Argosy, Vol. 112, No. 2 — page 161: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

\ THE RACE OF THE GIANTS. “ Hurt?” “Not a bit. Take him along, Johnson,” he directed an assistant, ‘“‘ and see what he can stand.”’ : Thirty minutes later Johnson came back and presented his report. “That’s good,” Clark approved, glanc- ing with interest at Grim. “ It’s pretty near a record test. We'll keep you right here.” ““Whut for?” : “ To work.” . “Work?” “Yes. You're billeted-for a year.” Grim glowered, glancing from Clark to the shops and back again. “‘ Whar’s my job?” he asked, eying Clark with distrust. “In the power-house, working magnets. Very few men can stand the draw. When we find one that can we give him special instructions and a hundred and fifty a month. You’re in line to work up.” And he walked away, leaving Grim staring. “One fifty a month!” Grim gaped. Fifty was all he claimed aboard the schooner. And work? He hated work, but he was in the net; there was no escape. And one fifty a month! Why! “ Aw, he’s stringin’ me!” he growled. ‘“ A feller ’d be a bloom- | in’ millionaire in a week.” Gradually the fact rooted in his brain as true. He remembered now of rumors of fabulous wages paid by some of the new de- partments to men of questionable character and without experience. It had caused won- der in trampdom. And now— ‘One fifty a month and in line to work up.” He shook his head in doubt as he muttered the words. Although he did not know it, this thought of working up, though it seemed out of place in his make-up, was the germ from which grew the second Grim Dickson. Perhaps his immunity from magnet flow had to do with his mental attitude toward his work in the months that followed. It certainly was a source of pride to himself, as well as the envy of his fellow men. Am- bition rooted and grew, and the work he once hated aroused his interest. Encour- aged hy Clark, his evenings became long hours of study, and the more he learned: the harder he studied; until the subject of magnet flow became a near obsession, 327 and under Clark’s tutelage he became an expert in magnet control, flow, and chord- ing. Nor was this all. During the last three months of his service year, Clark saw him well grounded in the principles of solar lighting, transmission, tufnel-ventilation, gas-protection. Also in the mechanism of certain intricate gages, automatic siegnal- takers, informers, ef cetera, the most of which Grim could see no use for, and growled because of the time wasted in the study. Among the workers in the power-house, the year drawing to a close had been six months of comment and mystery. Rumors had reached them of great tunnels and naval works. planned by government heads. It was said that the human moles were bur- rowing at Columbus, Ohio; then whispers filtered through of mysterious underground workings about Indianapolis. From Spring- field, Illinois, came the next report of strange mining activities, and even Topeka, Kansas, sent vague whispers East of shafts sunk and deep borings by experts who eyed reporters askance and were laconic and reticent in their speech. Since the end of the world war, some ten years before, huge appropriations had been allowed for coast-defense work. The gigan- tic docks that absorbed Pratt and Light Streets, and could swallow a fleet of the largest ferty-knot “subs” afloat, had ceased to be a wonder. The great air-tanks under compression from the Ohio River dams, and sunk deep near the water-front, had become a much-worn topic, and the arrival and — clearance of monster air-driven naval craft failed to excite unusual comment. A big transcontinental mail-carrying air- ship occasionally swung in over the city, her side fins showing long and slim against the sky, her white sails bellied out, and her engines sending down their murmuring whine. Scarcely any one looked twice. “Twas just a pretty sight in a busy world, and the human broil had little time for common things. Such engineering feats were only a part of the great work the nation had set herself to do, and the people approved the many great appropriations of Congress Comicbooks.com — en ee a ee