The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-11-01

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Eve might as well 60 down
now" he ventured.
From a wardrobe room he
brought forth yellow slickerS and
yellow hats resembling so'westerS
and when the girls had donned
these, led them to the collar Of the
mine, a great gaping hole which
seemed filled with a rushing, roar
1.-THE skip" he explained. "Ele-
vators to you. They are evidently
passing in the shaft"
AS he spoke, one shot up towards
them at such a speed that Kath-
leen stepped back.
1t looked like a mammoth ex-
press elevator to Kathleen and
seemed to stop on two levels. The
lower opened onto chute on the
opposite side. Ore cars were rolled
out to release their burden to the
waiting freight car below.
Thet upper cage opened towards
them and two men in leather
coats and miners cups stepped out.
"Muckers, probably going to the
commissary." Kit-Smyth explain
ed, and ushered the girls into the
compartment.
Better take my arm on this first
trip" he suggested.
Bridget complied, but Kathleen
set her heels sturdily. This was her
mine. She'd let no cage destroy
her morale. a..
. And then the earth gave way
and with it daylight. Down they
shot at a terrifying speed. Black
walls gave way to splashes of light
at regular intervals. sxGfs. o-g )
IS ,tatio ms" e1ueidated kit
Smyth. Every hundred feet.
Pump stations. You-know we must
keep pumping constantly to keep
the drifts from flooding"
Angus!
X ATHLEEN might have counted
IN twenty-five stations had she
been concerned with anything
other than keeping her breath in
its accustomed place. She knew
she was suffecating. She wanted,
terribly, to reach out for the assur-
ance Of Kit-Smyth's arm, some
thing more human than the iron
bar she clutched.
She had one moment of paralyz.
ing fear as she visualized the walls
of the shaft caving in. imprisoning
them, cutting off the sky and the
sunlight but principally the
air ). for all time.
Air" she ventured. "How does
one"
Pumps again." answered the
superintendent. ''I'll show you the
winch when we go top-side again.
Air must be forced through at a
terrific pressure to break the damp
air; the foul air. It's poisonous"
Kathleen offered prayer that
nothing would happen to the
pumps until she reached the sur
face again.
Relax" ordered Kit-Smyth.
Kathleen promptly stiffened and
knew that her heels had come up
through her ankles. She found the
cage had stopped with devastating
abruptness.
For moment she waited, look
ing ahead. Surely this was some
thing Milton had dreamed about
when he wrote Paradise Lost"
This queer low dark tunnel with
its dots of yellow light, cleaning
Enthusiastically along the floor. The
dots she learned were electric
lights: the CLEAN, the tracks along
which ran the ore cradles.
Again she refused Kit-Smyth's
arm and stumbled along in his
wake. The men were lunching in
the tunnel just off the .'stope."
Kathleen noticed now that the
walls and ceiling were heavily TIM
bered. This gave her some assur-
ance of safety until she realized
how deep in the earth they were
and how many tons Of rock lay
above them.
And then they came into what
Kit-Smyth called a kidney" and
she felt better. This was an oval
opening. the ceiling lost in dark
ness. the floor piled with muck. AT
the tunnel end the muckers sat
hunched over tin buckets, one a
little apart from the rest Of the
shift. nCe
Kit-Smyth had said they were
working this spot and Kathleen
forgot everything else. Scarcely
aware of the silent audience she
moved close to wall and scanned
it closely. Without a light playing
on II, it looked like nothing at all.
So this was a gold minel The
Golden Girl, the mine whose name
had been bestowed upon her.
Where wac the gold?
Hands clasped behind her back,
heels planted sturdily, she stood
thinking of what Bridget had said.
Wanting to laugh at the visions
she had previously had. Of a great
glowing cave and miners chipping
the gold off the walls in rocks.
And then she stiffened in alarm.
August" The man who had sat
apart was on his feet: was coming
towards her. ripping off his cap
with one hand. the other out
stretched. "Oh. Angus, I knew
you'd come. I've been praying"
With one swift motion Kathleen
ripped of the rubber hat and her
curis caught the CLEAN of a lamp:
revealed the femininity OF her face.
"Balmy!" kit-Smyth's voice