lted with an
exclamation on the brink of a yellow stretch of water that met the
gallery roof twenty feet beyond him.

Blankly he gazed at it. Then he recalled the "fault" the mine boss had
spoken of--an abrupt rise of the gallery twelve feet. This must be it.
Its drain had choked, and filled it with water.

But both Hoover and Young had passed it! The pipe they had tapped upon
was beyond. They must have waded boldly in, dove or ducked down, and come
up on the other side. At the thought of following them in this Wilson
drew back. Had he not better return?

Could he, though? Could he ascend a rope down which he had been unable to
prevent himself sliding? The answer was obvious.

Desperately Wilson decided to venture the water, to reach those he now
knew were on the other side, and the pumping-pipe. In preparation he
first securely wrapped the matches he carried in notepaper taken from an
envelope, and placed them in the top of the miner's hat. Then removing
his shoes, to give him firmer footing, he stepped into the yellow pool
and carefully made his way forward. Six feet from the point at which the
water met the top of the gallery the water was up to his chin, and he saw
he must swim for it, and dive. Without pause, lest he should lose his
nerve, he struck out, reached the roof, took a deep breath, and ducked
down.

Three quick, hard strokes, and he arose, and with a gasp found himself at
the surface again. A few strokes onward in the darkness, and his hands
met a rough wall, over which the water was draining as over the brink of
a dam.

At the same moment a sound of dull blows reached his ears. Spluttering
and blinking, Wilson drew himself up. A shout broke from him. Far distant
and below was a point of light.

"Hello!" he cried. Immediately came a chorus of response, as though many
were excitedly shouting at once. Unable to distinguish anything from the
jangle of echoes, Wilson cried back, "Are you all safe?"

Again came the clashing, incomprehensible shout.

"I'm coming down," he called, though not sure that they heard him.
Producing the matches from the crown of the hat, he found they had come
through dry, and after some difficulty lighting one against the side of
another, he re-lit the lamp. While at this, voices continued to come up
to him, evidently shouting something. But try as he could he was unable
to make out what was said. It was all a reverberating clamor, as though a
hundred people were talking a