THE OREGON SUNDAY. JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY, MORNING,!, NOVEMBER 23
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i MINE
IMPRISONED
in
ft
By Caroline Abbot Stanley.
did not know much about prayer, but it was a straw,
and he was a drowning man. ", '
"I know my- mother .will,"- said Bert, positively;
"and I believe your wife will." .; ,
"I don't know as" she 'd know how.", Hyler spoke
doubtfully. "She ain't had much time for prayin' an'
all them thingshavin such a raft o' young ones to
look after an' so much to da She 's had a hard life,
Lizy has." ,
- Then h sat upr and said, with little catch m his
voice : "I tell you, ' boy, ef I was out of this I 'd
give her a ' different sort of life from the. one she 's
had!" "
Thus passed the long, long night away. They talked
and dozed and dreamed ana woke to wish their sleep
had never ended. Finally, worn out with it all, they
T was the hour for the three o'clock shift. The
half-dozen men gathered in the shaft-house of
the Bon Air Mine went, one by pne, to thi box
of candles ; each put four candles in the pocket
of his rubber coat, and stood by the shaft. , The
bell clanged ; they stepped inside the cage, and
the engineer lowered theni. into 'the depths of
the earth.
' As they dropped slowly down the shaft, a bulge in
the timbers caught the eye of one of the men.
I "That place will make trouble some day." he said.
j "Why don't they fix it?" asked a young fellow of
Inineteen or twenty, Bert Frain by name.
j "It costs money to re-timber mines."
"But if it's dangerous" he persisted.
A man beside him gave a harsh laugh. "The danger's
to the men, not the Company; so what do they care?"
"I guess they care something for the lives of their
den," said the youth, indignantly.
"They don't, I can tell you. You're green, boy.
They don't' care for nothin' but the almighty dollar.
You an' me might drop to the bottom of this, here shaft,
an' the boss would'nt stop to pick up unless we was
in the way of the ore-cars."
"I lon't believe it." .
"You ain't lived in this world as long as I have," re
sponded Hylcr, grimly. "You'd know more if you had."
"Better riot know so much than to know o much
that ain't so," retorted the young man.
In the laugh that followed, the cage reached the four-jliundred-foot
level, and the men turned into the tun
nel, going to work with pick and shovel
At the close of working-hours they stood at the shaft
again, waiting to go up, the loaded cars beside them.
"Say, boys, said the -old miner, "ef these cars go up
toow, some of us will have to wait till the next trip."
"Go ahead," said Hyler. "I've got to go back for my
coat, anyway."
I Bert Frairr stepped off. "I'm in no hurry. I'll wait
rith Hylcr."
1 The cage rose slowly, and the two men walked back
'to the drift where Hyler had been at work. They were
returning " leisurely when they heard a crash. They
rushed to the shaft, expecting to see a fallen cage and
four mangled men. Instead, there was nothing to be
seen but a mass of earth and timbers. The shaft had
caved in!
They stared at it a moment in silence. Then they
turned ghastly faces toward each other.
"Hyler!" the boy stepped close to him arid spoke in
a half-whisper "surely they'll get us out?"
The man shook his head. "They can't! That shaft
may be half full."
"But we can help ! We can shovel the dirt into the
cars aqd run them back into the tunnel. and empty
them. Then if they dig from the top "
Hyler interrupted him : "How long do you s'pose
Vic could shovel dirt and lift timbers without anything
to eat?" v
The younger man was silent. "How long would It
take them to clean out the shaft, supp06in' it ttai
half full?" he asked.
"Longer 'n me and you'd hold out," said Hyler, with
the calmness of despair. "No, boy; we're dead men
caught like rats in a trap!"
Then he cursed the Company and their own unhappy .
fate.
"Hyler," jaid Bert, at last, "they certainly will not
leave us here to die. They'll put all hands at work to
idig us out. Surely"
"They don't know we're alive, I tell you. We was
Standin' right by the shaft. They'll think we're dead
now." Despair was settling down upon the older man;
but youth is always hopeful.
"I'm going to dig," said Bert. He found an empty
ore-car, and worked with the energy of desperation.
"Come on, Hyler ; don't let's give up !"
Momentarily strengthened by his companion's cour
age, Hylcr took his shovel and began to work. He laid
'it down in a few minutes.
"'Tvaint no use, boy !" he said. "Might as well try to
dip Salt Lake dry with a pint cup t"
But Bert , worked on. He stopped at last, overcome
with exhaustion. He could hardly see that he had
made an impression. Then the full horror of their sit
uation came upon him, and he sank to the ground.
"If they coull only know that we are alive!" he
groaned, "perhaps they could do something."
His shovel fell from his grasp, and struck against
the iron water-pipe, making a sharp clang. The sound
fell upon a brain growing benumbed, and electrified it
He sprang up excitedly.
"Hylcr! Hyler! We can let them know we are
alive by the pipe! Don't you know the earth carries
sound ?" " He was wild with joy at the thought of com- '
' municating with the world above.
They rapped, then listened, then rapped again. No
sound but their own labored breathing.
"Harder! harder!" and they. rained blows upon the
heavy iron.
The pipe was one used for draining the mine, and led,
directly to the shaft-house above. Bert's hope was that
some one might hear the rapping, and understand that
they were alive. As the minutes went, by, however,
and there was no answering signal, hope turned to fear, ;
and fear to the agonizing conviction that their signals
' had not been heard by those above. ;'
v "It would n't do no good, nohow," said "Hyler
despondently. "Wc 're bound to starve before that
Hhaft can' be dus outl"
, ' -
ll I till 4V' - ill
Rp
11 h IIMW,-.
AS THE MEN APPEARED,- A SHOOT WENT UP.
They fell back then against, the walls of the tunnel,
and sat in silence Bert thinking of life and all it had
promised, Hyler thinking of his wife and children.
How long they sat there they never knew. They
had no watches, and no way of telling day from night
After a while Hyler blew out his candle, muttering
something about saving it, and Bert looked up with a
frightened face. He had heard of men eating candles
in extremity; was this what Hyler was thinking? He
went back to the drift And collected a lot of the old
ends. It seemed they had been there for hours when
Hvler asked if he had 'matches.
He felt in his xxktt. "Yes, i have." "Blow out
your light, then, and lc 's go to bed. We 11 sleep
all we can."
They lay on the hard floor, their coats under their
heads, and tried to sleep. Bert crept close to Hyler,
and Hyler did not repulse him. The longing for hu
man touch was upon them both. Then exhaustion
overpowered them, and they dozed fitfully. ,
But their sleep was a nightmare. From a horrid
dream Bert woke to a reality not far different The
darkness was insupportable, the silence such as chills.
A' cold sweat stood on his face in beads, and a shiver
ing fell upon him. -
'H3'ler," he .whispered. Even in the extremity of
his terror, he 'would not wake his companion if he
were asleep. -
"What?" The man's gruff voice had softened
strangely.
"Oh, Hyler, have we got to die here in this hole?"
"We, 're bound to, boy. There 's no help."
They lay there a few minutes in silence; then Bert
said brokenly:
"Hyler, can you prar?" -.
"No." -
There came "into the hoy's mind far-off memory
cf "Now. I lay me down to sleep," and the words
"Our Father"; Jbnt they oSd not seem exactly appro
priate, and were unsaid. He did not know that the
very turning of the soul in a mute cry for help was
' prayer, , ... - .CVfilt,' -, ,
"Some are praying 'up above, he said. There was a
gleam of lge- in the thdueht. v
Jt wonYdo no good."v responded Hyler, gloomily.
."You see, the trouble is, they can't get food to us. An
we can't live on prayin 1 Like enough they won't
think of it, nowajV'-ic adAsk-alicx.a. mcoient. He
BY
ALBERT
'" .
A party of bunnies.
As brav? as could be.
Went fishing one day,
In the depths of the sea.
fell into the dreamless stupor of exhausted nerves.
They were awakened by an explosion that brought
them to their feet. It seemed as if the very walls were
falling. Bert lighted his candle with shaking fingers;
his companion followed the example, and the two men
peered around them. . There was nothing that they
could see. 3'he walls were as solid 'as 'ever. They
moved cautiously toward the mouth of the shaft, and
in doing so had to pass the water-pipe.
- They lifted their candles above their heads and
examined closely as they went. When they reached the
pipe they stopped. was blown to pieces!
And as they stared and wondered and speculated,
they saw something emerging from its mouth. It was
a' weighted cord with a note tied to it. They tore it
off frantically. It said:
.we will let down food
he pipe, and in a few days we can get
to you. I he men are digging day an nignt.
Tell us if you are hurt.
Keep up courage hoys;
through the
They dropped to their knees and cried like babies
cried and laughed and wrung each other's hands.
Oh, the joy of life just life!
Bert took the pencil and wrote:
We are all right, but awful hungry.
They had . not felt their hunger till now.
What dav is it? How long have we been in?
And how did you do it?
He fastened the note to a weight, gave the rope a
jerk, and it was drawn up. Before long a tin pail
Degan to emerge from the pipe. It was filled with
food. They emptied it quickly on to a rubber coat,
and it was drawn up, to reappear with a supply of can
dles and another note.
They lighted two or three of the new candles,
laugli'ing hilariously at their illumination, ami read:
We heard you tap on the pipe and knew you
were alive. Then we set our heads to work to get
food to you. First, we pumped out the water. Then
we let down a light charge of dynamite in the
pipe to just the right distance, and set it off; Of
" course it burst the pipe, and now you are all right.
Your wife ' been at the shaft -house all along,
Hyler, and Beri's mother has been on her knees
most of the nhjht. 1 'U send you the morning
paper. It tells all about the cave-in.
"Hyler," said Bert, as he read t'-e entence about
his mother, "I knew they would remember"
It was not three day (the time predicted by the
"Daily Hagle") that they were "entombed, but many.
The opening of the old shaft was found to be imprac
ticable, and a new one was started. But the two
men were in safety now, and comparative comfort.
Food, light, letters and papers were lowered to them,
and there, four hundred feet below daylight, they read
the story of the work for their rescue. They receiyed
and sent daily bulletins by the pipe.
But the days lengthened to weeks before they were
released, though the1 whole force was put upon the new
shaft, in half-hour relays. "The men are-working like
demons," the newspaper said.
On the twenty-third day the work was completed,
and the cage hearing the entombed men was lifted
slowly into daylight.
The shaft-house wa full, and as the men appeared,
a shout went up. The manager stood by the shaft,
and Rave them each a hearty hand-shake.
"Stand back, boys," he said, as the men crowded
round : "you must let their women have a chance with
them first."
"Bert, you nr'nary cuss." said one of the men, a little
liter, when the hand-shaking was over and they still
lingered, "what do you s'pose it has cost to git you
fellers out o" there"
"I don't know. What?" They had hardly thought
of the money spent to pay for the work of rescuing
them.
"Three thousand dollars! I told the boss, jokingly,
after it was all over, that you was n't wuth it; but he
got mad at that, and said money had nothing to do
with it, and that he 'd save your lives ef it busted the
Company."
Three thousand dollars! The two men looked into
each other's faces. Then Rert turned to the "boss."
"Hendricks is right, sir." he ' said. "We ain't worth
it in money to the Company but "
He looked up at the blue Colorado sky that he
had thought never to see again, and drew a long, free
breath. Then he lifted his cap reverently.
And Hyler too!; the heavy baby from his wife's
tired arms.
"Come, Lizy, mv pirl." he said, with a gentleness new
to him, '1c' 's tako baby home."
BLASHFIELD.
Their host, full of fun,
Had provided good cheer;
They had pickles and pie
And good gingor-becr.
They soon set their lines;
Each eye was intent,
All watching to sec.
Which wav the luck went.
"See. see! there's a bite'
jt 's your line, friend Dick.
Now, steady, my boy.
And pull it in quick !"
But the framv young fish,
Ran ot with the hook.
And jerked it so hard,
All strength Dick forsook.
Still holding his line.
He fr'l in- hesdloner,
W hile his fri&s to the rescue
v Caiwc,-mighty, and strong.
PRO IT T ARTTTFS OF LIFE
IN THE ARCTIC.
By Professor J. H. GORE.
Nattsb seems not to welcome the possession of the
Arctics by birds, animals, or even fishes, and not only,
makes the climate severe, but has brought it about
that, since each animal feeds upon some other, each
can live only by evading hungry enemies. In this con-'
stant struggle to feed and avoid being fed upon, soma'
interesting traits have been developed.
During the summer months much of the land be-,
comes free from snow and jce under the joint action of
sun and wind, and the snow that resists removal is,
darkened by a deposit of fine dust particles. In this?
. season the animals wear their . darker clothing, and
birds have, by way of change, a less gaudy plumage.'
The background against which they stand would be-(
tray their presence if the white dress of winter were
worn now; then, too, it makes it possible for the ,
foxes, ducks, and other animals and birds to gratify
a natural vanity by putting on, for a time at least,'
another coat. j.
In winter, white is again worn. The background is
now snow and ice, and the only rjjance which the Arc-j
tic chicken now has to deceive the fox is to roll up'
like a ball and. simulate s lump of ice. -The ice-bear'
is equipped successfully to erccp upon the ever-watch-'
tul seal, because he looks like the other blocks of,
white around him. He remembers, however, his black,
nose, and is said to be sharp enough to cover it withi
his paw while approaching his dozing prey.
The seal does not stop his search for food until he'
has completely' satisfied his. excellent appetite; then he
takes a good nap, lying upon the very edge of the ice,'
or as close as, possible to his breathing-hole. ; Tte
slightest sound will awaken him, and without waiting:
to find out the source or direction, he rolls into the
water. He can stay under for only thirty-five niiti-
utes, but where he will come up none can tell. This;
no one knows better than the bear; and if the beaC
realizes that it is impossible to steal up on the leeward
side of the seal, having his black nose covered with hi'
paw and his bloodshot eyes closed, when the seal hast
his open and on the watch, he looks about for $ fav-i
orable point of departure, dives under the ice, and ii
he rightly judges the distance and direction, he come,
up at the very spot where the seal had expected to
go down. The seal' fate is thus settled, and the bear'
shrewdness earns its reward. : ,!
The beautiful eider-duck has often been cited aS an;
ideal mother, and touching stories are told-of herJ
plucking the down from her own breaat to make the
nest in which to hatch her young. It is also said thaf
if the hunters take the down, she will despoil herself.
for the second time, not catling upon the selfish drake,
until she has literally stripped herself. The drake i
declared to be strict in keeping his mate to her duties,,
insisting that she shall attend to the work of hatching
If the duck ventures upon a walk, he does not offer to
take her place while she goes gadding about, but, per
haps knowing she is too fond of idleness, cruelly
drives her back to her household duty. The duck Iay3
only five eggs, and if she feel that her nest is largo
enough and warm enough to hold more, she boldly
robs her neighbors, carrying the eggs, one at a time,
under her whig, until she has seven or eight.
However, when the brood is hatched, the cra!:e
becomes the teacher to the young. Not in swimming;
for that comes naturally, but in diving, which is a
means of flight as well as for finding food. The little
duck, coming into life above water, hesitates to risk
it by going under, nor will he follow the oft-repeated
example of his parents. When it becomes necessary;
to resort to force, the drake comes quietly near the
unwilling pupil, suddenly throws a wing over, him,
and dives down. The little one is let go under water,
and, coming to the surface unharmed, even if some-f
what startled, he is ready to start diving on his own
account. .
The statement, so often made, that Arctic birds
become so confused by the perpetual day that they do'
not sing, was not verified by my experience. . The;
few sparrows that visited us on Dane s Island were
very generous with their music, and especially memor
able was their merry singing one of those Arctic nights
between the hours of twelve and two o'clock, . . A
"Be sure of the fish !"
Poor Dicky called out,
And soon a fine blue
Was flopping about.
That eve they 'sat down,
.As merry as lords.
-To thV-Usdit,B' of. fWt
The deep sea afford?.
COPYBICHT BT THE CENTURY COM PANT
'W,