Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1890-06-20

den. 'ghere Is the wheel
5u feil over. We had better
n marks back and try It again,
Ter timc.'
kca willing. and we walked bsck.
Nbaally stopping to see the marks
NtimbaF5.
fiiu,dnoiico those things before,
sail my companion, as we
qlf q dozen rusty picks that
lbeen lying there a decade, at
noticed thcm either, and
autfed oar heads against an old
sins from tho top of The
khadn't met that before. Then
be- Unfamiliar things, and we
ttlere va water beside the
while the drifts by which
Hero all dry as a bone. We
another, and evidently the
passed through both our
Re kept on, and soon our
-enlized. The tunnel ended
been years before "a cooling
place where the miners ate
sd rested and cooled OIL
We're working in the neigh
Aiits. We had followed some
e's chalk marks. and we had now
"a Of our whereabouts.
Il can't ger M lie way we came,
tn and 40 work is being done Ia
pper levels, q what we've got to
b get down as far as we can. and
q bound % run across some miDers.'
we began trging To lnd ourselves.
p nearest tunnel and followed
49tAe8 came to IA shaft with ladders
Rft. These ladders were crumbling and
Aad evidently not been used for wears,
were not heavy ana they dill not
ta1 Stlsu we climbed to another
level. Thi3twe followed Us before
Fhchetcr Ne came 60 n shaft we threw
fragment 81 rock down to ascertain
now deep It was. Then we would climb
down as far us VIC could. We had just
reached one levtl when IA rushing sound
tbrokc the stiffness. Tie noise startled
us Tor an instant, but hurrying ahead
we saw hundreds of rats coming out Of
a small tunnel. at the mouth OF which
stood q moidering old ore car.
This clieered us, for we decided that
Alth AAAnA eNHAsli EtAIt BlNAF ltul
thcre or the rats, which in tho mines live
; Oh the remains Of the miners lunches.
ould get nothing TO eat. But though
we hunted until we had to stop and crS
again we could find no one. Down az
- acline we went and struck "A tunnel thai
b4 evidently beep used more lately thau
the thers. As we turned into it we saw
2 spaiS hway OG fSoou We saw that Il
was a candle CARRIED by a miner. We
let ou a shout. but TO our amnzenlslt
snd horror TIC minqr dropped his candle
~ and tai as il FORTY devils were clasi.. IS
him. We hurried after iipl and picked
"a up his candle, but hemust have TUNED
w. iHi0 sone Uthcr drift. for W. could not
ol ind hin and tNr weary search soon Ike.
Va came ash oprless az bc'O:e. We had by
this TINS bsenAa tie miaes a good many
ssf haGss Fl had cTiel ourselves sick. No
matter MICH way we-tugned there wore
M tae same dca9 cold walls o. roc';. The
Passages wcse endless; they seemed to
lead nowhere. We passed several old
cooling STATIONS, and AZ last we got to one
aAd stoppedB We were utterly exhaust.
ba '7l. and wit4 jail our misery choking us
wy swall9l@i sAlpe Of our lIach, blew
- IN n Td;ndies and, holding eacA others
Gods. fell oaicep.
'4 re.ncmber that my last thought be
bgcaUie uncG"scinus WAS that q
time aftorwarl they would find our
sand | think / even composed nv
ard arranged my limbs 50 as to
ga more effective corpse. Nothing
tthis struck me rs Being funny. In.
!. | fell asleep CRYING. We musr
slept a good many hours. and my
recollection is of our lying there to-
n. soJbing, in tie dense darkness.
tienly ] became conscious of IA low,
niinued roar as of water running a long
ty Oh Ny companion heard it and
listened. duly wondering what il
Tie, We finally lie candle, ate the
or lunch and started to find out.
both been down the mines fre.
before and had no fear Of tho
Sor the rats, 50 we went without
y it was not hard 70 follow the
0nS tunnels, down short mp
cp ~inclines we went until We
%urrilnr. We followed On to-
q, 1t was louder here, and
I'd it grew into a perfect
TIE tunnel.
Into W llof wool. from
houo.so came. We peered
Xii the plank partition
moving lne. 1t was the
HOSTS the ca@c. and that is
aHldt The noise. We watched
f,the chinS il the boards until we
1Oclse load a with rock 80 up, and.
p gun to think how we could reach
ne tiat from which the cage had start
ed. 'Ne knew that W. were very far
unleI,ronnd, for the roc..s that We.
fhroN OWN the frequent shafts spI'shed
il fiM wat = at the bottom. 80 uc dad MOI
/, a.teMpbta climb to the top. IL was not
long bepr' wc found 4 deep shaft, and
81. down hA we cllnoerrfi. AS We nrarel
the butioA We heard uIptAor rumhling
N ia ore ck running aloG. tle t%raiuNay.
We sAouteA rs we vert down tine l-d-
E Isas| -n1 lIin rerff 81 .ffetvrFaI nrr cry.