The Opelousas courier., 1897-07-24

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tNfHq >mAAE~, cigar, perhaps
IN kiVR>r~\ ought not to ask
I'm IL. ~ known you TO.
So: e~ nearly three
years, but is it usual for a wife to veal
two wedding rings?"
Dead silence. He had Just lowered
his violin, after a very soft solo--for i
was considerably past midnight wher
1 ventured that curious question.
There had been an evening party, and
as [ was to stay at the house till morn
ing, Carson's wife had said "Goot
night" and left us to finish our ~inevita
BILE smoke AID talk. His mouth
! twitched q little, but it was some time
before he retortel in a low tone:
SIS it usual for o man we'll under
forty to have hair as white as mine?'
"Well, perhaps not-but I thought
you attributed that to some shock OF
other. What has that to do with
with the two rings?"
Everything" He listened at the
door for a moment, turned down the
lights and then came and sat down,
spreading his hands over the fire.
"Two rings? Exactly, n is the ring
[ put on her finger when [ married
her; the second was put there by an.
other man, and will stay there as long
as the first"
"Never mind now," I said. His
voice had trailed off huskily. IT had
no idea there was any tragic element
behind the fact"
"Tragic? Heavens! 1t was more
than that, Arthur" he whispered,
turning up a drawn face. 81 never
meant to touch upon it, but when you
spoke it came back with a rush as vivid
as if [ had been standing at the mouth
of the old north shaft again. And that
was six years ago.
you've heard me speak at least, of
the mine itself-the Langley Mine, in
Derbyshire. [ had only been assistant
surveyor at the pits there for about
nine months when it happened. At 9
o'clock that morning, Arthur, three of
US stepped into the cage-old Jim
Halliday, the foreman, his son Jim,
and myself; the men had gone down
an hour before. I shall never forget
that young Jim's sweetheart had
walked over to the pit with him, as she
occasionally did. They were to be
married in a week or two, and she
aud she had on her finger the ring that
he had bought in Derby the day be-
fore-iust for safety's sake, or perhaps
out Of womanly pride. Irecollect that
just as the chain clanked and the win
ter sunshine was disappearing v
head, he shouted out a third Goodbye
to her little dreaming that it was
to be good-by. Little enough old Hal
liday and I thought that days would
elapse before we emerged into Gods
sunlight again!
"A new vein had been bored the
year before, and then abandoned be-
cause it ran in the direction of the
river. We three had had instructions
to widen it for a space of 800 yards-a
piece Of work that had occupied us
nearly a a month. Old Jim picked
and young Jim wheeled the coal away
to the nearest gallery, from where It
was carried over rails to the bottom of
the main shaft.
"Well, by 4 o'clock that afternoon
we calculated roughly that we had
reached the limit laid down.
"sI think it's as near as possible.
Mr.. Carson old Halliday said. Jim,
give, another count, we don't want the
water coming in.'
Jim went back. We could hear
him singing out the PAGES in his light
hearted fashion as he returned. his
voice echoing through the long CALLER
les. 'Two-sixty-nine-pooh! you're
miles off it, dadr He was only q
score of yards off, though. 'Two-six-
y-nine-two-seventy-four. TIL allow
q full twenty yet, I recon-
He had just finished his count when
there, no man could properly
describe it. It was something one
had to realize for himself before he
could Understand a bare half Of the
sudden terror that whitened our Inns
and seemed to bring our hearts to a
There was a rumbling in
one Of the distant galleries, and a sick
ening tremble of the ground under
meath us; then-then the most p~aralyz-
sound, I do believe, that is to be
heard in this world. How or why it
happened is something to be placed
among the host of unsolved mysteries;
but there was mi grinding, splinter
ing roar, as though the earth had split
INTO pieces.
Before w could stir Hand or foot
% save ourselves, before we could even
AXE in that an explosion had occurred
While we were guarding against an
'ther sort of danger, down Numbered
|. mass of coal, tons upon tons of it,
hat blocked up the only passage lead
ng to the shaft. It just reached
'oung Jim; standing where he did, he
vas struck down-we heard his screech
titled beneath the debris. For about
more seconds the earth seemed to
e heaving and threatening universal
haos; then all became still as a tomb.
"A tomb! We had our lamps; old
and I looked, and saw that we
cut off from the rest of the world.
What happened next I hardly
now; 7 was Supplied with the shock,
with q mortal fear of death. He
! stood starilg mutsly at each