IMVOOUNTY T«« r * SEA ISLE CfTY, K. J.

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who la tfaa 0

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T-At tba |t«*t •ngti* -russs

I wwr» ttw ttrCtaTroa at the foot ! «T tba e*Uf, which here 'ini there aUU i stood ahore the water. It waa a place where naan coaid only pass by carefully cfaooalof their way and calrolatlnc the distance of the next point toward which to leap. These thrve were movine like madmen, aplaahlnx thronjrh the water, hurllnf them wives from ro<4 to rock, fatUnr acalnat the avail. I <hatchln« a tree or shrub, allpplng Into lha laka aarlnc tbemaclres from I'drowalQ* apparently only by the ca»»te* of complacent fortune, which they ware trylny to the utmoat limit One man carried a miner’s pick, a spade and a sorreyor’a range pole, the other another spade and two long stakes which looked I'ke the separate legs of a tripod. The bareheaded man. i who had thrown hie rubber coat down In the reddlab-yellow water, carried a ' food-ai*ed oilskin bag. He waa the

» eon- most hurried, of the three. He ran

some distance la front of the other*. They noticed bow carefully he Bought to protect the bag. When he allpped or aeemed about to tall, be always thrust It frantically away from the

| rock with outstretched arm.

What tba three men would be at of 1 course no one knew. It was obrious ! that they were In a desperate burry :md that the thin; In the bag must be r.trcfnlly cnrrled. Naturally the watch • •re connected the meu with the dam l-ulMem. They were dressed as the men engnctsl In «uch labor would be

•Vvsaed. The pick, the ape and stakes bore out that cooclu-

Skumec- the dooffiUana more recently ! B Ronaa . -jse sdoo of the legionary ,Bt0 T“ ch ^ rerunning ■nor- - to u»« ?.h. JoTS, | "I" 1 “ careful Inspection* of the terrain of | They made these boles about four feet

deep below the exraraHoo. driving In and twisting and churning the stakes

B

the bsgr asked the

Tie cm tries It as though it might

raa sr^js nmsd— featse haaa

he dl fined the reason for the eltreme

'wbi'SI ’ care with which the bag was carried.

She MU ware Immediate'} below the ' " is watchers now. lie could make pretty well what was the else and ct the objects that bulged the

the ralle}. had been made long after the original surreys and the results of hi* observations were adQ fresh In bis

mind.

The water was rising so rapidly doer the rioudborvt and he saw the Inert table-near of the failure so dearly that he did not dare to waste time to look up Vanderenter. tell him his plan, and get his pcrml.valoo. Every second was of the utmost value. When the thought came, he acted Instantly. Be waa In the position of the commander of a small force to whom la suddenly ited the bare possibility of wresting victory from defeat by some splendidly daring and unforeseen undertaking. And he was the man to adve such possibility and make the most of It. He had endeared himself to some of le men and the respect In which he ' was held by Vsnd even ter was shared ' by the others. When be called two of the ifcoet capab'e of the workmen. big. burly Irishman and a stout little Italian, to follow him, they did It without a moment's hesitation of you keep on here," be Shouted as be left the fang. “Murphy and Tnnsro, come with me. Keep it up; I think 1 know a way to blip," he yelled back through the rain as he scrambled off the dam up the rocks to the spillway. It waa not his fault that they could not bear and could not unerstand. The water was rushing through the spillway shout knee deep, end the three men plunging forward through had difficult}- In keeping thdr lootg on the brok<jo, rocky boiiom. When they reached the other Mde. Meade shouted above the storm i “Murphy, bring your pick end shovel; take that Iron range-pole. too. Here, Ftmaro, yon take your shovel nd these.” As be spoke be ran Into the office ■heck end wrecked e transit tripod.

by main strength. They could by no u

*ru nave tb take a look at It," neU

Meade desperately.

Funaro and Murphy caught hba hr, the arms. They all knew the ttbmen<1<»ua risk In a nearer approach. The might be alight still. At any ■

pushed thi* save for the softening k- ] t ti r flame might «i**h to the detoMstance of the rain and the furiou- SC( i then— Tet Meade had to

Hla Soul Was Rising and His Heart

Waa Seating—

fought together In the dawn of history vied with each other then. Again and again Meade bad to order them back. He was keenly sensible of bis danger. He knew that if be Ml. If the dynamite struck the ground violently, it 'might expIiMlc. He knew that the unstable fulminate of mercury In the .detonators might go off at any time— perhaps that was the greater dangerhut he never checked his pace or hesitated in a U-ap or sought an easy way for a second. His soul was rising and hla heart was beating as they had never risen or beaten In his life. And the beans of his men beat with hla

•=***£*•«

{sn at tbs Sl.. .

: sfiatss:««,

her Cathsi's ntsssons MmA* break* hla SJKfeSVSS.tl cam as a rodmaa und

sons to tl~ i ftund. and and tks targgr

.ffiSarsLssi

they stood, high op c

In front was In plain view. Hs a tall figure, his face was heavily From the angle t.l which Hm It was Impossible to rec-

ognise bio. nor was he In his frantic yogreas assuming the usual attitude

fed bearlny of a man tinder ordl

ton'll lions which sometimes betray him to those who know him well. Nor

could Helen Illingworth with

trembling hands focus the glass, which she took from Rodney before the struggling adventurers had passed; and yet

there waa something In the flgun

low that made her heart beat faster.

She preened her hand to the wet

meats over her heart end stared. Suddenly Rodney raised hla vntee and shouted at the very top of It. Winter* Joined In. and even Helen Illingworth found herself em-amlog. The three men below were not more than five or six hundred feet away, but evidently they could not possibly bear In that tumult of nature. No voices would carry through any such rain and wind. They were too Intent on their paths aad on what they had to do to look

of tb* mesa and disappeared In tba Ms at Its feet. The three on the top looked at

tber.

“The d-m still bolds” said Rodney, gaits unsuspecting what was In the rt heart. Eoke. Hales Illingworth the ran heavily In her ats along the broken mesa top past the bouse to the upper edge. There below her were the throe men Joel ernwglng from the fringe of trees. Rouniting the end of the they had at last struck firmer ground. Helen IlUagworth could see them through the plues on the old trail. The

Without a question, both piled with his directions. In a huge crevice, almost a small cava, la the of the mesa which overhung the east and of the dam the explosives were stored. The dynamite was kept in niiakin bags, the detonating caps In watatproof boxes, lean sticks or cartridges In each bag. Each stick was an Inch and a half In diameter and eight inches long. One bagful should be ample. Indeed. If that did not do the work, the attempt

would fait

The men waited while Meade selected a bag of dynamite, a box of detonators. and a package of fuse*. Cardinal rule that dynamite cartridges and detonating caps should never be carried by the same person, the combination so greatly Increased the risk at premature The fulminate of mercury In detonators was very volatile, highly ploalvc and immensely destructive, considering Its alee. One such cap could blow off a man’s hand, or even brad, and In Us explosion might detonate the dynamite. Hence the separation when being carried. Meade decided to taks that risk. Hs knew hew perilous waa the undertaking. bow liable he was In hi* hurry to fhll against the rocka, slippery and half submerged In that pouring rain. He knew what the auch a fall would be. Hs would center all risks In himself. He thrust the box of detonators In bis pocket, the pack-

•nenry they applied. They had hem working since four In the morning at : the dam. they had made that difficult run at headlong Ki-eed. yet they labored like men posseaw-d. They even wasted breath to call challonglngly and prove,kingly and to set forth their progress | each to the other. In utmost less time than It takes to tell It. they bad comj pleted the boles and so Informed the

| engineer triumphantly.

Meade, as usual, had reserved to himself the more dangerous. If less arI duous task. Covering himself with I big Murphy’s discarded slicker, which | fell over him like a shelter tent os he ! knelt down, he opened the box of j detonators, selected one, and nttnrh*->] I the fuse In position carefully. Then be unfolded the paper about one of the cartridges and placed the detonator, wrapping the paper around It tber,--nfter. He prepared two cartridges this way with the greatest care. The men rapidly but carefmly cut ullta In the covering of the cartridges, and lowered four cartridge* down each hole, forcing them gently Into jdaee with the butt end* of the tripod stakes and compressing them so that they filled the boles completely. Then Meade placed his two prepared sticks with the detonators on top of the other four. He cut the fuse to the proper length In each case. and. keeping H carefully covered with the raincoat he held It while the others filled In the holes and the excavations and carefully tamped down the earth. All that remained waa the lighting of the fi And then! Would the dynamite go off? With fuses It was uncertain action a i beat, and although these fuses were supposed to be so prepared as to be independent of weather dllions, more often than not rain spoiled a blast. If this blast failed It was good-by dam—good-by everything. Meade drew ont from the pocket of his flannel shirt a box of metebea. 12* had to light the farther cartridge fuse.

He knew, of course. If the dam went out the rrllroad, the bridge, the town, the dtlaens. the women and children, and everything and everybody would go. If be could save them, hla act might be set off against the loss of the International. But whether that wees

true or not, wnatever the oonae- - .. _ . •HMm. to Um. b. *m, tomd to too mn tm«o tot .od H,M tb. torn Tb- ,-rt t bt ot ..or, to,,, tb, n«-to ou» .«d tb™ "totto ew*.

That charge had to be exploded If b>- <1.-tonated It by hand, be thought desj- ratrly. and be had not com* so far and worked so hard to fall now. “Don’t go.” cried Morphy. “It ees danger,” shouted Funaro. Rot Meade shook them off and bade them keep back. What was his danger compared to the Issue Involved? That last charge had to ho exploded. He Hepped quickly toward It and as he did so be thn-w his eyes up toward the gray, rain-filled heaves In oca last appealDid be hear the blind roar, did he see the upbunrtlng masses of sodden earth, was be conscious of the fact that the whole aide of the hillock had Im-<ii blown away, that the last explosion had completed the shattering work of the first—that they had succeeded? Did he mark the whirling water, driven backward at first by the violence of the explosion, returning and rolling In vast mass through the great opening, did be see it plunging down the slope, through the tree* and bushes, and pour thunderously Into the bed of the ravine? Did he see the tremendous rush of the water from the great lake that man had created tear earth from earth, and ever widen end deepen the opening as It crashed In a foaming, terrible, red catarac. throngl the outlet, striking down great trees, r or ring, boning wildly to the bottom at (he gorge far below? No. he saw nothing. Broken, beets* down by e huge bowlder that had hew thrown upward by the exploaloci nd had struck him on the hrsaet and lying battered under n rain at naltar ■tones and earth, he waa aa on* dead. "By heavens!” cried Winters In groat excitement on the creat of the hlB. “he’s done It. He's eeved the dea; that’s a man t” “Don’t you know him?” eiraamed Helen Illingworth I his ear.

“No.”

“Header

Winters caught her by the arm. “He’s dead.” she cried high aad

ived the dam and the

weight of every woman, the weight of He had made the nearer fuse a Utile shrill, “hut he sarod th. t every child In the valley, the weight ; ■horter so aa to secure a atmultaneou. bridge and the town. He’s

..... ... AYTtlnslitn IP rtouUi!,. m,»n, **

Of ail the business enterprises of the explosion If possible,

town, the weight of the great vlalnct ' ' r ~”"

at steel, the weight of the huge dam 1 , Itwlf, was on his shoulders as he ran. Be carried the burden Ughtly, as Atlas might hsre upborne the world with Uughter. For. despite his determination and liaste. be bad In hla heart the great Joy that comes when men at

Tony Fnnaro now Interposed gal-

lantly.

“Giva me 4a light.” be demanded, extending hla hand. “G’wan wld ye." shouted the big Irishman eagerly; “lemme do It. eon,” “Stand back, both of yon," cried Meade, aucci-edlng after some trouble

tempt grandly and dare greatly for j 10 striking ■ match,

their fellow-men. If he -could only by He had cut off a shorter length of and by aee hla hope* Justified by sue- i fuse for a torch, the better to carry the cm, his happiness would be complete. Ore from one blast to another. As It

to- «•»'■ 1c to,™-! to

Ml .. cm.--,!. 1, to dl-1. wh-tor ""I '«"■ to- “• *"■'"“d dto—M to DO!. O.™ would loll Obou, *“* 1,1. oodtoto 81,0 would tor. It * Tbo/ todjo., l'“l • •*'- dl--.0,0 to Urn oftorword. whoo bo 'oooo ow.jr wboo wl.b o oiolBod root ton,. .1 bow .hr tod lookrd doM unoo. ^ two blo.t. wrutod told, t.writo, Un, ho r .o. tot to tod ooioohow "too iho, no booh II,o, oow ttoi frit h-r pi-o«to. hoi o prooooro loo iwoihlrdo o( to hlhorl oo ttoi .Id. prtllng him to look up. hut a presence driving him on. He lost his hat. he torei off his long coat and threw It aside as hr plunged on with his precious hag In hi* lisnd. He did not dare to look! i it hi* watch, be did rot stop for any- | thing, hot It seemed that he must have 1 apeot hours In that mait scramlue over' the watiT-eovervd rock*. He heaved a deep hreatb of reUef when he rounded

Into

to the limit, finally debWnd. mechanical habit

“Whs® 1

world, they wars spec- going waa bad enough, but It was no three* t battle. wltfisdeM of j lug compared to what they haa passed t. In which herculean over and presently they burnt out of

‘ the woods and ran a'oag the well-rounded hogback that divided the

valley from the ravine.

Th* woman had no Idea what waa toward, vhat was their purpose. She could only stare tud aiare at the rap-

a battle charge ) Idly moving far-off figure IndomltaUy with wound* enough to klU j In the lead, and the others following

after. There Winters Joined her.

inchester. though shot In the ' ’• Rodney sent me to look after you

Hy struggled after Sheri- be frets that n* m they fell, or eve® a* l com- watch the daw for

may so be Imbued with “Look.” said Uri.-o. pointing far ty of determination that down. The men halted at the very o® until be drop# deed, narrowest pert of the hogback. They > gave their nil In unmatch- were clustered together. The bag lay

the ground behind them. One Mn

hetiar get off that dam.” said bent over It. evidently opening It. It oace fall* It'll go Another mao swung the shove! vlcioo*and then Ifli be too late." ly. the third grabbed the pick. Wlnthem. They’re not going tecs bad been too far removed from eaaald Winters. “They're {purering even yet to figure out what with It. Fools. Ood bless was toward. They could only watch

shouted, throwing up hla and wonder.

exultation over manhood and and determination CHAPTER XX. pe yon had better go back. — ■aid Rodney, think- The Victors, horror she might witness ct Meade knew that they were ttgbHag

a losing battle. Every

be elsewhere for the higher gre«*e men knew it also. The aald th* brave gtrl. white but .pillway was entirely Inadequate, but “ Jlpe—«he waa mad. of the u .uddenly flushed Into his mind, with

that consdouanesa of th*

of the struggle, that p. rtiapa there another way to (U«cban.e the flood. The eame idea might have come to any other of the more Intelligent of the nieu from Vandeventer down If they had taken a moment for reflection, if

r pointed down through 'he cesae- they had not been so frantically, rain toward the lower edge of the frightfully engr»aw,-d In their present There, far below him. were puny but gallant efforts to sate the dden figures. The water In the dam. they certainly would have reniem-

slotw of the hill, bervd. That the possibility came

age of foaee Inside hla flannel shirt, the mesa and •truck, the trail. Had aa and carried the dynamite bag lu hia was the going. It was nothing lo what hand. He wwfld need hla free hand to they hi.d fmaaed over, protect hlmaelf. so all the tools were I’rcsently he broke oat Into the open carried hy th* other men. *lo|>c and there before him waa the Th* little Italian shook hi* bead as rmnxlcd curve of the hogluick. to gain he noted thee* preimratiou*. He hap- which lie had risked no much. Were paned to be one of the explosive force, they in time? Yi-m. the water In the those whose duty It was to do the lake wua not fir-wing. It waa only riableating. In hl» practical way he knew Ing. Evidently the dam still held. Hs it deni shout the properties and ran along It till he reached the nnrpoaalbtiltlea of useful new* of the dyua- rowed |iart of It, twenty feet wide obvtcu-i. Iwtui-'-n water-covered valley and, even to Murphy, who was only a la- sharply descending ravine. The shortborer. though where he proposed to tot aeperation between Picket Wire work neither man had acy Idea at all. and the Kicking Horse! The water lu “Dynamlta tio work In xl» weather,” the lake waa within three feet of the aald Funaro Impressively. crest. The min wu* coming down “Probably not,” answered Meath-. *t«-aiUly. He could real lie by the waharrylng hla preparations “hut It’s our ter level where ho stood that It must only chance.” be lapping the top of the dam now, “Give me to caps,” urg'd the Itad- or a little above It. He had five tuin-

tcu at moat. He was still

H* Waa a* One Dead.

of the ravine had gone. A wall of earth through which water wa* already trickling rtew between th.- gnat gap

Meade, wasting no more word*, sprang at what waa laft of the troll, and the two men gallantly followed

him.

hnt. for God's soke.

atuff aa the fighting men. a If he were there, fight-

that groat battle, 1 should wait to

time. The thoughts ct

ran. And a* he saw the place again they had blow-., out and the l*k.he made hla Instant plan. upper level of which wa* much higher He laid the dynamite down Just aa , *'» n bottom of the great crater

Murphy and Funmo reached him and ,llrjr 0,K ’ ,,rJ -

wood panting, their heavy breathing. "Hurrah. ..elled Meade, the other.

Th# hogback at which be was the sweat mingling with the rain lu J<Ui>lng I" Bl * .°* aiming was perhaps a little more than their wet face*, evidencing their ex- another Iml.-right there, he pointed to two miles from the dam. On the ordl- hauatlo®. From Morphy, w ho had be.*. 'I 1 ' * w0 * . T?™ 11 ,u nary troll and prepared for the run. the faster. Mea-le took the two trtiaHl ■hinting and It will do the Job. be could have managed It In fifteen legs, .tout oak stave, al-out an Inch “WIU tin- dam be ■ft.-r boidin ylt. minute*; aa It wa*. they made I* In and a half thick, with sharp metal "or?” asked Mike Murphy. ■“Icing hi

thirty. Th# extreme possibility of the point*. He jammed th.-m dowm Into I^ck. life at the dam seemed to Meade not Un- ground about five feet from the "■ hope much greater. He went In the lend, edge of the Klckb-a Hume ratine and hurry."

and by hla dl recti,® th* others kept about fifteen feat apart. With two mm working, the la»t hole

■'Hoi**, then-," ho shouted, “deep w »* compieted before

Htoagh .or five cartrldgoa.” rvedy. Funsro. Ind.-vd.

Kuuaro nodded. Hr knew exactly ■■‘Matte* In preparing the cartridge • lint to do. Murphy had eft.-n seen ITeamtly all wn« completed. Reject he expkNfiVe gang at work. He wa. *“lt H*e plcn« of both men. Mead juick wilted and he had only to follow *drork the tuatih. and thl« time. *ln.' be lti.li.tra action.. The work waa thero wn* but one blast to be fired, li dtuple. Soiling their spadra. the two touchi-d It dlrecUy to the fuw- an tm-n out Into the nod. untug Hu- p,ck watted a to ww that It ha

to dislodge small bowlder, and break caught and run a» be'erv.

up the earth. The noil wna light uod At a nafe dlwtauce they dr.-w hao

md waited. Nothing happru--d. A foi

“Ye*, yea; don't faint" cried Win-

ter*

“Faint 1 I'm going to him." “Howr “The nearest way." screamed tbs woman, letting herself flown over tb* cliff wall to the broken rocka, by which only the hardy could reach th* tower level. What of th# dam below In tba wal-

ler?

“Hold It. men. bold it; for Goffs sake, hold It." nhontod Vandeventer. rising from hla crouching posttloe agalnat the palisade to resume it Instantly he had spoken. “Keep it up. If It gore down, Ict’a go down with It. Hang on—hang on I We’ll hold it. We aren’t beat yet." Broken words, oat curuea. cheers, expletive* in l languages from the polyglot mob at men hurwt forth. Even cowards bad bem turo«-d Into heroes becana* thay had fought by the aide at men. Here and thi-n- a man not weaker physically. perhaps, hot lens resolute, leaa aplrltunlly comwcroted. Iras dltincty ■ibacto-d. drupfwd out of the rank that pitted Itself In furiona. futile, but soblime fury against the wavering walk Some of tln-n Ml backward and lay ■tia. Bom.- Imd fainted and some of them were half dead. A few hero and there aank down on the trampled, mod dy cmbankM®t and buried their heads In their hand*, aobbtng hysterically. Rut most still blind, mad. aabllme. held on. And the pnllaade dlf not fnD. It did not bend back any farther. The throb that told of the tremendoua preasnre of the waves, the quiver that expert ear* could feel tba prelode lo fallmv. began to dl* away, to stop. What did It mean? Ttie thunder grow still, the rain diminished. It ceased, th* clouds broke. Some groat hand, wa at God. swiftly tor* the 'lack vault cf the heavens apart. Faint tight t> to glow over the sodden land. T the rift they saw dimly a of mighty range. What had h “Hero.” aald Vaudcveator. How white he looked, bow I atn-ak* of gray lu hi* black hair that had not boon tboro twfor*. bat hla ejr*a werv blaring, llo waa still the Indomitable chief of the Spartan band. Tba neat-cot niro gave him a hand. H* clambered up to his former vantage point on top of the highest log of the stockade and stared down. Th* rise of the water had stopped I He could not balieve It. yet It was true. Th# rain had erased agnln. but by every ba’ural law the drainage from the hills would continue for «*>rae time In foil volume. Vi-w, by all righla the dam wax doomed. The water *1111 trickled

“If I fall and eapl «Se this dyuamllc. lero’s no nerd of all throe of ua be-

ild. and it was

that they

complied with hi* dtroctlun.

through

■ary to keep th* two mvu bat k. The> had caught something of the gallant spirit of the ragtm-er. and the big Irishman and tbr little Italian were a*

i that

cliff Th* trail had. of waa perhaps due to the fact that be

of pragtraa egcqpt hr I skins nd-

eager aa he. Helped b> a few hasty I.***'-'-’ 4 - * nJ “ *“'1 -mked ward# ■• they ran. tOry had both of l*> ,h « f 0 ** 1 - AM,r “ioy Imd made au them learned what hr would Ik- at. excavation about two feet deep, they ’ibey both rrallxed (list they were tb« l » ld ,hr,r shovel*, nnd with the Iron range pole aa a starter and the

to follow, they

tapping the M^e t^n U^iero

toll K-a ..f ... vl toto ,n., «»«• Ihe dam nobody and nothing Ulgg.r trtpml atok.a

obody

.. „ . . . . , | could. And then- wa* n trace of the uiedo

had tjfted hv aJtuaUoi- la US and had | gUa CW1 and | fqrcinf Ubt pole and Uiuu tim make rain.

, They

of life in toe fuae. IK- li of the care llwy Imd ink w.-t. It would not work, moment* were flying.

stared nd “*)*- -

1 hoc® a gallant ef ■. oven If a vain on# he stood alient, exc saw. The wratri No. It wax falling; ik ugh. I’rvwntly It Ing through the roil bark. Not a drop dde of the p

Iiarging —un where The laka uvo broken through xomrwharw V needed that hint to recall th* . and then Mctul*- He aaw 0

> deep hole* In the ground.

Cape May Ceonty