Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-12-18
CHAPTER VII.
A VISIT OF INSPECTION.

A VISIT OF INSPECTION.
Thus began my knowledge Of the mine;
from that day forth my interest in it deepen
ed and it haunted me like q passion. Its
darkness and peril bad fascination for me,
and was not content Till / had explored
every Granny and famliarzed myself with
the mining art or science. Eager for infOr-
nation, | read every book on the subject that
! could buy or borrow, and in a short time
could have passed a pretty stiff examination
as an engineer.
| must now pass over, at one swift bound,
lapse of eight years During that time,
had exchanged the duties of clerk for that OF
assistant OyerSecr, and then, on the death OF
Mr.. Redruth, for those Of Overseer-ln-chIet.
Behold me- then, at twenty-five years Of
age, the mainstay of the PendragOn house
hold; changed somewhat for
Mature doth subdue itself
To what it works on, like the dyer's hand;"
rough, robust, full Of strength and its rude
pride. In my twenty-secOnd year occurred
and event which was destined to exercise no
little influence over my whole future life.
AS 1 approach the chrOnicing Of this event,
my heart beats and my hand trembleS, and
the ftful passion Of those far-otf days awak-
| ems trOubIOusly again.
was standing one day On the cliffs, close
to the mouth of the mine, when | saw two
| figures coming from the direction of the vii
| Iage. One was my cousin Annie, now
| cOmely young woman; the other was young
| George Redruth, whom | had scarcely set
| eyes upon since the time Of his fathers
death.
They were talking earnestly, and did not
seem at first to notice me; but presently |
saw Annie give startled look in my direc-
ton, and afterward they approached togeth-
CT. Now, l don't know how il happened
it was instinct, [ suppose, or something Of
that sort-but never, from the moment of our
first meeting as boys, had l been able to re-
gard George Redruth with any feeling but
one of excessive irritation and dislike. His
flippant, patronizing manner had something
to do with it; so, perhaps, had his good looks,
for his worst enemy could not have denied
that he was superbly handsome. AS |
glanced at his pale, beautifully formed face,
at his slight graceful figure at his elegant
dress, l was plainly conscious of my own
physical infeTiOrity. Though was strongly
built and not ill-favored, wind and weather
had worked their will on me, and [ was
rough, | knew, as my daily occupation.
lie StrOlled up CareleSSly, swinging his
cane, and smoking a cigar
"Ah, Trelawney," he said, with a nod,
''yOur cousin Annie has been telling lne that
there are complaints, again. about the out
lying shafts of the mine. So Pm going down
to have a look round"
Very well, sir" [ replied, wondering in
my own mind why Annie had chosen to
| make herself the mouth-piece of the men.
Il suppose it's safe enough?' he SAID, after
| a moment You know, though [ am
mine-owner, don't know much about the
h,,. I 70 Ill
enor"
| sit is only right" was my reply, "that you
should judge its safety for yourself. If any
thing happened, you would be responsible"
II don't know about that he said. sharp
~; Il pay you for experimenting the work,
and il there's danger
There iSp' l interposed.
'Well, then, pay you for facing it and
reporting upon it. One can't be both en-
ployer and servant toop'
was about to retort somewhat angrilv,
for the manner of his speech was even more
inSutferable than its matter, when | met
Armies entreating eyes. and refraned.
MI. George" she said, quickly, lis anx-
iouS that nothing should so wrong
'Of course | am" cried tn young man,
with 4 curious laugh. Il know what flood
ing the mine means-any amour 5of expense,
perhaps ruin; for if the sea once got fairly
in-whew it would be bad job for me-
And for the men, | said, frownmg
And for the men, of course; but it is their
living and no doubt they know how to look
after themselves. Be good enough to make
all ready, Trelawney, for I'm going down at
once. suppose there is dress handy"
answered in the affirmative, and walked
off toward the office. Looking back over my
shoulder, L saw him glance after me- and
then with a contemptuOus laugh, say some
thing to Annie. My blood boiled angrily,
and my cheeks grew crimson. | could have
turned back and struck him in the face.
Close to the office, found my uncle, who
| had just come up from underground, and
who was covered with the rust of the cop
| peraS earth. told him the young master
was going down, and he was delighted.
He's brave lad Master large" he cried.
"a fine brave lad! I'll gaw wi 'un. and shaw
| un where the wall be breaking down"
Presently, Reslruth came along, and FOL-
lowed me into the Office, where several WOOL
en- costumes were hanging. He laughed
gayly as he transformed himself into miner.
When the transformation was complete he
still looked the gentleman; and, III spite of
myself, still felt the irritating sense OF my
own inferiOrity.
My uncle led the way down the trap, show
ing infinite care and tenderness for the young
master, who followed him, while came last
The earth soon swallowed us, and the only
light we had was the light OF the candles
stuck upon our persons and In our hats.
From ladder TO ladder we went till we
reached the central platform, where we
paused TO take breath Then GOWN We crept
| again till we reached the lowest galleries,
| and became conscious of the gnome-like fig
ureS at work in the submarine darkness. My
| uncle still led the way, stopping from time
10 time to pilot Redruth over awkward stones
| and dangerous trapho!eS. Our progress was
now very slow. Walking, stoopinr, crawl
inc, climbing, descending, we proceeded;
now crossing black abysses. thinly covered
with quaking planks; past wild figures kneel-
ing or lying. and laboring with short pick
axes at te ore; and as we went the r01r
which Lad been in our ears from the begin
| ming deepened, while the solid rocks above
| rs seemed quaking III the act TO fall.
AT last my uncle paused and wiped his
brow. we were all three now COMPLETELY