I didn't wait to hear her reply. I dropped the receiver and scrambled back along the ledge. Beyond the pit I dropped to the floor of the gallery and ran splashing and stumbling through the water down the long tunnel that led to safety.
CHAPTER TEN
Come Lucky
I thought that gallery would never end. My breath came in great gasps. I ran as I had never run before. The sweat poured from me. I got clear of the water as the gallery sloped upwards. But my gum boots were like lead. I had to stop and tip the water out of them. Those precious seconds wasted seemed like years. Any minute I expected to hear the distant thud of an explosion and the rumble of water tearing into the mine.
Suddenly a light showed ahead. I hadn't the strength to call out. It remained stationary as I pounded up the slope of the gallery. A voice called out, 'Is that you, Jim?' It was Kitty's voice. The little fool had stayed down.
'Get to the surface,' I gasped.
She didn't move.
'Get up to the surface,' I shouted again. The effort of speech hurt my throat. The blood was pounding in my ears and my chest heaved.
Still she didn't move. 'What's happened?' she asked as I came up with her. 'You look as though you've seen a ghost. What is it?'
'Come Lucky,' I answered, seizing her arm.