Litchfield enquirer., 1874-06-18
From Every Saturday. PEC-LEcCED BOB.

fcs, SIT, I'm what you call a snb--a sub l contractor under hIf- Tracey. Me and my
 Wife Sal, and Bos, the curly-hairetl dog,
 arc pretty we'll known mp and down where
 ever there's q bit of excayating going on.
 But as for sending me letter. don
 hardly know where to tell you to direct 1t. You might hear of He at Three Pigeons,
 Stonycross, Brummagem, if I happened to be out of work, which ain't often. Last
 time 1 was wrote to, was Providence Ter
 race, Banktop Cutting, Killarney, Ireland,
 and the postman broke his leg trying to
 get 1t to inc. So perhaps you'd better not
 write; but If you should want to send me .I any money just you hand it over to Mir.
 Tracey's office in Great Parliament Street,
 and tell 'em it's for Peg-legged Bob.
 shall get 1t all right some time or other.
 As to how got the name, why that's pret-
 ty obvious, l should think, looking at
 these timber toes of mine It wasn't
 gave me by my godfathers and godmoth- 1 CT, but yOu may say that l was christen-
 ed by four hundred tons of rock rubbidge
 as tumbled right atop of me.
 This was how it happened Me and a
 mate of mine was working in putty gang
 on one of MT. Tracey's lines. It was in l the old mans time. Yes, he was q very
 decent fellow, old Tracey There was
 kind of go about him, as made you like
 to work for him, even if SO be you didn't make much ont of it. And he was
 precious near. Not himself, you know.
 so much, as the men that was under him;
 but bless you, he picked 'em out just for that, else he was 8 free-handed sort. if you
 took him on the right side, and he'd never see you ruinated through any of his jobs.
 if you stuck to 'em plucky. Not but what perhaps there was a bit of policy about that, too. for you see you'd cut things q
 bit closer, knowing as if they turned out unkimmon cross, old Tracey 'ud ease you off some triie. | was able-bodied young chap when it happened, and could do days work with anybody. i was putty of the gang. and we'd took about thousand yards of rock and rubbidge to drive cutting through. and was getting on very we'll with it, too. l We was making three pound week. every man ill the gang, for it had turned out a very plummy piece; only perhaps we was in too much of hurry, and used our l powder little too free. It was i'll Staf- ! tordsh1re county, sort of red sand and rock. we had to cut through, soft kind l ot stone as come awap Ill great chunks like slices of pudding. We'd cut away at | both ends of our piece and had left a bic lump sticking up Ill the middle, and we'd q made mp our minds to give him jolly good shaking, with twenty pounds of pow der droved twenty feet into the rock. Me and my chum, carroty Sam we called him then, had agreed to tamp the hole and fire the shot. We'd just rammed in the charge, and Sam had got limp of clay Tn his hand to slap into th' hole, when of sudden 1 heard a sort of fizzline noise under my feet, and To and behold. I'd struck out a spark with my hob-nailed boots, and the powder as we'd scattered here and there had took the spark, and the flame was running along all about like wildfire. ''Run, Sam, says I; and we started off for our lives. There was ss chance you see that the charge wonldn,f catch, or that If It catched It would ! ssl1A-4-,,- ---;tlAa..t- bringing the rock down upon us. But there was no such luck. I heard gruff sort of bang behind me. the ground wobbled about under my feet. and down I went, tumbling over my mate. all in darkness like. There was just min ute when I felt as if was fireworks, and turning into all kinds of lights, and then l felt one twist of dreadful pain. After that I don't remember aught till I come to myself in Q sort of a dream, as 1t might be the nightmare Not that I could make out where was or nothing, only I was feeling bladder than I've got words to tell you.
 When did come to myself sufficient to know where l were. l didn't feel any bet ter. was buried alive, sure enough, ,and I felt bad all over, can tell you. Tben l moved a bit with my arm and felt scme- thing soft alongside me, that groaned as touched 1t.
 ''Sam," says I, in gruff kind of way. ''Hullo, Bob," says he. "Good-by, old man." says I. ''Good-by, Bob, :" says he. And after that we lay quite still without speaking. How time passed I didn't know, but felt getting colder and cold CT, and the feeling went out of me, so as I didn't feel no more pain, and my head was clear; and thought, aye, thought deal O thoings. Then spoke to Sam again, and he never answered; and I spoke again, but not a sound from him. So, thinks I, he's dead, and I'll have my groan out. And I cried out; ah, you wouldn't have thought there was strength enou' in me to have sung out as did. And when I'd had my cry out, thinks I, it's all over, and I may give up the ghost Then heard another cry, as seemed as if 1t came out of the bowels of the earth, and after that there was sound of picks and spade. Next thing hears 8 voice, '.Bobl" quite faint like. .Hallo, !" says I, eswhat, Sam, are ye alive yet ?" "Aye," says he, ''was that you as shrieked just now 2' ''Aye," says I, little bit nettled as Sam should have heard me. But keep up, mate." says I, there's help a-coming. 2 And presently there came shine of light |>and somebody sings out, Here. they are
 An. but we'd precious bad time of it too, after they found us. A great stone had rumbled on our legs and smashed lem dreadful, one of mine and one of Sam's, his left leg and my right. The stones had collapsed together like, so as we warn't killed outright; but they'd been digging for us the wrong way, and would never have got us out alive, if it hadn' t been for that shout I give, as ! thought was my last. The doctors whipped our legs of fast enou' after they got us ont, and then l lay on my back, in bit of bothie alongside the cutting, for months and months. And there it was I made ac- ter. and come to nurse him, and she look
 
 thought about getting welded then, be- ing, as was. very down in the mouth, wondering what was to become of me through having lost my leg. s HoWsoever, ALr. Tracey, he came down one day to see how hls chaps was getting on, and he comed into the hut to have leok at me and Sam. ssWeli, lads, he says, sshow are you by this time 2? ssAll right governor" I says. sswhat there's left of us, says I; ssthe doctors took so much of us away, they'd ought to have joined me and Sam together, as might make man between us. And Tracey, he laughed. and said. sWell Bob, " says he, ssyoq alIus had wooden head, and now you,n be head and foot all alike, . | says he. Well, knowed by the old gent being so cheerful as there was something more behind, and. says be to a man out Iside, Tom, bring in them timbers r and To and beEold there mn n 1,air If wooden legs he'd bEon8ht from London; very neat4ook1ng fhings they ms, too. with brass rims round the hDols of sern. and fv0ruSo&k<.a Tt 1,<,