Omaha daily bee., 1885-09-15

Wnue ne was speaking some pieces Q
burning coal, which meanwhile had fallel
from ike kettle, illumlned his sallow fac
With reddenlng reflection.
"They told me to rest" continued he
"Me-I couldn't do that. II they thinl
me so foolish, I'll keep on two year,
honger until my sixteenth year. to gel
the pension Of hundred and sixty sous
III should Wish them good-dsy to-day,
they would Immediately give me q hun.
dred and fifty. They're sly, the request
Moreover, I'm sound apart
from my legs. You see, it's the water
which has entered beneath the skin on
account Of being soaked in the mine.
Some days can't move q foot without
crying.
A coughing spell again interrupted
him.
"And that Is Whist makes you coushl''
said Anton.
But he shook his head violently. Then
when he could speak:
"No, no. caught cold some months
ago. never used to cough, but now
cant get rid of It. The strange
thing Is that l SPLITS strange. y
His throat again filed up and he spat
black.
"Do you splitblood7" demanded Anton
at last daring to question him.
Slowly Bonnemort wiped off his mouth
with the back Of Ills hand.
SITS coal. / have enough
In my osrcsss to warm me the rest IF my
days. And I've not put my foot down
below for Eve years. bad that on
hand, su,e. BAIL 1t keeps"
There was silence, the neighboripg
hammer beat Its regular blows In the
mines, the wind passed on with Its wall
like the cry of hunger and wearIness
coming from the depths Of the night
Before the flames which looked Wild, the
old man continued in lower voice, turn.
ing over in his mind the days gone by.
Ahl certainly 1t was not yesterday that
he had struck the veinl His family had
worked for the company of the MOI tson
mines since the start; and that dated far
back; 1t had been then already hun
dred and six yeaIs. His grandfather,
William Mahon, boy of thirteen years
then, had found the rich coal at Requil-
lart, the frat mine of the company, an
old abandoned mine to-day, down near
the sugar-mill of Fauvelle. All the
country knew him, to prove which
tho vein discovered was called the
vein William, the frat name Of his
grandfather. BE had not known him, q
large man, they ssy, very strong, who
died of old age at sixty years. Then his
father, Nicolas Mahon, called the Red,
when less than forty years of age, was
burned IN the Vulture that they were
sinking at that time; cave In complete
ly crushed him, the rocks drank his blood
and swallowed up his bones, Two of his
uncles and his three brothers, later on,
had lost their lives there. He, Vincent
Mahon, who of all of them was left lit
tie better preserved, except the crooked
legs, pasred for rogue. What matter,
however, he worked. They said that OF
the father and his sons, like they would
have said anything else. His sonr, ALL
saints-day Mshon had died, and his little
sons, and all his people who were working
In front of him, In the same gallery. One
hundred and five years of digging down.
the children after the old men, for the
same master; well, many of the bosses
could not have told SO good story.
"Still, when one can eat" murmured
Anton again.
"That's what 1 ssy; while one bas
bread to eat one can live."
Bonnemont became silent, his eyes
turned toward the alley, where some
lights shone out one by one. Four
o'clock aounded by the clock of Monston,
the cold became greater.
"And is your company rich ~ asked
Anton.
The old man lifted his shoulders, then
let them drsp, as though overwhelmed by
the thought of money.
"Ah, yes; ah yes. Not as
rloh, perhaps as Its neighbor the COM
pany of Apzln. But mulions and mil.
lions all the same. They can't count
any longer. n Nineteen mines,
of which thirteen are worked, the vul.
ture, Victor, Creveceur, Miron, Saint
Thomas, Madeleine, Cantel and still
others, and six which are worn out, with
air shafts. like Requilart. Ten
thousand wOrkmen, grants which extend
over sixty seven communes, an output of
five thousand tons per day, a railroad
uniting all the mines, and some shops
and buildings. All yes; ah !
yes, Gney nave money
A rolling of cars upon the way, made
the great fawn- colored horae prick up his
ears. The osge had been repaired be-
low, and the crushers had resumed their
work. While he hsrnessed The beast to
redescend, the driver added softly,
speaking to himself:
"You mustn't let yourself talk so
much, deuced idleness! If NJ.
Hennebeau knew how much time had
been spent"
Anton deep In thought, was looking
out into the night. He inquired:
''Then the mine belongs to M. Henne-
beRu2'
"No," explained the old man, 'M.
Hennebssu is only tho overseer. He is
paid like us"
With gesture the young man stared
Into the boundleEs depths Of tho night.
"Whose is it, then2"
But Bonnemort remained an instant
suffocated by new fit of coughing of
such violence that he could not get his
breath. At last when he had spat and
wiped the black matter from his lips he
said. In the wind which was increasing:
"What-to whom does It beIong2 We
don't know. To romebc dy." And with
his hand he pointed into the darkness
vaguely to an unknown and remote place,
inhabited by those people for whom the
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