The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1925-12-18
The Man in
the Pit
q. 1925. weston Newspa per Union
BY F. H. SWEET

MULDOON looked at the man stead
AvA lily. his eyes narrowing.
An pwhat can We do?' he de
manded
Anything, boss" eagerly-"that is.
I'll be after tryin' anything. Ye see
I'm temp'ralIy eInbar-"
How long will ye stay?'
AS longs yell kape me- Ye see"
Well call II u week 10 start. lf
ye're worker. we'll make iongei
contract. Hennessy." raising his voice
'.Soor:" from somewhere below
a week. yelled Mul,loon Says he
can do anything Pu. him TO II
"Hennessy's me pit foreman ex
planned Muldoon TO the new man
He's the devils driver for shirk. bu,
good friend to the worker. IT is a
flea In your ear. An ye'd better walk
down the slope to the pit careful. f0,
I Is clay an soft an wet.
Mudoon fingered near the top Of the
slope. with his back turned. but see
ing out of the corners Of his eyes.
Being so difficult TO get into the pi:
and out, the foreman and his men re-
mained down there through the week.
only coming out Saturday nights to
clean up and draw their pay.
Muldoon hardly visited the slope
again during the week. There were
plenty of things TO be overlooked
about the big contract
But he was near the slope when the
men pulled themselves UP one by one
over a rope ladder, flung down the
slope for the purpose.
With the ladder hauled up, there
was practically no escape. The new
man had stumbled and slid down. but
he could not slide back.
He came up the ladder several men
behind Hennessy, on whom he kept a
cautious and apprehensiye glance. But
as soon as the pit foreman turned
away, he whirled gloweringly to Mul-
doom
II want me wages" he stormed. "Ye
sent me down there UNDERSTANDINGS,
We did so. Look at me, stick Of mud
The clothes were worth more than the
wages. Yen pay for them"
"Hennessy mentioned ye stole some
tasty vittles that were his"
"A workin' man Is provided with his
eatin's"
Il do so provide, literally an Of
80
if yell answer questions I'll pass over
the stealin'. What's your name?"
"M-Mike Terney."
"Ye do not look like Mike. Try
ag'in."
what ye maneT
"Hennessy," called Muldoon, Come
here minute. The new man Is think
in mebbe he'll go down In the pit for
another week, without cleanin' up. Is
any grub down there for him TO eat
over Sunday?"
Plenty"
81 will not 30 90 down ever agm,
declared the man venomously.
What is your name?"
The man shot q yelled look at Null
doon's big frame and steady gaze. and
at Hennessy's sc0wl.
''The-the truth Is Pat Mora" he
muttered.
"Ye don't look 1t. Try jest once
more, or the pit for mebbe a month"
"Weli, then, I is Barney Swanan.
devil take ye."
"T Is better. Now what sort OF u
colleen did ye court in Ireland. an
how did We make out7"
II have no use for cOlleens." sui
lenly.
"Hennessy."
IL did court the prettiest girl in
lin Cork" hurriedly. ''aE married her
and brought her to America. But who
the blazes are We. wantin' TO know 80
much?"
"Ye mistake In Cork. Barney.
Seems I was in Athole belize. Tell
the truth. What did We do with the
coleeni Mind, the pit Is much the
same as the bigger one ye're goin' To
by an by. A month in the little one
will learn ye the ways OF the big.
Answer me. An was there another
rival ye?"
"The-There was q big gOssoon that