The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1897-05-01


sound, the rope slackened, and
"Oh, heavens"
Annie Barton started forward, her
face blanehed and look of horror glaz-
ing her wide-open eyes.
Hiram Adams staggered as though
shot. Then man spoke:
THE bucket has capsized-strucl< the
partition. The boy has fallen out!"
Women tainted. strong men grew
weak and shuddered, as they thought
of the explosion that was now eX-
pected every moment.
The suspense was terrible. a boy,
perhaps mangled and helpless, was ~
ing at the bottom of the shaft. and the
fuse was burning slowly toward the
mass of powder.
Courage, Annie I'll save him!'
1t was Hiram Adams who spoke. In
second he had regained his presence
of mind, and now, running his arm
through the loop of lantern, he leaped
over the box which surrounded the
opening of the Shaft, crying to the ter
ror-stricken miners:
Hold tight till l reach the bucket,
then lower me like lightning to the
bottom!"
He grasped the. rope, twined his legs
around it, then slid downward. The
rough rope cut his hands, but he did
not feel the pain.
Down, down, like flash he descend
ed through the darkness-down to his
helpless friend and to the match which
was slowly but surely burning its way
toward the powder.
Thank heaven! He has reached the
bucket! Another instant he has
reached the bottom of the shaft! Is he
too late? 1t is time for the explosion
hush!
A cold perspiratiop broke out on
every brow. There was an awful ST.
lence down below and silence up above.
Annie Barton tried to pray.
The agony of suspense was terrible.
Men could hear each others hearts beat
in the awful stiffness. Would the end
never come?
As he reached the bottom, one glance
told him all. His friend was stunned
and senseless.
He leaped from the bucket, and the
light of the lantern showed him the
place where the fusee had been laid.
The glimmering 1ttle line of fire
was within an inch of the train of pow
der.
Another second and there would be a
flash, an explosion louder than thunder,
and then the walls round about would
be shattered into thousand fragments.
One little inch of the fusee stood be-
tween two human beings and fright
frl death.
With a cry the boy sprang forward
He pressed his smarting hands upon the
last particle of the burning match, and
he lay there for moment with clenched
teeth and suspended breath. Then he
arose.
Huzza! The fusee was eXtinguished,
anud he and his friend were safe.
He lifted the inscnsible form of John
Barton into the bucket and gave the sig
nal to be drawn up.
What thrill OF JOY ran through every
heart when the watchers in the sunlight
saw that welcome sign. How the men
worked at the crank! How long the
seconds seemed, while the buckets as
cended up, up, up! until cheer such as
men never before uttered burst from
the assembled miners, when they saw,
rising out of the earth, the figure OF
Hiram Adams supporting his insensblc
friend.
"He is not dead-only stunned" were
the young hero's first words, when gen
tie hands relieved him of his burden and
men crowded around him with loud con-
gratulations and women kissed him in
the eXuberance of their joy.
But when Hiram saw the glad light
leap into Annie Barton's eyes, and the
warm, red flush suffuse her cheeks
when he marked the silent look of
speeches. gratitude she gave him-he
felt more than rewarded for his act Of
heroism in rescuing friend fromdeath.
The sequel to my story is simple one.
Besides a broken arm and a few ugly
bruises, John Barton sustained no seri-
Gus injuries, and in few days he was
once more himself.
Both he and his friend received lucra-
tive clerkships in the Office of the com
pany, and few years later, pretty An
ME Barton became the wife of Hiram
Adams, the preserver of her brothers
life. .... ...
And so it happened that neither of the
two friends had reason to regret the
fca. full peril they encountered when,
on one memorable April day, they were
brought face TO face with death down
in a coal mine.-Golden Days.
An Old Record.
Some of the antiouities of this coun-