Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-06-21

w. AZ was very AiucN ulSCOurdE geo
| and said, when he realized the worst:
! Boys, let us go back and make up
| our bed whereon to die"
The room which promised to be their
tomb was a small compartment, like
other parts of the mine, but four feet
high and hardly large enough for the
Tour 70 lie abreast. Two dinners left
by escaped miners were found. They
consisted OF four pieces Of bread. two
of which were buttered; four small
pieces of fried bacon, two boiled eggs
| and two pickles split in two Three
jugs were found, containing about five
quarts of water and about quart OF
oil for their miners lamps.
Their greatest suffering through the
| first few days was from cold. Do what
they would they shiyered continually.
The only way they could get any
warmth was to lie down on the bed.
taking turns in lying in the middle.
For some time after their food was
exhausted the paroXysms of hunger
were frequent and terrible, but as the
hours wore away these paroxysms be-
came less frequent and violent, and
toward the last they gave them very
little trouble After their oil gave out
they were in total darkness, mis-
fortune that they looked upon as tie
very worst connected with their i'm.
prSonmeut
Regardless of his own troubles, Dane
Kept up his spirits much better than
the other three, and did all in his pow
ar to encourage them to try TO keep
lie in their wasted bodies till help
should reach them
one day when he was in the blind
entry ne thought he detected the dull
sound of pick. The sound seemed TO
be communicated by the wooden rail
or run which occupied the middle OF
the entry When sure he was not mis-
taken he went back to the room and
said,
Cheer up, boys; l hear them dig
glng' But they either did not believe
him or were too much exhausted to be
fully conscious Of the good tldiugs he
bore After this he went back and
forth frequently but not having any
way OF computing the time II was Inn
/ OsSible for him to tell how many
days elapsed before he was able to at
tract the attention Of the rescucrs and
help them TO dig to a better purpose.
While the work was going on outside,
poor Dane was conscious that his pow
ers We're failing rapidly but for the
sake Of the three who had learned to
depend SO much upon him he strug-
glcd bravcly against the fatal numb
ness creeping so stealthily into his
veins
At last he was compelled from sheer
weakness to cease his visits to the
entry where the progress Of the work
could be noted, and when the opening
was made and the brave rescuers en-
/ tered the sitting mine they carried
| him up into the air ana sunshine I'm
more helpless condition than any Of
! the three for whose lives he had made
such a heroic struggle
During the twelve days Of almost
hopeless waiting Lois NIabcrly had
grown white and thin from constant
suffering. Her mdldcnly reserve pre-
vented her from speaking Of her s0r-
row even TO her most intimate friends,
but her silence pleaded more eloquent
~ for her among the rough miners
that the most bitter grief could have
done. In these days Of trial and suf-
fering she had learned how deeply she
had wrongcd the one being on earth
dcarer to her than life itself
The little brunette who had been
the innocent cause Of the disruption
between the lovers was Danes own
halfsster-a mere child who had
come TO spend n few weeks with her
idolized brother in his new home Lois
knew now, aud bitterly did she re-
proach herself when she recalled her
unwomanliness on that last morning
they we're together.
If she had only listened to the ex-
PLANTATION he wished to make he would
have spent another hour with her and
so evaded Jack Daniels and escaped
the mine disaster and the horror Of be-
ing buried alive.
All night long she had waited with
hundreds OF other anxious hearts at
the mouth Of the mine 10 learn the
fate Of the entOmbed men, and when
Dane was brought up from the pit
more dead than alive it was Lois who
bathed his face and chafed his hands
and It was she who first discovered
that the vital spark was still burning
feebly IN his breast 1t was on her
pale face, too, that his eyes first gazed
when, at last, the death-like swoon
gave way to the warm throb Of life.
She gas kneeling by him, his white,
limp -fand inAhers when consciousness
returned.
Lois" he whispered. 1T is you,
dear, with the ring still on your finger.
Then it was all a horrible dream"
"a dream / hope YOU Will speedily
forget. Dane" answered Lois tenderly
II did not understand all then, but l
do now and II suffering can atone
for the wrong done / surely have ex-
plated my sin Oh, Dane, Dane, can
YOU forgive me? Can you forget that
dreadful morning 1t seems like years