kip a plank
atween us and the bottom of Davy Jones's looker; but, never, in all my
born days, have I seed sich pumpin' as went on in that thaar week!"

"As Seth says," resumed Mr Rawlings, "we were like mariners pumping at
the hold of a water-logged ship, as if for life. We pumped, and pumped,
and pumped; but, in spite of all our efforts, only succeeded in just
keeping the enemy in check, that's all."

"Can't get the mine dry, eh?"

"No, not for any length of time. What we gain in the day, we lose again
at night. In concise terms, I may put it, that by keeping the hose
constantly at work, which of course interrupts the progress of
excavation, we barely manage to hold our own, neither gaining nor losing
an inch."

"That's a bad lookout!" said Ernest Wilton, shaking his head.

It was. It meant ruin to all their hopes and expectations; the
inglorious end of the expedition; the sacrifice of all their toil and
perseverance throughout those terribly arduous winter months; their
waste of energy in struggling with the powers of nature. It meant all
that, and more!

Such a state of things would never do to last.

Difficulties were only made for men to overcome, according to the maxim
which had hitherto guided Mr Rawlings and Seth Allport, and which they
had preached to the more faint-hearted members of their party; and,
Ernest Wilton was a thorough disciple of their creed, for he was not one
to be daunted by obstacles, no matter how grievous and apparently
insurmountable they were;--no, not he.

The young engineer went down the mine to look for himself, and to form
his own opinion as to what was best to be done in the emergency.

He went down looking grave enough, but he returned with a more hopeful
expression on his face, which at once cheered up the somewhat despondent
spirits of those awaiting him above--for he preferred descending alone.

"Well?" inquired Mr Rawlings, interrogatively.

"It might be worse," said the young engineer smiling.

"That sounds good," said Seth Allport, his countenance, which had
previously been grimmer than ever, beaming over its whole expanse, as if
the sun was trying to shine through overhanging clouds and fog. Seth's
phiz was as expressive as a barometer any clay.

"I think I see a way out of the difficulty," said Ernest Wilton to ease
their anxiety, which he could readily sympathise with after what he had
seen.

"I am sure you would not say so unless you had some hopes of