Show LILLIAN tr SL I 1 f SYNOPSIS 9 at a vestry meeting of the market square church gall sargent helens to discussion about the eale ot the church tenero ente to edward E allason local traction king and when asked her opinion of the church by rev smith boyd bays it Is apparently a lucrative business enterprise allason takes gall riding in tit motor car when he suggests he Is entitled to ret on the laurels of his achievement she asks the disturbing question gall bals cold digap in the eye of rev smith boyd at a bobsled party aimson tells jim sar pent that hl new ambition Is to conquer the world he starts a campaign or consolidation soli dation and control of the entire trans system of the world aall becomes popular allason gains control of and arranges to absorb court tenement property of market square church gall tells boyd that the cathedral market square church proposes to build will be out of profits wrung from squalor at a of the seven financial magnates of the country allason organizes the international transportation company rev smith bold undertakes gall s spiritual in and gall unconsciously gives al allson a hint that solves the vedder court problem tor him he boea on an inspection trip in allason s new subway CHAPTER XII continued out in the open where the sun paled the electric lights of the car into sickly yellow up into the air peering into third story tenements and down narrow alleys aflutter with countless napping pieces of laundry work then suddenly irto the darkness of the tunnel again then out on the surface of country fields and dreary winter landscape to the terminal it was more cozy in the tunnel and they returned there for lunch suddenly there came a dull muffled report like the distant firing of a cannon then an interval of silence infinitesimal one in which the car ran smoothly on and half rising they looked at each other in startled ques honing then all at once came a stupendous roar as if the world had split asunder a jolting and perking a headlong stoppage a clattering and clapping and crashing and grinding deafening in its volume and with it so intense that it seemed almost palpable to the touch there was a single ehrick and a nervous laugh merging verging on hysteria the shriek was arly and the laugh from luclle there was a cry from the forward end of the car as of someone in pain A man e yell of fright greggory the general man ager A strong hand clutched galls in the darkness firm reassuring the rector don t move it was the voice of allason All lson crisp harsh commanding anybody hurt tim corman the voice of age but otherwise steady its me called tom the motor man head cut a little arm bruised nothing bad gall allason again yes clear voiced with the cour age which has no sex mrs teasdale mrs fosland ted doctor boyd and so through the list everybody sate it Is an accidental blast said the voice of allason he had figured that a concise statement of just what had happened might expedite organization we are below the fairmount Far mount ridge over a hundred feet deep and the tube has caved in on us there roust be no waste of exertion don t move until I 1 find bat electrical dan gers there are A match flared up and showed the pale face of the engineer bending over no matches ordered allason W may need the oxygen he and the engineer made their way back into the parlor compart anaut they took up the door of the motor well in the floor and in a few minutes they replaced it from the sounds they seemed remarkably clumsy that much Is lucky commented allason the next thing Is to dig in front or behind wondered the engineer in front decided allason the ex came from that direction and has probably shaken down more of the eoll there than behind but its solid clay in the rear and further out gall felt the rectors hand suddenly leave her own it had been wonder fully comforting there in the dark so firm and warm and steady he bad not talked much to her just a few reassuring words in that low melodious voice which thrilled her as did occasionally the touch of allason s band as did the eyes of dick rodley dut she bad received more strength from the voice of allason he was big allason a power a force a spirit of command she began for the first time to comprehend hia magnitude what have we to dig with the voice of rev smith boyd and there was a note of eagerness in it the benches up in front here yelled mccarthy and there was a ripping bound as he tore the seat from one of them pardon me it was the voice of the rector up in front the balance of you sit down and keep rested ordered allason now also up in front mccarthy boyd and I 1 go farat the long struggle began the garle grouped together in the back of the car moving but very little tor there was much broken glass about up in front the three men could be heard making an opening into the debris through the forward windows they talked a great deal at first strong capable voices they were interfere Int erfer ing with each other then helping combining their strength to move heavy stones and the like then they were silent working independently or in effective unison tim corman was the possessor of a phosphorescent faced watch with 22 jewels on the inside and a ruby on the winding stem and be constituted himself timekeeper thirty minutes he called out its our shift the men crawled in from outside but they stayed in the front compart ment the air was growing a trifle close and they breathed heavily good by girl called the gayly fu aereal voice of ted teasdale hus band is going to work another interminable wait while the air grew more stifling there was no further levity after lincoln and the motorman and mccarthy had come back tor the condition was becoming serious some air must undoubtedly be finding its way to the car through the loose debris but the carbonic acid gas exhaled from a dozen pairs of lungs was beginning to pocket and the opening ahead though steadily pushing forward displayed no signs of lessening solidity they established shorter shifts now a quarter of an hour the men came silently in and out and as silently worked and silently rested while the girls carried that heavy burden of women s hardest labor waiting greggory was the first to give out then the injured motorman when their turns came they had pot the strength nor the air in their lungs stong mccarthy was the next to join them the shifts had reduced to two of two men each by now ted and old tim and allason and the rector and these latter two worked double time their lips and their tongues were parched and cracking and in their periods of rest they sat motionlessly lessly facing each other with a wheeze in the drawing of their breath their stentorian breathing could be heard from the forward end of their little tunnel clear back into the car where the three girls were battling to preserve their senses against the poisonous gases which were now all that they bad to breathe acting on the rectors advice they had stood up in the car to escape the gradually rising level of the carbonic gas stood as the time progressed with their mouths agape and their breasts heaving and sharp pains in their lungs at every breath arly dropped silently crum pling to the floor then a few minutes later luclle and panic stricken by the thought that they had gone under gall felt her own senses reeling when suddenly looking ahead through eyes which were staring she baw a crack of blessed light there was a hoarse cry from ahead the crack of light widened another one appeared some tour feet to the right of it and gall already fancied that she could feel a freshening of the air she breathed with such tearing pain against the light of the open ings two figures the only two which were left to work strove at first with the slow limp motions of exhaustion and then with the renewed vigor of approaching triumph she could dia ting them clearly now by the light which streamed in the stocky strong figure of allicon and the tall sinewy figure of the rector they were working frantically allason with his coat ott and the rector with his coat and ceaf both removed and one sleeve torn almost entirely from his shirt revealing his swelling biceps and a long red scratch gall s senses were numbed so that they were reduced to almost merely optical consciousness so that she saw things photograph icalla but even in her numbness she realized that what she had thought a trace of weakness in the rector was only the grace which had rounded bis strength the two figures bent inward toward each other there was a moment of mighty straining and then the whole center between the two cracks rolled away A huge boulder had barred the path and its removal let down a rush of pure fresh air from the ground above let down too a flod of daz aling light and in the curving under rim of the opening stood the two stal wart men who were the survival of the fittest 1 the mere instinct of self preservation drove gall forward with a cry toward the source of that life giving air and she scrambled through the window and ran toward the two men they came hurriedly down to meet her and each gave her a hand CHAPTER XIII gall dodges the spotlight immediately after gall had reached home from the accident in the subway and had been put to bed and given tea and bad repeatedly the doctor there was nothing the mat ter with her they brought at her ur gent request copies 0 the extras hibb were already being yelled from every street corner and down every quiet residence block the accounts were in the main more or less accurate barring the fact that they started with the assumption that there had been one hundred in party all killed later Is sues however regretfully reduced the number of dead to forty six and finally none at which point they became more or less coherent and gave an exact list of the people who were there the cause of the accident and a most appreciatively accentuated history of the heroic work ot the men although she regretted that her pic ture bad by this time crept into the public prints grouped with the mur dera and defalcations of the day she was able to overlook this personal discomfort as one of the minor pen allies which civilization has paid for its progress like electric light bugs and electric fan neuralgia and the smell of gasoline in the meantime the representatives of the gay and care tree and absolutely sol uncurbed metropolitan press were by no means discouraged by the fact that they had not been able to secure much except hectic imaginings from the exterior ot the sargent bouse they were busy in every other possible direction with the same corn persistence which we observe in an ant to drag a grasshopper up and down a cornstalk on the way home little miss piper of the morning planet a somewhat withered and puckered little woman who bad sense enough to dress so as to excite noth ing but pity quietly slipped on her ugly little bonnet with the funny rib bon bow in the back and hurried out to the magnificent residence of mrs phyllls northmore Worth more who loathed pub and bad photographs taken once a month tor the purpose the result of that light hearted and lightheaded interview in which mrs phyllls northmore Worth more by special request was not quoted suddenly sprang on the startled eyes of gall when she leaped through the sunday morning planet at eight next morning an entire page embellished in the center with a beautifully printed pho to graph was devoted to the sensa beauty from the middle west around her were grouped nine smaller photographs allason All lson dick rodley wllis cunningham houston van rev smith boyd a sallow her three times a count who had eald how do you do and sailed tor europe and two men whom she had never met all these crack were classi fled under the general head of slaves to her witching smile and a big boxed in list was given n extremely black faced type stating in dollars and cents the exact value in the mat rimon lal market of each slave and the lively genius who had put together this symposium by a toweringly happy thought conceived in the very height of the rush hours totaled the whole and gave it as the commercial worth of galls beauty and charm it ran into thirteen figures including the dol lar mark and the two ciphers tor cents when lucile teasdale and arly foa land arrived at jim sargent a house at ten clock and had been let in at the side entrance they found gall dabbing her eyes with a powder puff taken from a little black traveling bag which stood open at her side arlene was a second later than lucile in clasping gall in her arms because she had to lift a traveling veil the two girls expressed their condolence and their horror of the outrage and vol poured out more sympathy then they sat down and shrieked with laughter its too awful tor words gasped lucile but it Is funny too gall s chin quivered there should be a law against such things she broken heartedly returned in a voice which wavered and halted with the echoes of recent sobs put the planet out of bust nessi stormed jm sargent stalking up and down the library with his fists clenched and bis face purple bankrupt themi and he paused as be passed to reassuringly pat the der of poor aunt grace who sat perfectly numb holding one thumb until the bone ached the press is the palladium of our national liberty uncle jim drawled the soothing voice of ted you can t do a thing about it counseled gerald fosland a stiff look ing gentleman who never made a mis take of speech or manner or attire shucks gaall suddenly kemem bared lucile the big faulkner reception is thia week and your gown was to be so stunning don t go home mrs helen davies cast on her featherbrained feather brained daughter a glance of severe reproof have you no sense of propriety lucile ashe warned gall very nat aurally cannot remain here under the circumstances it does great credit to her that immediately upon realizing this horrible occurrence she telegraphed to her mother without consulting any of us that she was return ing I 1 just wanted to go home said gall her chin quivering and her pretty throat tremulous with breath pent from sobbing it II 11 blow over gall argued uncle jim in deep distress because she was going so soon if she bad only stopped long enough to pack up they might have persuaded her to stay juet tor get it and have a good time jim ordered the abern voice of aunt helen will you be kind enough to see if anyone Is out in front certainly agreed jim wondering why his wife a sister as suddenly severe with him it s time to start called ted with practiced wisdom allowing ten min utes for good bys parting instructions and forgotten messages the adicus adieus were said aunt grace clasping gall in her arms began to sob out of a full heart and a general need for the exercise gerald feeland took the band of his wife and kissed it in most gallant fashion I 1 shall miss you dreadfully my dear he stated 1 I shall be thinking of you responded arlene adjusting her veil mrs dadles drew arlene into the drawing room it was so sweet of you to agree to accompany gall she observed it would be useless to attempt to influx ence her now but I 1 look to you to bring her back in a week her prospects are really too brilliant to be interrupted by an unfortunate episode of this nature one could readily see that no devia alon from his routine confronted ger aid fosland this morning lie had bad his plunge and his breakfast bis mall and his paper laid before him and yet there was something ghastly about the feel of the house it was as if someone were beadi gerald fosland made as radical a deviation from bis dally life as he ever bad done he left bis mall unopened after a glance at the postmark be left his paper un read he picked up his hat and gloves and stick and started 0 o leave the room ae he passed the door leading to arlys apartments he hesitated and put his band on the knob he glanced over bis shoulder as a guilty con science made him imagine that a servant was coming in then he gently turned |