The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-25
Written for The Tribune.

90, out times were hard. Four hundred
men had been temporarily discharged
from the Victoria pit, pending more
orders for coal Managers Edwards a.
Thomas. of the Caegarw and Gochel
Gwmpo Pits. had taken in as many of
the men as they could. especially those
who were known as good workmen, for
whom shrewd managers are always on
the lookout
To make room for these men some
Of the stalls were worked on. the double
SHIFT plan: and in this way'Will Acha
View, whose name in Glamorgan
Welsh was descriptive of his chief per.
sonal mark. wabbling gait. secured
che night shift in the stall of Dai
Seithws 4 Got David Who Shot His
Coat In mistake for burglary, Off
Cardi Mawr's heading"
Will was not allowed q partner, as
Dai objected to the breaking OF the
alignment Of the stalls. which would re-
suit from overriding. the double-shift
plan, for. as miners know, the stalls
are worked very much like a piece Of
painting-no single part Is to be de-
veloped very far in advance of all the
other parts.
The fool-hardiness of wins action
on that sunday night appears from the
fact that. the people of Cwmcoed were
as strict Sabbatarians as South Wales
mining villagers could be. Every ap-
parent breach of the fourth command
ment. committed under the cognizance
of the colliery managers, who were
themselves respected office bearers in
the churches of the village was covered
by the saving clause of necessity.
The night shift golfers respected the
public sentiment, and abstained from
work on Sunday nights, though many
OF them held no decided opinion on the
matter. To Increase the output of coal
when the market was already glutted,
could not by any means be construed
as necessary.
But Will was hard up. He had been
idle for some weeks, and had at home
eight mouths to feed. There was no
difficulty, he thought, in applying the
rule of necessity to his case, and that
Sunday night he went down the nit
with the repairers.
Around the little Punch and Judy
structure at the bottom of the pit,
where the fireman sat in state to lock
the lamps and issue orders, jokes, and
cautions, and where smokers puffed
complacently before separating for re-
gions where pipes were more strictly
prohibited than in the Women's Chris
tian Temperance Union, the men ling
gered longer than usual that night,
talking ina quiet Sabbath manner as
the day Of rest drew to peaceful
| close.
Though warned by the fireman that
no human being would be within half
a-mile of him that night. Will wabbled
alone to his distant stall. But he felt
uneasy all the way. He would now
and then stop and listen, thinking that
the echoes of his footsteps proceeded
from feet other than his own. The
glimmerings of rotten timber in the
darkness ahead Of him were strikingly
suggestive of Jacks wlth-a- lantern and
corpse-candles. yy
After finding some empty trans In
the heading. he reached the stall, and
began a hard nights work. After pound
ing away at the stubborn. wo-feetnine
seam with indifferent success for some
hours, he sat down to rest and to MUNICH
gan to feel dreadfully lonesome. He
was growing unusually sensitive to the
creaking of timber, the crunching of the
sidewalks, and the falling Of stones in
distant stalls. The far-away reports
of the coal fell OH his ears as If Ro-
man legion had brought its famous
rams to bear on the other side. He
felt strangely indisposed to start work
again. The coal had stubbornly resisted
his attacks. There was a spell of
''cussedness," as he would say, resting
on everything. He began to look into
himself for the cause of his failure. His
mind, against his will. reverted to the
Sunday question, a sense of the super
natural and of duty neglected came
upon him, for Will was religious in
way.
From the point where the stall parted
from the heading. sixty yards away
from VIII, came the sound of a horses
feet. Probably a sysiaror passing by
with his horse. thought VIII, though
he thought it strange, after the warn
ing the fireman had given him, that he
would have no neighbors that night.
His first intention was to hail the
passer-by, but he noticed the sound
coming nearer. Soon the braddish door
would Open and disclose the visitors
light. But Will missed the sound and
the slight conclusion of the air which
would accompany the closing of the
door. Neither could he see any light.
but the sound came nearer and more
distinct, clatter-rlatter, thump-a-
nj of OFT he, lccrriad m
form of man, a very strengthening
man, the like of whom he had never
seen. Will blfnked and stared.
Surely" he thought. Il must be off
the rails tonight. The sound of horses
feet, door unopened, no light, and q
strange man standing before me, wait
ing for me to talk"
But before VIII would utter any of
his thoughts. the stranger spoke to him.
1--we come to see YOU
'Yes?" answered Will. with blinking
eyes and mouth a.gape.
You are alone"
"Yes."
May ] help you?'
THANK you very much, sir, indeed:
but you are stranger here, are you
not?"
No, know every place here"
We'll, let us sit down for WHILE"
Both sat down on their heels for
time. the stranger doing most of the.
talking. Just as Will was revolving in
his mind few leading questions to put
to the stranger. the latter said:
Now. then. let me have a pull at
your coal Well push this full tram
out and fetch an empty one, and you
may cart the coal into it,
When they had exchanged the trans.
the stranger made for the face" of the
coal.
What shall we do about light?"
n nekpd WILL