considerably lower level before it
stopped, and the men stepped forth into the black entry. Winston went
with them, keeping carefully away from the fellow he supposed to be
foreman of the gang, and hanging back, under pretence of having
difficulty in lighting his lamp, until the others had preceded him some
distance along the echoing gallery. The yellow flaring of their lights
through the intense darkness proved both guidance and warning, so he
moved cautiously forward, counting his steps, his hand feeling the
trend of the side wall, his lamp unlit. The floor was rough and
uneven, but dry, the tunnel apparently having been blasted through
solid rock, for no props supporting the roof were discernible. For
quite an extended distance this entry ran straight away from the foot
of the shaft--directly south he made it--into the heart of the
mountain; then those twinkling lights far in advance suddenly winked
out, and Winston groped blindly forward until he discovered a sharp
turn in the tunnel.

He lingered for a moment behind the protection of that angle of rock
wall, struck a safety match, and held the tiny flame down close against
the face of his pocket compass. Exactly; this new advance extended
southeast by east. He snuffed out the glowing splinter between his
fingers, crossed over to the opposite side, and watchfully rounded the
corner to where he could again perceive the twinkling lights ahead.
His foot met some obstacle along the floor, and he bent down, feeling
for it with his fingers in the dark; it proved to be a rude scrap-iron
rail, evidence that they carried out their ore by means of mules and a
tram-car. A few yards farther this new tunnel began to ascend
slightly, and he again mysteriously lost his view of the miners' lamps,
and was compelled to grope his way more slowly, yet ever carefully
counting his steps. The roof sank with the advance until it became so
low he was compelled to stoop. The sound of picks smiting the rock was
borne to him, made faint by distance, but constantly growing clearer.
There he came to another curve in the tunnel.

He crouched upon one knee, peering cautiously around the edge in an
effort to discover what was taking place in front. The scattered
lights on the hats of the miners rendered the whole weird scene fairly
visible. There were two narrow entries branching off from the main
gallery not more than thirty feet from where he lay. One ran, as
nearly as he could judg