"I should like you to come, doctor. A word or two from you would go
well home to my pit-lads who are terribly careless. You being a doctor
and a scientific man would be believed."
"How did you know I was a doctor?" I asked.
"How did I know thou wast a doctor? Why, didn't I come over to
Stannicliffe pit, and see you at work with the poor lads. Say you'll
come doctor, you'll do your work better after a change, and I'll send
word over that you are here if you're wanted."
"On those conditions I'll come then," I said. "Is that your house?"
"Yes, that's my house under the hillside there, facing the south, where
the lights are; you saw it as you came up. Pretty? Well, as pretty as
we can make it. Looks like an oasis in a black desert; and hard work it
is to keep it decent with so many pits about, each belching out its
clouds of villainous smoke black as the coal which makes it; for you see
we have not only the fires for the pumping and cage engine, but those at
the bottom of the ventilating shafts, and the soot they send floating
out into the air is something startling, without counting the sulphurous
vapours which ruin vegetation.
"Of course, if you like to go down you can go. I'll go with you. Oh
yes: I've often been down. I should think I have! Hundreds of times.
Why, I've handled the pick myself in the two-foot seam as an ordinary
pitman, though I'm manager now. I don't see any cause to be ashamed of
it. And, after all, it's nothing new here in Yorkshire. I could point
out a score of men who have been at work in the factories, now holding
great works of their own.
"Accidents? Well, yes; we do have accidents, in spite of all
precautions and inspection, but not so bad as at Stannicliffe. I'll
tell you of one by and by. Now you, coming down to see a coal pit, look
upon it as a dangerous place. Without being cowardly, you'll shudder
when we go down the great black shaft a couple of hundred yards, and
you'll then walk as if you were going through a powder-magazine. But
you know what you used to write in your copy-book at school,
`Familiarity breeds contempt.' Truer words were never written, and I
see it proved every week. It's dangerous work going up and down our
pit, and yet the men will laugh, and talk, and do things that will
almost make your blood run cold. It is like throwing a spark amongst
gunpowder to open a lamp in some parts of our mine; but our men, for the
sake of a pipe, will ran all risks, even to lighting matches on the
walls, and taking naked candles to stick up, that they may see better to
work.
"Yes, we've had some bad accidents here, but I shall never forget one
that happened five-and-twenty years ago. Tell you about it? Good: but
it shall be after tea, by the warm fireside, and then if you like to go
down the pit in the morning, why, go you shall.
"There, that's cosy. This is the time I always enjoy--after tea, with
the curtains drawn; the wind driving the snow in great pats against the
window-panes as it howls down the hillside, and makes the fire roar up
the chimney. Not particular over a scuttle of coals here, you see. One
of your London friends was down once, and he declared that if he lived
here he should amuse himself all day long with poker and shovel.
"And now, about this story of the accident I promised--only to hear this
you must learn a little more beside. _You_ needn't go out of the room,
my dear.
"Well, as I told you, it was five-and-twenty years ago, and I was just
five-and-twenty years old then--working as regular pitman on the day or
night shift. Dirty work, of course, but there was soap in the land even
in those days; and when I came up, after a good wash and a change, I
could always enjoy a read, such times as I didn't go to the
night-school, where, always having been a sort of reading fellow, I used
to help teach the boys, and on Sundays I used to go to the school and
help there.
"Of course it was all done in a rough way, for hands that had been busy
with a coal-pick all day were not, you will say, much fit for using a
pen at night. However, I used to go, and it was there I found out that
teaching was a thing that paid you back a hundred per cent, interest,
for you could not teach others without teaching yourself.
"But--I may as well own to it--it was the teaching at the Sunday-school
I used to look forward to, for it was there I used to see Mary Andrews,
the daughter of one of our head pitmen. He was not so very high up,
only at the pit village he lived in one of the best houses, and had
about double the wages of the ordinary men.
"Consequently, Mary Andrews was a little better dressed and better
educated than the general run of girls about there; and there was
something about her face that used, in its quiet earnestness, to set me
anxiously watching her all the time she was teaching, till I used to
wake up of a sudden to the fact that the boys in my class were all at
play, when, flushing red all over the face, I used to leave off staring
over to the girls' part of the big school-room, and try to make up for
lost time.
"I can't tell you when it began, but at that time I used somehow to
associate Mary Andrews' pale innocent face with everything I did. Every
blow I drove into a coal-seam with my sharp pick used to be industry for
Mary's sake. Of an evening, when I washed off the black and tidied up
my hair, it used to be so that she might not be ashamed of me if we met;
and even every time I made my head ache with some calculation out of my
arithmetic--ten times as difficult because I had no one to help me--I
used to strive and try on till I conquered, because it was all for
Mary's sake.
"Not that I dared to have told her so, I thought, but somehow the
influence of Mary used to lift me up more and more, till I should no
more have thought of going to join the other pitmen in a public-house
than of trying to fly.
"It was about this time that I got talking to a young fellow about my
age who worked in my shift. John Kelsey his name was, and I used to
think it a pity that a fine clever fellow like he was, handsome, stout,
and strong, should be so fond of the low habits, dog-fighting and
wrestling, so popular amongst our men, who enjoyed nothing better than
getting over to Sheffield or Rotherham for what they called a day's
sport, which generally meant unfitness for work during the rest of the
week.
"`Well,' said John, `your ways seem to pay you,' and he laughed and went
away; and I thought no more of it till about a month after, when I found
out that I was what people who make use of plain simple language call in
love, and I'll tell you how I found it out.
"I was going along one evening past old Andrews' house, when the door
opened for a moment as if some one was coming out, but, as if I had been
seen, it was closed directly. In that short moment, though, I had heard
a laugh, and that laugh I was sure was John Kelsey's.
"I felt on fire for a few moments, as I stood there unable to move, and
then as I dragged myself away the feeling that came over me was one of
blank misery and despair. I could have leaned my head up against the
first wall I came to and cried like a child; but that feeling passed off
to be succeeded by one of rage. For, as the blindness dropped from my
eyes, I saw clearly that not only did I dearly love Mary Andrews--love
her with all a strong man's first love, such a love as one would feel
who had till now made his sole companions of his books--but that I was
forestalled, that John Kelsey was evidently a regular visitor there,
and, for aught I knew to the contrary, was her acknowledged lover.
"I did not like playing the spy; but, with a faint feeling of hope on me
that I might have been mistaken, I walked back past the house, and there
was no mistake, John Kelsey's head was plainly enough to be seen upon
the blind, and I went home in despair.
"How I looked forward to the next Sunday, half resolved to boldly tell
Mary of my love, and to ask her whether there was any truth in that
which I imagined, though I almost felt as if I should not dare.
"Sunday came at last, and somehow I was rather late when I entered the
great school-room, one end of which was devoted to the girls, the other
to the boys. At the first glance I saw that Mary was in her place; at
the second all the blood in my body seemed to rush to my heart, for
there, standing talking to the superintendent, was John Kelsey, and the
next minute he had a class of the youngest children placed in his
charge, and he was hearing them read.
"`He has done this on account of what I said to him,' was my first
thought, and I felt glad; but directly after I was in misery, for my
eyes rested upon Mary Andrews, and that explained all--it was for her
sake he had come.
"I don't know how that afternoon passed, nor anything else, only that as
soon as the children were dismissed I saw John Kelsey go up to Mary's
side and walk home with her; and then I walked out up the hillside,
wandering here and there amongst the mouths of the old unused pits half
full of water, and thinking to myself that I might just as well be down
there in one of them, for there was no more hope or pleasure for me in
this world.
"Time slipped on, and I could plainly see one thing that troubled me
sorely; John was evidently making an outward show of being a hardworking
fellow, striving hard for improvement, so as to stand well in old
Andrews' eyes, while I knew for a fact that he was as drunken and
dissipated as any young fellow that worked in the pit.
"I could not tell Andrews this, nor I could not tell Mary. If she loved
him it would grieve her terribly, and be dishonourable as well, and
perhaps he might improve. I can tell him though, I thought, and I made
up my mind that I would; and meeting him one night, evidently hot and
excited with liquor, I spoke to him about it.
"`If you truly love that girl, John,' I said, `you'll give up this sort
of thing.'
"He called me a meddling fool, said he had watched me, that he knew I
had a hankering after her myself, but she only laughed at me; and one
way and another so galled me that we fought. I went home that night
braised, sore, and ashamed of my passion; while he went to the Andrews'
and said he had had to thrash me for speaking insultingly about Mary.
"I heard this afterwards, and I don't know how it was but I wrote to her
telling her it was false, and that I loved her too well ever to have
acted so.
"When next we met I felt that she must have read my letter and laughed
at me. At all events, John Kelsey did, and I had the mortification of
seeing that old Andrews evidently favoured his visits.
"John still kept up his attendance at the school, but he was at the far
end; and more than once when I looked up it was to find Mary Andrews
with her eyes fixed on me. She lowered them though directly, and soon
after it seemed to me that she turned them upon John.
"It seems to me that a man never learns till he is well on in life how
he should behave towards the woman of; his choice, and how much better
it would be if he would go and, in a straightforward, manly fashion,
tell her of his feelings. I was like the rest, I could not do it; but
allowed six months to pass away over my head.
"I was sitting over my breakfast before starting for work, when I heard
a sound, and knew what it meant before there were shrieks in the
village, and women running out and making for the pit's mouth a quarter
of a mile away. I tell you I turned sick with horror, for I knew that
at least twenty men would be down on the night shift; and though it was
close upon their leaving time, they could not have come up yet.
"`Pit's fired! pit's fired!' I heard people shrieking; not that there
was any need, for there wasn't a soul that didn't know it, the pit
having spoken for itself. And as I hurried out I thought all in a flash
like of what a day it would be for some families there, and I seemed to
see a long procession of rough coffins going to the churchyard, and to
hear the wailings of the widow and the fatherless.
"There was no seeming, though, in the wailings, for the poor frightened
women, with their shawls pinned over their heads, were crying and
shrieking to one another as they ran on.
"I didn't lose any time, as you may suppose, in running to the pit's
mouth, but those who lived nearer were there long before me; and by the
time I got there I found that the cage had brought up part of the men
and three who were insensible, and that it was just going down again.
"It went down directly; and just as it disappeared who should come
running up, pale and scared, but Mary Andrews. She ran right up to the
knot of men who had come up, and who were talking loudly, in a wild,
frightened way, about how the pit had fired--they could not tell how--
and she looked from one to the other, and then at the men who were
scorched, and then she ran towards the pit's mouth where I was.
"`There's no one belonging to you down, is there?' I asked her.
"`Oh yes--yes! my father was down, and John Kelsey.'
"As she said the first words, I felt ready for anything; but as she
finished her sentence, a cold chill came over me, and she saw the
change, and looked at me in a strange, half-angry way.
"`Here comes the cage up,' I said, trying hard to recover myself, and
going up to the bank by her side; but when half-a-dozen scorched and
blackened men stepped out, and we looked at their disfigured faces, poor
Mary gave a low wail of misery, and I head her say, softly, `Oh, father!
father! father!'
"It went right to my heart to hear her bitter cry, and I caught hold of
her hand.
"`Don't be down-hearted, Mary,' I said huskily; `there's hope yet.'
"Her eyes flashed through her tears, as she turned sharply on me; and
pressing her hand for a moment, I said, softly, `Try and think more
kindly of me, Mary.' And then I turned to the men.
"`Now, then, who's going down?'
"`You can't go down,' shouted half-a-dozen voices; `the choke got 'most
the better of us.'
"`But there are two men down!' I cried, savagely. `You're not all
cowards, are you?'
"Three men stepped forward, and we got in the cage.
"`Who knows where Andrews was?' I cried; and a faint voice from one of
the injured men told me. Then I gave the warning, and we were lowered
down; it having been understood that at the first signal we made we were
to be drawn up sharply.
"The excitement kept me from being frightened; but there was a horrid
feeling of oppression in the air as we got lower and lower, and twice
over the men with me were for being drawn up.
"`It steals over you before you know it,' said one.
"`It laid me like in a sleep when Rotherby pit fired,' said another.
"`Would you leave old Andrews to die?' I said, and they gave in.
"We reached the bottom, and I found no difficulty in breathing, and,
shouting to the men to come on, I ran in the direction where I had been
told we should find Andrews; but it was terrible work, for I expected
each moment to encounter the deadly gas that had robbed so many men of
their lives. But I kept on, shouting to those behind me, till all at
once I tripped and fell over some one; and as soon as I could get myself
together, I lowered the light I carried, and, to my great delight, I
found it was Andrews.
"Whether dead or alive I could not tell then; but we lifted him amongst
us, and none too soon, for as I took my first step back I reeled, from a
curious giddy feeling which came over me.
"`Run if you can,' I said faintly; for my legs seemed to be sinking
under me. I managed to keep on, though, and at our next turn we were in
purer air; but we knew it was a race for life, for the heavy gas was
rolling after us, ready to quench out our lives if we slackened speed
for an instant. We pressed on, though, till we reached the cage, rolled
into it, more than climbed, and were drawn up, to be received with a
burst of cheers, Mary throwing her arms round her father's neck, and
sobbing bitterly.
"`I'm not much hurt,' he said feebly, the fresh air reviving him, as he
was laid gently down. `God bless those brave lads who brought me up!
But there's another man down--John Kelsey.'
"No one spoke, no one moved; for all knew of the peril from which we had
just escaped.
"`I can't go myself, or I would,' said Andrews; `but you mustn't let him
lie there and burn. I left him close up to the lead. He tried to
follow me, but the falling coal struck him down. I believe the pit's on
fire.'
"There was a low murmur amongst the men, and some of the women wailed
aloud; but still no one moved except old Andrews, who struggled up on
one arm, and looked up at us, his face black, and his whiskers and hair
all burnt off.
"`My lads,' he said feebly, `can't you do nothing to save your mate?'
and as he looked wildly from one to the other, I felt my heart like in
my mouth.
"`Do you all hear?' said a loud voice; and I started as I saw Mary
Andrews rise from where she had knelt holding her father's hand; `do you
all hear?--John Kelsey is left in the pit. Are you not men enough to
go?'
"`Men can't go,' said one of the day-shift, gruffly; `no one could live
there.'
"`You have not tried,' again she cried passionately. `Richard Oldshaw,'
she said, turning to me with a red glow upon her face, `John Kelsey is
down there dying, and asking for help. Will not you go?'
"`And you wish me to go, then?' I said, bitterly.
"`Yes,' she said. `Would you have your fellow-creature lie there and
die, when God has given you the power and strength, and knowledge to
save him?'
"We stood there then, gazing in one another's eyes.
"`You love him so that you can't even help risking my life to save his,
Mary. You know how dearly I love you, and that I'm ready to die for
your sake; but it seems hard--very hard to be sent like this.'
"That was what I thought, and she stood all the time watching me
eagerly, till I took hold of her hand and kissed it; and though she
looked away then, it seemed to me as though she pressed it very gently.
"The next minute I stepped up towards the pit's mouth, where there was a
dead silence, for no one would volunteer; and, in a half blustering way,
I said, `I'll go down.'
"There was a regular cheer rose up as I said those words; but I hardly
heeded it, for I was looking at Mary, and my heart sank as I saw her
standing there smiling with joy.
"`She thinks I shall save him,' I said to myself, bitterly, `Well, I'll
do it, if I die in the attempt; and God forgive her, for she has broken
my heart.'
"The next minute I had stepped into the cage, and it began to move, when
a voice calls out, `Hang it all, Dick Oldshaw shan't go alone!' and a
young pitman sprang in by my side.
"Then we began to descend, and through an opening I just caught sight of
Mary Andrews falling back senseless in the arms of the women. Then all
was dark, and I was nerving myself for what I had to do.
"To go the way by which I had helped to save Andrews, was, I knew,
impossible; but I had hopes that by going round by one of the old
workings we might reach him, and I told my companion what I thought.
"`That's right--of course it is,' he said slapping me on the back.
`That's books, that is. I wish I could read.'
"Turning short off as soon as we were at the bottom, I led the way,
holding my lamp high, and climbing and stumbling over the broken shale
that had fallen from the roof; for this part of the mine had not been
worked for years. Now we were in parts where we could breathe freely,
and then working along where the dense gas made our lamps sputter and
crackle; and the opening of one for an instant would have been a flash,
and death for us both. Twice over I thought we had lost our way; but I
had a plan of the pit at home, and often and often I had studied it,
little thinking it would ever stand me in such good stead as this; and
by pressing on I found that we were right, and gradually nearing the
point at which the accident had occurred.
"As we got nearer, I became aware of the air setting in a strong draught
in the direction in which we were going, and soon after we could make
out a dull glow, and then there was a deep roar. The pit was indeed on
fire, and blazing furiously, so that as we got nearer, trembling--I'm
not ashamed to own it, for it was an awful sight--there was the coal
growing of a fierce red heat; but, fortunately, the draught set towards
an old shaft fully a quarter of a mile farther on, and so we were able
to approach till, with a cry of horror, I leaped over heap after heap of
coal, torn from the roof and wall by the explosion, to where, close to
the fire lay the body of John Kelsey--so close that his clothes were
already smouldering; and the fire scorched my face as I laid hold of him
and dragged him away.
"How we ever got him to the foot of the shaft I never could tell; for to
have carried him over the fallen coal of the disused galleries would
have been impossible. It was either to risk the gas of the regular way,
or to lie down and die by his side. I remember standing there for a few
moments, and sending a prayer up to Him who could save us; and then with
a word to my mate, we had John up between us, and staggered towards the
shaft in a strange, helpless, dreamy way. To this day it seems to me
little less than a miracle how we could have lived; but the fire must
have ventilated the passages sufficiently to allow us to stagger slowly
along till we climbed into the cage, and were drawn up.
"I have some faint recollection of hearing a cheer, and of seeing the
dim light of the chill December day; but the only thing which made any
impression upon me was a voice which seemed to be Mary's, and a touch
that seemed to be that of her hand. I heard a voice saying `Terribly
burned, but he's alive. Got a pipe and matches in his hand;' and I knew
they were speaking about John Kelsey, and the thought came upon me once
more that I had saved him for her; and with an exceeding bitter cry, I
covered my poor fire blinded eyes, and lay there faint and
half-insensible.
"And it's not much more that I can recollect, only of being in a wild,
feverish state, wandering through dark passages, with fire burning my
head, and coal falling always, and ready to crush me; and I then seemed
to wake from a long, deep sleep, and to be thinking in a weak, troubled
way about getting up.
"It was a month, though, before I could do that, and then there was a
tender arm to help me, and a soft cheek ever ready to be laid to mine;
for in those long, weary hours of sickness Mary had been by my side to
cheer me back to health, and I had learned that I was loved."