The Newtown bee., 1878-08-01

unwindlng of the rope but Arthur, who had been watching long for just that O. portunlty when there should be no men to oppose at the mouth of the mine, had no thought of being stopped by T woman. and he unwotsnd faster and faster, until a firm grasp was fixed upon his hand and the speed arrested.
 "Gcntly, gently!" gaspcd the little woman, if you would save your bro- ther's life"
 At these words Arthur turned whito with fear, and let go, leaving all that fearful strain upon the small hands that could but just hold in their grasp the crank of the windlass, and the rope was so old that it must give way soon, and might at any sccond--it had not been used for months.
 Aunt Nudge seized the crank with both hands, and cried, Help! help! quick
 Arthur caught it just in time; 1t was slipping from her grasp, and tho two gently lessened the motion until the bucket stood stil.
 Paul had jumped in very bravely, an- ticipating fine time and terrible sur prise to the miners below, when he should suddenly drop into their midst; but even as the blue sky was shut from his sight, he gasped with an emotion very like fear When the rays of light disappeared one by one, he began to tremble and cling fast to the sides of the tub, that was only large enough to hold him. It was perfect blackness in the shaft, and the air that rushed up as he felt himself to be rushing down, was not like the brave, sweet air that he had breathed under the blue of the sky; it made him think of suffocation, and the darkness was so dense that he thought it was burying him alive; he felt it's weight driving down upon his head. | In that moment Paul Vail would have given everything he possessed to be safe . ly out of the coal region.
 Suddenly he felt himself to be no longer going downward; the motion had changed to swift circling course, that would have made his brain dizzy but for the fearful darkness. The rope was un- twisting but he knew it not-one strand had parted.
 He shouted aloud, and from the depths his own voice thundered back to him. The thought was whispered to him,
 " Maybe Arthur cannot hold the crank any longer" and the fearful sequence came, "What if he lets go?"
 Paul Vail had never before been in q position of utter helplessness. He had always had his own strong arms and feet to aid his movements, his eyes to tell
 him where he might move; and now he
 found all these gifts of no manner of
 service-there was nothing for him to
 do but to pray. God shuts every soul i'll
 thus at some point in life, with himself,
 that the soul may feel after God, if.
 happily, he may be found. It is not always in mines, or on tho ocean amid pillows and natures wrath, or in the earthquakes tremor, that the
 soul of man meets this point of utter dependence on it's Creator. It comes in
 still smaller ways-the friend in whom we trusted fails us; or all our plans are
 crossed by counter-plans orwc watch
 the feeble, tluttering breath, and know that it is going out unless the Giver
 of Life breathes anew upon our loved
 one.
 Paul Vail's time for prayer came, and
 the cry came forth for help.
 Nov, my boy, hold fast, wind gently,
 and, God willing. we will have him safely
 up," said Aunt Nudge; but her voice trembled, and only her hands nerved themselves to the task. It was quite 8 different affair, Arthur found, drawing up the bucket. Their united strength could but just compass it. and then the
 awful danger of the ropes parting, and the necessity for uniform tension. Once or twice the little woman's eyes wander ed down the mountain; but no help
 came.
 Steadily, steadily around the windlass wound the rope, until there came into
 view the parted strand-it was giving way fast.
 "Havemereyw eiaculated Little Aunt
 Nudge, and bidding Arthur s'hold fast, :" she sprang down close to the open shaft, and with arms stretched over the edge, she caught the rope below the parted
 strand. Her hold was just sufficient to
 balance the break.
 No mortal can tell how long the boys muscles could have done service in hold
 ing the crank, or how long the brave little arms could have done duty over
 the shaft; and there is no need to tell. : for God sent q strong hand that reached
 down beside the weak arms. and another and another came, and Paul was drawn upward, and once more he saw the blue of the sky, that had seemed 50 precious to him when shut out fronfit. Arthur and Paul had, in their careless zeal to explore the mine. ayaiIed them selves of an old worn out apparatus, that no miner would have thought of risking
 his life by. and the miners from the oth- CT side of the mountain had arrived in