The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-03-25
10 the abyss for the last coming Of

lnuo inc dpysS IOI INC ldSt coming Oh
the car.
How slowly the drum revolved! How
blistering hot the draughts came fror 4.
the pit! The engine stopped. The car
was up, and the two men who had gone
down to save the man who might have
saved himself at the expense of an
Others life, lay unconscious at the bot
tom.
They were quickly lifted out. then a
black and smoking heap was discovered
beneath them. IL was Rufus Hinton.
Tie clothes were burned TO shreds.
The hands were blaclSened and blis-
tered. the wayy brown hair was crisped
to the skull, an. there was hardly a
feature recognizable.
"Take him to his own ROOM" cried
Kate, when the men would have car
red him to the store.
Black Hollow had telegraphic COM
munication with the outer world; this
WINS used TO call doctors, and swift
sleighs were sent out TO summon
others.
Kate forced some stimulants between
the bed. 1.-Two men dead at the store"
whispered some one. Rufus must have
heard this for he gasped-duty still in
his mind.
"Close the mouth of the shaft-the
mine is on firel"
When the two doctors came, Kate
withdrew TO the deserted ballroom.
Fred Bradford followed and tried to
comfort her.
"Such things will happen" he said.
"It might have been worse. The great
fear is that the property will be de-
stroyed."
Kate looked at him in a puzzled way, ,
but made no response. He would have
been less comfortable had she spoken
her thoughts.
When dawn came TO Black Hollow.
DR.. Wilson. who had known Kate since
the hour Of her birth, came to her and
said:
Another man would have been dead
before he left the pit"
"But he will live ?" she asked, eagerly.
"There is a chance for ii, but"
"But what, doctor?"
'It might be better for himself II
the end came now"
'What do you mean?"
Ellis hands are SO frightfully burned
that they may never be Of use, and his
eyes"
Ellis eyes?"
swell. they appeared to be destroyed.
Poor fellow! Crippled and blind. what
il life under such circumstances"
ut is everything 10 me-" she ex-
claimed. II have eyea and hands, il
God answers my prayer and saves
him"
The doctor looked Mt her admiringly,
and said:
IF Mr.. Hinton knew that, 1t would
do more than oil the doctors can to
hold him to life"
The shock told SO on Peter Grier that
he was seized with apoplexy, and died
q few days after.
Kate's character came out wonder
fully under the burden OF her trials.
In her duty to the dead, she did not
lose sight Of her love for the living.
Rufus Hinton's mother and sister
came up to the mountains TO nurse him.
After painful months he grew strong
enough to creep about, cropping his way
in the house. and guided by other hands
when he went abroad. The company
generously paid the doctors bills. and
theyoupg man, poor, crippled and blind,
felt himself adrift and moro than help
less. He was taken to his mothers
humble home at Scranton to face the
black future.
Kate sold the Luzerne house to the
company, but it did not benefit them,
for the mine continued TO burn and was
never worked again.
"And where are you going?" asked
Dick Bradford on the eve OF Kate's de-
Parture from Black Hollow.
"To Scranton was her reply.
"Will it not be better to come to
WilkesbaTe, as my wife?"
NO"
do you mean it?" he demanded,
nngrily..
II do, Mr.. Bradford. The truth of il
is. your love is blind; SO is mine. That
is ALL"
Kate went to Scranton at once. She
asked TO make her homo with Mrs Hin
ton, and was not refused.
One evening in midsummer she guided
Rufus TO grove on hill overlooking
the beautiful river. and still holding
the hand, so precious for its scars, she
said
II have long known how you felt to-
wards me, Rufus
But it is only OF late that have
known how you regarded me-" he inter-
rupted. huskily.
II have enough money to keep MS all
in a modest way and 20 complete Elias
education az the Normal School. But.
dear heart, ! have not given up the hope
of restoring your sight"
Kate led him up TO the crest Of tho
hill. The sun Ind gone down in great
trI. II H.. Al. .l.