St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-15
...RT THE PIT MOUTH.
st. Paul's.

st. Paurs.
mo, no; I wur fool to hope or
think sic a thing. There be anither
man tha lowest; a yoonger man, a bet
ther man nor me. 1t will be Will Ben
son. Dunnot answer, lass, I know it.
Well, forgi' me what a. said. Good
bye, Jessie, and God bless thee. lass
God bless theem
Thus Steve Armstrong, as he turned
away from the cottage where Jessie
Mac Davitt lived; that cottage with
the gay flowers around it's porch that
made the one bright patch of bright
ness in this dismal, dust-begrimed coun-
try-side, blackened everywhere by coal,
saddened by the lives of men whose
destiny had cast to delve and burrow
beneath the fair earth that other men
might grow rich.
But somehow, today Steve Arm
strong could see no brightness in any
thing He had been a fool, and no
mistake, this great, stalwart, broad
| shouldered mineri He was well past
forty; his hair becoming gray and
sparse on top-quite old to her.
He had been a bachelor all these
years. He might have known it was
sheer madness now to lavish all the
wealth Of his great, manly heart on
pretty winsome Jessiel She did not
want an old fogy like him
At first she seemed to hear his tale
with gentle tenderness and pity. Bad
indeed, must be the woman whose
heart remains untouched by the love
of true and honest man. Then a.
word fyuA cho. oI,~,
consciously had revealed the truth. Of
course Will Benson was the man. He
had been blind fool not to have seen
1T long ago. Will was twenty years
younger than himself. On Sundays
VIII was quite masher (the Ameri-
canism had grown into common use
even here). Will was just the lad to
please the girls fancy.
1t was Saturday night Bar and par
| lor of the Miners Arms was crowded
| with men. Here the hard-earned money
| flew merrily; money which should have
gone to wife and weans at home
money which might have been as
tower of strength in fighting the bat
ties that labor and poverty always have
to fight.
VIII Benson was there in the midst
of noisy throng. reeking of beer, spir-
its and rank tobacco He had had
great deal too much drink already.
Suddenly some one laid hand upon
his arm. He turned tfpsily and encoun-
tered the serious, steadfast gaze of
Steven Armstrong, who was not drunk
and had only just entered the public
house.
''Dunnot talk ony moor" the latter
whispered. gently but firmly.
'Who told thee to interfere, maister
preacher" 2"
mo one. ask thee not to, for the
sake O. girl who loves thee
did she tell thee to COON pryin'
afther me?''
'.Tha knowest better no that. ask
thee for her sake, and fur tina own
good
Bah! I've heerd yond' stuff fro t.
blue ribbon bon fowk afore now"
ga be none O. them. I hold that a
chap as Gamma TAX dlass or two an
stop when he ha' gotten enough is na
worthy O. bein' called a mon. 1 believe
in total abstinence ma moor nor do in
| drunkards."
'.Then what t. devil be'est jawin' to
me about?" the young man said fiercely.
81 ask thee not t spend all t meet
here. Think O. her who'st O. be tha
WIFE These chaps do thee no good.
when 'tis all gone, they'll only laugh at
thee"
'.Shew me t. mon as'll laugh at me!
Ye daren'ti It's tha thyself as are doin'
it. Come outside, then, and We'll see
who'st t. best mon"
'I Wilma fight wi thee-and certainly
not now," Armstrong answered, slowly
and with dignity; it was not the re-
traction of a coward. His well-meant
remonstrances had proved worse than
useless and from that time those two
men felt each other to be rivals.
III.
Horror and CONSERVATION are spead
ing far and wide through the grimy
Lancashire town. A terrible eXplo-
sion has just been heard. They know
only too we'll what that means, and
the poor women, both young and old,
are rushing wild and terror-stricken
to the pits mouth.
Down in the Workings the excite
ment is at it's height. Men are running
to the bottom of the shaft, running
for their lives, for the noxious after
damp is choking them and they know
only too well that many Of them are
destined never to see the light of day
again. The cage is going up and down
again as quickly as may be, but it will
only hold limited number. They
must patiently wait their turn, and
that turn may mean life or death.
There bo room for one moor" the
miners shout. ''Come along, Steve
Armstrong, it be tha turn"
But he does not move
mo" he answers, 81 be old a alone.
Here's young fellow as a gotten a
mither; let un go instead this time"
1t was Bill Benson who stood by
his side
'sYou. Armstrong! You max room
for me!' he exclaimed.
What dost suppose a'd do? A. fight
fair-when a want to fight"
'sYou do this for ma sake?"
mot for thine, mon; for her! Go"
The words We're few-there was not