THE RESCUE
It was eight o'clock, and the crowd that had come and gone during
the afternoon had now gathered again in force. It was known all
round that the critical moment had arrived. Everything was ready;
the supreme act of bringing the men to the surface alone remained
to be accomplished. The rope was carefully lowered, and the
watchers held their breath.
For some minutes the rope dangled, now and then becoming taut for
a moment, and then hanging limp again. It was evident that
something was wrong.
"What is it?" the foreman shouted anxiously.
"We can't do it," came a voice from the bottom.
"We're too stiff; we can't get hold."
There was a silence for what seemed an interminable space after
these words.
"Some one must go down to them," said the foreman slowly, his own
face growing very white. He knew that whoever went down might be
passing to instant death; for though everything that could be
done had been done to render the passage safe, yet he had hoped
against hope that the necessity of a passage _down_ would be
avoided. He was a great stout fellow himself, and not so active
as Hayes, who he had trusted, would squeeze himself through.
During that pause the workmen looked questioningly at each other,
and no one read in his mate's face any desire to try the
dangerous experiment. The crowd listened again breathlessly. The
foreman cast an imploring look around.
"Won't anybody volunteer?" he asked.
"I will."
It was Geo Lummis who spoke, and a burst of approbation broke
from the bystanders.
It was as well the men below were in ignorance of the immediate
and extreme danger they were suddenly exposed to by the lowering
of a third person into the abyss; for their position was
this:--The woodwork which had fallen over the mouth of the
cylinder had held up the fallen earth when the wall caved in.
This mould was now removed, and by the extraordinary skill and
care of those engaged in the difficult task the woodwork had not
shifted; but it remained to be seen whether the bad passage of a
man working his way down with practically no light go guide him,
and with the chance of dislodging odd pieces that had stuck fast
in their fall, would not bring the whole thing upon their heads
and his own, and, as Hayes put it, "finish the job and have done
with them."
Geo was fully alive to the danger as he adjusted the rope round
his body, put his foot into the loop, and gave the command to
"lower away." At first he went down very slowly, and then came
the order to "lower faster," and the crowd grasped the welcome
fact that there was no insuperable obstruction in the cylinder.
For a short space of time there was an ominous silence, and then
a closed lamp was let down, and the foreman's face cleared. One
part of the difficulty had been surmounted; he began to feel more
confident of success.
---
In the meantime Geo had reached the bottom, and found the men
supporting each other as best they could, but stiff and chilled
with their long immersion in three feet of water.
Hayes tried to raise a feeble cheer, but Chapman was past any
attempt at cheerfulness. He had sunk into a sort of sullen
apathy. Neither of them was capable of helping himself. At first
both men wanted to come up at once, and Geo found himself
suddenly confronted with an unforeseen difficulty. Chapman was
obviously delirious, and Hayes was showing signs of losing his
temper.
_"One at a time,"_said Geo decidedly. "Can't you see there's no
room for two?"
"Well," said Hayes at last, "you can send up him; he's pretty
nigh done for, and he've got a missus and little 'uns. Only hurry
up and due it."
Geo lost no time in securing Chapman as best he could, and with a
stern command to him (for he seemed to have completely lost his
nerve) to hold on tight and keep his body straight, he chucked at
the rope to show all was right, and with a beating heart watched
him being drawn higher and higher, till he had passed safely
through the aperture. Then he turned to Hayes. This was no time
for sentiment, and neither of the men indulged in it.
Hayes had his pipe between his teeth. It had long ago been
guiltless of tobacco, but it was comforting, all the same. He did
not remove it, and he said nothing to Geo, but signified his
gratitude by a nod, and what under happier circumstances might
have been a wink.
When the rope reappeared he seized it, with Geo's assistance,
made himself fast, and gave the signal for going up.
Geo saw the soles of Hayes's big boots rise over his own head
with eyes that dilated with something like fear, and a heart that
thumped audibly against his ribs, as for a few moments his own
fate hung in the balance. Hayes's broad shoulders, even with the
greatest care, might refuse to pass through the aperture without
dislodging some of the fallen timber; such a little would send it
down on his head. It would be a horrible death, for he would see
it coming--coming--coming before it fell, and Geo didn't want to
die. The possible nearness of death flashed into his mind, and he
scarcely dared look when Hayes reached the hole, and a few broken
straws, loosened by his passage through it, floated down on to
his upturned face. The ominous words, "You'll cover us up and ha'
done with us," occurred to him again with terrible persistence.
Minute after minute passed, and the rope did not reappear.
Impossible but horrible thought, were they so much taken up with
Chapman and Hayes that they had forgotten him?
Geo had stepped on to one of the turned-over pails on which the
other men had been standing, and the water had reached up to his
knees when he had given Hayes his parting shove. He now noticed
with surprise that it had suddenly reached considerably over
them. He glanced apprehensively to the sides of the well. It was
perfectly evident that the water had risen. Higher, higher it
crept, till it nearly reached his waist, and then the awful truth
flashed on him. _The springs had begun to work!_