"Hand me one of the lanterns," called Tom. "Hunter, you take another and come with me."
"Careful, sir," warned another man. "The blasts may not be all over as yet."
Tom Reade smiled.
"The blasts were fired by magneto," he explained. "There can't be any more blasts, unless some enemy should sneak back and adjust the magneto to some other 'mine.' You won't let any one down the shaft for that purpose, I know."
There was a laugh, amid which Tom and Hunter descended. Near the bottom of the third ladder Reade found that the rest of the way down the shaft had been blocked by the smashing of the ladders.
"Go up, Hunter," the young engineer directed, "and start the men to knotting ropes and splicing 'em. We want at least a hundred feet of knotted rope."
Tom waited on the last solid rung while this order was being carried out. By and by Hunter reached him with one end of a long, knotted line.
"Don't pass down any more," Tom called, "until I have made this end fast."
This was soon done, and the rest of the rope was lowered.
"Hunter," Tom asked, "are you good for going down a hundred feet or so on a knotted rope?"