you'll hold me, I will give a shout down."

The mouth of the pit was surrounded by a wooden fencing, to prevent any
one from falling down it. The speaker got over this and lay down on his
face, working nearer to the edge, which sloped dangerously down, while
others, following in the same way, held his legs, and were in their turn
held by others. When his head and shoulders were fairly over the pit he
gave a loud shout.

There was a death-like silence on the part of the crowd standing round,
and all of those close could hear a faint murmur come from below.

Then arose a cheer, echoed again and again, and then half-a-dozen
fleet-footed boys started for Stokebridge with the news that some of the
imprisoned pitmen were still alive.

Mr. Hardinge wrote on a piece of paper, "Keep up your courage; in an
hour's time the cage will come down;" wrapped it round a stone, and
dropped it down. A messenger was despatched to the Vaughan, for the
police force stationed there to come up at once to keep back the excited
crowd, and with orders that the stretchers and blankets in readiness
should be brought on; while another went into Stokebridge for a surgeon,
and for a supply of wine, brandy, and food, and two or three vehicles.
No sooner were the men sent off than Mr. Hardinge said, in a loud tone:

"Every moment must be of consequence; they must be starving. Will any
one here who has food give it for them?"

The word was passed through the crowd, and a score of picnic baskets
were at once offered. Filling one of them full with sandwiches from the
rest, Mr. Hardinge tied the lid securely on, and threw it down the
shaft. "There is no fear of their standing under the shaft," he said;
"they will know we shall be working here, and that stones might fall."

In less than an hour, thanks to the willing work of many hands, a
platform was constructed across the mouth of the Logan shaft, and a
tripod of strong poles fixed in its place. The police kept the crowd, by
this time very many thousands strong, back in a wide circle round the
shaft, none being allowed inside save those who had near relatives in
the Vaughan. These were for the most part women, who had rushed wildly
up without bonnets or shawls--just as they stood when the report reached
them that there were yet some survivors of the explosion. At full speed
they had hurried along the road--some pale and still despairing,
refusing to allow hope to rise again, but unable to stay away f