" With that he
showed Bartley's order and signature.
Hope bit his lips, but merely said, "He will rue it." Burnley sidled
away; but Hope cried to one or two men who were about,
"Keep a sharp lookout on him, my men, your lives are not safe whilst he's
in the mine."
Burnley leaned insolently against a truck and gave the men nothing to
observe; the next minute in bustled the honest miner at whose instance
Hope had come down the mine, and begged him to come and visit the
shoring at once.
Hope asked if there were any other men there; the miner replied in
the negative.
"Very well, then," said Hope, "I'll just take one look at the water here,
and I'll be at the shoring in five minutes."
Unfortunately this unwary statement let Burnley know exactly what to do;
he had already concealed in the wood-work a canister of dynamite, and a
fuse to it to last about five minutes. He now wriggled away under cover
of Hope's dialogue and lighted the fuse, then he came flying back to get
safe out of the mine, and leave Hope in his death-trap.
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