denly the end of the procession
found itself plunged in darkness--the torch had disappeared. The
overseer and several others had finally reached the old gallery.

He gave the order to light several torches. Now they saw the old gallery
stretching before them. The rock appeared intact. When the torches were
raised, the roof was seen to be still solid, though here and there water
filtered through. On the ground was a pool in the midst of which a
slight gurgling noise was heard, evidently caused by a subterranean
spring. A long thread of water escaped from this pool, flowing to the
exit from the gallery which opened on the shaft. The miners followed it.

"Stop, comrades!" said the chief miner, turning round. "Wait for me here
a moment. I will first go alone and see if there is any danger in
proceeding farther."

In alarm, the miners halted, keeping close one to another. The
overseer's torch gradually became more distant and soon was only a
little luminous point in the darkness. Then they saw this little point
stop, rise and sink again, finally rest motionless, and soon commence to
grow larger as it approached. Then the overseer's figure was distinctly
seen. His face was pale with alarm. He approached the miners without
speaking, while they also remained silent.

"My friends, there is nothing left us but to die!"

A strong agitation ran through the crowd of miners. The overseer
approached the exit of the gallery, and at the risk of falling into the
shaft, he leant over and lit it up with his torch. Then one could see to
what extent the mine had been damaged. Huge fragments of rock were
displaced and threatened to fall at any moment. One great block
undermined by the water had been detached immediately above the shaft,
whose opening it obstructed, destroying all hope of getting out that
way. As for the ladders, they existed no longer.

VI

"It is impossible to go back, my friends, for in an hour or two the
other gallery will fall in."

The miners listened in silence to the words of the overseer, whose words
sounded hollowly. The flame of the torch quivered, agitated by currents
of air coming from all sides.

"Shall we wait here?" suggested a miner timidly.

"Wait for what?"

"Perhaps help will come from outside."

"What help can one hope for, when the mine has entirely collapsed? This
gallery, moreover, affords no safety. When the one we have just left
falls in, this will not resist long."

There was no an