CHAPTER XVII.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1571, 29 July 1882, Page 5

CHAPTER XVII.

When fd.ce to face with death, the man appears, Or else the coward, snivelling, and in tears. Familiarity breeds contempt, is an axiom that*applies to danger as -well as to anything eke. At first sight, danger is appalling — the heart shrinks in its presence ; but let a man work amongst danger every day, "and he soon forgetattiat it , W near. 'The miner, of all men, is the mbst exposed" to danger ; it lies in his w,ay' wherever he -moves. Thomine may collapse ' and bury him in its ruins, the -charges' 'W- j&to^in# s dVpl£d& J ' pheWf;'4hVp*gses

swallow him as he moves along, or the deeply foul air poison him. Familarity, however, soon breeds contempt, and he goes to his daily work without a thought that he may be brought home a coipse. And it is well this is so, else our dangerous occupation would soon be of the past ; yet not well, because this very contempt degeneiatcs in foolhaid'iness. Hence the numerous accidents which arc cveiy week cluonicled in our mining distiicts. Jack, like every miner, had learnt to look upon danger as nothing. Ho had had many a narrow escape ; had missed being blown to pieces thiough a mere chance ; had over and over been nearly piecipitatcd hnndicds of feet ; and had more than once been half suffocated by foul air. His duty now, to knock down one of the pi ops suppoiting the new sett, struck him as having nothing peculiaily dangerous mit; he had olten done the same befoic. Indeed, he knew that the ground was so well seemed, that he had nothing to fear. 80, thinking about Bertha and Hector, and even aranging a portion of the opposition speech winch lie had to deliver that evening (for he was to get off duty before se\ en lor that j>iu*pose), he went to his work. Had he not been so crigiosscd, ho must have percievod that there was something wiong — that the ground did not piesentthe appeal ence ■when he saw it befoie. It was not, however, until he had &et to work that ho f-aw Ihcie was a flaw somcAvhere. It was too late, how ever. He f-aw the ground above Mas giving way. His fii&t thought w as the danger of the men at the entiance, as thegiound wasgning that way, and he at once shouted to them. For himself, he thought he could escape to the further end, where the giound was firmer, and w ait until the fallen mullock had been lemovcd. He therefore lushed to the face, but the roof came dow n &o fast that it extinguished the light at once, and ho was leit in a terrible dilemma, lie knew not which way to stir. The great crash was o\ cr ; but on all sides could be heard the sound of the sawing and lasping and giving way of the rock oveihead. One moment and he might be crushed to pieces. Jack knew that in keeping close to the walllayhissafety.tttoutasuashi&heart, his frame trembled like an aspen. E\ en if he were not destroyed by the rocks, how could he esu»pe fiom his In ing tomb ? Thousands upon thousands of tons had fallen between him him and the shaft, and it Mould take days of Aigorous -work on the part of his icscuois to reach him. But he knew ! William Brown would do all m his power, and tins, in some dcgiee, comforted him. Still, could he breathe in this place, supposing Natuio would keep up ? Would not the deadly foul air soon permeate his prison, and banish every breath of life ? But Jack argued that fear and apprehension could not possibly do any good in his case. They would, on the contrary, weaken his vitality and unfit him for the coining struggle with death. But already the air was becoming close, and the beads of perspiration stood upon his blow. He had very little room to move, for the rocks had fallen very near to his restingplace. To move about was danger itself, for he might be precipitated hundreds of feet, or some detached piece of rock might fall upon him* Trickle Itiickle ! trickle ; What could this be ; Ho could hear, now that the commotion of falling rocks had ceased, the sound of a stream of water. At fir&t this gave him hope, for the water might keep up a current of air. But this hope was soon doomed to annihilation. This was no ordinary rush of water ;he had ne\cr noticed anything like i£ in the mine before. Then it came into his mind, with terrific force, that the pumps had gone wrong that morning, and he felt that the falling in of the mine, would not better matteis. Still they might be able to keep the water down to a level with this drive ; even then, it would block out the air and he must die of exhau&tion. Death ! Yes, he could sec that death must inevitably come, All his fair dreams of life, his idea of becoming the husband of dear Bcitha, of bringing Hector Macinnis to judgment, of punishing Obadiah, were as meic baubles. They were nothing to him now. But what after nil, was death ?He had often, when going along a drive, hod his candle blown out, and then he had had to thread his way in the dark, knowing not w hether he would fall into some pass and be dashed to pieces, or reach the light of the shaft. Death was similar to this. He would pass out of the light of this life into some other woild, to learn its mysteries, And Jack was so strongminded and manly, that he hoped the end would overtake him speedily, and that he might be spared a painful and agonising death. It was as he thought. The water was rising ; already it was up to his knees. A shorb time and he would bo surrounded by it, and then, after a few struggles, he would yield up his soul to Him who gave it, trusting to His mercy and forgiveness. For the first time since the terrible event Jack gave way. He sat on a piece of rock and wept bitter, scalding tears, as he thought of the bright and fair life he was leaving behind — of the many joys that might be his if he lived— of Bertha— dear beautiful Bertha. Even the thought of his faithful old dog, Spot, came into her mind. Poor, old, half-blind, Spot ! j; When the whistle for the end of the night-shift soundtsd, the old fellow would trot up to the shaft, wagging his tail, and waiting for his master— his master, whom, alive, he would not see again ! A dead despair appeared to settle upon Jack now. He learnt his face on his hand, and sucmed incapable of moving or thinking- In a sort of stupor he awaited the fate that was so slowly but surely creeping on towards him. In a very brief space of time he had to stand upright, for the water had reached to his middle. This somewhat aroused him, and caused him to think, ne could 110 but feel suprised at this sudden deluge, for, owinn to mines at work on either side, the Hesperus Extended was unusually dry. He had seen the pumps - stopped for days, but no such flood had taken place. Suddenly a thought dawned upon his uiiucl. The Hesperus Extended, though apaying mine, had some , years before, lost the main lode, and had never been able to iind -it again, although thousands of pounds had Dcen spent for that purpose. They were now working, on what,' in* mining phraseology, , was called a Vlcad" or offshoot of the reef. s ' Hesperus Extended shares had_been very high,, when' they were working on,- I the reef, but-now* they wero low, as the stone r they had >was • not looked upon as permanent." , Jackvf elt t convinced that the grea^co.nv'ulsion- which' had taken .place hadib^rkT tKe 1' principallode, and hence the^&emeiidqiis^dw^ofj. •wa'ter.t If he? ,coiil3 e^caneM^a#a v r?|.t«! <would^b'e4iisrk M -'jgisJ{li6\yfefflm^lteiffa.at'i 1 pouiids/a'rid pift niin

It was strange what life this thought gave the boy. He remembered that there were several "backs" close to where he was, and that lie might be able to clamber up, and so perhaps be saved. The desire for life grew strong in his breast, and feeling about with his hands, he found a place less steep than the rest of the wall, and began to climb. Once or twice he narrowly escaped falling, which would, of course, have been death. Caution and perseverance brought him to a ledge, where, for awhile, he was safe. What tended to give him still more coinage was, that in the general downfall of stone, some apertuies communicating with the other drives might have been made, thus allowing the air to circulate, which the flowing of the water would assist. Indeed he felt convinced that such was the case, or else the air would not continue so pure. Had no opening been made he must have perished ere this. But where were these openings ? Was it possible for him to find them, and would they be large enough to permit of egress ? Hope, strong in his heart, tempted him to explore the backs. Ciecping along and feeling his way, his clothes gradually being torn to rags>, his hands and knees bleeding, he tiied to find some opening. His search was vain. Nowhei c could he find anything except a dead blank wall. Again the hoiror of death came upon him, and lying doAvn ho gave vent to the feelings of human nature. Death, a slow and horrible death, was before him. After a while he remembered that close to the woi kings v*as a cross-cut, ■\\ Inch was being put in to connect them ■\\ ith another level, so as to ventilate the mine. He knew there was no great distance between them, as the day before he could hear the men drilling. But while the water was in the mine no one could work there. When the water was got down, at what point would the lescures begin ? 0, that he could tell them whcie he vtas ! How was time pas&ing ? He knew a good period had elapsed ; for now that tension of the nerves had given way, the cravings of hunger began to make them selves felt. He could do no more. He must accept his fate resignedly. If it pleased the good God to save him, he would be saved ; if not, he must die.