A STROKE OF LIGHTNING.
It was a hot day at Burnham Breaker. The sun of midsummer beat
fiercely upon the long and sloping roofs and against the coal-black
sides of the giant building.
Down in the engine-room, where there was no air stirring, and the
vapor of steam hung heavily in the atmosphere, the heat was almost
insupportable.
The engineer, clothed lightly as he was, fairly dripped with
perspiration. The fireman, with face and neck like a lobster, went
out, at intervals, and plunged his hands and his head too into the
stream of cool water sent out from the mine by the laboring pumps.
Up in the screen-room, the boys were sweltering above their chutes,
choking with the thick dust, wondering if the afternoon would never be
at an end.
Bachelor Billy, pushing the cars out from the head, said to himself
that he was glad Ralph was no longer picking slate. It was better that
he should work in the mines. It was cool there in summer and warm in
winter, and it was altogether more comfortable for the boy than it
could be in the breaker; neither was it any more dangerous, in his
opinion, than it was among the wheels and rollers of the screen-room.
He had labored in the mines himself, until the rheumatism came and put
a stop to his under-ground toil. He mourned greatly the necessity that
compelled him to give up this kind of work. It is hard for a miner to
leave his pillars and his chambers, his drill and powder-can and fuse,
and to seek other occupation on the surface of the earth. The very
darkness and danger that surround him at his task hold him to it with
an unaccountable fascination.
But Bachelor Billy had a good place here at the breaker. It was not
hard work that he was doing. Robert Burnham had given him the position
ten years and more ago.
Even on this hot mid-summer day, the heat was less where he was than
in any other part of the building. A cool current came up the shaft
and kept the air stirring about the head, and the loaded mine-cars
rose to the platform, dripping cold water from their sides, and that
was very refreshing to the eye as well as to the touch.
It was well along in the afternoon that Billy, looking out to the
north-west, saw a dark cloud rising slowly above the horizon, and said
to Andy Gilgallon, his assistant, that he hoped it would not go away
without leaving some rain behind it.
Looking at it again, a few minutes later, he told Andy that he felt
sure there would be water enough to lay the dust, at any rate.
The cloud increased rapidly in size, rolling up the sky in dark
volumes, and emitting flashes of forked lightning in quick succession.
By and by the face of the sun was covered, and the deep rumbling of
the thunder was almost continuous.
There was a dead calm. Not even at the head of the shaft could a
particle of moving air be felt.
"Faith! I don't like the looks o' it, Billy," said Andy Gilgallon,
as a sharp flash cut the cloud surface from zenith to horizon, and a
burst of thunder followed that made the breaker tremble.
"No more do I," replied Bachelor Billy; "but we'll no' git scart afoor
we're hurt. It's no' likely the buildin' 'll be washit awa'."
"Thrue for ye! but this bit o' a steeple ud be a foine risting-place
for the lightnin's fut, an' a moighty hot fut it has, too--bad 'cess
to it!"
The man had been interrupted by another vivid flash and a sharp crack
of thunder.
The mountains to the north and west were now entirely hidden, and the
near hills were disappearing rapidly behind the on-coming storm of
rain. Already the first drops were rattling sharply on the breaker's
roof, and warning puffs of wind were beating gently against the side
of the shaft-tower.
"I'm glad Ralph's no' workin' i' the screen-room," said Bachelor
Billy, as he put up his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding
glare. "It'd be a fearfu' thing to ha' the breaker hit."
The fury of the storm was on them at last. It was as though the
heavens were shattered.
Billy looked out upon the dreadful onslaught of the elements with awe
and wonder on his face. His companion crouched against the timbers of
the shaft in terror.
Then--lightning struck the breaker.
People who sat in their houses a mile away started up in sudden fright
at the fierce flash and terrible report.
A man who was running toward the engine-room for shelter was blinded
and stunned by the glare and crash, and fell to his knees.
When he rose again and could use his eyes, he saw men and boys
crowding from the building out into the pouring rain. But the breaker
was on fire. Already the shaft-tower was wrapped in smoke and lighted
with flame. Some one in authority stood in the door of the engine-room
giving orders.
The carriage was descending the shaft. When it came up it was loaded
with men. It went down again, almost with the rapidity of lightning
itself.
The engineer was crowding his servant of iron and steel to the utmost.
The men of the next load that came up had hardly time to push
each other from the carriage before it darted down again into the
blackness.
The flames were creeping lower on the shaft timbers, and were rioting
among the screens.
The engine-room was hot and stifling. The engineer said he was
hoisting the last load that could be brought out.
When it reached the surface Conway leaped from among the men and stood
in the door of the engine-room.
"Let it down again!" he shouted. "Ralph is below yet, the boy. I'll go
down myself an' git 'im."
He heard a crash behind him, and he turned in time to see the iron
roof of the carriage disappear into the mouth of the shaft.
The burning frame-work at the head had ceased to support it, and it
had fallen down, dragging a mass of flaming timbers with it.
Conway went out into the rain and sat down and cried like a child.
Afterward, when the storm had partially subsided, a wagon was stopped
at the door of the office near the burning breaker, the limp body of
Bachelor Billy was brought out and placed in it, and it was driven
rapidly away. They had found him lying on the track at the head with
the flames creeping dangerously near. He was unconscious when they
came to him, he was unconscious still. They took him to his room at
Mrs. Maloney's cottage, and put him in his bed. The doctor came soon,
and under his vigorous treatment the man lost that deathly pallor
about his face, but he did not yet recover consciousness. The doctor
said he would come out of it in time, and went away to see to the
others who had been injured.
The men who had brought the invalid were gone, and Mrs. Maloney was
sitting by him alone.
The storm had passed, the sun had come out just long enough to bid
a reassuring "good-night" to the lately frightened dwellers on the
earth, and was now dropping down behind the western hills.
A carriage stopped at Bachelor Billy's door and a moment later Mrs.
Burnham knocked and entered.
"I heard that he had suffered from the stroke," she said, looking at
the still form on the bed, "and I came to see him. Is he better?"
"He ain't come out of it yet, ma'am," responded Mrs. Maloney, "but
the doctor's been a-rubbin' of im' an' a-givin' 'im stimmylants, an'
he says it's all right he'll be in the course of a few hours. Will ye
have a chair, ma'am?"
"Thank you. I'll sit here by him a while with the fan and relieve you.
Where is Ralph?"
"He's not come yet, ma'am."
"Why, Mrs. Maloney, are you sure? Is it possible that anything has
happened to him?"
"To shpake the trut', ma'am, I'm a bit worried about 'im meself. But
they said to me partic'ler, as how ivery man o' thim got out o' the
mine befoor the carriage fell. Most like he's a-watchin' the fire an'
doesn't know his Uncle Billy's hurted. Ye'll see 'im comin' quick
enough when he hears that, I'm thinkin'."
Mrs. Burnham had seated herself at the bedside with the fan in her
hand.
"I'll wait for him," she said; "perhaps he'll be here soon."
"I'll be lookin' afther the supper, thin," said Mrs. Maloney, "the
lad'll be hungry whin he comes," and she left the room.
Bachelor Billy lay very quiet, as if asleep, breathing regularly, his
face somewhat pale and his lips blue, but he had not the appearance of
one who is in danger.
A few minutes later there came a gentle knock at the street door. Mrs.
Burnham arose and opened it. Lawyer Goodlaw stood on the step. She
gave him as courteous greeting as though she had been under the roof
of her own mansion.
"I called at your home," he said, as he entered, "and, learning that
you had come here, I concluded to follow you."
He went up to the bed and looked at Bachelor Billy, bending over him
with kind scrutiny.
"I heard that the shock had affected him seriously," he said, "but he
does not appear to be greatly the worse for it; I think he'll come
through all right. He's an honest, warm-hearted man. I learned the
other day of a proposition that Sharpman made to him before the trial;
a tempting one to offer to a poor man, but he rejected it with scorn.
I'll tell you of it sometime; it shows forth the nobility of the man's
character."
Goodlaw had crossed the room and had taken a seat by the window.
"But I came to bring you news," he continued. "Our detective returned
this morning and presented a full report of his investigation and its
result. You will be pleased with it."
"Oh, Mr. Goodlaw! is Ralph--is Ralph--"
She was leaning toward him with clasped hands.
"Ralph is your son," he said.
She bowed her head, and her lips moved in silence. When she looked up,
there were tears in her eyes, but her face was radiant with happiness.
"Is there any, any doubt about it now?" she asked.
"None whatever," he replied.
"And what of Rhyming Joe's story?"
"It was a pure falsehood. He does not tire of telling how he swindled
the sharpest lawyer in Scranton out of a hundred and fifty dollars, by
a plausible lie. He takes much credit to himself for the successful
execution of so bold a scheme. But the money got him into trouble. He
had too much, he spent it too freely, and, as a consequence, he is
serving a short term of imprisonment in the Alleghany county jail for
some petty offence."
The tears would keep coming into the lady's eyes; but they were tears
of joy, not of sorrow.
"I have the detective's report here in writing," continued Goodlaw;
"I will give it to you that you may read it at your leisure. Craft's
story was true enough in its material parts, but a gigantic scheme was
based on it to rob both you and your son. The odium of that, however,
should rest where the expense of the venture rested, on Craft's
attorney. It is a matter for sincere congratulation that Ralph's
identity was not established by them at that time. He has been
delivered out of the hands of sharpers, and his property is wholly
saved to him.
"I learn that Craft is dying miserably in his wretched lodgings in
Philadelphia. With enough of ill-gotten gain to live on comfortably,
his miserly instincts are causing him to suffer for the very
necessities of life."
"I am sorry for him," said the lady; "very sorry."
"He is not deserving of your sympathy, madam; he treated your son with
great cruelty while he had him."
"But he saved Ralph's life."
"That is no doubt true, yet he stole the jewelry from the child's
person and kept him only for the sake of obtaining ransom.
"This reminds me that it is also true that he had an interview with
your husband on the day of Mr. Burnham's death. What took place
between them I cannot ascertain, but I have learned that afterward,
while the rescuing party were descending into the mine, your husband
recognized Ralph in a way that those who saw and heard him could not
at the time understand. Recent events, however, prove beyond a doubt
that your husband knew, on the day he died, that this boy was his
son."
Mrs. Burnham had been weeping silently.
"You are bringing me too much good and comforting news," she said; "I
am not quite able to bear it all, you see."
She was smiling through her tears, but a look of anxiety crossed her
face as she continued:--
"I am worried about Ralph. He has not yet come from the breaker."
She glanced up at the little clock on the shelf, and then went to look
out from the window.
The man on the bed moved and moaned, and she went back to him.
"Perhaps we had better send some one to look for the boy," said
Goodlaw. "I will go myself--"
He was interrupted by the opening of the door. Andy Gilgallon stood
on the threshold and looked in with amazement. He had not expected to
find the lady and the lawyer there.
"I come to see Bachelor Billy," he said. "Me an' him work togither at
the head. He got it worse nor I did. I'm over it, only I'm wake yit.
The likes o' it was niver seen afoor."
He looked curiously in at the bed where his comrade was lying.
"Come in," said Mrs. Burnham, "come in and look at him. He's not
conscious yet, but I think he'll soon come to himself."
The man entered the room, walking on the toes of his clumsy shoes.
"Have you seen anything of Ralph since the fire?" continued the lady.
Andy stopped and looked incredulously at his questioner.
"An' have ye not heard?" he asked.
"Heard what, Andy?" she replied, her face paling as she noted the
man's strange look.
"Why, they didn't get 'im out," he said. "It's in the mine he is,
sure, mum."
She stood for a moment in silence, her face as white as the wall
behind her. Then she clasped her hands tightly together and all the
muscles of her body grew rigid in the desperate effort to remain calm
for the sake of the unconscious man on the bed, for the sake of the
lost boy in the mine, for the sake of her own ability to think and to
act.
Goodlaw saw the struggle and rose from his chair.
"It's a dangerous imprisonment," he said, "but not, of necessity, a
fatal one."
She still stood staring silently at the messenger who had brought to
her these dreadful tidings.
"They're a-thryin' to get to the mouth o' the shaft now," said Andy.
"They're a-dhraggin' the timbers away; timbers wid the fire in 'em
yit. Ye'd be shtartled to see 'em, mum."
Then the lady spoke.
"I will go to the shaft," she said. Her carriage was already at the
door; she started toward it, throwing a light wrap across her arm as
she went.
Again the man on the bed moved and moaned.
"Stay with him," she said to Andy, "until I come myself, or send some
one to relieve you. See that he has everything he needs. He is my
charge."
Goodlaw helped her to the carriage.
"Will you come with me?" she asked.
He seated himself beside her and they were driven away. There was
little that he could say to comfort and assure her. The shock was too
recent. The situation of her son was too perilous.
Darkness was coming on when they reached the scene of the disaster;
one or two stars were already out, and the crescent of the new moon
was hanging in the west. Great clouds of white smoke were floating
away to the east, and where the breaker had that morning stood there
was now only a mass of charred and glowing ruins.
There were many people there, people who talked in low tones and
who looked on with solemn faces. But there were no outcries nor
lamentations; there was but one person, a boy, shut up in the mine,
and he was kin to no one there.
Up at the south-west corner of the pile they were throwing water on
the ruins. An engine had been brought up from the city and was pouring
a steady stream on the spot where the shaft was thought to be.
Many men were engaged in cutting and pulling away the burned timbers,
handling them while they were yet glowing with fire, so eager were
they to forward the work of rescue.
The superintendent of the mines was there, directing, encouraging,
and giving a helping hand. He saw Mrs. Burnham and came up to her
carriage.
"It was a very disastrous lightning stroke," he said; "the property of
the company is in ruins, but as yet no lives have been lost. There is
but one person in the mine, the boy Ralph; you both know him. We are
clearing away the wreckage from the mouth of the shaft as rapidly as
possible, in the hope that we may get down there in time to save his
life. Our people have directed me to spare no effort in this matter.
One life, even though it is that of an unknown boy, is not too poor a
thing for us to try, by every possible means, to save."
"That boy," said Goodlaw, "is Mrs. Burnham's son."
"Is it possible! Has he been identified, then, since the trial?"
"Fully, fully! My dear sir, I beg that you will do all that lies in
your power to save this life for your company's sake, then double your
effort for this lady's sake. She has no such fortune as this boy is to
her."
Mrs. Burnham had sat there pale-faced and eager-eyed. Now she spoke:--
"What is the prospect? What are the chances? Can you surely save him?
Tell me truly, Mr. Martin?"
"We cannot say certainly," replied the superintendent; "there are too
many factors in the problem of which we are yet ignorant. We do not
know how badly the shaft is choked up; we do not know the condition
of the air in the mine. To be frank with you, I think the chances are
against rescuing the boy alive. The mine soon fills with poisonous
gases when the air supply is cut off."
"Are you doing all that can be done?" she asked. "Will more men, more
money, more of anything, help you in your work?"
"We are doing all that can be done," he answered her. "The men are
working bravely. We need nothing."
"How soon will you be able to go down and begin the search?"
The man thought for a moment before replying.
"To-morrow," he said, uncertainly. "I think surely by to-morrow."
She sank back into the carriage-seat, appalled by the length of time
named. She had hoped that an hour or two at the farthest would enable
them to reach the bottom of the shaft.
"We will push the work to the utmost," said Martin, as he hurried
away. "Possibly we shall be able to get in sooner."
Goodlaw and Mrs. Burnham sat for a long time in silence, watching the
men at their labor. Word had been passed among the workers that the
missing boy was Mrs. Burnham's son, and their energetic efforts were
put forth now for her sake as well as for the lad's. For both mother
and son held warm places in the hearts of these toiling men.
The mouth of the shaft had been finally uncovered, a space cleared
around it, and the frame of a rude windlass erected. They were
preparing to remove the debris from the opening.
Conway came to the carriage, and, in a voice broken with emotion, told
the story of Ralph's heroic effort to save a human life at the risk of
his own. He had little hope, he said, that Ralph could live till they
should reach him; but he should be the first, he declared, to go into
the mine in search of the gallant boy.
At this recital Mrs. Burnham wept; she could restrain her tears no
longer.
At last Goodlaw persuaded her to leave the scene. He feared the effect
that continued gazing on it might have upon her delicate nerves.
The flashing of the lanterns, the huge torches lighting up the
darkness, the forms of men moving back and forth in the smoky
atmosphere, the muscular and mental energy exhibited, the deep
earnestness displayed,--all this made up a picture too dramatic and
appalling for one whose heart was in it to look at undismayed.
Arrangements were made for a messenger service to keep Mrs. Burnham
constantly informed of the progress of the work, and, with a
parting appeal to those in charge to hasten the hour of rescue, the
grief-stricken mother departed.
They drove first to Bachelor Billy's room. Andy was still there and
said he would remain during the night. He said that Billy had spoken
once or twice, apparently in his right mind, and was now sleeping
quietly.
Then Mrs. Burnham went to her home. She passed the long night in
sleepless anxiety, waiting for the messages from the mine, which
followed each other in slow succession. They brought to her no good
news. The work was going on; the opening was full with wreckage; the
air was very bad, even in the shaft. These were the tidings. It was
hardly possible, they wrote, that the boy could still be living.
Long before the last star had paled and faded in the western sky, or
the first rays of the morning sun had shot across the hills, despair
had taken in her heart the place of hope. She could only say: "Well,
he died as his father died, trying to save the lives of others. I have
two lost heroes now to mourn for and be proud of, instead of one."
But even yet there crossed her mind at times the thought that
possibly, possibly the one chance for life as against thousands and
thousands for death might fall to her boy; and the further and deeper
thought that the range of God's mercy was very wide, oh, very wide!