A BRAVE DEED.
The mining town of Capelton was alive with excitement. Along-looked-for event was about to take place. Mr. Hilton, the owner ofthe mines and more than half the village, was to give a ball in honorof his son's twenty-first birthday, and also to celebrate the return ofhis only daughter from the Parisian school to which she had been sentwhen but ten years old.
Carl Hilton was an only son, and because of his parents' indulgence hadbecome selfish and tyrannical. His father idolized him, and was blindto his faults. He was to become a partner in the mines on attaining hismajority. As Mr. Hilton had been out of health for more than a year,Carl had attended to most of the business, and he had so tyrannizedover the miners that they one and all hated him; but they loved andrespected his father, and for his sake bore in silence the abuse of theson.
To this birthday ball all the miners and their families had beeninvited, and the rumors of the great beauty of Nina Hilton only addedto the excitement and anticipation.
I will not weary the reader by a description of the affair, and noevent of interest occurred until supper was announced. It fell to thelot of Fred Chase, one of the foremen in the mines, to escort thebeautiful Nina, and so deeply did they become engaged in conversationthat it was some minutes before Fred noticed that Carl sat directlyopposite, and was watching them closely. With an effort the young manconcealed his annoyance, and continued his attentions to Nina.
"I intend to visit the mines to-morrow," said the girl, in tones loudenough to be heard by her brother. "I want to descend the new shaft."
"I shall be very happy to conduct you through the mines, but you mustnot descend the new shaft, for it is not safe. I have warned yourbrother that the roof of the mine is in danger of falling, but he onlylaughs at me, and I fear some terrible accident will be the result ofhis neglect."
"You are a fool, Fred Chase! The shaft is safe enough; if you talk likethis, the men will all be afraid of it, and refuse to work. I shalltake Nina there myself to-morrow," said Carl angrily.
The young man's face flushed, but he controlled himself, and answeredcoldly:
"I spoke the truth; the shaft is not safe, and unless more timber isput in to support the roof, you will soon have proof that I am right. Ionly hope that no lives will be lost."
"Pooh! You are a coward. I will show you to-morrow how little faith Iput in your words."
The eyes of all present were drawn to the two by Carl's excited tone,and Fred's reply was plainly heard.
"Call me a coward, if you will, but time will prove the truth of myassertion. Neglect for twenty-four hours to order more timber to beplaced in the new shaft for the support of its roof, and you alone willbe responsible for what follows."
Carl did not answer, but glanced angrily at Fred, who, after a minute'spause, turned to Nina again, and changed the subject of conversation.
The following morning Carl started for the new shaft alone. Ninarefused to accompany him, and begged him to delay his visit until theroof was made secure.
"Nonsense, sis! It is safe enough. That fool, Fred Chase, wanted toimpress you."
Carl believed what he said. He had not visited the shaft for severalweeks, and had not seen the timbers bend beneath the weight of earthabove them. He reached the shaft just as half a dozen miners camefrom it, and in answer to his inquiries, was told that Fred Chase andanother man had remained behind to finish filling the last car with ore.
"I am going down," he said, and in a few minutes was lowered to thebottom of the shaft. In the distance he could see the lights of thetwo miners. He advanced toward them. By the light of his own lanternhe saw that some of the beams were bent; all seemed weighted to theirutmost capacity, and he could not but own to himself that Fred Chasewas right. He involuntarily shuddered as, in passing one large post, aslight crackling sound was heard; but it was not repeated, and he wenton, determined to again make light of the matter.
"You see, I am not afraid of your shaft," he said sneeringly, as hereached the spot where the two men were standing with the now loadedcar beside them.
"Only cowards need boast of their bravery," said Fred sternly.
"I am going on a short distance to look at the ore; you may wait forme at the foot of the shaft, and we will all be drawn up at once,"continued Carl.
He strolled on, while Fred and his companion returned, as directed, tothe entrance. They had barely reached it when they heard a loud reportbehind; a cry of fear mingled with the noise of falling rocks; then allwas still.
With pallid faces the men looked at each other, for each knew whathad happened. The roof had fallen, and Carl Hilton was either crushedbeneath the rocks or imprisoned in the opening beyond.
Only an instant did they stand motionless. Then Fred grasped the ropeand gave the signal to be hoisted to the top.
They told their sad story, and a messenger was dispatched to Mr.Hilton's residence. Soon the entrance to the shaft was a scene of wildexcitement. The stricken relatives of the buried man had reached thespot as soon as possible. The father offered large rewards to any whowould attempt the rescue of his son; but not a man would volunteer.
Mr. Hilton doubled and trebled his reward, but to no avail; to hisentreaties were added the frantic pleading of the mother and Nina'sdistressed sobs.
Fred had stood silent, with his eyes bent on the ground, until the oldman, in sheer despair, cried out:
"I will give half of my fortune, and it is a large one, to the men whowill help me reach my boy!"
Fred came forward with a look of resolve on his face. "Mr. Hilton, notfor your entire fortune would I enter that mine to save your son; butfor humanity's sake, I will do my best to rescue him."
A cheer from the miners greeted these brave words. With a wave of hishand, Fred commanded silence, and running his eye over the crowd, saidslowly:
"I must have three trusty men to help me. Who will go?"
For an instant no one responded; then Charles Gray, Fred's chosencompanion, stepped to his side.
"I will go, Fred," he said quietly.
Two more men quickly followed the example of their brave leader, and,armed with spades, bars, ropes, and a bottle of brandy, they werelowered into the shaft.
Then followed a time of anxious suspense to the waiting crowd, whocould only pray for the safety and success of the rescuing party.
The first act of the workers was to place extra beams, a few of whichwere lowered down the shaft for the purpose, as near as they couldto the fallen roof, to help bear any strain that might be resting onthose already there. In a few minutes they realized their wisdom, for acracking sound was heard which caused them to retreat toward the shaft;but it was not repeated, and they returned to their work. At the endof three hours of cautious digging they came to the car which Fred andhis companion had stayed behind to fill, and they stopped for a fewmoments' rest.
"He cannot be far from here, for we had barely reached the shaft whenthe roof fell. Hark! What was that?"
Fred stopped suddenly to listen.
"It was a groan! He is alive! Let us get to work, for he must be quitenear," said Charlie Gray excitedly.
With new zeal they worked on, and in half an hour they had reached anopening caused by two large rocks, which had fallen together in such amanner as to leave a space between them. In that space lay Carl, withone arm doubled under him, and one foot pinioned by a large stone. Thepoor fellow was terribly bruised and cut, but conscious. Very gently hewas lifted by the men and borne to the foot of the shaft. The signalwas given, and they were carefully drawn to the top, and when they laidCarl on the ground a shout went up from the miners that echoed loudlyover the hills.
"God bless you, Fred, and your brave companions!" said Mr. Hiltonhuskily, as he grasped the young man by the hand. "From my heart Ithank you."
"No thanks are due. I could not bear to see a fellow creature diewithout trying to save him."
The crowd soon dispersed, and Carl was conveyed to his home. After manyweeks of suffering he recovered;
but the crushed foot was useless--hewas a cripple for life.
As soon as he was able to do so, Carl sent for Fred.
"Forgive me, Fred," he said frankly. "I was wrong not to heed youradvice, but my punishment has been great. Forget the past, and allow meto thank you for saving my life."
Fred could not refuse the apology thus offered, and the two became fastfriends.
About a year afterward Mr. Hilton bestowed his daughter's hand upon thebrave young man who had saved his son's life, and on his wedding dayFred became one of the owners of the mines. He is now a wealthy andprosperous man, and, with his beautiful wife, is almost worshiped bythe miners.