Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / July 20, 1917, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
WEB By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY and CYRUS TQffNSEND BRADY. Jr. Author and Clergyman Y-ii1 Entfneer CHAPTER XVII Continued. 11 "He wouldn't be a common work man, would he?" asked the girl, more disappointed than she could express. "Certainly not. He'd be keeping track of material, or running a transit, or acting as a gang foreman. Most of the workmen are foreigners, although the bridge erectors are Americans." "You're sure that he's not here?" "Absolutely." "There's the dam," said Winters. g. f.i. u m me morning. I "What good Is It going to do us, Dick?" asked Rodney a little irritably. HEven If we do find him, we can't pake him speak." 1 "I don't know." answered the woman jWWry-.- "But if I could just see him once again, Mr. Rodney" she spoke "He Wouldn't Be a Common Work- man, Would He?" Asked the Girl. Without hesitation or reserve, and both men felt deeply for her "if I could just speak to him, if he would only " , "I believe you can persuade him," Bald Winters. "Yes, perhaps, but I want Shurtliff to speak first, then we can approach our. frier.d himself with more confi--fience," said Rodney. CHAPTER XVIII. I-- Brute Force or Finesse. "What do you want me to say, Mr. Rodney?" asked Shurtliff, coming through the door, having caught Rod ney's use of his name. "Ch. Shurtliff" began Rodney, ' somewhat embarrassed at having been "Wsat do you want me to speaK about?'i,;ontinued the old man sus piciously, hot giving the younger man time to finish. "And what friend can you then approach, sir?" "I'll tell you what I want," said Rodney. He quickly came to a decision. Standing up and facing the old man, he staked everything on one bold throw. Grasping the situation, Ilelen Illingworth held her breath. Winters moved to take his own part in the 7" game at the proper time. "What is it, sir?" asked the secre- I tary. "Shut the door and come in," was the answer, Rodney spoke sharply, and it was a sort of indication, characteristic of the difference in station between an Independent young man and a subser vient old man. "Here I am, sir," answered Shurtliff, closing the door and standing before it. He shot a quick glance at the youns woman. He observed her tense posi tion. He saw the emotions that filled her soul in her face and bearing. All his old suspicions rose like a flood. For a moment he no longer cared for her. He almost hated her. lie looked from her to the dark-faced, determined Rod ney, to big, powerful, quiet Winters. Was this a trap? Were they going try to force him to speak? He wn brave man, old Shurtliff, but his beat a little faster as he faced i He was quite master of r hi 1 though, cool, watchful, deter r in their eyes rather admira' otherwise. I "The time has come for I us the truth," began Rodn 4 ! Ically. "You know that I . . S ILllll i - I Biame auu respuusumuy T 1 tore of the Internatioi loaded on the wrong ma tbnt J"ou permitted, a i VT ie the sacrifice o father. You kn"'fc:.rfiii.s e is breaking her heart, thnt J life is ruined, and you're to Now the time has come for s speak. We know as well as youTthat young Meade Is Innocent. Here's our evidence." He drew a handful of papers from his inside breast pocket and shook them in the face of the old man, who had shrunk back against the side of the car and stood staring, white-faced, "IT thin-lipped, close-mouthed, inexorably resolved still. "Read them," continued Rodney. "I'll admit to you that the whole thing would not be worth the paper It's written on In a court of law, or even in a newspaper report, but it's con vincing to us, and you can make it convincing to everybody. You've got to speak." "Do you think, sir, that there's any power in your stretched-out arm, or In your rude voice or In your threat ening gesture to make me speak?" "By the Lord," exclaimed Winters, suddenly whipping out a Colt's .45 from the holster at his belt he was dressed just as he had been when he rode away from the ranch "out West we've got ways for persuading men to speak, and this is one of them." Winters was a bigger man than Rod ney. His life had been wild and rough, and his manner when he wanted was according. He would fain add physical compulsion under threat of death to Rodney's mental insistence. "And do you think, sir, that I'm afraid of any lethal weapon you can produce or even use, any more than I am of Mr. Rodney's words?" The old man's eyes flashed, and his knees shook, but he had all the spirit of a soldier as he looked into Winters' stern face, full of threat and menace. His thin voice took on a certain qual ity of courage. It even rang a little. His courage was mainly moral, but there was some accompanying physical hardihood, that was undoubted. "You can beat me, you can even kill me, if you wish, but you can't make me say a word I don't want to say of my own free will," he cried out at last, his voice strangely rising. "Gentlemen; gentlemen," said Helen Illingworth, rising and swiftly inter posing between the secretary and the two angry men. She realized that the affair had gone far enough and that she must Intervene. They had certain ly failed lamentably, almost ludicrous ly. "You are wrong to threaten Mr. Shurtliff. He is old enough to be the father of either of you. Drop your arm, Mr. Rodney. Tut up that pistol, Mr. Winters. Mr. Shurtliff," said the girl quickly, "as I am in a certain sense your hostess, and as you are in a cer tain sense my guest here, I apologize to you for the improper and impulsive conduct of these young men. They love Bertram Meade dearly, as I do. Let that be their excuse. Meanwhile, they will apologize to you here and now, I am sure." There was a moment of silence. Rod ney and Winters stared at each other, and both looked at the girl, confront ing them so confidently in her superb and beautiful way. Winters smiled a little shamefacedly as he shoved his gun back Into its holster. His had in deed been the greater offense. "Mr, Winters, Mr. Rodney," said the girl insistently. "Oh, I apologize. I suppose it was wrong to threaten him," said Rodney disgustedly. "Hang it," said Winters, now utterly forgetful of conventions, "it wasn't the thing to do to draw a gun on a little old man, and I'm sorry I did it." "And now that we've apologized you'll tell us the truth, won't you?" asked Rodney swiftly, with no appre ciable change of manner. "Yes, we beg it now, humbly," chimed in Winters, with anything but an humble air or voice. "I won't have Mr. Shurtliff even ap pealed to now," said Miss Illingworth. "You have threatened him and you have apologized. Whether he forgives you or not is for him to decide, but he shall not be worried, or questioned, or insulted any more." "Thank you, Miss Illingworth. I came for that book on the desk; your father wants it," said Shurtliff grimly, bowing slightly to her. He stepped a little tremblingly the scene had been unnerving past the young men, picked up the? book, bowed again formally and unmistakably to Miss Illingworth alone, and went out of the car. The honors of the encoun ter were certainly his. "Well, Miss Illingworth," paid Win ters, "I don't know whether you made a mistake or not. I think I could have ared it out of him with this little rsuader of mine " He tapped the t of the pistol. You couldn't have done it if you killed him," said the woman, who read the old secretary correctly. isn't what I call a daring man, the has coi to the sti give way, ourage that would take stake rather than make the courage of endur- i rather than of action. When he Fks, if he ever does, it will be of own free will." "Or because you may persuade him," Ottld Rodney. "By love, when I think it over, It was the finest thing you ever did." "P.ert Meade's a lucky fellow," said Winters. "You're the kind of a girl that ought to marry out West, where we try to breed men that will match up." nelen Illingworth laujrhed a little, although she felt no Inclination to merriment. "That's a fine compliment," she said. "Well, this has rnthcr shaken me, and O IL ICiCiij I'm going to ask you gentlemen to ex cuse me." "We'll see if he i3 working on the dam tomorrow." "You will stay all night, Mr. Win ters?" "Your father invited me to take a bunk in his car, and, to be perfectly frank with you, I'd sleep out in the open rain rather than miss a chance of being in on the end of a game like this." The girl bowed and left them. "Dick," said Rodney slowly at last, as the two sat smoking together in the silence of complete understanding and good comradeship, which requires no expression in talk, "you're not the only man who thinks that girl would be a good wife to a man." "Ah," said Winters, "sits the wind in that quarter, Rod?" "Yes," answered the other, "but I'm fighting this thing through for Meade." "Well, by George," said the big ranchman, "you're as good a man as Meade any day, fine fellow as he is. I wish I had some chance to get in this game and make myself worthy of the two of you, let alone the lady." It was a rare confidence that Rodney had vouchsafed to his friend, and like every other Anglo-Saxon, having said his say, he did not wish to discuss it further. "Do you know," he began, changing the subject abruptly, "I think things have turned out pretty well in spite of our foolishness a while ago. I be lieve if there's a spark of human grati tude in Shurtliff's heart, the girl's in terposition when you and I were threat ening him, and her refusal to allow him to be questioned later, will fan it into flame. And I have an idea that when he thinks it over he'll be about ready to tell." "Are you sure he has anything to tell?" "Certain." "Well, I guess you're right. It sort of consoles me for having drawn my gun, without using it, too. And if he tells in the morning and we find Meade, everything will be lovely." "For everybody but me," said Rod ney. "I'll tell you what, old man, when this thing's over, you're coming out to spend the rest of the winter with me on the ranch. It's the greatest place on earth for a man to buck up. There's no woman within fifty miles." Rodney laughed a little grimly. "I'll go you," he said. CHAPTER XIX. The Battle From Above. The rain had stopped by morning, to the great relief of Colonel Illing worth, Severence and Curtlss, and the satisfaction of Ilelen. There was little sun to dry the big, red sandstone mesa, its sides seamed into fantastic shapes, which rose grandly between the val ley of the Ticket Wire and the ravine of the Kicking Horse, and which the young woman intended to cross in her walk toward the dam with Rodney and Winters. The siding near the steel arch bridge was close to the rock wall of the ravine, which here had been so scoured out of the rocky side of the mesa by torrents of other days that it could fairly be called a gorge. Con sequently the bank of clouds above the horizon to the northwest was hid be hind the big butte from the occupants of the two private cars. Although the day did not promise to be fair, they "Out West We've Got Ways for Per suading Men to Speak." had no idea of the further threat of storm presaged by the black masses to t lie northwest. In sandy, porous soils, such as here prevailed, the rain is absorbed quickly. They could traverse the trails carpet ed with the needles of centuries that ran through the dripping pines, with out getting muddy, and with nothing more to fear than a wetting. Colonel Illingworth, Severence and Curtlss an nounced their intention of going back to the town to continue their consulta tions and observations concerning the i I This Is a Thrilling Story of American Life as Strong Courageous Men Live It Copyright by FUmlnf H. Re veil Go. progress of work on the bridge. Shurt liff, who went about his business grave ly reserved, frigidly cold and self-contained, had work to do at his desk. The woman ari the two young men were for the dau After an early breakfast, therefore, the second car was uncoupled, and the engine backed it down around the mesa toward the viaduct twenty miles below. Rodney and Winters prepared to go with Miss Illingworth across the wood ed island, with its cresting of stone, so to speak, that lay between the ra vine and the valley. The conductor of the train, a local employee of the railroad, told them that the shortest way was directly over the mesa. The sandstone of which this huge mound was mainly composed had been broken and disintegrated on all sides by cen turies of erosion and weathering, and there were practicable ascents and de scents at both ends. The nearest ascent was at the side of the big tableland di rectly opposite which the car was placed. The trails through the pines which covered the hill up to the very foot of the big butte were unfrequented and in bad repair, but practicable If the traveler was prepared for a wet ting. The shortest and on the whole the easiest way to the dam would be to make their way to the foot of the mesa, climb it through the big ravine and cross it to the lower end, less than two miles away', where there was an easy descent to the dam. And if you get caught in the rain," said the conductor, "which ain't likely, for It's already rained more in the last twenty-four hours than in the last twenty-four years, it seems to me, there's a hut, half stone and half tim ber, up on the mesa that campers sometimes make use of when they want to see the sun rise, which is a mighty fine sight from there. It was In pretty fair shape when I visited it last year, and you can find shelter there. It's at the highest point on the mesa. You can see a long way up the gulch there, and a longer way down and up the Picket Wire valley. Above the dam it used to show a level, fertile stretch between the hills, but It's all a lake now." Shurtliff, of course, declined Miss Illingworth's invitation to accompany the party on plea of urgent duties and important papers to prepare. He had spoken no words to Rodney or Winters, and those gentlemen made no effort to engage him in conversation. They were, in truth, a little ashamed of their actions of the night before. They were exceedingly anxious as to whether their theories as to the possible effect of Miss Illingworth's action would be jus tified, so they carefully avoided the secretary, letting the leaven work If it would. To their disappointment, it gave no sign of life or action. Of the four most Interested in Meade, Winters was the only one who had slept soundly that night. Rodney was too much in love with the woman ever to sleep soundly again, he thought certainly not until her future had been settled and her relations to Meade finally determined. Shurtliff's feelings were painful in the extreme. Torn be tween the old habit of affection for the dead, his new habit of affection for the woman, his oft-recurring com punction of conscience, his immediate resentment of the treatment of the two men, his acknowledgment of the splen did action of the woman, his suspi cious, his uncertainty, as to how the younger Meade would take it if he told the truth, he slept not at all. Into Helen Rlingworth's mind also had come, although, to her credit be it said, not until she had retired and had thought over her action in the light of the hints given, that perhaps her gen erous interposition in behalf of Shurt liff might move his gratitude and that he might at last vouchsafe her the help which she felt more certain than ever he alone could eive. She was glad ! ...1 il.. 11 1.1 1 V, iUni- oVia could look herself squarely in the face and declare to her conscience that It had not been back of her action, which had been purely spontaneous. The possibility, although a fifint one, that Meade might be working on the dam and that she might see him on the morrow would have sufficed to give her a wakeful night. Rodney was a more careful observer than Winters, but even the cattleman noticed that she looked worn and strained as he helped her out of the car for their tramp across the mesa to the dam. "You know," he said, with rough-and-ready sympathy, "we haven't the least assurance that Meade Is there. It's only a chance, and probably a long one." "I shall never rest until it is decided absolutely one way or the other," said the woman. "Well, I'm not much of a walker," said the cattleman. "I generally pre fer to get over the ground astride of a broncho, but I guess I can keep up with the party for two miles, if that's the distance." It was dark and damp and wet under the pines. Although the two men cleared the way for her, holding branches back and shaking the water off the drooping boughs, it was well 1 Ilelen was protected from the wet. She had tramped hills and mountains many a time, camp and forest were fa miliar to her. She wore a short skirted dress, stout boe nd leg gings, and a yellow western i--!ke.r. The exertion of the upward cintiY,, stumbling over broken branches and uprooted logs and floundering through boggy places on the trail, brought a touch of color to her face, and though damp, the air sweet and fragrant, clean and pure, refreshed and pleased her greatly: the men, too. It was a hard pull, and she was out of breath when she reached the broken coulee, or ravine, which led to the top of the big red sandstone plateau. "I'm terribly out of practice," she said to the two men, "but I don't be lieve I'm In any worse state than you are, Mr. Winters." "I told you I wasn't any good on foot," said Winters, who was blowing like a grampus. Rodney laughed at the two of them. "Look at me," he said. "I'm as fresh as when I began." "Well, you're used to walking," re turned Winters. "It's this plugging along this broken trail that has knocked us out. The rich, they ride on bronchos, you know." "When we get on top of the mesa we will find it easier going," said Rod ney encouragingly. "Let us' start," said the girl, sud denly serious, as she thought what might be at the end of the journey. "Before we go any farther," said Winters, staring up the ravine at the sky which showed about it, "Just take a look at that." ne pointed to the black clouds rap idly rising, apparently against the wind, which swayed rather violently the tops of the tallest pines, although they were protected and In compara tive quiet where they stood in the ra vine. "It looks as if there were more rain there," said Rodney. "It's incredible," answered Winters, "after what we've had." "But it certainly Is coming down again, and if I'm any judge, it will be another cloudburst." "Perhaps we'd better go back," sug gested Winters to Miss Illingworth. "Go back!" exclaimed the girl. "When I'm as near as this?" "But it's only a possibility, you know." "Possibility or not, it would take a deluge in my path to stop me. Come." It was an entirely practicable climb, but rather a hard one on the wet. crumbling rocks. It did not take the three young people long to surmount the difficulties, however, and after a few minutes they stood on top of the mesa. Near at hand was the hut of which the conductor had spoken. It stood upon a little rise above the general level, and from it one could see far in every direction. Between the hills and over the lower crest of Baldwin's knob they could even see dimly the far-off plains, a little sickly yellow light still lingering there before the advance of the storm. The hut was made of stone and logs. They had not any more than reached it before the storm began. Claps of thunder, flashes of lightning under which the army on the dam were fight ing, were heard and seen with tenfold clearness by the little group on the huge upland. It was a sight to awe the very soul of humanity. Miles and miles down the mountain side and among the hills the whirling battalions of clouds rolled and tumbled and tossed and clashed like aerial armies. The lightning, while It was not In sheets, was prac tically continuous, flash succeeding Hash in uncountable and blinding suc cession. Again they noticed the strange coruscating, bursting effect as bolt after bolt apparently struck some gran ite ledge and was then thrown back In splinters of fire. The heavy, awful roll of the thunder was continuous and ter rific. They stood staring through door and windows in silence, Meade and their quest forgot In the appalling tem pest by all except the woman. It was she who recalled them. "Let us hasten on," she said, and she had almost to scream to make herself heard in the wild tumult. "It's mag nificent, wonderful, but " As a matter of fact, all the mani festations of nature at its grandest would not have sufficed to turn her head away from her lover's face if she could have seen him. "You can't go now," said Winters decisively, "the rain's bad enough as it is, and that cloud will burst in a minute. Old Noah's flood won't be a circumstance to it." "I'm protected from the rain," she answered. Winters shook his head. The weight of it would almost beat you down, Miss Illingworth." "I haven't had any experience with it, but I think Winters is right," said Rodney. "I'll go on alone, then," said the girl passionately, stepping out of the house, "if you gentlemen don't care to come." The next moment, with a C3lnrin8t lng scream like the shriek of all the lost souls of creation heard above the furious detonating roar of the thunder, the wind added Its quota to the dem onstration of natural force, and now the rain fairly dropped upon them in apparently solid sheets. Of course clouds do not burst. Such a thing Is scientifically and meteorologically Im possible, but anyone who has ever ex perienced the suddenness and fury and weight of a western deluge in a nor mally dry land will understand the term. The wind swept over the pla teau, where it had free course like a hurricane; the rain came down in masses apparently. Until their eyes became accustomed to it, the falling water blotted out the landscape. The woman was hurled against the side of the house by the sudden and violent assault of the hurricane. The two n?5i hfaj dragged, half carried her Kt'ound to tho lee side of the cabin. The roof of the hut had given way here urM there, and within It was soon flooded. Where they stood, however, by chance happened to be the solidest part of the overhang of the roof, end they were in some degree protected, that Is, from the direct violence of the downpour. They were, of couree, drenched In a few minutes in spite of their raincoats. With one man on ei ther side of her to give her as much protection as possible, the woman leaned against the stone wall and stared through the rain down the val ley, seeking to see the dam, perhaps a mile and a half away. Of course the maximum of the downpour could not last any more than the maximum of the gale, but the deluge was succeeded by a heavy, driving rain still swept on by a strong wind. Below the mesa the lake was whipped Into foam by the beat of the rain and rolled into waves by the as sault of the wind. All three of them knew what this deluge portended. The downpour would raise the level of tha lake so that it would overflow th dam, which would be swept away, the valley would be Inundated by a flood, like a tidal wave, the incompleted via duct would be ruined, the town would be overwhelmed, the loss of life and property would be appalling. "The spillway ought to take it, shouted Winters, knowing wJbat was Staring Down at the Dam Helen II lingworth Took the Glass From Rod ney. in the minds of the other two by what was in his own. "It's not finished," roared Rodney. , Winters threw up his hands. 'Will the dam hold it?" cried the woman, understanding. "Until the water rises above It. Just as soon as it begins to wash over, it will go, and the quicker for these waves," answered Rodney at the top of his voice. "And the bridge and the town, screamed the woman. "They, too." "And father?" "He'll be all right ; they've had warn ing. The engineers on the dam must know the danger now. They're work ing like mad." ne had brought a small six-power fieldglass with him and he was strain ing his eyes through it. The violence of rain and wind had sensibly abated, although it was still coming down in torrents. With his knowledge of what would probably be attempted, Rodney was able to see through his glass some thing of what was being done, even at that distance. "They're building nalisades on toV of the dam, and backing it with an earth mound. See, they are dropping sandbags over," he stated, handing the glass to the other man. "By heaven," shouted Winters, "they're making a magnificent fight." In his excitement he left the shelter of the hut and stalked through the rain toward the edge of the mesa, where he could have a better and near er view. In spite of Rodney's remon strances, even though backed by his outstretched arm, the woman followed. Presently all three, Indifferent to the beat of the rain and the assault of the wind, stood watching the battle on the dam. It was abating still more, fortu nately, or else they could scarcely have sustained the attack of that wind and rain, nor could they have seen at all, even with that glass. Staring down at the dam after a tu'h ment, Helen Illingworth took the glaM from Rodney. She focused it rapidly and looked steadily through It. She knew what she was seeking as she stood steadying herself with splendid nerve and resolution and swept the length of the dam back and forth. (TO BE CONTINUEDJ
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 20, 1917, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75