“Come on,” he said. “You mustn’t be frightened.”
“I’m not a bit frightened, but don’t go too fast.”
Gregory, who was running down the ladder, moderated his pace, and sent up an occasional word of cheer. Suddenly Ora heard a horrid noise below like the crash and roar of an express train. “Has the mine fallen in?” she gasped.
“Hope not. That’s the tram with ore and rock for the skip. By and by we’ll use the waste rock to fill up the stopes with, but we’re only blocking out at present.”
“How frightfully interesting mining is—in all its details!” Ora’s hands were smarting, and every part of her, not excluding her imagination, felt as if on the rack. “That noise is over!”
“Did I hear you say ‘Thank heaven’?”
“Of course not. How much farther is it? Haven’t we passed the first level?”
“If we had I should be carrying you. Only about twenty feet more.”
And a few moments later, with the deepest sigh of relief she had ever drawn, she was standing in the small station beside the shaft.
“It’s hard work the first time,” he said sympathetically. “But you’ll soon get used to it.”