Off somewhere in the fall there was a grinding, crunching sound for a minute, and then a muffled crash. Some loosened portion of the roof had fallen in.
For a long time Jack engaged the boys in conversation, holding their minds as much as possible from the fate of imprisonment.
Toward midnight Bennie complained of feeling hungry, and Jack went down into the old chambers where he had been staying, and came back after a while with a basket of food and a couple of coarse blankets, and then they all went up to Bennie’s doorway. Tom’s oil was up there, and their lamps needed filling. It seemed more like home up there too; and, besides that, it was the point toward which a rescuing party would be most likely to work.
Jack’s basket was only partly full of food, but there would be enough, he thought, to last, by economical use, during the following day. He ate none of it himself, however, and the boys ate but sparingly.
Then they made up a little platform from the boards and timbers of the ruined door, and spread the blankets on it, and induced Bennie, who seemed to be weak and nervous, to lie down on it and try to sleep. But the lad was very restless, and slept only at intervals, as, indeed, did Tom and Jack, one of whom had stretched himself out on the bench, while the other sat on the mine floor, reclining against a pillar.
When they thought it was morning, they all arose and walked around a little, and the boys ate another portion of the food from the basket. But Jack did not touch it; he was not hungry, he said, and he went off into the new chambers to explore the place.
After a while he came back and sat down, and began telling stories of his boyhood life in the old country, intermingling with them many a marvellous tale and strange adventure, and so he entertained the boys for hours.
It must have been well on into the afternoon that Tom took to walking up and down the heading. Sometimes Jack went with him, but oftener he remained to talk with Bennie, who still seemed weak and ill, and who lay down on the blankets again later on, and fell asleep.
The flame of the little lamp burned up dimly. More oil and a fresh wick were put in, but the blaze was still spiritless.