Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-05-29
midst of nheet of flame, as if tranaxad

midst of n nileet of flame, as if transixad with terro'.
 Presently there was a sharp crash of q thrilling and deafening nature and sam Sharpand Sawyer threw themselves on tler faces instantly, and crouched e.osa beside the sharp-eaged rock. They o2t'> not q moment too soon.
 The very next instant there was aeafoaing roar, as if all Nature were going to fragments, and coal-dust, rocks, and pieces of lumber were wiijr-C.i along the Sangway with the fury of a cyclone. It w,;s an awful moment of terrible sus- peuse for Detective Sawyer and his courageous l.tlio companion. as each realized that death was close at hand
 Tom Ecllert's lamp had done the work. Re walked right into T great volumc of hre-damp, which exploded with fearful force, and shock the mine from end to cnG. Sawyer and Sam Sharp could hear tAe tremendous commoticn aud feel the shaking of the mine for several minutes
 In distant portions of the colliery, where the pillars had been -eGn0vel, the crash of falling roof could lse heard, and it seemed as if the entire place would col. lapse.
 Sam Sharp's heart was beating wildly, and 1t Wos great relief to him when he heard Sawycr's voice saying:
 Sam. sam, are you alive?"
 And there can be no doubt that it was a relief to Sawyer after those moments that seemed an eternity, to hear Sams chHlry 0uswer
 T .a alive, Mir. Sawyer, but not so much as I'd like to be-"
 IhH echoes of the great crash were a1a .'1a,iy dying out by this time, and Sawyer said:
 come of EcSert."
 ''Im afraid it amt worth while" said Sam. lie must be a goner, sure"
 "It i best to know definitely" said the detective; and besides there may be aoinething in that box that we want very badly. Let Us 20 back"
 An right" said Sam; and the detec- tive, lighting his limp, led the way to where, few minutes before they had seen Tom Ecllert standing with his box under his arm i'll a halo of flame.
 The chamber in which they had seen him was plotted out. The entrance was closed by n great fall of roof, which carried with it immense blocks of coal, and thesc were piled upon each other so thick, and wedged together closely, that it was impossible to remove them without blasting.
 He must have been crushed to death!" suggested sam, after they made Il careful examination of the situation.
 GOT he may be simply shut in" added l.fa Roth lstanHS into lv for a voice, but they heard nothing. Then Sawyer shouted "Hallo!" with all his might. The echo went ringing through the chambers of the mine as If a thousand voices had spoken.
 Then they listened again, and both heard distinctly d painful moan. II was clear that Eckert was injured, but how to reach him. through that impenetrahle wall of rock and anthracite was a prob lem with which Sawyer and sam Sharp were unable to cope. Again that painful, half-stitied moan reached their ears.
 Sawyer called aloud, but their was no answer, and after waiting a few minutes, the detective said,
 F'Sam, we can accomplish nothing by standing here. Let Us go out of the slope at once and get help to eXtricate Mr. Eckert. He cannot now escape or hide the ysterious crrand that brought him here and if we can reach him before he dies he may be able to tell Us a story stranger than fiction. Come, let Us lose no time i'll securing help to get Ec!lert out and saying this, detective and newshoy ran to the slope as fast as possible, intent on obtaining assistance f., ,.,sa,IA Inn, EpEorf from hiS l,lo Il, op1 naIrow prison.