Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1883 — DEATH IN THE PIT. [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN THE PIT.

Amy Glover was the prettiest lass in the village, and lovedl her,but,as for that all the young chaps in the village were of the same mind, but she never looked at one more than another. One day there was no work in the pit for my gang, and eo I made up my mind that I would go and have it out with Amy. I set out with a brave enough heart, but just as I reached the cottage, who should come out but Amy herself, looking prettier than ever; but appearing so suddenly she dashed my spirit, and I hadn’t a word to say to her. “Why, Charley, what is the matter?” she cried, in a frightened sort of way. “Well, it is just this,” I said. And there I came to a full stop. “Is anything wrong with Jack?” she asked, eagerly. “Jack” “Yes; he is down in the pit, and they say it is foul, which makes mother and me uneasy. You’ve not heard anything?” * No,” I answered, steadier now that I could comfort her. “He is all right You musn’tmind what the old women say, or you’ll be looking for a blow-up every day in the year, when there is nothing more than common. I haven’t come about Jack; it is about myself.” z She looked at me; then her cheeks fished, and she turned away. “I Want to tell you how I love you; I can’t say all I want to, but here I am, and I wouldn’t change for a king if you will take me as I am.” “Ah, you don’t know how you pain me,” she answered. “Don’t say that, Amy; but if you have pity in your heart show it to me, and Ell cherish you to the day of my death.”, “It is no use. I can never marry a pit man. I gave the promis to mother and Jack over the graves of my father and three brothers, all killed at one time.” She looked at me through a mist of tears, and I turned and left her without another word. I felt as if the sun would never shine for me any more; I thought I might as well be in my grave as to try and live there. Why shouldn’t Igo to Yorkshire or Derbyshire, or even to the diggings in Australia, for that matter? The notion of it gave me a little spirit It turned Iny thoughts,and I stepped'out more briskly, going straight home. I hadn’t mnch to settle there, only to bid goodbye to the ‘ people I lived with, and I soon came out pack on back, and began my tramp. I was walking on, when suddenly the air rang with a crash which shook the ground. signified; such sounds denote but one result in the Black Country; and, throwing off my pack, I darted off to the pit. It didn't seem a minute before I came to the dust heaps around the pit’s mouth but some were there before me, and people were rushing from the village in a stream. The smell from the pit almost threw me down as I came up, and I had to get my breath a little when three or tour of us crept on to the mouth and looked down. The explosion had destroyed the cage, but it hadn’t injured the signal rope; hence a r eans of communication remained for any one immediately below. As soon as I saw this I proceeded to rig a cross bar, and presently had it ready.

“Just lower me quietly; I may pick up one or two, if there’s any near,” I said to two banksmen. • “Youcan’t go down yet,” said the viewer. “How many are there in the pit?" “Half an hour ago there were fifty; but Pm thankful to say they all came up but ten,” replied the time-keeper. “And they are lost,for there will be another explosion presently,” said the viewer. ‘Til go down, anyhow,” I said doggedly; “and if nobody will lower me I will jump down.” > A geod many were on the heaps, now, and two or three called out, “Good-bye,

God bless you, dear lad.** Th? banksmen lowered me down,and I sank through the the pit's mouth. A’ Davy-lamp was tied round my waist, and I held a rope in my hand, so that I might signal to be i oisted up, if the air became foul. But I had no mte tion of going back until I had searched the pit and seen it there were any alive. One thing, I didn’t care about my life; and another, I would have been ashamed to face the folks above without doing something, so I felt impatient that they lowered me at such a snail’s pace, and I kept looking up and down to measure the distance yet to be traversed. But my progress was noticed by the increasing density of the air which began to affect my breathing; and so as I went on I had to shift my face from side to side to make a little current. At last my feet touched ground. I looked around as I jumped off the straddle, and saw the furnace was out, which put a stop to the'ventilation of the mine, and no air but by the shaft. The stench was overpowering, and from this and the silence I guessed the worst It was evident that the explosion had killed the horses, for no sound came from the stables,which were close to the shaft; and what hope could there be for human beings in a distant part of the pit? I did not stand to make these reflections; I was working forward as they went through my mind. I knew the old pit blindfold, but what with the gloom and my shortness of breath,! was some minutes scrambling to the incline. When I reached the first gallery I pushed open the trap and went on a few steps, but my lamp was 'afire,'* and I knew the atmosphere was So much gunpowder. As I stumbled along it came into my head what Amy had said about Jack being in the pit. I rushed forward like mad; my foot struck something and I bent over what appeared to be a corpse, and the gleam of my lamp fell up on its face. It was Jack. I caught him in my arms,and with the strength of a giant and the speed of a deer—hardly conscious, hardly breathing—l made a dash for the shaft.

It was easier worfc going back, when you were in the main or horse road, and I found that Jack was breathing when I reaehed the shaft. The discovery kept all my senses at work without my seeming to notice it I only felt that there would be another explosion. I placed Jack on the straddle an d tied him hand and foot; then pulled the signal rope,and as the people above hauled the tackle, I hung on by my arms. It wasn’t till wo had reached twenty fee* up ithat I felt {the strain of standing on nothing; but from that moment it became terrible. My hands'seemed ready to snap and my head spun round in an agony. I watched the mouth of the pit until my eyes swam, and I thought I must drop before I reached the top. Then they began to hoist faster; I could see the walls of the shaft; I couldl feel the purer air; I heard voices; and presently strong arms caught me, and I was landed on the bank. They had Jack off the straddle before you could look round,and he was carried away, while they raised my head and poured a little brandy into’my mouth. I called out tor the viewer. “What is it, Charley Batson?”he asked bending over me. “Everybody away from the moth of the pit, sir,” Psaid. “You are right; it will come in a minute or two,” he answered. They got hie to the top of the bank, when I heard a scream, and there was Amy trying to throw herself on her brother, but kept back by the other women. She never glanced at me. I wished then that I had staid in the pit, or let myself drop from the bar as I came up, and so escaped seeing her again. But I made up my mind that I had looked on her for the last time. I told my helpers that I could walk now; and when they let go my arms I turned toward the moor intending to pick up mp pack and drag oh to the next village. But I could no more walk five miles than I could fly. When I came to my pack I sank down by it and felt that I must give up. I was so beat that though the second explosion at the pit shook the ground under me, I didn't lift my head. All I thought of was lying quiet By degrees I recovered a little strength, and my thoughts took me to my old lodging, where I decided tu rest before I set out on my wanderings. The day passed, and the night, and the next day, and I was still in bed, and the good folks of the house attending me like a child. My limbs, which had been racked with pain, now felt easy, and I was ready for a start again. But I thought there would be opposition, so I got up very quiet and was putting on my thing 4, when the door opened, and in came Jack Glover. “Hilloa, Charley, here we are, ’he cried, seizing my hand and giving it a hearty squeeze. “Who would have thought of us two being alive to-day?” “Well, Jack, I am glad for youy but I shouldn’t have oared for myself.” “How’s that?” ’

“I have something on my mind?’ “Your he said, laughing, and giving me a little push. •‘Here. ift down and have a pipe, and it will all go off like the smoke.” • \ . “I don’t care if I never smoke a pipe again,” I said savagely. “Now, Til tell you what it is; you’ve been having a tiff with our Amy.” “I haven’t.” “Well, you know best about that, but you were seen talking with her, and. she had a crying fit directly after. And when she heard from me that it was you who brought me up from the pit, she fall fainting into my arms.” “Didn’t she know that until you told her?” I asked. “No.” “Then I’ll just tell you all about her and me,” I said. I was a long time telling it, but Jack sat up as if he were listening to a play or a sermon at chapel, i told him of the feeling Amy had raised in my heart; told him how I had watched for her, thought of her, dreamed of her; and, finally, recounted our latest colloquy. Jack never moved a muscle, and not till I stooped for breath did he put in a word. “Don’t you think you have been a little fast, old boy?” he then said. “ How do you mean?" “Why, in giving up so. Suppose when Amy said she couldn’t have you, you had put your arm around her waist and said she must?*” The view had never struck me, and rather took me aback “But there was her promise to you and her mother never to marry a pitman.” “So there was, but did you never hear that promises were made to be broken?” “I can’t say but I have,” I muttered, clapping on my hat. ‘ Where are you going?” “You wait here a minute.” With that I took two strides down the stairs into the road into Mrs. Glover’s cottage. I stood outside a minute, then I opened the door, and the first thing I saw was Amy sitting by her mother looking like a ghost—only ghosts never look pretty. She gave me one look, then started up and sprang into my arms. My heart was so full I couldn’t speak at first but I thought I must do something, so I slipped my arm around her waist as Jack had recommended. Now I felt sure of her, and of all the happiness the world could give, and as my breast swelled proudly I began to bear a little malice. “Ah, Amy, if you had only loved me,” I said.

She tightened her arms around my neck. “How happy we might have been,” I continued. “Then we can be, Charley,” she said. “How? We can never marry, you know.” The little fingprs] unlocked, and I felt Amy falling away, but I remembered Jack’s counsel and held on by her waist. “There’s your promise to your mother and Jack; how are we to get over that?” I continued. “I forgot that,” faltered Amy, as white as a sheet. “And what do you say to ' it, mother?” I cried to the old lady. Mrs. Glover got up and took Amy’s hand and put it in mine. , “That’s what I say to it,” she said heartily, “and Jack is of the same mind.” “And this is what I say to it,” I cried, giving the girl a kiss. You won’t be surprised to hear that we were married the next week. And now I am the viewer of the colliery; and as for Amy she will tell you that, though she has married a pitman, and has her ups and downs like other people, there is no happier woman in the kingdom.