"It won't do," he said, half turning and then moving nearer the slope. "There's gas enough in the drift to choke me before I'd get ten yards. Why don't the idiots move faster!"
Only the absolute conviction that he would be lynched if caught at such a time prevented Billings from rushing out.
Each second the vapor became denser, and he wondered why the miners did not perceive it.
The catastrophe must be very near at hand, and he was exposed to the greatest danger.
When it seemed as if an hour had passed, the last man went up the slope, and he started at full speed to gain a higher level.
The incline was almost reached; half a dozen steps more and he would be partially sheltered by the jutting point of slate.
"Luck is still with me," he cried, so loud that those above must have heard him, and at that instant the earth seemed to rock to and fro; there was a flash of blinding light, and the air was filled with flying fragments.
Where had been the lower level was now an apparently solid mass of earth, coal, and slate, covering the body of him who had wreaked his vengeance upon the company.
Joe and Bill were returning from the store when the noise of the explosion was heard, and they, as well as everyone in the vicinity, knew from sad experience what had occurred.
"We're responsible for this!" Bill cried, his face paling. "The gas has burst through from the old drift."