IV

In front of what had been the exit from the gallery the miners stood

silent. Others were running up from the more or less distant side

galleries; their steps could be heard approaching and their lamps seen.

"What has happened, sir?" they exclaimed in alarm, as they came staring

in a stupefied way at the place where a moment before had stood the

principal shaft of the mine.

If the vaulted roof of the gallery had resisted the formidable shock of

the collapse, it was only because it was part of the solid rock. Already

the miners' feet were standing in water which had been liberated by this

displacement of masses of earth and flowed into the gallery, reflecting

the faint lights of the lamps and the vivid flame of the torch which the

overseer of the mine held above his head, while its smoke ascended

towards the high black vaulted roof.

"Lost! We are lost!" some one exclaimed in the crowd with a sob.

Old Ivan pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Neither he nor the

others noticed that the water was flowing round their ankles. They found

themselves confronted by a huge and visibly growing mass, composed of a

mixture of stones from the ruined shaft and fragments of timber-work and

earth. In the midst of all lay upside-down, the bucket which had become

detached from its chain and carried away.

The overseer held his torch near a mass of earth which had assumed a

round shape. It lit up the head of a miner with eyes immensely wide open

whose fixed look seemed to be concentrated on the flame of the torch.

There was something terrible in the sight of those motionless eyelids,

those white teeth gleaming between two torn lips, that deep wound in the

temple from which blood was oozing. A little lower down one saw

projecting from the earth a hand with wide-extended fingers and a broken

wrist. Still lower down could be seen the feet of miners whose bodies

were invisible, buried under the earth. Not a single one moved.

Up to that moment no one had noticed them, but when the torch lit up

this tragic spectacle the whole crowd of miners instinctively started

backward. As he turned round, the overseer only saw faces pale with

fright and shrinking from his torch as though there were something

terrible about it. However, one miner, leaning his hand on the wall,

bent forward, looking attentively at the dead man's face. What did he

see extraordinary in it? He could not have said himself, but it was

plain that he had not the power to turn his terrified eyes away from it.

Another miner approached and touched something with his pickaxe which he

quickly withdrew.

"Look at that piece of bread!" he exclaimed.

The overseer looked in his turn. He saw another hand projecting from

underneath the earth holding a slice of bread sprinkled with coarse

salt in its curved fingers. But the owner of the hand was completely

buried and invisible.

Other miners ran up. Each pushed his way to the front, eager to see,

then having contemplated the huge mass, retired with his face working.

One of them put his hand over his eyes in order not to see the terrible

sight. Others stood motionless, their faces turned to the wall, as

though petrified, and seemed unable to turn their heads. One young

workman, pale with fear, had seized hold of another, who as though

rendered temporarily idiotic, kept on passing his finger over the damp

black wall of the rock.

"There are perhaps still living men below," stammered the overseer in a

low voice. A plaintive groan as though in answer to his question came to

his ears from below the mass of fallen earth. He approached it again,

but the groan was not repeated.

"Now, comrades, we must dig!" he said.

"Come you there, Orefieff Smirnoff! Let us get to work."

So speaking, the overseer seized a miner by the hand, led him before the

mass of collapsed earth and began to work with him. Hardly had they

commenced than a second landslip took place, and the first mass of

earth, pressed by the second which had just fallen, spread in liquid mud

over the gallery. The two men only leaped back just in time.

The overseer could now properly estimate the magnitude of the disaster.

It was evident that they were imprisoned and that no help could reach

them from without. But at any rate they could breathe easily, and the

fact that the air circulated in the gallery much more freely than before

the accident, showed that there was still some means of ventilation

left. They must hasten to take advantage of it. In a few hours the whole

mine would collapse owing to this immense falling-in of earth.

"Come here quickly, comrades!" said the overseer.

In the twinkling of an eye they surrounded him.

"There is only one way of saving ourselves," he said, "and that is by

reaching the old upper gallery. Let those who care for their lives

follow me. Perhaps the shaft is still intact on that side. It ought to

be so, for the air circulates freely. Call those who are working in the

side galleries, and all of you come back here."

Some of the miners, who had preserved more presence of mind than the

rest, rushed to the side galleries to summon their companions.

V

In less than a quarter of an hour, all the survivors of the catastrophe

were collected. The overseer ordered them to provide themselves with

torches, of which a reserve store was always kept in a dry place under

the roof. Then the roll of names was called and seven miners were found

to be missing. They had been buried alive and there was no hope of

finding them.

"Now, listen to me, comrades," said the overseer. "I mean to be obeyed.

Above all, no quarrelling; this is not the time for it. If we begin

that, we are all lost. I think that if we try by the old gallery above

we shall reach the shaft, which is possibly only flooded below, and may

still be practicable above. You, Ivan, lean on somebody. Support the old

man, comrades. We must not leave him here. You are the strongest of all,

Terenti, help him. God will reward you. And now forward with God's

help!"

He uncovered and crossed himself. Every one followed his example.

"What are we to do with these?" asked a miner, pointing to the dead

bodies.

"Nothing. God has undertaken to bury them," answered several voices.

"They are well where they are, for to die thus in an accident is the

same thing as dying after confession. God Himself has willed it. Every

one knows that among us in the Ural."

"Well, may the earth lie lightly upon them."

The overseer raised his torch still higher and the march began. The

miners followed him, skirting the walls timidly. They soon reached the

slanting passage leading to the old deserted gallery, which was above

the one they were leaving.

The overseer entered it resolutely. Keeping closely together, the miners

began to climb up the steep incline, stopping at moments, sometimes to

see if they would be able to advance, sometimes to listen whether there

was not a noise behind them, and whether the gallery they had just

quitted had not fallen in. Before and behind them there was nothing but

darkness, the only light being the flame of the torch. The miners walked

in this dim light while the darkness seemed to follow them and dog their

footsteps. They thus climbed upwards for twenty minutes, sometimes

stooping when the roof came low, then walking erect when possible. If

one of them found himself lagging a little behind, he hastened to rejoin

the rest, their chief fear seeming now to be left alone, as those who

loitered too long were sure to perish.

From time to time the overseer slackened his pace, in order to make

sure that all were present; then he resumed the march.

Suddenly a strong gust of air made the flame of the torch waver. As the

draught became stronger the flame was blown backward and became a long

tongue of fire. A thick smoke blackened the miners' faces, but they took

no notice of it and still advanced. The passage became wider. Remnants

of old beams, decayed with age, projected from the walls and barred

their way, but they strode over them. Suddenly the end of the procession

found itself plunged in darkness--the torch had disappeared. The

overseer and several others had finally reached the old gallery.

He gave the order to light several torches. Now they saw the old gallery

stretching before them. The rock appeared intact. When the torches were

raised, the roof was seen to be still solid, though here and there water

filtered through. On the ground was a pool in the midst of which a

slight gurgling noise was heard, evidently caused by a subterranean

spring. A long thread of water escaped from this pool, flowing to the

exit from the gallery which opened on the shaft. The miners followed it.

"Stop, comrades!" said the chief miner, turning round. "Wait for me here

a moment. I will first go alone and see if there is any danger in

proceeding farther."

In alarm, the miners halted, keeping close one to another. The

overseer's torch gradually became more distant and soon was only a

little luminous point in the darkness. Then they saw this little point

stop, rise and sink again, finally rest motionless, and soon commence to

grow larger as it approached. Then the overseer's figure was distinctly

seen. His face was pale with alarm. He approached the miners without

speaking, while they also remained silent.

"My friends, there is nothing left us but to die!"

A strong agitation ran through the crowd of miners. The overseer

approached the exit of the gallery, and at the risk of falling into the

shaft, he leant over and lit it up with his torch. Then one could see to

what extent the mine had been damaged. Huge fragments of rock were

displaced and threatened to fall at any moment. One great block

undermined by the water had been detached immediately above the shaft,

whose opening it obstructed, destroying all hope of getting out that

way. As for the ladders, they existed no longer.