The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1897-06-02

''' piONhOu up the only passage lead
ing to the shaft. 1t just reached
young Jim; standing where he did. he
was struck down-we heard his screech
stified beneath the debris. For about
five more seconds the earth seemed TO
be heaving and threatening universal
chaos then all became still as a tomb.
"a tombl We had our lamps: old
Jim and l looked, and saw that we
were cut off from the rest of the world.
"What happened next I hardly
know; | was stupifed with the shock,
sick with mortal fear of death. He
and 1 stood staring mutely at each
other. The only thing 1 recollect is
that his face was gray as marble. and
that line of froth stood on his lips
He was the first to come back to
sense. He gave one choking cry of
Jim! and staggered forward to that
black pile. The boys hand was stick
ing out from the bottom of it, clutch
ing convulsively at nothing. 1 sank
down and watched, in sort of dreary
fascination, as old Jim, uttering
strange cries, tore at the mass in a
mad frenzy. God help him! Jim was
the only thing he had in the world to
love. In less than five minutes he had
dragged him out, aud. sat down to hug
him in his arms. Dead? No; he could
just open his poor Justified eyes in
answer to his fathers whispers; but
we knew at once that he would never
again make the galleries echo his pierre
ing whistle
''For whole hours, I suppose.
neither of us attempted to realize our
situation. We sat ON in the dead ST.
lence, waiting for something to hap
pen. Once or twice we saw Young
Jim's blackened lips move feely, and
each time his father would mutter
brokenly. 'Ay, my precious boy, Wen
look after her!" Once the old man
broke out, quaveringly, into the hymn,
abide With MeP but he got no fur
ther than the third line. That, per-
haps, was about o'clock, but we
could keep no count of the time, as my
watch had stopped. Hour after hour
must have gone by, and still old jim
sat, with rigid face aud staring eyes,
clasping his burden. In all probability
it was morning above ground before at
last he spoke.
" How long can we hold out, Mr..
Carson? I'm afraid to go on. I've
been goddess man all my time.'
That reused me. 1 examined our
position carefully. The passage was
about eight yards wide at this point,
and measured about twenty PAGES from
the end to where that solid wall of
coal blocked our path to the outer
world. As the bore ran level with the
foot of the north shaft, we were about
forty feet below the clear surface. We
had no food, and our lamps would
burn, say, another five or six hours;
while the breathing air, hot and gas
eous already, would probably become
uncomfortable before the evening came.
That was our situation, and let any
man conceive a worse, if he can. One
slender chance of escape at the best
left; perhaps the entire passage was
not blocked, and We might force our
way to the main gallery was not
afraid of death in the way that it comes
to most people, but 1 was afraid to
meet and struggle with it there. We
sprang to the task, wild at the thought
that those few hours of stupor might
have made all the difference.
''You can guess what happened, and
why, after long spell of fighting TO
break through that horrible wall. old
Jim threw himself down with groan
and refused to go on. As fast as we
loosened one mass, another crashed
down in its place; at the end of our des-
perate attempt we were half choked
and blinded with dust, our hands were
raw and we had made scarce any head
way Barely, too, had we given up
the work as hopeless when my lamp
flickered' out; half an hour later, old
Jim's followed suit.
'Total oblivion! As 1 sat and con-
templated our fate, a faintness of
mingled hunger and despair crept over
me. Young Jim, quite still, was
propped up against the wall close BY.
Within few feet of me sat his father;
at times he would start up and shrek
out in nameless terror-at others he
would catch up his pick and hack at
the walls with the fury of a maniac.
And worse was TO come.
81 think 1 must have tainted. 1 dc
, not seem to recollect any more until
t the moment when became conscious
| of my mates hard breathing over me,
; and of the fact that his hand was feel
= ing-or, so it seemed-fotA Amy throat.
I dashed away, pantingHunder the
shock of this new horror.
I Jim, gasped, for Heavens
a sake keep sane Ii we're TO go, let us
die like menP
''No answer; heard him crawling
away, and that was all. The dead