The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1896-04-02

some of the moral variety; and there's
always wide possibility that it'll de-
mand both in heroic proportions. h
were in your place | should fight the
battle beforehand; then, if you find
you're not going to be up to il, the hon
orable thing is to pull out while the
girl is yet fancy free. That's pretty
straight talk; but You know me of old,
and you have invited frankIcss."
They were nearing the furnace yard,
and Riugbrand did not reply until they
reached the gate; then he grasped Lud-
lows hand and pressed it warmly
You're good friend, Tom. III think
it over and try to do as you advise.
Only if can't bring myself up TO the
mark. you mustn't be"surprised if 1
should drop out unexpectedly. don't
believe l could face you or Mrs. Ludlow
after that"
''Thinking it over" asked for solitude
and quiet surroundings; and after
leaving Ludlow, Ringbrand walked on
up the valley, skirting the base of the
mountain until he came to rough
cart road leading toward the summit.
lie took it because it plunged into the
forest and offered shade; aud after that
he paid little attention to direction or
distance until he found himself before
what appeared to be an abandoned
mine. The mouth Of the opening was
choked up with broken timbers and
masses Of rock, and on a board nailed
to n tree growing out of crevice just
above the tunnel arch he read: "Mc-
Nahb TunnelsT T. c. & Co" The name
brought back Ludlow's story of the
feud and the lawsuit, and he examined
the place with awakening interest.
From the small cleared space in front
of the working he could see the extent
of the cove with its shelving sides pitch
ing down toward the yellow fields in
the center; and, as there was but one
house in sight in the bowllike depres-
sion, he concluded at once that it was
the home of the Bynums. Turning
again to the tunnel. he found that by
scrambling over the pile of debris in
the entrance he could reach a place
where the height of the excavation
permitted him to stand upright; and
when his eyes became accustomed to
the dim half-light, he looked about him
with the observant curiosity of one
who sees latent possibilities for the
collecting of literary material from the
most commonplace surroundings.
There was little to be seen save the
ragged walls of coal and few rusty
mining tools; the heading stopped alb
ruptly about 80 feet from the entrance.
and the excavation was q mere irreg-
ular gap in the edge of the thick seam
of coal. While he was examining
miners lamp which he found sticking
in a crevice, he felt breath of cold
air which seemed to come from above,
and, looking up, he saw narrow rift
in the sandstone roof of the tunnel
from which the draught appeared to
issue. Lighting the lamp and thrust
ing it up into the aperture on the end
of n stick, he could see that the rift
widened above the opening and that it
extended indefinitely into the mountain
at right angles to the direction of the
tunnel. The opportunities for further
exploration seemed promising, and
Ringbrand, yielding to an inquisitiye
impulse, drew himself up into the crew
ice by the help of coal pick. BY the
smoky flare of the lamp he could see
that he was standing in a natural tun-
mel of considerable height, running
crosswise of the coal working and COM
municating with it by the aperture
through which he had entered. As it
was evident that the latter opening
was artificial or accidental, he deter
mined to ascertain if there was any
other means of egress from the cavern.
Turning to the left, the exploration
came shortly to an end against wall
of broken rock and detritus which
completely filed the crevice; re-
tracing his steps, he pushed forward
in the opposite direction, meeting
with no obstacle for a considerable
distance. The cleft was of irreg-
ular width, but its walls were perpen-
dicular and smooth, rising above his
head until their outlines were lost in
the gloom. At several points they APP
preached each ether so nearly that he
had some difficulty in squeezing
through but after the passage OF
one of the narrowest of these
rocky straits he came out into
large chamber, in Which the
murky darkness was diluted by q
thin stream of sunlight filtering
through a hole in the roof. lie stood
gains upward at the small 2pcrtTc
far above, wondering if it could be
used as an entrances without the help
OF a rope ladder. The question had
scarcely taken shape before its answer
appeared inthe form of double row
of rude inches cut in the wall and run
ming IN irregular lines up to the cash
in the roof. in the fine damp sand at
his. feet he saw the imprint of mans
boot, and there were many more OF
them just beyond it. The explorer eX-
amined them carefully, and then sat
down upon rock to classify his find
ings.l II wonder if haven't stumbled
upon something that'll help Ludlow
out??" he unused. This is evidently an
entrance to the coal mine that he
doesn't know about. It's quite clear
that it has been used, too, and some one