The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-06-12

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years, but is it usual for a wife to wea
TWO wedding rings?"
Dead silence. He had just lowere
his violin, after a very soft solo-for j
was considerably past midnight whel
J yentWel that curious question
There hal been an evening party, and
as was TO stay at the house till morn
ing, Cagson's wife had said Goo,
night" 0ad left us to finish orr ineyita
bic smoke and talk. His moutl
tvitehed little, but it was some tim,
before he retorted in low tone:
''Is it usual for Il man well under
forty to have hair as white as mine?'
"Well, perhaps not-but l thought
| You attributed that to some shock Of
oSher What has that to do with
with the two rings3"
Everything" He listened at the
door for q moment, turned down the
lights and then came and sat down.
spreading his hands over the fire.
1.-Two rings? Exactly, one is the ring
put on her finger when l married
her; the second was put there by an
other man, and will stay there as long
as the first.
"Neyer mind now" 7 said. His
voice had trailed of husliily, 81 had
no idea there was any tragic element
behind the fact
Tragic? Heavens! 1t was more
thau that, Arthur, he whispered
turning up a drawn face. Il never
meant 10 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. I 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 eage-oll jim
Halliday, the foreman, his son jim.
and myself; the men had gone down
an hour before. ! 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
and she had ON her finger the ring that
lie had bought in Derby the day be-
fore Just for safety's sake, or perhaps
ont OF womanly pride Irecollect that
just MS the chain clanked and the win
ter sunshine was disappearing over
head, he shouted out third 'Good-bvp
to her little dreaming that it was
to be gOod-by. Little enough old Hal
hday and l thought that days would
elapse before we emerged into Gods
sunlight again!
GA 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 vards-a
piece Of work that had occupied us
nearly 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 o'clock that afternoon
We calculated roughly that we had
reached the limit laid down.
81 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-poohl YOU'RE
miles off it, dadn He was only
score Of yards of, though. 'Two-six-
ty-nine-two-seventy-four. Itll allow
Z full twenty yet, | recon
He had just finished his count when
but 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
md seemed to bring our hearts TO n
There was rumbling in
1ne Of the distant galleries, and sick
snins tremble of the ground under
heath us; then-then the most paralvz-
ng sound, | do believe. that is to be
leapd in this world. How or why it
lappened is something to be placed
mong the host Of unsolved mysteries.
mt there was one grinding, splinter ]
ng roar, as though the earth had split J
lto pieces.
Before we could stir hand or foot c
. save ourselves, before we could even
axe in that an explosion had occurred
nile We were guarding against an s
Their sort of danger down thundered L
mass Of coal, tons upon tons Of it,
nat blocked up the only passage lead t.
lg to the shaft It just reached L
Dung jim; standing where he did, he s
as struck down-we heard his screech I
flied beneath the debris. For about s.
We more seconds the earth seemed to n
o heaying and threatening universal q
laos; then all became still as a tomb. ii
a tomb We had our lamps; old
m and L looked, and saw that We Il
ere cut Oft from the rest Of the world. 81
"Whas happened next J hardly eli
low; I was Supplied with the shock. W
elk with mortal fear Of death. He q
ID ] stood staring mately Of each b