The gig stopped at the store gallery. We all got out with the exception of Captain Manack. He went on up to the surface. I followed the others into the dugout. I was thinking of Kitty. I had to get a message to her somehow. But it was no use asking Manack to take it. Friar was sorting through one of the cases of rations. 'Wot aba't bully an' apricots?' he suggested.
I caught hold of his arm. 'You going to the house, Friar?' I asked.
He looked up. 'No,' he said. 'My orders is ter stay da'n 'ere. We starts work again soon as them charges is blown.'
I sat down on the bed. What the hell would Kitty be thinking of me? Manack was right. If she heard I was leaving on the Arisaig in the early hours of the morning, anything might happen. I couldn't leave her here. And he'd said she loved me. My God! I needed somebody to love me. I needed her. I couldn't go on like this — alone. I thought of the hot moonlit nights in Italy. The women there were easy enough. But a man needed something more than that of a woman. If Kitty were with me… I got up and started pacing up and down the dugout. I suddenly knew that I had to have Kitty with me. I wouldn't go without Kitty. It wasn't only that I needed her — that I loved her. It was the thought of her staying on up there in the house. She'd go mad She'd brood and brood on what had happened. And then… It didn't bear thinking on. I had to get her away from the place. I'd refuse to go on with the job unless Manack agreed to her leaving with me. Yes, that was the answer. I'd refuse to do the job for him 'Ain't yer feelin' 'ungry?' Friar asked me.
'Eh?' My mind was so full of my thoughts that I scarcely understood what he said.
'Wot's got into yer — pacin' up an' down like that? Yer ain't worried aba't that shaft, are yer? Yer don't think it'll collapse on us?'
'No,' I said. 'No, I wasn't thinking about that.'
'Then s'ppose yer come an' 'ave somefink to eat?'
I took the plate of bully and bread that he offered me. And at that moment there was the distant, muffled sound of an explosion. Once again the dust rose with the blast of air that swept through the mine. Friar stood up. 'The Capting said we was to start again as soon as the charges 'ad exploded.'
I said, The dust would choke you. We wouldn't be able to see a thing. Give it time to settle.'