Then he ran forward at full speed, dragging Fred with him, and shouting like an insane man all the while until finally the boy could see a tiny spark of light far in the distance.
"It's some one looking for us," Fred cried.
"Whether he's come for us, or is on business of his own, matters little since his light is burning."
Then, as Brace ceased speaking, Fred heard a familiar voice shouting, and an instant later Sam Thorpe had grasped him by the hand.
"Why, it's Bill's butty! What are you doing here?"
"I came to look for the new breaker boy; I thought Skip's crowd had done him some mischief."
"So they did, an' another set of scoundrels would have drowned us all out but for your coming."
"What do you mean?"
"There's no time for talkin' now. How did you get here?"
"By an old slope that I stumbled across the other day. I found Fred's bundles near the shaft, and believed he had been let down there."