The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1896-04-25
Copyrighted. 1894 by H Rider Haggard
cHAPTER Iv.-coNrINuEp.

'Fly, senior, / am safe, and do but stay
toylight candle. will follow you"
"You are lying TO me-" he answered;
''your voice comes from the Level Of the
floor" And as he spoke l heard the
scratching sound of match.
So soon as he fonnd his candle and
lit It, he lSnelt down and looked at me.
Then he looked at the roof above, and
following his glance with difficulty 1
saw that next to the hole whence the
bowlder had fallen hung huge block
of stone, that trembled like n leaf
whenever he moved or spoke, sur
rounded by great cracks from which
water dropped.
ssFor the love Of God. fyl" whis-
pered. 'In few hours IL will be over
with me, and you cannot help me, am
a dead man; do not stop here to share
my fate"
For n moment he seemed to hesitate;
then his courage came back to him, and
he answered hoarsely:
Eve entered this place together,
friend, and we will GO out together, or
not at all. You must be fixed by the
rock and not crushed, or you would
not speak of living for hours. Let me
look, and he lay upon his breast and
examined the fallen rock by the light
OF the candle. "Thanlx Godi there Is
hope" he said at last. "the bowlder
rests upon the ground and upon the
stone against which / struck my leg,
for only one point Of IL Is fixed in your
back. Do you think that anything Is
broken, Ignatio?"
II cannot say, senior. my pain isgreat
and am being slowly crushed to death;
bat believe that as yet my bones are
whole. Fly, senior, beg of YOU"
x..tn 80 he anil Ixy
az am going TO roll this rock off YOU"
Then, lifting with all his great
strength he strove to move the stone,
but without avail, for IL was beyond
the power OF mortal man 10 stir IL, and
all the while the black mass trembled
above his head.
II must go for help" he said pres
entity.
Eyes, yes, senor," / answered; "go
for help;' for knew well that before
he could return with any, more of
the roof would have fallen shutting me
in 20 perish by inches, or perhaps crush
ing the life out of me In mercy. Then
remembered, and added:
"Stay a moment before you go; you
are noble. will give you something.
Feel here round my neck, there Is a
little chain--now draw IL over my
hend--so. You see token hangs TO IL.
III ever you are In trouble with the In
dams, take their chief man apart and
show him this, and he will die for you
II need be.
"Englishman, by this gift / have
made you heir TO the empire OF the Az.
tees In the heart of every Indian, and
the master OF the great brotherhood OF
Mexico. Molas, the messenger, will
tell you all and bring you 20 those who
t..tt Int IN nfsII
whittier he would have led me. Fare.
well, and God go with yout Tell the
Indians how died, that they may not
think that you have murdered me-"
To these words of mine the senior
made no answer. but thrust the token
into his pocket without looking ut II,
like one who dreams. Then, taking
the candle with him, he crept forward
down the tunnel and vanished. and my
heart sank as saw him go, leaving me
TO my dreadful fate without word OF
farewell.
"Doubfless he "a too frightened q
speak. Thought, ''and II Is right that
ne should fly as quickly as possible &c
save his life lf
Now, As was soon 70 learn, wa,
doing the senior bitter wrong In my
mind, seeing that he never dreamed Of
deserving me, but went 10 find a mean,
OF rescue. AS he told me afterwards
when ho.rcachcd the mouth OF the tun
mel he could think OF no way by which
1 might be saved, since these noun
tains were uninhabited and II would
take several hours 10 bring men from
Cumarvo.
Outside the mine he sat himself dowr
20 consider what could be done, but M
thought came. for Il was impossible 4
use the strength Of the horses In tina
narrow place. Then he sprung up ans
looked round him In despair. Close 4
him was little ravine followed b,
water. and on Its very edge grew I
small mimosn thorn Of which the Ions
roots had been washed almost bare b,
a food. lie saw II and an inspiration
entered into him.
sprinRinR az the little tree. tina
being SO tough a wood was the hes
possible for his purpose. he tore (
from huoh roothold AZ remained TO II
A few stroke. with his heavy hunting
knife trimmed of the branches nn'
HIrra. and soon he wna creeping care