Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-02-14
AT THE PITS NOR TIL.

Ono, no; / wur fool 10 hope COR tiink
sic u thing. 1hcre he auiihcr a. u tina
lowest yuongor man, I BOTHER i.n nor
~ 1t Ire VIII Benson. Dunnot au-vcr,
las. | know it, We'll forgi me wnat a
said Guudhy, Jcss sic aud God BILE thro,
laf God h!oss thori'
Thus spoke Steven Nrmetron" n- he
turned away from the co. asc who" Jessie
Mac Davitt lived, that cuuaee with he
gay flowers round its porch thai undo
the one bright patch in this ii -uua,, dl,t
begrimcd country idle, black, rcd N,ry
where by coal, Saducncd by the ,iN,~ a. urrn
whom destiny lac cast to delNr aud bur
row beneath tho fair earth that Other men
might grow rich.
But somehow today Steven Armstrong
coulu see no brightness in anything. lilo
had been fool, and no mistake this
great, stalwart, lrond shouldor,d miner.
Ho wa, ,yo.i past 10, his hair becoming
gray aud sparse on top-quite old Ia her
He had been bachelor all these y -
He might have known it was sheer mad.
ness now to lavish all the wealth cf his
great manly heart on pretty, winsome .lrs
sic. Sho did nut want an cid fOgy like
him.
At first she seemed to hear his tale with
gentle tenderness and ply. bod, indeed,
must he the woman wlose heart remains
untouched hy the love Of true and honest
man. r. en- word or two she dropped
almost uncun~ciousy had revealed the
truth. OF course Will Benson was the
man He bad been a blind fool not to
have seen it long ago Will was 20 years
younger than himself On Sundays viii
was quite masher Orc AIlericanihm had
gown into common Use even herC). Will
i,,ct bn lad IN t,lfnGn fripl' fancy
And So hrving settled that matter in
III own mind Armstrong walked slowly
AID sadly a';ay about his business
1t was Saturday night. Bar and parlOr
of the Miners Arms were crowded with
men. Here the hard earned money flew
merrily, money which should have gono
to wife and weanS mt hOme-mCOey which
might have been rs "A tower of strength in
fighting the battles that labor and poverty
always havo to fight.
viii Benson was there in the midst of u
noisy throng, reekinc Of beer, spirits and
rank tobacco. He had had great deal too
much 20 drink already. Suddenly mo
one laid hand upon his arm. He turned
tlpsily and encountered the serious, stead
fast gaze of Steven Armstrong, who was
not drunk and had only just entered the
public house.
"Dunnot TAX ony moor" the latter
whispered gently, but firmly.
who told thee to Interfere Master
Preacher"
"No one. l as, thee not to- for sake
o. girl who loves thee.
Did she tell thee to COON pryin afther
me?"
"Tha knowest betther nor that. ! ask
thee for her sake and for tina own good"
BAH I've heerd You'd stuff fro t blu
ribbon fowk afure now"
"a DO none o them. | hold that u chap
as Gamma tax aglass or two and stop when
he ha gotten enough is ma worthy o brin
called mon. 1 believe in total abstinence
ma moor nor l do in drunkarGs.
"Then Whit t. devil be'est jawin to mo
aboutY' the young man said fiercely.
Il ask thee not t spend all t meet here.
Think o her who ST O be tina wife These
chaps do thee no good. The'l max thcu
spend tina brass and when it's all gunu
they'll only laugh AT thee. ="
"Shew me L mon as II Taught at me!
Ye darcnt It's tina myself as are doin it
Como outside, then, and we'll see who's L
best mont"
Il Wilma fight wi thcc-and certainly
not now" Armstrong answered slowly
and with dignity. 1t WAS not the retrac-
fion of u coward. His well meant Temun
Strances had proved worse than useless,
and from that time those two men felt
each other to be rivals
Horror and CONSERVATION are spreading
far and wide through the grimy Ian
cashirc town. A terrible explosion has
Just been heard They know only toe
well what that means and the poor won
en-, both young and old, are rushing, wild
and terror stricken, to the pits mouth.
Down in the workings" the excite
1nent is at its height. Men are running
10 the bottom of the shaft, running fol-
their lives, for the noxious after damp il
choking them, and they know only toe
well that many of them are destined never
TO see tho light of day again. The cage il
going up and down again as quickly a'
may be, but it will only hold II limiteC
number. They must patiently wait thci
turn, and that turn may mean life o.
death
There be room for one moor, TIN
miners shout Come along, steve Arm
strong. 1t he tina turn"
But he docs not move.
"NO," he answers, Il be old "a alone
Here's "a yoong fellow as a gotten a mitLer
Let un go instead this time.
1t was Will Benson who stood by hi
side
you, Armstrong! You max room
for me2" he exclaimed.
What dost suppose aid do? A hgh
fair-when a want to fight
you do this for ma sakeY
Not for thine, mOn-for hers Gov
The words NYere few-there was no tim
for more--but they had rough heroic dig
nifty about them. Benson stepped into III
cage without another word the signal wa
given, and they went up toward tho ligi
and dir above.
From those about the pits mouth
ringing cheer AROSE. AS the cage reached II
surface They knew that 50 many,
least of their mates were safe, and son
Of the women went away with hearts fu