The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1891-08-07
Ia. BALLAD nd the

~ possible, had years bel 5 y. BALLAD I'D tn
entrance to that part Of the mine, leaving
only room enough for the cars to pas
Through A stout oaken door was thei
hudk 90 that IL closed from the Upside
which made that part of the mine almos
water tight and separate from the othe
parts Of the mine. IT was SO arranged tina
the greater the pressure against the doc
the tighter It fitted. A large we'll was the,
drilled into that department from the sur
face, which was carefully eased, so tina
the air might escape in chse the water eve
broke in without breaking down the pro
tecting wall This proved to be q wis,
precaution.
As Tim with his train rumbled past thil
door he involuntarily glanced at II to sc,
that it was in good working order. H,
had become imbued with the fear Of i'm
spending danger, and Ned, too, glanced
from side to side as he b hrried along. II,
also occasionally snorted bis disapproval,
All the forenoon the empty cars were
drawn in and the loaded ones taken Out
with the regularity of clockwork. Tin
and Ned had been at that work so lonl
that each knew exactly what to do.
Overhead the river ruulbled and roared
Inch by inch the water climbed the banks
and carried away the newly fallen leaves
or whirled them of into little eddies, but
Tim knew nothing Of VIII at was going on
outside. The owners of the mine watched
the rapidly rising waters with apprehen-
sion. The river was higher than It had
been for some time and they feared for the
safety Of the men hard at work beneath the
raging waters. A consultation was held
and 1t was resolved to call out all the
miners and laborers at - o'clock. At II
O'Clock an order was sent down for every
man in the mine to come out at noon and
bring their tools with them. The order
was obeyed with alacrity. A few minutes
to 10 the tools were piled into empty cars
and the men filed from the river division
and went toward the bottom Of the shaft
to be hoisted into the bright sunshine and
safety.
Tim was the last and was about to 90
with the train partly loaded with tools
when he thought Of his dinner pail. which
he had left behind. He Jumped down and
ran back fifty yards to get it. When he re-
turned Ned was paving the ground impa-
tiently. The lights of the departing miners
danced about In the distance as Tim sprapg
to his place behind Ned.
Suddenly there was deafening roar.
Everything seemed to tremble for asecond
Ned reared aud plunged forward. Just
then a large nat stone fell from the roof,
filling the cars with broken stones and
knocking Tim to the ground, where he was
held fast by something across his lower
limbs. His light was dashed out by the
fall. At the same instant Ned tore loose
from his fastenings and plunged away in
the awful darkness
Tim screamed for help, but the sound Of
MS voice was drowned by a great noise
which seemed to fill the cavity about him.
At first a small stream of water poured
down on him. 1t grew in volume every
second. Tim tugged and twisted to get
out from under the weight that held him
fast. His most violent Efforts were frnit-
less. He knew that his time was short II
he did not succeed In getting out, for he
realized that the long dreaded moment had
arrived when the river was breaking into
the mine. He raised his voice again and
again for help, but the only answer he
heard was millions of echoes.
just as he was about toresign himself to
his fate he felt warm breath on his face;
Ned had come back. FIN reached up and
clasped his faithful friend tightly about
the neck and cried out, BACK, Ned, back. ;"
FOR second he Thought his arms would
be pulled from his body and at the shout
ders. Then he felt himself drawn slowly
forward, and it seemed that his legs would
be broken as they slipped from among the
stones that held him to the ground. The
instant he was free Ned bounded away be-
tween the rails with Tim still hanging to
his neck and his body swinging back above
the animals hoofs
by this time the water was coming down
IN stream foot in diameter and growing
larger every moment.
AT the door to the department Ned STUN
bled and threw Tim to one side, which
caused the animal to sweIve near the wall.
In some way one trace chAiu caught in the
handle OF the door and closed 1t with q
bang which wedged it between the door
posts as Ned dashed on with his human
burden toward the bottom of the shaft.
All was confusion there The most able
bodied were hurrying up the ladders, as q
general alarm had been sounded when the
roar Of water was first heard. Ned stopped
with a snort and with his eyes cleaning
in the darkness with excitement, Tim
dropped Imply to the ground, but was
hastily picked up and car lied to the cage.
Ned backed into his accustomed place, and
the signal was given to hoist away. The
was started aud few seconds
later Tim and Ned were safely on top of
the ground. All the miners were out in o
short time.
Tim was unconscious when he reached
the surface and was carried out Into the
fresh air, Ned followed closely and watch |
I'd the movements of the men with as great
anxiety as dumb brute Gould express.
In short time Tim opened his eyes, and
IN turning bis head to ono side he saw Ned.
The animal crowded up ut signal from
Tim and received the cartsses lavished on
him in way that would lead one to be-
ieve that he knew all about what had
happened and realized tha it they had had
very narrow escape.
Tim and Ned never went into the mine
'gain. The accidental closing of the door !
mad prevented the greater part of the mino
from being flooded, and thereby O great
leal of valuable property was saved.
As mark Of gratitude the mine owners
provided for the Seasonaood family and
ient little Tim to school He acquired a
good education, and reAching manhood
le embarked In business for himself.
He is now one Of the hbnored and pros
'erons citizens OF that Locality.