The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-05-06

DICK and TOTEn' against tine SIDES OF
the black, rocky shaft like the weight
at the end of wildly-swinging pendu-
lum. Mately was flung free Of the
treacherous vehicle, but chung to the
cable, and swung to and fro. Fear
distorted his face, and fear weakened
his fingers, I'm goin', Larry! | can't
hang -on!' he gasped, with quicken
ing breath.
With crushing force he struck the
wall, and, half-stunned, felt his fingers
relax. But Corrigan, big, powerful,
and young, with the joy of living full
in his veins, seized him at the belt
with his right hand. aFs.f @5. -.
Not by whole lot, yet!'he gritted,
between his teeth Hard set. 'NowH
HE flung all his great strength into
one supreme effort, his muscles stood
out layer upon layer, and the veins
of his neck swelled to bursting. Bend
your legs-quick! Steady now. That's
1t. That's the stuff There was
something like exultationa in his voice
as Matley, lifted by that mass of mus
Gle, crooked his trembling knees and
Slipped his feet into the tub again.
Now Matley, shiyering like aterrified
child, his nerve gone, huddled limp,
weak, and broken, moaning piteously,
his arms about Corrigan's waist
Hang it, brace up, Tommy Corri-
gan chided him. 'Soons that old scrap
heap gets goin' right we'll go up nice
and easy There's time yet. To his
disgust, Matley burst into sobs.
We're gonners, Larry! Well be
blowed up!> Oh, wish l hadn't come
on this shift. l felt something was
goin' to happen. AND | amt ready to
got God forgi-
Shut up!' snapped Corrigan. God'H
forgive us this day If 1t comes I'd that.
You needn't shout your head off,
The cable trembled, and, with a
sense of utter hopelessness, they rea-
lized that they were going down.
| MatleX broke into, renewed lamenta-
tions, a. word of prayer choking in his
throat. Corrigan was silent. The
strain told on him, iron as his nerves
were. Each second marked an age of
mental torture, and weakness of
which he was ashamed .crept over him.
Yet he held Matley at the belt with a
grip that death alone might break.
Down, down, until Corrigan fancied
he could hear the kissing of the fuse
He even wondered in a dazed, care
less way, why the shots had not gone
off before. The fuse seemed to last
uncommonly well. Perhaps they had
cut it longer than usual. The descent
ended. God alone knew the moment
when the explosives would rend the
earth, scattering bits of bucket and
what had once been men to the collar
| of the shaft.
Pray now, Tommy, if you ever
prayed in your life!' Corrigan said,
very quietly. It's all up
Even as Matley cried a broken pray
er through his tears, there came jar,
a jerk, sharp, but followed by no mad
| rush. Swiftly, surely, they mounted
again towards the white patch of sun
| light. .
God hears! God hearst shrieked
Matley.
a44f sis
Thrilling as were the events III. the
darkness of the shaft, equally start
/ ling was the scene enacted at the sur
| face.
! Through the manzanita led the path
| to the cottage of the boss, Jim Conner
| straight past the shaft which the Bo,
nanza Company was putting down,
some distance below the main work
ings on the higher slope of the noun
tain, to prove. the superintendent be-
i lief in the continuity offthe ledge! On
the fiat below lay the town. The grass
lay brown and burned on the hills,
and the sun of midsummer day
poured mercilessly down on the sheet
| iron engine-house by the side of the
deep hole. Kitty .Connor, presiding
queen of her widowed fathers cottage,
came up the path from an errand of
mercy to the Penberthy's, having
called with a delicacy for Boy
| Henry who had fallen from a truck
at the 500 few days before. Kitty
| Conner, with her winsome face, CHEEKY
word, and laughing grey-green Irish
eyes, good angel to the sick and in
| jured boys of the Bonanza, had in
every man of them devout. wor-
shipper. If she. thought of Corrigan
and last night, one could not have
guessed it now. for. hot as it was, she
came along humming quaint ditty
with a delicious Tilt to it..
| The bell changed as she approached
the ,engine-house. !. Instinctiyely she
stopped, counting. Three brazen notes
rang out. Man to be .hoisted,' they
said, warning. the engineer to haste
and care. No whirr of machinery
followed. Once again, and third
time the code of the miner spoke from
the depths below, amid the same mys-
FERROUS silence. The engine, the en-
| CINE! The girl realized that unless
it became infused with life at once
death awaited the men now vainly
signalling. This, she knew, was the
hour for the afternoon blasts, and she
also knew who was on the shift. The
blood fled her cheeks, frightened
look crept into her eyes, and with
wildly-beating heart, she started for
ward.
What had happened? Where was
old Sipple, the hoisting engineer?
| She wondered as she ran. She
| reached the open side of the shed, her