Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1886-07-02

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was made"
"And you," interrupted the Knife,
inquisitively to the Weight, "what did
you cOstp How much are you worthP"
it asked, sarcastically
Il really don't know" replied the
Weight modestly. II never asked. :"
Never asked" repeated the Idol,
disdainfully. Have you historyP
Have you any thing to recommend you
to this remarkable and choice collec-
tionP"
"a don't know" answered the
Weight, rehectively. after a short
pause. u was dug out of an iron
mine in Michigan. "
"MichiganP Where's thatp" quericd
the Vase. Anywhere near PARISH"
NO" responded the Weight, art
lessly. michigan is in this country.
This mine is near the white shore Of
Lake Superior, by the side of mount
ain brook which tumbles over the
sharp rocks and seethes and boils as il
rushes through narrow cut in the hill
side. On one side of the great shaft
with its steeple of pine boards is tho
lake, on the other side are the pine
forests, thick and dense as when they
were owned by the Indians. In this
forest little space has been cleared,
and within this are score or more Of
houses, where the miners live. One
day not many years ago, stout, strap
ping miner named Bill, left his wife
and babies at his cottage door-for this
miners wife was neat and thrifty
soul and had beautified their house un-
til 1t was the pride of the camp-and
started for the shaft. In his great coat
pockets he had few slices of bread
and flask OF liquor, together with a
piece of meat, in case he met with any
accident while underground. With his
comrades he descended the long shaft,
the end of which reached way down
into the very bowels of the earth. Hand
over hand he climbed down the first
ladder then down the next, then the
next, and still down another, getting
deeper and deeper into the darkness,
farther and farther into the warm
blackness of those regions where the
light of day is never seen, down an
other ladder and still another he went,
until at last he reached the solid rock
and was soon at the farther end of one
Of the great tunnels which stretch out
from the base Of the shaft like the legs
OF n spider, so crooked and black are
they. All morning long they worked
until 1t was almost noon time and he
was just preparing TO leave his work
for his luncheon. The lamp on his
glazed hat had burned almost out His
strong arms were tired with their hard
work and he was not sorry that the
day was half over. He gave one
more stroke with his pick, sinking its
sharp point into the ore and bringing
10 his feet Il small piece which sparkled
and glowed like great black diamond
in the dim rays of his lamp. AS he
stopped over to pick it up he heard
sound that blanched his brown cheeks,
turned his blood into water and
made his heart stand still-a sound
that once heard is never for
gotten-the sound of fire damp
explosion. 1t was dull roar, which
made the earth tremble as if with fear.
Then there was darkness-an un-
healthy, suffocating closeness- all
was over. With wisdom born of ex-
perience Bill instinctively felt in his
pocket for his matches, then hastily
extinguishing his lamp threw himself
prone upon his face and waited. Soon
he heard call which was answered by
another call, then another, and he soon
found that there We're six live miners
cooped up in this narrow tunnel-for
the explosion had blocked one endwith
an unyielding mass of rock in Egypt
ian darkness-cooped up there to
starve, or perhaps to suffocate. Shut
out forever from the blessed light of
day, from the free, open air; shut up
there as though they were buried alive
in their coffins-with not a single
chance to live. With an instinct more
than reason Bill kept this little piece
of iron in his hand until it was warm
and damp with the sweat of horror be-
fore he discovered that he had it.
Then he put it into his pocket mechan-
ically, then took it out to throw it
away and then again, unthinkingly,
put Il back, as man might idly count
his fingers as he stood upon the gal
lows.
"How long they sat there dumb with
horror they couldn't tell. The tunnel,
fortunately, was high and the air they
breathed promised to last some time,
but what Use was thatp It only pro-
longed their agony, and when they
realized this they swore again. Atlast
they felt the pangs of hunger and they
ate. At length, tired out with excite
ment they slept and thus the hours
passed into days until finally their
food, treasured with the utmost care,
had dwindled into nothing-not even a
bite-and, weak with hunger, they
dragged themselves to the lower end
of their grave and laid themselves
down to die.
FINALLY they heard the faint tapping
of pick. The miners were coming to
their rescue. At first they could hard
ly believe their senses. But there
could be no mistake about it. Louder
grew the noise. Nearer came their
rescuers. AT length they could almost
hear their voices. Then for a time
these ceased.
"'Oh, the fools!' gasped the prison.
ers in horror. They are going to
leave us now that they are only foot |
away, and we cant make them know
that we are alive, One miner stag
oora1 nm IN tho ,ort;t;o,, o,J ,,o;,,G,, |