d it at all.

"As soon as the caisson was clear of water and the men were ready, they
entered the caisson, crawled down the long ladder and began to dig away
the sand. A large four-inch pipe led up the air-shaft and over the sea.
The sand and small stones were shoveled into a chamber from which a
valve opened into the pipe and the compressed air drove up the sand and
stones like a volcano into the sea. The work proceeded rapidly and
without a hitch until the caisson had been sunk thirteen feet and a
half. Then, when only two feet from the total desired depth, an
unexpected and terrible thing happened.

[Illustration: "THE BOAT WENT INTO MATCHWOOD."

A sudden tempest breaking upon Smith's Point Lighthouse in the early
stages of its construction.

Courtesy of McClure's Magazine.]

"At three o'clock in the afternoon a low hissing was heard in the
caisson, and with a quick flicker the candles first burned low, then
flamed anew, the color of the flame a lambent green. For a few moments
none of the men realized what had happened, and stood there, stupefied
and staggering. An acrid burning sensation gripped the men by the throat
and they were stricken blind. Suffering terrible agony, every man
managed to climb the long ladder, each step of which seemed an eternity,
and entered the air-lock. Ten hale and hearty men had entered the
caisson, ten wrecks emerged, the flesh of the inside of their throats
raw and their eyes swollen and reddened beyond recognition.

"A telegram was sent to the Lighthouse Inspector of the district, and
the doctor attached to the building party sent for medical help. Next
day the inspector came down, with assistants, and accompanied by another
physician and a nurse. They found that the caisson workers had tapped a
vein of sulphuretted hydrogen, probably due to the decay of some deep
beds of vegetable matter, such as sea-weed. One of the assistants to the
inspector, who was a clever young scientist, suggested that after a day
or two it might be possible to enter the caisson again, but that it
would be necessary to proceed with extreme care, as another pocket
might be tapped, with a recurrence of the danger.

"Although before them, in their bunks, lay their ten comrades, when
Father called for volunteers, fourteen men came forward. They knew, they
could not help knowing, that they were not only going into possible
danger, but into absolutely certain torture. Their comrades lay
there--it was no