ad again."

"Not walk around on this beam!" exclaimed Charlie, as his interest
changed to genuine alarm, for he realized that such an attempt was a
very different matter from standing quiet and holding on by the upright
timber between them.

"There's no other way," Mr. Everett answered, as he started on his
perilous journey. "I can't reach to signal, from this side, and they
never would find us without. We can't very well stay here, so that seems
to be the only thing I can do. You needn't be alarmed, my boy," he added
kindly, as he saw that the lad was now thoroughly frightened for his
safety. "I am used to all these ins and outs, and know about what I can
do, even if I never happened to get caught just here before. We miners
get to be half monkeys, and can hang on where most men would fall."

He cautiously moved away a few inches along the beam; then he turned
back to add one parting caution.

[Illustration: "He cautiously moved away a few inches along the beam."]

"Remember," he said, "and don't try to look down, even if you think you
hear the cross-head coming up again. If you do, you are likely to get
dizzy and fall."

How long it took for Mr. Everett to creep around the shaft, neither he
nor Charlie ever knew. To them both, the moments seemed long, but to Mr.
Everett, in particular, they were like hours, for he realized so keenly
all the danger of their position, and felt the added responsibility for
the young boy in his care. Inch by inch, step by step, he worked his way
forward, until at length he reached the opposite guide, and felt the
signal cord between his fingers. Then he knew that all trouble was
ended.

One, two, three! rang out the engineer's bell.

The engineer was perplexed. He had been lowering the bucket more and
more slowly, and still there had reached him no summons to stop,
although his dial told him that the cross-head must be far below the
seven-hundred level. And now came the summons to raise slowly, when he
was sure that it was near the level of no station. What was the matter?
It was evident that there was some trouble.

Slowly the engine drew up the bucket. It had passed the six-hundred
level, then the five, and was now half way to the four-hundred, when the
bell rang again, a single stroke this time, the order to stop. The
engine was left motionless for some moments, while the engineer, with an
anxious face, stood awaiting a fresh signal. He knew that something was
wrong, and tha