The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-06-18
1.-TWO q RINGS.-@



jim" AMI staggered back 10 that black
pile The boys hand was sticking out
from! the bottom Of ii. clutching con-
vgi!sively al nothing l sat down aud
watched. IL z sort OF dreary fascina-
ton. as old .IiEl uttering strange cries.
tore at the mass in mad frenzy God
help him. jim was the only thing ne
+ had in The world 10 love. In less than
five minutes he had dragged him out.
and Sac down 10 hug him in MS arms.
Dead: No; he ccald JUST open his
poor dust filed eyes il answer 10 his
fathers whispers; bur we knew at
once that he would never again make
the galleries echo his piercing whistle.
For whole hours. / suppose. neither
Of Us attempted 10 realize our situation.
We sat on in the dead silence, waiting
for something 10 happen.
Once or twice we saw young Jiu1's
biacEened lips move feebly, and each
time his father would mutter brokenly.
'Ay, my precious boy, we'u look after
her.
Once the old man broke out, CULVER
ingly into the hymn, Abide with Me.n
but he got no further than the third
line. That, perhaps, was about s
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
and staring eyes, claspiDg his burden.
In all probability Il was morning above
ground before at last he spoke.
" How long can We hold out, Mr.. Car
son: I'm feared 10 20. I've been
goddess man all my time
THAT aroused me. l 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 gaseous al
ready, would probably become unen-
durable before the evening came. That
was our situation, and let any man CON
ceiVe worse if he can One slender
chance Of escape at the best left: per-
haps the entire passage was not block
ed, 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 I was afraid TO meet and
struggle with 1t there We spranc to
the task. wild al the thought that those
few hours Of stupor might have made
all the difference.
You can guess what happened, and
why, after a long spell of fighting to
break through that horrible wall. old
Jim threw himself down with a groan
and refused to go on.
''As fast as we looseued one mass
another crashed down in its place; at
the end Of our desperate attempt we
We're half choked and blinded with
dust, our hands We're raw and we had
mad" scarce any headway
Barely, too, had we given up the
work as hopeless when my lamp flick
cred out: half an hour later old .Ji1n's
followed suit.
Total oblivion. AS ! sat and con-
tcinplatcd our fate. faintncss of min
glel hunger and despair crept over me.
Young Jim. quite still, was propped I'D
against the wall close by.
within a few feet Of me sat his
father: at times he would start ND and
Shrek out in namcless tcrror-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 | must have tainted. I do
not seem to recollect any more until the
moment when | became conscious of
| my mate's hard breathing over me, and
Of the fact that his hand was feeling
! or, 50 it secmcd-for my throat. I
dashed away. painting under the shock
of this new horror.
"'.Iim,' l gasped.. for heavens sake,
| keep sane. If we're to go, let us die
! like men,,
"No answer; l heard him crawling
away. and that was all The dead
I silence was only broken by a faint
/ trickling sound. Trickling!
Yes; put my hand to the level and
found half an inch Of watcr-and hot
| Lcf ana more StlllllS grew Ile atlnOS-
phere. Praying hard to myself, I re-
allied now that. should no help come,
only a few hours could live bctwixt us
and the end And then-old Jim might
go first, and I should be left. Nay,
was already practically alone; the fea1
that was slowly whitening my hair and
turned old Jim's brain
"He suddenly sent up peal Of de
lirious laughter. Water! Who says
water? Why, mates, Pm swimming il
it! Here's go.'
presently he began creeping roun(
= find me. l could hear him coming
by his labored respiration, and swish
ing of the OOZc as he moved.
"Round and round the space we wen
stcalthly, until al last he made a Gun
ming rush and caught me by the ankle
Got him" He yelled it with glee tina
WsS unmiStakable.
"Merc words could never convey th'
sensation of that moment. Half suf
focatcd, past all ordinary fear, closet
with my poor old mate, and we Wen