CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
DETAILS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A DEED OF HEROISM.
To work went Maggot and Trevarrow and Zackey on their new pitch next daylike true Britons. Indeed, we question whether true Britons of theancient time ever did go to work with half the energy or perseverance ofthe men of the present day. Those men of old were mere grubbers on thesurface. They knew nothing of deep levels under the ocean. However, todo them justice, they made wonderfully extensive tunnels in motherearth, with implements much inferior to those now in use.
But, be that as it may, our trio went to work "with a will." Maggot waskeen to get up as much of the rich mineral as possible during themonth--knowing that he would not get the place next month on such goodterms. Trevarrow, besides having no objections to make money when hecould for its own sake, was anxious to have a little to spare to JamesPenrose, whose large family found it pinching work to subsist on thepoor fellow's allowance from the club. As to Zackey, he was ready foranything where Uncle Davy was leader. So these three resolved to worknight and day. Maggot took his turn in the daytime and slept at night;Trevarrow slept in the daytime and worked at night; while the boy workedas long as he could at whatever time suited him best.
As they advanced on the lode it became larger and richer, and in a dayor two it assumed such proportions as to throw the fortunate workersinto a state of great excitement, and they tore out and blasted away theprecious mineral like Titans.
One day, about kroust-time, having fired two holes, they came out of the"end" in which they wrought and sat down to lunch while the smoke wasclearing away.
"'Tes a brave lode," said Maggot.
"It is," responded Trevarrow, taking a long draught of water from thecanteen.
"What shall us do?" said Maggot; "go to grass to slaip, or slaip in thebal?"
"In the bal, if you do like it," said Trevarrow.
So it was agreed that the men should sleep in the mine on boards, or onany dry part of the level, in order to save the time and energy lost inascending and descending the long ladders, and thus make the most oftheir opportunity. It was further resolved that Zackey should be sentup for dry clothes, and bring them their meals regularly. Trevarrow didnot forget to have his Bible brought to him, for he was too serious aman to shut his eyes to the danger of a sudden run of good fortune, andthought that the best way to guard against evil would be to devotenearly all his short periods of leisure time to the reading of "theWord."
You may be sure that Maggot afterwards laughed at him for this, but hedid not concern himself much about it at the time, because he wasusually too hungry to talk at meal-times, and too sleepy to do so afterwork was over.
They were still busily discussing the matter of remaining in the mineall night, when they heard the kibble descending the shaft, near thebottom of which they sat, and next moment a man came to the ground withconsiderable violence.
"Why, Frankey, is that thee, booy?" said Maggot, starting up to assisthim.
"Aw dear, iss; I'm gone dead a'most! aw dear! aw dear!"
"Why, whatever brought 'ee here?" said Trevarrow.
"The kibble, sure," replied the man, exhibiting his knuckles, which werecut and bleeding a good deal. "I did come by the chain, anyhow."
This was indeed true. Frankey, as his mates called him, was at thattime the "lander" in charge of the kibbles at the surface. It was hisduty to receive each kibble as it was drawn up to the mouth of the shaftfull of ore, empty it, and send it down again. Several coils of chainpassing round the large drum of a great horse-windlass, called by theminers a "whim," was the means by which the kibbles were hoisted andlowered. The chain was so arranged that one kibble was lowered by itwhile the other was being drawn up. Frankey had emptied one of thekibbles, and had given the signal to the boy attending the horse to"lower away," when he inadvertently stepped into the shaft. With readypresence of mind the man caught the chain and clung to it, but the boy,being prevented by a pile of rubbish from seeing what had occurred,eased him down, supposing him to be the kibble!
This "easing down" a great number of fathoms was by no means an easyprocess, as those know well who have seen a pair of kibbles go bangingup and down a shaft. It was all that poor Frankey could do to keep hishead from being smashed against rocks and beams; but, by energetic useof arms and legs, he did so, and reached the bottom of the shaft withoutfurther damage than a little skin rubbed off his knees and elbows, and afew cuts on his hands. The man thought so little of it, indeed, that heat once returned to grass by the ladder-way, to the unutterable surpriseand no little consternation of the boy who had "eased him down."
The air at the "end" of the level in which Maggot and Trevarrow workedwas very bad, and, for some time past, men had been engaged in sinking awinze from the level above to connect the two, and send in a supply offresh air by creating a new channel of circulation. This winze wasalmost completed, but one of the men employed at it had suddenly becomeunwell that day, and no other had been appointed to the work. As it wasa matter of great importance to have fresh air, now that they hadresolved to remain day and night in the mine for some time, Maggot andTrevarrow determined to complete the work, believing that one or twoshots would do it. Accordingly, they mounted to the level above, andwere lowered one at a time to the bottom of the unfinished winze by awindlass, which was turned by the man whose comrade had become unwell.
For nearly two hours they laboured diligently, scarce taking time towipe the perspiration from their heated brows. At the end of that timethe hole was sufficiently deep to blast, so Maggot called out,--"Zackey,my son, fetch the fuse and powder." The boy was quickly lowered withthese materials, and then drawn up.
Meanwhile Maggot proceeded to charge the hole, and his comrade sat downto rest. He put in the powder and tamping, and asked the other to handhim the tamping-bar.
"Zackey has forgot it," said Trevarrow, looking round.
"It don't matter; hand me the borer."
"No, I won't," said Trevarrow decidedly, as he grasped the iron tool inquestion. "Ho! Zackey booy, throw down the tampin'-bar."
This was done, and the operation of filling the hole continued, whileTrevarrow commented somewhat severely on his companion's recklessness.
"That's just how the most o' the reckless men in the bal do get blaw'dup," he said; "they're always picking away at the holes, and tampingwith iron tools; why, thee might as well put a lighted match down themuzzle of a loaded gun as tamp with an iron borer."
"Come, now," said Maggot, looking up from his work with a leer, "itwarn't that as made old Kimber nearly blow hisself up last week."
"No, but it was carelessness, anyhow," retorted Trevarrow; "and luckyfor him that he was a smart man, else he'd bin gone dead by this time."
Maggot soon completed the filling of the hole, and then perpetrated asreckless a deed as any of his mining comrades had ever been guilty of.Trevarrow was preparing to ascend by the windlass, intending to leavehis comrade to light the fuse and come up after him. Meanwhile Maggotfound that the fuse was too long. He discovered this after it was fixedin the hole, and, unobserved by his companion, proceeded to cut it bymeans of an iron tool and a flat stone. Fire was struck at the lastblow by the meeting of the iron and the stone, and the fuse ignited. Toextinguish it was impossible; to cut it in the same way, withoutstriking fire, was equally so. Of course there was plenty of time toascend by the windlass, but _only one_ at a time could do so. The menknew this, and looked at each other with terrible meaning in their eyesas they rushed at the bucket, and shouted to the man above to haul themup. He attempted to do so, but in vain. He had not strength to haul uptwo at once. One could escape, both could not, and to delay would bedeath to both. In this extremity David Trevarrow looked at his comrade,and said calmly,--"Escape, my brother; a minute more and I shall be inheaven."
He stepped back while he spoke--the bucket went rapidly upwards, andTrevarrow, sitting down in the bottom of the shaft, covered his eyeswith a piece of rock and
awaited the issue.
The rumbling explosion immediately followed, and the shaft was filledwith smoke and flame and hurling stones. One of these latter, shootingupwards, struck and cut the ascending miner on his forehead as he lookeddown to observe the fate of his self-sacrificing comrade!
Maggot was saved, but he was of too bold and kindly a nature to remainfor a moment inactive after the explosion was over. At once hedescended, and, groping about among the debris, soon found his friend--alive, and almost unhurt! A mass of rock had arched him over--or,rather, the hand of God, as if by miracle, had delivered the Christianminer.
After he was got up in safety to the level above they asked him why hehad been so ready to give up his life to save his friend.
"Why," said David quietly, "I did think upon his wife and the child'n,and little Grace seemed to say to me, `Take care o' faither'--besides,there are none to weep if I was taken away, so the Lord gave me grace todo it."
That night there were glad and grateful hearts in Maggot's cottage--andnever in this world was a more flat and emphatic contradiction given toany statement, than that which was given to David Trevarrow'sassertion--"There are none to weep if I was taken away."
[A short but beautiful account of the above incident will be found in alittle volume of poems, entitled _Lays from the Mine, the Moor, and theMountain_, written by John Harris, a Cornish miner.]