Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-06-15
HIS LITTLE
MESSENGER
IorlgInaLl


for v hat he is worth fme inieiiisvuou
Of rats Is youched for by their desert
ing sinking ships. and they '-ill MISC
leave n mine when there is danger
ahead. | once caught rat in trap
by the foreleg. and shall never for
get his expression. which said plainly:
I'm caught. DO please release me-"
Niles Hickman. miner. kissed his
young wife and baby one mornin<and,
going to the mine. was told there was
trouble on the third level and be was
to so down and investigate. Entering
the carriage, he was lowered TO the re-
CURED depth and walked along the
gangway til he came TO the entrance
OF chamber. Going TO the breast. he
was looking about him when suddenly.
behind him. there was a deHfenng
noise. a mass OF rock had fallen and
shut of egress from the chamber.
Hickman had two things OF value
with him-one lunch can. the other
his lamp. His first terror was that no
air could enter the chamber. but there
was small stream running through it,
aud this treasured him. There was
| nothing TO do but wait till he was
missed, and even then no one would
| know where to look for him. How
ever. there was nothing for it bu. to
| begin a patient wait for release or
death. and. blowing out his light to
save OIL he sat down despondently.
with his head between his hands.
Presently something ran over his
| foot. Hickman lighted his lamp. and
there before him was rat looking az
The living thing. though only rat.
| was companionable, and Hickman
wished to keep it by him. so he picked
| it up, fondled 1t and gave IL a bite
| from his lunch can. 1t occurred TO him
| that possibly the rat might be made
available in carrying message. TAX
| ing from his pocket a bit of an old let
| ter. he wrote on 1t that he was impris-
oned In Brlnton's chamber, on the third
level, and, tearing strip from his
| clothing, tied the message about the
rats neck. Then he hunted about for
hole, but didn't find any, so he let the
| rat go its own way, and 1t went to a
corner lying in shadow. where there
was hole, and disappeared.
| 1t was then that Hickman remem-
bered that few people ever see rat
| without killing ii, and this took away
| from his expectation that his device
| would be effective. Still, the rat hay
ing been killed. the message tied to its
neck might be noticed.
The hours passed, and there was no
change, only the darkness, not Il sound.
| Hickman opened his lunch can and ate
sparingly, Then he lighted his lamp
and took out his watch TO note the
time. II was o'clock. He had been
imprisoned nearly ten hours. Putting
out his lamp. he continued his waiting
lii darkness He had only so much oil
and that might be necessary to save
his life. His ears We're constantly
strained to hear some sound TO indicate
that his comrades were digging him
out. There was nothing to disturb the
stiffness.
For five hours longer he waited, then
lit his lamp again and looked at his
| watch. 1t was o'clock. Going to the
wall, he put his ear against it. There
was sound of many picks, faint, but
unmistakable. What did 1t mean? The
mine was not being worked at night.
These picks must be worked for a spe-
cial purpose.
Turning he saw his friend the rat
looking up at him. In his joy at see
ing the creature he took it up to pet it.
and his fingers became entangled in a
thread. An end was tied about the
rats neck, and the thread extended
into the darkness. He followed it TO
the hole through which the rat had
gone out-and of course had come in
and began to pull on it gently. After
pulling in more than a dozen yards of
thread a string followed, which was
Joined to Irvine To the farther end
| of the Irvine was tied a dozen feet of
| iampwick, saturated with oil, and be-
| yOnd this a roll of cotton cloth the
shape of bologna sausage containing
| food. There was also contained in the
roll a note stating that the prisoner
would be dug out, but that it would
| take a long while to do it.
| Never did mans heart go out to one
OF the brute creation as Hickman's
| went to this rat Though to divide
his provisions with it might endanger
his life, he took out bread and meat
and fed his little messenger. Then he
put his ear again TO the wall and lis
| tened to the music of the picks.
| Hickman had no knowledge of the
volume that had fallen between him
and the shaft and was not prepared
for the slow advance his rescuers were
making. Every few hours he would
put his ear to the wall, but twenty
four hours passed without any appreci-
| able increase in the sound. He kept
his little preserver by him, dividing
his scanty provisions with it. fearing
that II would go away for food and
not return. Two days passed before
4 4. Il s.ya