en
gineering for practically the whole of
his career. Vundeventer was a Har
vard man, too, und thut mude it espe
cially hard for Meado to keep from
betraying himself. As a matter of
fact, tho younger man nctuully longed
to make a clenn breast c It, but he
could not qulto bring himself to do It
yet. That might come lutcr.
Three months ought to seo tho com
pletion of the dnm und the long cnnal,
which was to carry tho stored wuter
to tho irrlgntlon ditches below. Vnn
deventer wus ulrondy making plans
for another big Job, and ho had de
cided, In his own mind, that among tho
subordinates whom he would tako
with him tho newcomer should havo
tho first chance. Vandeventer felt
proud nnd satisfied when ho surveyed
tho work thnt hnd bepn accomplished
In tho six months of labor. To bo suro
the delay lu tho completion of tho
spillway disquieted him a little.
Tho dam bad reached the splllwny
level a fortnight before, and hnd now
pnssed it Indeed, on the fifth of Jun
unry tho dnm builders wero within
flvo feet of tho top; that is, tho crest
of tho dam wns 120 feet nbovo the
level of tho vnliey. They tad plnnned
to run tho splllwny around tho enst-
ern end of tho dnm. Tho rock drills
and dynamlto which had been ordered
had Anally arrived In December, and
by putting as many ns posslblo to
work on tho splllwny Vnndeventer hnd
succeeded lu opening it for its entire
width to nn averngo depth of nbout
seven feet below tho Intended top of
tho dam; that is, it was now about
two feet deeper than tho actual crest
of tho dam, but It still lacked flvo feet
of Its designed depth.
The rainy season, an Inspection of
thp records bad shownj waa not due
for a month nnd a half yet That
would give him ample tlmo to com
plete tho dam and the splllwny. This
year, however, there hnd been some
very unusual rains during tho fall and
tho water back of tho dum wns now 03
feet deep, which made It 22 feet below
the level to which the dnm hnd rison
und 20 feet below the spillway. This
was much more wnter thnn anyone
had dreamed would be in the reser
voir nt that time, and was perhaps
more than should hnve been allowed.
Still there was a safety margin of
22 feet, which Vnndeventer was suro
would be ample. Tho financial promo
ters of the project were very anxious
to hnvo the reservoir full when the
Irrigating senson opened, and the en
gineer's Judgment had been influenced
by their eagerness to get it working.
The brond sheet of water ran back
into the vutlcy for many miles. In
fact, the dam had transformed tho
country into n beautiful lake. Some
times it rained in the mountains when
It did not rain down In the valley,
nnd there was a constant, If very
small, rise In the level. Vandeventer
personally carefully gauged the water
every day. Naturally he bad noted
that it roso gradually, but as the dam
roso proportionately more rapidly, he
was not uuensy. let, as a good en
gineer, ho wns watchful and largely
because of the unfinished spillway be
urged the men to the very limit
The weatherwisc from tbo town,
who sometimes rode up to luspect the
work, assured Vandeventer that It
could not possibly rain before March,
and tho mcro fact that so much water
had fallen rendered it moro improb
able that any moro would come down.
But at three on the afternoon of Jan
unry sixth it suddenly began to rain
hnrd without wnrnlng and with no
premonition on tho pnrt of anybody.
It wns not one of those terrible down
pours known as cloudbursts, but It
was an excessively hard, steady rain.
The hcuvens over tho rango ' were
bluck with clouds and so far as uny
ono ut the dam could see, It was rain
lug from the crest of the mountulna
down. Thero were some anxious dis
cussions in tho dining room of the res
ident engineer and his American as
Blstuuts.
At four o'clock It wns decided to
open tho underslulce gntc about hulf
wuy, but when this was done the vol
ume of wuter it was capable of dis
charging wus too small to help very
much, und on opening It to its fullest
extent the velocity of tho water rush
lug through wns so great that tho
river bed wus rapidly scoured out. For
four of undermining tho too of tho
dum It wus necessary purtiuliy to
close the sluice once more.
Tho water wus rising, first at the
rate of three or four inches tin hour,
then half a foot, nnd Anally ncurly a
foot. By six o'clock thnt night it
i:ud risen two feet. It wns still min
ing hard at thut hour, although not
qulto so furiously as It had been. If
It did rain until morning ut the pres
ent rntc, thero would still be a mar
gin of safety of perhaps fourteen or
fifteen feet nt dawn. Although tho
situation required watchfulness and
wus somewhat alarming, It wns not
desperate. The men wero advised to
put In till the time in their bunks so
ns to bo good nnj ready for the hnrd
buttle which might come In tho morn
ing, and as they were all tired out
with their day's work the little group
soon broko up nnd each man went to
his quarters.
Vundeventer, however, could not
sleep. The rain kept up steadily all
night. Tho resident engineer Anally
got up nnd dressed himself, and pro
tected by high rubber boots and a
cowboy slicker nnd u sou'wester, left
Ills qunrtcrs nnd went out to Inspect
tho dnm. no cnrrled a lantern, of
course, for it wns pitch dark and, it
possible, the rain dropping from tho
blnck sky mado It more difficult to see.
Ho wns surprised when he got to tho
dnm to see on the other sldo another
lnntern. Closing tho slide of his own
lnntern to prevent observation, and be
ing on familiar ground, ho went
straight toward the other side. Tho
nolso of tho rain subdued any sound
that he made, and he was able to come
qulto close to tho other light without
being noticed.
How young Roberts, the mys
terious engineer, uses his talents
and knowledge to good advan
tage Is told in the next Install
ment he gets the opportunity to
wipe out all disgrace, real or
fancied.
(TO DE3 CONTINUED.)
Alexandria.
Thero aro few cities that can look
back to a past Uko that of Alexandria,
and fewer still with such a past that
enn contrlvo to keep up with tho times
and look forward to tho future. Tho
relics of 23 dead centuries of Alex
andrian history havo to bo looked for
lu tho guldo books. In tho city Itself
they aro covered up by tho latest mod
ern Improvements. A few erudite
Alexandrians may nrguo about tho rcul
nationality of Cleopatra, but most of
them uro talking nbout tho prlco of
cotton nnd tho lutest project for dredg
ing thu harbor.
Wanted Joy Distributed.
Marlon wus given a beautiful ring
Chrlstmus eve. She wus overjoyed,
but changed It from ono Anger to tho
other nil evening. No ono noticed It
thnt evening, but sho kept it up tho
next morning. Her mother, fearing
Marlon would loso tho ring, said:
"Why don't you put your ring on ona
flngor and keep It thero, Marlon?"
"Well, I don't Uko to bo mean. When
I keep It on ono linger I pity tbo ota
on,"1
A
N
