The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-02-19
VOLUME XX---NN. 45

lphitic air. AZ Tyrrell,s guide had .suffi-
Gent consideration to seize himiby
1.-The arm, and hurry him away ut sdch
4 breathless pace that he scarcely
knew what had happened Until. .,ho
found himself beyond the point where
\ the first earth had fal!ens a S1f
Even here the panic, had spread,
and the men,iwere retreating. HIS
A up now" they said. No shope I,rsl
any ysinan left in there. When Il gsts
at him. The devil himself coQfdn't
live IN fonl ARP
"Whefesis Mr.. Churchill y demand.
led Tyrrellas soon as be could be
heard. Then, ;as oninous Silence
. followed the euquestion: "For Gods
sake, you don't mean to tell me tha5
you are men, and that you have left
aman who conld not help Himself, to
perish in there's! p it possible,-has
it been doDe2" ',o
1t had indeed been done.r No ono
had thought ofhimi, Each manbhad
blindly, rushed from the danger, epd
left the unconscious one behind.
Gle is dead, :" some Of them said,
by way Of excuse" rt4 Baa tas:a
"No man!knows that" Tyrrelli ;an.
swered. aNo man can dare to say
that he felt either his heart OF Or lis.
pulse. The presumption is thathelis
alive-and Icall;upon you9as bravo
men to 60 back; with me for him.
There was dead silence. Brave
Eenough they were, the most Of them;
but not.so brave rs this, They had
faced danger from the falling earth,
but they conld not face certain death
from mephitio air. Nobody stirred.
Most of them were silent; only one
or two murmured, that .theres.had
been; deaths enough, and that they
had their families to consider. Aa%'t
,sVery we'll, "said 'Tyrrell, scornfhl.
lly,gI will go alone, ,TiGive mo- q alan
tern ething that cannot be- ex-
Etinguised easily and I viii! show you
whether or not You are a set Of pitt
ffal towards, Onlyn-he stopped q
moment and CONSIDERABLE nm
afraid I could scarcely bring him opt
alone. Is there; any one, here who
can be bribod to. do his duty bysa
thousand dollars? If so, let him
speak at once. There is not q secopd
Ito lose, and I will write o check be-
fore ] GO" ~ ,sas = lzlJ y
His taunt stung one man at least
into action. a stout; dark-browed
young fellow stepped forward: a1Ea
"You may keep your money, Mr..
fTyrrell," he said. Til 60 with You
without bribe. It's like to, be cer.
tain death; but I've nobody depend
ling on me, so it don't matter much
nohow."
aAll right" said Tyrrell, with "a
quick glance at him. aYou'il do" he
added "Get the light we are to take
= the quicker the better" -.
A couple of lanterns were brought,
and o bucket Of water for each Of
them, with which to dispel in u meas
ure the poisonous gas. While these
were being provided, STyrrell heard
IAN old miner explain the presence of
the foul air. The mine was an old
one. with several long disnsed cham.
bers-excavations which had been
cut off by much such an accident
(though in tho former, case harmless)
as the pres ,nt; and it was evidently
into one o! these that the new exca-
vation led. Nobody had snspectedit
until the ur garded strokes ofltwodor
three men Lad lad bare tho dagger.
It certainl !, was o terrible danger
into which Tyrrell and his compah-
ion; now yentured. They. felt, in the
faintness which made them stagger
and reel like drunken men when The
first breath of the mephitic atmos-
phere came over them; and, as they
advanced, it of course grew. worse.
ave must be quick" said tho
young miner, in a half stifed voice;
1--WE can't stand this many minutesl''
He set down his lantern hastily. and,
raising his; bucket of water, with both
hands to level with his shoulder,
cast the contents in showefy Hdashes
all around and over himself and his
companion then, dropping the, BUCK
| ct, snatched up the light and hurried
forward. Fortunately they had but
a few steps to GO from the entrance
of tho excavation to- where Church
iii was lying, face downward, just as
he had beon left by the men when
they fed for their lives iirf 2'1 1870
ssTbank God--here he is e cried
Tyrrell. :, .,,is,,,s .e,t,
'aPut down your light!'' exclaimed
the miner, who had already put his
own out of his hand, and, ,withtaone
vigorous effort, had turned Hugh
upon his back. aDash your water
over his 'face-now for itP and ho
seized Hugh's shoulders, motioning
to Tyrrell to assist. GaspiDg,. giddY,
and so faint that they could scarcely
stand, they half carried, half drag
ged him along to the opening Of the
excavation. The gases had by this
time been considerably diluted by the
outside air finding its way in; but
still the atmosphere was horrible.
The lights burned diml7, and, both
Tyrrell and his companion felt their
strength and corsci.usness fast, leay-
ling them. AS at last they reached
the bound of safety-tho open;ngsin
] the fallen wall-Tyrrell staggered;
wavered, and fell heavily forward.
"On-on p he gasped, as his ,coin-
panion paused. "Don't stop for mo-
come back, if you will-but keep, on
now-onH p -
His strength had collapsed, but not