Derrick Sterling Part 12

"Then you know it was this same sneaking boss's pet, Derrick Sterling."

"No, I don't."

"I tell you I saw him do it!" cried Job, in a rage. "Him and the hunchback went up to the board together, and when the boss stepped away, so they thought n.o.body wasn't looking, the pet slipped 'em into his pocket. I saw it with my own eyes."

"An' I tell yer yer lie!" shouted Monk Tooley. "Here's de checks, an'

dey come outen yer own pocket, yer black-hearted old scoundrel!"

At these astounding words Job Taskar sprang towards Monk Tooley with clinched fists, as though to strike him, and all present watched for the encounter in breathless suspense.

Just then the door behind them was pushed open, and standing on its threshold they saw the mine boss and Derrick Sterling.

CHAPTER XI

A FATAL EXPLOSION OF FIRE-DAMP

At this startling apparition of the last two persons in the world whom they would have expected to see in that place, the a.s.sembled miners remained for some moments motionless with astonishment. Having stationed a trusty sentinel at the end of the gangway nearest the new workings, who was to give them instant warning of the approach of any outsider, they imagined themselves perfectly safe from interruption. They had not considered the possibility of an approach from the rear through the abandoned workings, for they were generally believed to be impa.s.sable owing to deadly gases and the quant.i.ty of material that had fallen in them. Thus the unannounced appearance of the very persons whose fate they had just been discussing seemed almost supernatural, and a feeling of dread pervaded the a.s.sembly.

On the other hand, Mr. Jones and his companion were equally, if not more greatly, dismayed. Having approached the door during a momentary silence among the miners, they had not been warned by any sound of what they should find beyond it. Thinking that they were upon an upper level, and separated from their enemies by many feet of solid rock, they suddenly found themselves in their very midst.

At the first view of what was disclosed by the opening door, Derrick uttered a little frightened cry, and involuntarily drew back as though about to run away. It was only a momentary impulse. In an instant his courage returned, the hot blood surged into his face, and stepping boldly forward he stood beside the mine boss, determined to share whatever fate was in store for him.

Among the Mollies the first to recover from his stupefaction was Job Taskar, who crying "Here they are, lads! Now we've got 'em!" made a spring at the mine boss, with clinched fist still uplifted, as it had been to strike Monk Tooley.

The black muzzle of a revolver promptly presented to his face by the steady hand of the young man caused him to stagger back with a snarl of baffled rage. Taking a couple of steps forward, which motion Derrick followed, and standing in full view of all the Mollies, with the revolver still held in his hand where it could be plainly seen, the mine boss said:

"My men, I want you to excuse this interruption to your meeting, and listen to me for a few minutes. I think I know why you are thus a.s.sembled in secret. It is to decide upon some means of getting rid of me and of my young friend Derrick Sterling. You have been taught by this man that we are your enemies, and are working against your interests.

Let me give you a few facts that will serve to show who are your real enemies, and who are your true friends.

"Job Taskar is, I believe, your Body-master and leader. He had told you that this lad is a spy, sent into the mine to discover your secrets and work against you. He hates Derrick Sterling. Why?

"A few years ago Job Taskar was blacksmith to a distant colliery in another district. This lad's father was engineer in the same mine.

Taskar was paid by the men for sharpening their tools, so much for each one. They were compelled to go to him by the rules of the colliery. He so destroyed the temper of the drills and other tools brought to him as to make them require sharpening much oftener than they would if he had done his work honestly. He was thus stealing much of the miners'

hard-earned wages. Mr. Sterling found this out, procured Taskar's discharge from the works, and had an honest man put in his place. When the same gentleman found the same dishonest blacksmith working in this mine he warned him that if he caught him at any of his old tricks he would have him discharged from here. Now Taskar hates that engineer's son, and wants to have him put out of the way. Do you wonder at it?

"He wants me removed for a much more simple reason. It is that he would like to be mine boss in my place. This would so increase his influence in your society that he might in time be made a county delegate, and live without further labor upon money extorted from hard-working miners."

At this point the members glanced uneasily at each other. They were amazed at the knowledge showed by the mine boss of their affairs.

"Now, my men, a few more words and I am through," continued the speaker.

"In regard to those of your number whom I discharged, and refused to take back, although pet.i.tioned to do so, you know who they are, and I needn't mention names. I will only say that they were detected in an attempt to injure the pumps and destroy the fans. Had they succeeded the colliery would have been closed, and all hands thrown out of work for an indefinite length of time. You would have been in danger from fire-damp and water. Probably some lives would have been lost. They were unscrupulous men, and had they succeeded in their villainy you would have been the greatest sufferers.

"As for you, sir," he said, sternly, turning to Job Taskar, "I have long had my eye on you, and have come to the conclusion that this mine and all employed in it would be better off if you should leave it. I therefore take this opportunity to discharge you from this company's service. If after to-night you ever enter this mine again it will be at your peril."

The man was too thoroughly cowed by the boldness of this proceeding to utter a word, and when the young mine boss, saying "Come, Derrick," and "Good-evening, men," suddenly stepped outside the door and closed it, he stood for an instant motionless. Then with a howl of "Stop 'em! Don't let 'em escape!" he tore open the door and sprang into the gangway beyond. It was silent and dark, not even a glimmer of light betraying the presence or existence of those who had but that moment left the chamber.

For a brief s.p.a.ce the man stood bewildered, and then began to run towards the door that opened into the new workings. Several of the miners followed him until they came to where their sentinel stood. He, watchful and on the alert, as he had been ever since they left him there, was greatly surprised at their haste and the impatient demands made of him as to why he had allowed two persons to pa.s.s. Of course he stoutly denied having done so, and declared he had seen no living being since taking his station at that place.

"Then they're back in the old workings, lads, and we'll have 'em yet,"

cried Job Taskar. "They can't get out, for the gangway's choked beyond.

They must have been hid yonder near the place of meeting since lunch-time, waiting for us, and they're hid now, waiting till we leave, so's they can sneak out. But they can't fool us any more, an' we'll get 'em this time."

With this the man, fuming with rage and disappointed hate, turned and retraced his steps up the gangway, followed by four of his companions.

The rest of the Mollies, feeling that no more business would be transacted that evening, and having no inclination to join in the human hunt, dispersed to different parts of the new workings, or went up the slopes to the surface. Monk Tooley stayed behind, not for the purpose of joining in the pursuit of the mine boss and his companion, but with a vague idea of protecting Derrick from harm in case they should be caught.

Led by Job Taskar, the four Mollies eagerly and carefully explored every foot of the gangway, and even climbed up into several worked-out b.r.e.a.s.t.s at its side, thinking the fugitives might be hidden in them.

After surmounting several minor obstacles, they finally came to one that was much more serious. It was a ma.s.s of fallen debris that filled the gangway to within a couple of feet of its roof, and extended for a long distance. Thinking that perhaps it completely choked the pa.s.sage a few yards farther on, and that he might now find those whom he sought in hiding, like foxes run to earth, Taskar eagerly scrambled up over the loose rocks and chunks of coal, reaching the top while his followers were still at some distance behind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SUDDENLY THERE CAME A BLINDING FLASH, A ROAR AS OF A CANNON]

Suddenly there came a blinding flash, a roar as of a cannon discharged in that confined s.p.a.ce, a furious rush of air that extinguished every light and shrouded the gangway in a profound darkness, and the rattling crash of falling rocks and broken timbers. The Mollies who followed Job were hurled, stunned and bleeding, to the floor of the gangway. Even Monk Tooley, who was at a considerable distance behind them, was thrown violently against one of the side walls. As for Job Taskar, he lay dead on the heap of debris over which he had been climbing when the uncovered flame of his lamp ignited the terrible fire-damp that hung close under the roof. He was burned almost beyond recognition, and the clothes were torn from his body. Among the fragments of these afterwards picked up was found a portion of a letter which read:

"_It will be impossible to obtain the position until_ _position must be supported by a number of votes wh_ _when you become mine boss._

"_You know as well as anybody that a county delega_

When the battered and bruised miners had recovered their senses, relighted their lamps, and ascertained the fate of their leader, they were content to drag themselves out from the gangway without pursuing any further the search in which they had been engaged. Fortunately for them the quant.i.ty of gas exploded had been small, else they might have been instantly killed, or the gangway so shattered as to completely bar their way of escape, and hold them buried alive between its black walls.

As it was, it brought down a great ma.s.s of debris on top of that already fallen, and so choked the pa.s.sage beyond where Job Taskar's body lay that it was effectually closed.

Although Derrick and the mine boss were far in advance of their pursuers, and had already pa.s.sed most of the obstacles to their rapid progress, they were very sensible of the shock of the explosion when it occurred. The rush of air that immediately followed was strong enough to extinguish their safety-lamps, and cause them to stagger, but it did them no injury.

When these two had so suddenly stepped from the presence of the Mollies, and slammed the door in their faces, they had instantly extinguished their lamps, and started on a run back through the gangway by which they had come. Of course, in the utter darkness, they could not run fast nor far, but they were well beyond the circle of light from Job Taskar's lamp when he sprang out after them, and that was all they wanted. When they saw the little cl.u.s.ter of flickering lights borne by the Mollies disappear in the opposite direction from that they were taking, they felt greatly relieved, and a few minutes later ventured to relight their own lamps and continue their retreat.

"Looks as if we'd got to go out the way we came in, after all, doesn't it, sir?" said Derrick, who was the first to speak.

"It does rather look that way," answered the mine boss, "but I'd rather risk it, under the circ.u.mstances, than face those fellows just now. They have had a chance to recover from their surprise at our appearance, and some of them are as mad as hornets to think they let us go. A moment's hesitation when we opened that door and found ourselves among them would probably have cost us our lives. Our very boldness was all that saved us. A danger boldly faced is robbed of half its terrors.

"By-the-way, Derrick, our coming on those fellows as we did was a most remarkable thing. I thought your tracing was leading us to the top of the air-shaft instead of to the chamber at its bottom. We must be on a lower level than we thought. How do you account for it? Can you have made a mistake in regard to the plans?"

Derrick's heart sank within him as he remembered the weak spot in his tracing; but he answered, "I don't think so, sir; though it does look as if something was wrong."

Here conversation was interrupted by the difficulties of the road, for they had reached the ma.s.s of fallen debris that blocked Job Taskar's way a little later.

As they crawled on hands and knees over the obstruction, the mine boss said, hoa.r.s.ely, and with great difficulty, "Hurry, boy! there's gas enough here to kill us if we breathe it many minutes. If we had naked lights instead of safeties we'd be blown into eternity."

After they had safely pa.s.sed this danger he said, "I hope with all my heart that those fellows won't come that way looking for us; there's sure to be an explosion if they do. I don't believe they will, though,"

he added, after a moment's reflection; "they're too old hands to expose themselves needlessly to the fire-damp."

They had again waded through the icy water, which the mine boss said he must have drawn off before it increased so as to be dangerous, and were well along towards the opening into the break, when the m.u.f.fled sound of the explosion reached their ears.

"There's trouble back there!" exclaimed Mr. Jones, as he relighted their lamps, which the rush of air had extinguished, "and I'm afraid that somebody has got hurt. You go on out, Derrick, and I'll go back and see.

No, I won't, either. I can get there as quickly, and do more good, by going round outside and down the slope. Come, let us run."

In a few minutes they had reached the bottom of the break, climbed the rickety ladder, and once more they stood in safety beneath the starlit sky of the outer world.