Miners have their faults, but leaving other men to perish is not
one of them; there are no greater heroes in the world than those rough
fellows, with all their faults. What you and I must do at once is to
search for provisions and lamps and tools; if there are no poisonous
gases set free, it is a mere question of time. My poor child has a hard
life before her; but only live, and we shall be rescued."
These brave words comforted Grace, as they were intended to do, and she
accompanied her father down the one passage which was left open after the
explosion. Fortunately this led to a new working, and before he had gone
many yards Hope found a lamp that had been dropped by some miner who had
rushed into the hall as the first warning came. Hope extinguished the
light, and gave it to Grace.
"That will be twenty-four hours' light to us," said he; "but, oh, what I
want to find is food. There must be some left behind."
"Papa," said Grace, "I think I saw a miner throw a bag into an empty
truck when the first alarm was given.
Pages:
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413