Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-07-24

caught glnlpSt OF MS son lace anu Il.
terror fell on him. Something told him in
those set and sullen features and eyes that
seemed to burn with inward fire that the
time had come.
with rattle and rush the heavy iron
bucket plunged down through the dark
ness and touched the water ere it stopped,
slowly turning with the twist of the rope
that. like a thin line Of black, disappeared
in the blackness above.
Jake Murphy gripped it and sprang in
side Only two men could 20 up it at
once.
"Come, jim" he cried, "get in, and
looked at Carroll.
Old MuIphys tongue was loosened.
"Ilold, on, jim he called out. Il want
yer to help me fix this valve afore yer 90
up
Jim turned irresolute. In that moment
the other man jumped in the bucket.
GAN right he cried "Let 'er CO.
Carroll saw that the bucket was filled.
lie must wait, and grasping the lever he
gave the signal to the engineer on top.
There was moments pause, and then
with a strong and sudden rush, the bucket
and its occupants vanished in the darkness.
On top it was calm, still summer night
Above the heads of the two men as they
stepped out of the swinging bucket rose
the framework of massive timbers that
supported the huge sheave wheels. Twen-
ty yards away stood the engine-hOuse, the
steam still curling from the exhaust pipes.
As they left the bucket Black Jake bid
! his companion a surly "good-night' and
started off as though for home. But once
out of sight he turned and swiftly and 81
lenty crept back, He passed the mouth
of the shaft, and disappeared in the shad-
ow of the engine-house.
Within the engine-houSe Tom AlliS, the
engineer, stood at his post. Before him
was the huge conical drum sixteen feet in
diameter, round which the snake-like cable
was coilrd in grooves. On each side of
him were those mighty engines whose 81
gantic power could, when the time came,
snatch the carriage and loaded car up
| those 300 feet of depth in fifty seconds.
| With one hand on the throttle he waited
for the signal to lower. 1t came. The
! bell clanked, the throttle shot open, the
| steam rushed into the great cylinders, and
| down dropped the bucket like a stone drop
| ped down well. With steady eye Allis
marked the cable as il reeled swiftly OF the
drum. He never noticed the slowly-revolv-
| ing dial that told of the buckets descent.
| For his practced eye a bar of white paint
daubed on the cable was a better guide. In
another moment that white mark was of
the drum. when the throttle was closed
| the reversing bar shot back with a crash
| again the steam rushed into the cylinders
and the engine with few short pants,
stopped. The bucket swung at the samt
| depth within half an inch that it had when
Black Jake climbed on board. 1t was Tom
] A : no a = ~.
act height he could drop that bucket OH
his head without doing more than smooth
out his hair.
He knew there was one more man tt
come up. The pump runners shift would
not expire for four hours yet, and all tho
sinkers but one were up. With his hand
on the throttle lever he waited for the sig
nal to hoist. minute passed and two
but he stood like a craven statue.
Clank. cank, clank, The bell struck
three times 1t was the signal to hoist
with care, as human weight filled the buck
et Slowly he drew the throttle open, and
the gigantic engines, waking from theii
brief rest, once more sent the drum flying
| round. Coil after coil of writhing cable
was wound about it. One hand on the
throttle and the other on the reversing lev.
er, Tom Allis watched the spinning drum
and the white marks on it that told him
when to stop. As he stood there he felt
the reversing lever shake and tremble. as
if some one had touched it, He had nc
time to think of this, for in another second
the bucket was within one hundred feet OF
the surface. He closed the throttle and
pushed the reversing lever.
A wild cry burst from his lips. As he
pushed it, the bar shot back with rafting
crash, but the reversing gear never moved
The engines would not reverse. In that
awful moment his presence. of mind never
left him. He seized the brake bar and
threw all his weight upon it. The band OF
steel that circled the drum gripped tight
But what could that do to stop the massive
engines running at high speed? He jam
med it back and rushed from the engine
house.
As he did so. the bucket shot up from
the shaft. Two men were in it. \ cry
burst from them as the bucket, without
pause or stop, leaped up amid the heavy
timbers and sped swiftly toward the great
sheave wheels. Another wild cry, and ther
an awful crash as the bucket dashed against
the wheels human form whirled in the
air, struck against the timbers, and plunged
out Of sight down the yawning blacknes,
to the timbers far aloft.
"WhO is that?' called the engineer.
"Jim Carroll, answered the man cling
ing to the timbers.
"Who was that fell down the shaft?'
"Old Murphy"
Another awful cry broke the stiffness Of
the night. Down from the shadows of tn,
engine-house Black Jake Murphy cam,
running,
''Who?' he cried, and no words can tel
the fearful agony in his voice. "Who went
down the shaft?'
'Your father, Jake" said the engineer
With one bound Jake was at the shaft
mouth.
Father he cried, father But tn,
black pit gave no answer to his frantic call
With wild cry he turned. Throwing hi,
hands aloft he shook his clenched fist al
Carroll, still clinging to the timbers. an,
with fearful imprecation on his lips feel
backward into the awful depth.
The investigation that followed Shove,
that connecting pin in the reversing geal
had fallen ont or been removed 1t wa,
beneath the floor ON which the engineer
stood, and any one who chose to crawl be
meath could reach it unseen. 1t was alsC
shown by Jim CAROLS testimony tina
old Murphy, the pump runner, who should
not have left his post until relieved, haC
insisted on coming up to the surface will
him.