CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
TELLS OF A DISCOVERY AND A DISASTER.
That afternoon another accident occurred in the mine, which was of amuch more serious nature than the one just recorded, and whichinterfered somewhat with the plans of the managing director of the GreatWheal Dooem Mining Company.
Not long after his interview with Clearemout, James Penrose finished ablast-hole, and called to Zackey Maggot to fetch the fuse.
Zackey had been working for a week past in connection with Penrose, and,at the time he was called, was engaged in his wonted occupation ofpounding "tamping" wherewith to fill the hole.
Wherever Zackey chanced to be at work, he always made himself ascomfortable as circumstances would admit of. At the present time he haddiscovered a little hollow or recess in the wall of the level, which hehad converted into a private chamber for the nonce.
There was a piece of flat rock on the floor of this recess, which Zackeyused as his anvil, and in front of which he kneeled. At his side was acandle, stuck against the wall, where it poured a flood of light onobjects in its immediate neighbourhood, and threw the boy's magnifiedshadow over the floor and against the opposite wall of the level. Abovehis head was a small shelf, which he had ingeniously fixed in a narrowpart of the cell, and on this lay a few candles, a stone bottle ofwater, a blasting fuse, and part of his lunch, which he had been unableto consume, wrapped in a piece of paper. A small wooden box on thefloor, and a couple of pick-hilts, leaning against the wall, completedthe furniture of this subterranean grotto.
Zackey, besides being a searcher after metals, possessed an unusualamount of metal in himself. He was one of those earnest, hard-working,strong-hearted boys who pass into a state of full manhood, do the workof men, and are looked upon as being men, before they have passed out oftheir "teens." The boy's manhood, which was even at that early periodof his life beginning to show itself, consisted not in his looks or hisgait, although both were creditable, but in his firmness of purpose andforce of character. What Zackey undertook to do he always did. Henever left any work in a half-finished state, and he always employedtime diligently.
In the mine he commenced to labour the moment he entered, and he neverceased, except during a short period for "kroust," until it was time toshoulder his tools, and mount to the regions of light. Above ground, hewas as ready to skylark as the most volatile of his companions, butunderground he was a pattern of perseverance--a true Cornish miner inminiature. His energy of character was doubtless due to his recklessfather, but his steadiness was the result of "Uncle Davy's" counsel andexample.
"Are you coming, Zackey?" shouted Penrose, from the end of the level.
"Iss, I'm comin'," replied the boy, taking the fuse from the shelf, andhastening towards his companion.
Penrose had a peculiar and pleased expression on his countenance, whichZackey observed at once.
"What do 'ee grizzle like that for?" inquired the boy.
"I've come on a splendid bunch of copper, Zackey," replied the man; "youand I shall make money soon. Run away to your work, lad, and come backwhen you hear the shot go off."
Zackey expressed a hope that the prophecy might come true, and returnedto his cell, where he continued pounding diligently--thinking the whileof rich ore and a rapid fortune.
There was more reason in these thoughts than one might suppose, forCornish miners experience variety of fortune. Sometimes a man willlabour for weeks and months in unproductive ground, following up a smallvein in the hope of its leading into a good lode, and making so littleby his hard toil that on pay day of each month he is compelled to askhis employer for "subsist"--or a small advance of money--to enable himto live and go on with his work. Often he is obliged to give up indespair, and change to a more promising part of the mine, or to go toanother mine altogether; but, not unfrequently, he is rewarded for hisperseverance by coming at last to a rich "lode," or mass, or "bunch" ofcopper or tin ore, out of which he will rend, in a single month, as muchas will entitle him to thirty or forty, or even a hundred pounds, nextpay day.
Such pieces of good fortune are not of rare occurrence. Many of thesubstantial new cottages to be seen in St. Just at the present day havebeen built by miners who became suddenly fortunate in this way, so that,although the miner of Cornwall always works hard, and often sufferssevere privation, he works on with a well-grounded expectation of asudden burst of temporal sunshine in his otherwise hard lot.
Zackey Maggot was dreaming of some such gleam of good fortune, andpatiently pounding away at the tamping, when he heard the explosion ofthe blast. At the same moment a loud cry rang through the undergroundcaverns. It was one of those terrible, unmistakable cries which chillthe blood and thrill the hearts of those who hear them, telling of someawful catastrophe.
The boy leaped up and ran swiftly towards the end of the level, where hecalled to his companion, but received no answer. The smoke which filledthe place was so dense that he could not see, and could scarcelybreathe. He ran forward, however, and stumbled over the prostrate formof Penrose. Zackey guessed correctly what had occurred, for theaccident was, and alas! still is, too common in the mines. The shot hadapparently missed fire. Penrose had gone forward to examine it, and itexploded in his face.
To lift his companion was beyond Zackey's power, to leave him lying insuch dense smoke for any length of time would, he knew, ensure hissuffocation, so he attempted to drag him away, but the man was too heavyfor him. In his extremity the poor boy uttered a wild cry for help, buthe shouted in vain, for there was no one else at work in the level. ButZackey was not the boy to give way to despair, or to act thoughtlessly,or in wild haste in this emergency. He suddenly recollected that therewas a rope somewhere about the level. He sought for and found it.Fastening an end of it round the body of the man, under the armpits, heso arranged that the knot of the loop should reach a few inches beyondhis head, and on this part of the loop he spread a coat, which thusformed a support to the head, and prevented it being dragged along theground. While engaged in this operation the poor boy was well-nighsuffocated with smoke, and had to run back once to where the air waspurer in order to catch a breath or two. Then, returning, he seized therope, passed it over his shoulder, and bending forward with all hismight and main dragged the man slowly but steadily along the floor ofthe level to a place where the air was comparatively pure.
Leaving him there he quickly fixed a candle in his hat, and carryinganother in his hand, to avoid the risk of being left in darkness by anaccidental stumble or gust of air, Zackey darted swiftly along the leveland ran up the ladders at his utmost speed. Panting for breath, andwith eyes almost starting from their sockets, he rushed into theengine-house, and told the man in charge what had occurred; then hedashed away to the counting-house and gave the alarm there, so that, ina very few minutes, a number of men descended the shaft and gatheredround the prostrate miner. The doctor who had taken Oliver Trembath'splace during his absence was soon in attendance, and found that althoughno bones had been broken, Penrose's face was badly injured, how deep theinjury extended could not at that time be ascertained, but he fearedthat his eyes had been altogether destroyed.
After the application of some cordial the unfortunate man began torevive, and the first words he uttered were, "Praise the Lord"--evidently in reference to his life having been spared.
"Is that you, Zackey?" he inquired after a few moments.
"No, it is the doctor, my man. Do you feel much pain in your head?" heasked as he knelt beside him.
"Not much; there is a stunned feeling about it, but little pain. You'dbetter light a candle."
"There are candles burning round you," said the doctor. "Do you not seethem? There is one close to your face at this moment."
Penrose made no answer on hearing this, but an expression of deepgravity seemed to settle on the blackened features.
"We must get him up as soon as possible," said the doctor, turning toCaptain Dan, who stood at his elbow.
"We're
all ready, sir," replied the captain, who had quietly procuredropes and a blanket, while the doctor was examining the wounds.
With great labour and difficulty the injured man was half hauled, halfcarried, and pushed up the shaft, and laid on the grass.
"Is the sun shining?" he asked in a low voice.
"Iss, it do shine right in thee face, Jim," said one of the miners,brushing away a tear with the back of his hand.
Again the gravity of Penrose's countenance appeared to deepen, but heuttered no other word; so they brought an old door and laid him on it.Six strong men raised it gently on their shoulders, and, with slow stepsand downcast faces, they carried the wounded miner home.
Deep Down, a Tale of the Cornish Mines Page 26
