The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1907-05-18

Near the bottom l discovered an angu-
lar fracture. With the crowDar we had
brought away from French Peters cave
| succeeded in wrenching out large
block of chalk, when to my great delight
| found that there was nothing below but
sand and shingle. showing that we had
come TO the bottom of the fallen cliff.
The disengaaed block l pcied into that
norton of the pit which had fallen IN
tbrough the action of the water as De-
ginning to the wall with which we had 10
surround the lower part, and then as
,toro was still water at the bottom l
fotcbed the bucket from the well, ana
oottino down again into the pit hlled It
With tbe loose sand, and pushed 1t up
while PSYCHE hauled from the top where
she emptied it. Working down lower
and lower. the vertical line that marked
tha bottom of the chalk became more
ond more distinct as the sand dropped
away from it's base. In a couple OF hours
7 had reached depth that seemed sum
c;ant to hermit of opening the lateral Dor
inc hit As it was necessary to secure
tho s;dps of the pit from falling in with
the next rising tide, we spent the reSs
of the morning in snoring 't rouho WIN
the barrel slaves, kept in place Dy Jumps
of chalk. which we rolled III IRON lns
great cave in the empty tubs. LIS was
hard work, and we had to Jose no Iline
for fear the water should rise before the
iob was done, but, happily, we got the
sides fairly well protected before the TIDE
rose 50 that | don't think there was
above a dozen bucketfuls OF SAND TO take
away when it fell again, and Inc pest
mart of this had washed in from under
the cliff in the direction our boring was
IN take. which was so much TO our au-
vantage.
had looked at my watch when the
r,otar d;soppeared from the bottom of the
pit. and again when 1t rose, ana lounu
that the interval between vas little
over four hours, 50 that we coulo reckon
on having eight hours uninterrupted Wolh
In the boring out Of the twenty-lour'
which left US sixteen for clearing away
the sand thrown up from the PIT, tor any
other incidental work, and for rest. Ana
in this order we worked thenceforth,
never failing to take advantage or low
wafer, ONLY that as the days went on
va found if necessary to change our
hours Of rc.s, sometimes sleeping in the
dov to take advantage of the ebb that
came in the night But this was of lit
tie consequence to us, for as we Durrow-
ed further under the cliff we worked con-
stantly by candle light and could make
night in the cave at any moment by SIM
ply blowing out the light
It must not be imagined that we had
l,,,Jeh;nc RI contend
with. We had to proceed like moles,
scraping the wet stuff away before us, ana
pushing it back until the bucket III our
rear wag full, when it had to be dragged
ont into the shaft and shot up TO the
surface. The mere labor of dragging the
stuff out and returning for more occu-
pied much time, and increased materlal-
" as we got further from the pit. At
one point we found our progress COM
pletely stopped by a rock embedded IN
the sand, and after attempting Tor three
DAYS to work it out by means or the
crowbar. we were forced to turn aside
and burrow round it. The rising tide
was continual source of trouble ana
anxiety, for besides washing III the sides
of our tunnel, it Slapped the snoring or
the pit, which gave way twice, despite
orr Watchfulness. In addition to this,
we were in continual dread of being
blocked in by the fall of the ragged
and UNEQUAL mass above us.
I shall never forget our horror one
night, on feeling a difficulty in breath
ing and observing our candle burn low.
On backing along the tunnel l discov-
cred that the thing | dreaded had come
to pass a mass of sand and shingle had
fallen in and completely blocked our
retreat. The more we thrust with our
feet the more compact the obstacle be-
came. The water was rising in front
of us. and it seemed inevitable that we
should be drowned like rats in a drain.
Every moment the difficulty of breathing
became greater, and an awful singing
in the head warned me that we were
being suffocated. 1t was the terrible
sensation we may all have experienced
in dreaming of being buried alive.
The water advanced steadily, but we
still stuck in the same place. We lay
in water up to our necks, Only keeping
our mouths free by raising cur heads
against the top of the tunnel To make
the horror greater, our light went out.
1 clasped Psyche's hand, thinking it
was all over, and resigned myself as
we'll as l could to the death that seemed
close at hand. But the water that threat
ened to drown us saved us BY loosening
the sand behind, and suddenly, to our
inexpressible relief, we breathed freely
as the sand melted away before the pres
sure of our feet When we got out into
the cave l fell upon my knees instinc-
lively, and knelt there, sick and trem-
bling with emotion, while Psyche raised
her little hymn of gratitude above me.
This terrible accident made me decide