Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-07-19
BURIED IN 4. MINE.

as cNCT tlOMu Ill II COll I1lncf 1 Is,
:ncc. will tell you the story
had some friends living in the coal
mining region Of Pennsylvania, and was
. induced 20 pay them Il visit. While there
= was asked to descend into one of most
amous mines and see how the hard,
black fuel which affords us such grateful
iensations on cold winter night is pro-
cured from the bowels of the earth
Now have a strong natural desire to
Zee everything new and strange; but then
am also very cautious, and DO not care
20 put my life in peril merely TO crafty
curiosity, SO | hesitated and reflected Il
little before I answered:
81 should like to see the miners ai
work, if it could be done without risk Of
;ifc."
A pretty, bright, bluc-cyed young lady
who was present, and to whom | had
aiken great fancy, burst cut with Il
'inging laugh.
"Surely you are not afraid, Mr..
Maplcs?" she exclaimed, with n mis-
;hievous twinkle of her blue eyes that did
more to urge me Oh than the arguments
Of all her relations could have done in Il
month, for no man likes TO be thought n
coward i'll the presence of beauty
81 certainly would not like 10 be cor
;idercd afraid, Miss Stuart, merely be-
cause have Il repclling sense of danger"
/ replied. "Surcly you do not think it
necessary for Il man to be foolllartly in
order TO prove he is moi a poltroon2 [
believe everyone is in some degree afraid
when he secs danger, but some people are
gifted with the faculty OF seeing danger
when others do no..
"And sometimes where it does no.
exist"
alt may be-
"And You possess that gift largely,
she laughed
"N"y Miss Stuart you hardly do re
justice. |, at least, claim to be reasona
bic. IN the case of mimi. coal, neither
sou nor any one else who is familiar with
past occurrences in The mines can truth
tully declare there is not all the time dan
ger down i'll those dark and awful depths.
and thar every one who aescends thitler,
bc il for minute or Il month, carries his
life in hands"
"NcH, mt least am not afraid" she
rejoincd, somewhat boastingly; "and |
have been down there us many times rs
AIN years old"
GA matter of nincteen?n | observed.
"ENactly nineteen" she smiled.
"Well, then, make it twenty, and
will accompany you, said"
"Agrced," WAS her proud response.
The instant she said this experienced
strange sensation, like prcsentment of
evil, and would glndly have had my
promise unspoken. But it was too late
for inc to think of changing my dcclara-
ton, even had the danger been thou
sand times more apparent, for l am one
OF those stubbornly firm individuals who
always live up 70 my given word, lc: the
consequences be what they may; and so
we prepared ourselves, and went down
into The mine-a party Of four of MS
two gentlemen besides myself, and the
lady nave mentioned.
The descent for the FIRST 200 fee. WAS
in Il large bucket, lowered by a windlass;
and l do not think that any one for the
first time ever yet took that plunge into
the awful abyss Of darkness and mystery
without an inward shrinking akin 10 hor-
ror, however careless and indifferent may
have been his outward assumption.
One OF our party, who was connected
with The mines and was to act MS our
guide on the present occasion. carried a
Davy lamp fastened to his cap, and by
this feeble light we could dimly see each
others faces and the black damp walls
which surrounded us rs down, down, ever
down, we kept sinking deeper and deeper
into the bowels OF the black pit well
knowing that the slightest accident might
land us suddenly on the shores of ctern
ity.
The two gentlemen and myself looked
grave, as became the place and the occa-
sion, but pretty Sibyl Stuart was full of
talk and animation, rafting on from one
thing to another, never seeming to care
for reply, but apparently satisfied to
hear the sound of her own voice. WAS
she really needless of any possible danger,
or was this light chatter done to cover
serious lancics and misgivings9 could
not believe the words came from a heart
as light and free as they seemed to repre-
sent.
Reaching our first landing, we began
NAs NHPiciNNiOi lOnn, uHTk GAL
leries, where every here and there. a
heavy prop supported the rocky roof, with
the thin layer Of foundation supported in
turn in the same manner, still below lis.
tier on tier, so that the yielding of any
weak spot far down in those awful depths
might precipitate thousands of square
feet into one shapcless mass and bury Us
forever from human sight
Still as there WAS no more danger an
parently of this occurring now than ut
any time within the past twenty wears,
there was no good reason for my taking
the subject into consideration, except
that OF my being still haunted BIZ that
presentiment of evil of which | have
spoken.
Our guide led the way to some moving
lights which we could see sparkling in
the profound darkness, and We soon
found ourselves at the top of another
shaft where another descent of a hundred
and fifty feet was made in bucket;
after which followed some rough climbing
over rocks and assures, with here and
there descent by ladders, which proved