ed in colliery work. He had almost caused
a serious accident during his first week by not blocking his car
properly. The half-loaded car had begun to move down the slope of the
mine gallery, it might easily have run clear down into the entry and
possibly killed some one if Clem had not dashed forward and checked
the car before it had too much speed.

In general, Anton had not reasoned much about the danger or the lack
of danger in coal-mining. He regarded the pit as a matter of course.
It was the only life he knew. All his comrades were at work in the
mine or would be at work therein, as soon as their school-days were
over. The boy himself had started early, soon after his father's
death, since it was the only employment to be got in the neighborhood
and he had his widowed mother to support.

Clem had found a place in the mine for his friend without any
difficulty, for Anton was powerfully muscled. In this he took after
his father, who had been almost a Hercules and one of the champion
wrestlers of the mine. Born of miner stock on both sides, Anton was
short and squat, able to shovel coal all day without fatigue. He had
accordingly, been taken on as a loader, Clem undertaking to keep an
eye over him.

It took the older lad all his time to do so. Anton was absolutely
reckless by nature, and, though he was constantly being advised as to
the necessary precautions for making mining safe, he could never be
persuaded to adopt them.

Instead of blocking his car with one log placed across the track and
another under the car and resting on the transverse log, he would put
a piece of coal under the wheel and trust to its staying there; he
would wear his coat loosely, over his trousers, though he was told
over and over again that he ran the risk of his coat being caught by
the cars, when switching, and being dragged along the side of the rib:
on another occasion, Clem found the boy starting along the
haulage-way used for the coal cars instead of using the man-way
reserved for the workers, in order to save a couple of minutes' time.

What exasperated Clem even more was that, since Otto's warning, Anton
had become more careless than ever. It was evident that the fatalistic
streak in the boy made him feel that if he were foredoomed to an
accident, there was no use in trying to prevent it.

The boy's impatient exclamation and his comrade's retort about danger
had occurred while they were in line in front of the lamp shack,
wai