THE RESCUE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4902, 17 March 1894, Page 2

THE RESCUE.

I There's a sudden, fierce elans-; of the knocker, , ; then the sound of a voica in the shaft, i I Shrieking words that drum hard on the centres, j ' nnd the braeeniaa goes suddenly daft : j ; "Set the whistle a-bWin' like blazes! Billy, run, j j givo old Mackie a call — I Run, you fool ! Number Two's gone to pieces, j ! and Fred Baker ia caught in the fall ! j j Say, hello! there below— any hope, boys, any j I chances of savin' his life ? * Heave away ' sez tlie kneekor. They've started, j J God be praised, he's no young'uns nor wife !" j j Screams tbe whistle in fearful entreaty, and the I wild echo raves on the 6pur, And the night that was still as a fjleeper in a soft I charmed sleep is astir ! With the fluttering of wings in the wattles, and the vague frightened murmur of birds, ' "With far cooeys that carry the warning, running feet, inarticulate words. From theblack belt of bush come the miners, and they gather by Mack on the brace. Out of breath, barely clad, and half- wakened, with a question in overy face. " Who's blow?" " Where's the fall f" "Didn't I teU you? — Didn't I" say that them sets wasn't sound? - ' "Is it Fred? He was reckless, was Baker, now he's seen his last shift underground." "And his mate? Where is Sandy M'Fadyn?' I " Sandy's snorin' at home on his bunk." " Not at work ! Name o' God! a forebodin' ?" " A forebodin' be hanged! He is drunk !" " Take it steady thero, lads f" the boss orders. He is white to the rool3 of his hair. " We may got him alive before daybreak if he's close to tb© face and has air." Down below in the dim drive like demons the facenien are pegging away. , Long and Coots in tho lowermost lavel heard her thunder, nor linger to say j ■ What it meant ; but they rushed for the ladders, and they vent up the shaft with a run, ( For they knew thy weak spot in the workings, and they guessed there was graft to be done. Number Two was pitch dark, and thoy scrambled to the plat and tbey made for tbe face. But the roof had como down fifty yards in, and the reef waa all over the place. Now they givo way to men from tho surface, and they're hauled up on top for a blow ; When a life and death job is in doing there's room only for workers below. Bare-armed, and bare-chested, and brawny, with a grim, meaning set of th'-*- jaw, '; The relay hurry in to the rescue, caring not for i the danger a straw; ', 'lis not toil, but a battle, they're called to, and ; like heroes the miners respond, ' For a dead man lies crushed 'neath the timbers, j or a live man is choking beyond. ! By the faint, yellow glow of tbe candles, where tho dank drive ie hot with their breath, j On the verge of the Land of the Shadow, waging j war breast to bosom with Death, i How they struggle, these giants, and slowly, as i the trucks rattle into the gloom, Inch by inch tbey advanoe to the conquest of a prison — or ia it a tomb ? Andthe workings re-echo a volley ss the timbers are driven in place, But; a whisper is borne to the toilers : " Boys, his mother is there on the brace " Like veterans late put into action, fierce with ; longing to hew and to hack, Uiordan's shift rushes in to relieve them, and the toil-stricken men stagger back. * " Stow tho stuff, mutes, wherever there's stowage! Itun the rain on the brace till ho drops ! There's no tirau even to think ou this billot. Bark the heels of the truck ev who stops ! Keep the props well in front and be careful. He's in there, and alive, never fret." 1 But tho gray dawn is softening the ridges, and ; the word has not come to us yet. , At the mouth of the shaft men aro waiting, all intent as if held by a charm ; And their thews foel the craving for action, but ; tbey look with a sorrowful calm , Where a woman sits crouched by the capstan. In her eyes is not hope nor despair, But a yearning that glowers like frenzy, and bids those who'd speak pity forbear. Like a figure in stone B_e ia seated till the labour of rescue be done, For the father wai killed in the Phomix, and tho [ son — Lord of pity! the son? Still tho knocker rings out, and the engine shrieks ; and strains like a creature in pain ; As the cage surges up to the surface or drops back to the darkness again. ; Now the morn is aglow on ths ranges where tho magpies are rivals in song And the musk scent steals up frcm the gully, but '. the battle is bitter nn'l long. : " Hello ! there ca top ! " tbey are calling. "They , are tlu-oujrli ! He is seen in the drive ! , They have got him — thank Heaven ! they've got him, and oh, blessed be God, he's alive ! " " Man on ! heave away ! " " Step aside, lada ; let I his mother be first when he lands." She was silent and strong in her anguish; now sho babbles and weeps where she stands, ' And tho storn men, grown gentle, support her at the mouth of the shaft, till nt last i With a rush the cage springs to the landing, and her son's arms encircle her fast. She ha 9 cursed the old mine for its murders, for the victims its drives havo ensnared, Now she crie3 a great blessing upon it for the ono ' precious life it has spared. 1 'Edward Dyson in tlie Melbourne Argus.