Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-07-29

of local gas are termed, no danger was ap-
pretended by either of the gangs who
owned and worked the mine
1t was now three yeas since Evan
Hughes met his sad fate, and on fine
May morning there were great rejoicings
in the village Bunting waved from every
available flagstaff and the cutters in front
OF the four ale-houses literally ran beer.
The Griffiths were in high feather for
Sam and Anne Shepherd had been mar
ried in the morning. Long before noon
the brides proud sire was purple in the
face with pledging the young couple and
with urging others to do likewise. Gayly-
dressed groups of youths and madens
danced round the Maypole on the village
green, and everybody was in supreme
state of enjoyment-all except Mrs
Hughes, poor Evans mother, and Han
nah, his twin sister. The merry making
palled on their hearts. 1t recalled the lost
One-the flower of the flock, who had so
miserably persisted, and who to-day might
have been Anne Shepherds husband.
Therefore they retired early in the evening
and, by closing doors and windows, tried
to exclude the sounds of meryiment.
While the days festivities were being pro-
longed far into the night, the mother and
daughter retired to rest. Sleep fell upon
their sad eyes and each woman dreamed a
dream-a dream so marvelously uniform
in detail that it was as if the two had sat
and watched the same tableau.
They saw the three men sinking the
Great Oak shaft; they saw Evan charge
and prime his shot, and then attach the
end of the firing cord; :" they heard him
give the signal to be hauled to bank they
saw old Bill Conway begin to turn the
windlass; they saw Sam Griffiths steal out
of the "hut" with the red-ho ring and
slip it down the rope; they saw the old
man quit hold of the windlass in horror;
and they saw the powerful young murder
er dash the old man down the shaft in the
face of the shower Of stones thrown up by
the explosion.
Mother and daughter awoke in the
solemn midnight and discussed their
dream with trembling and with ave. And
they chung to each other, and comforted
each other, and tried not to believe it.
just then John Hughes, the husband and
father OF the two women, entered and after
some banter-he was in lQuor-the
women again slept
1T was a most extraordinary circum-
| stance" Coroner Williams used to say
but both these women dreamed the self
same dream over again"
In the morning Mrs Hughes met Dick
| Conway, the idiot lad, took him aside,
| and questioned him about what he saw
| that day when he lost his father. He in.
dicated by dumb show how some one
| was thrown down the shaft, and how some
! one else was struck on the face, meaning
himself.
Mrs Hughes shortly after died. The
doctors who attended her were not agreed
respecting her malady; but DR.. Jones, of
| Mold, was certain that her mind was gone,
| and that she was the victim of hallucina-
tons. Hannah, the twin daughter, now
| She would frequently descend the Great
Oak shaft while he was at work, and carry
ale, hot coffee, tea etc, to him; and con-
sequently she achieved kind of envied
| notoriety on the mountain for her bravery
| in descending the coal-mine. She had
several admirers; but her kind words and
light looks seemed reserved for her IA
ther On his part he repaid her with an
atfectionate admiration that approached
idolatry; and il was his boast that when
his head was laid low Hannah would be a
lady.
On a dark December midnight. few
months after her mothers death, Hannah
Hughes and the idiot lad Conway stole
quietly away from Buckley village and
proceeded toward the Great Oak shaft.
| Her father and his companions would
have stopped work at twelve o'clock and
| the two nocturnal pedestrians avoided the
| road by which the miners would return to
| their homes. When Hannah and Dick
reached the pitheap all was still as the
| grave. The horse had been loosed from
the "gin" windlass, and lay sleeping in
| the straw, and not a star cheered the
gloomy vault of heaven. Hannah soon
obtained light: the Stable door was
opened the gin-horse was harncsscd and
| hitched into the accustomed shafts
| for raising the coal; the young woman
| took her seat on the 'corve," or basket,
and told Dick to CLOVER away" Into
the black, yawning pit she descended
| without fear or trepidatiOn, and when the
| bottom was reached she stepped briskly
| out of the "corve," proceeded to the air
| door near the bottom Of the shaft and Sc
curely propped 1t open. Then she walked
| along the 1000 feet that separated her
| from the Great Ash shaft, and, reaching
| the air-door there, securely propped it
open. The air-current now shot direct
along the shortest route between the two
| shafts and, by its violence, extinguished
| her light; but she returned undismayed
| by the darkness or the inequalities of the
rugged tramway, until she Areached the
shaft where she had descended. Then she
| shouted to Dick, who started the horse and
she was wound up until she reached the
| bank in safety. The horse was now I'M
hitched and returned to the stable, and the
| girl and the crazy lad made quick prog
| ress homeward
Before daybreak every man and woman
on Buckley Mountain was plunged into a
| paroYysm of grief and wailnc The