"An' I reckon he'll stay till we want him," Billings replied with a laugh, after apparently examining the bolt.
Then the two men passed on, and Sam began his slow task again. Hope was strong in his breast, for he knew from the conversation that Fred had succeeded in warning the miners.
He used the small blade, and it wore away so quickly that there could be no chance it would last to complete the work.
"If I could get a purchase on the door it might be broken open now the bolt is cut so much," he said, looking around once more.
Near the uprights was an extra piece of joist standing on end as if forming a portion of the side.
The floor of the cutting was full of irregularities where the slate had been broken or taken out, and this gave him the opportunity to get the required purchase.
With one end of the joist pressed firmly against a slight elevation, and the other on the doors just over the bolt, he clambered up until near the top, when all his weight and strength were brought into play.
Once, twice, he swayed up and down, and then inch by inch the metal yielded until the heavy timbers swung outward, and he was free so far as liberty of movement in the drift was concerned.
At the moment when he emerged there was no one in the passage, and he hurriedly re-closed the doors that his escape might not be discovered by those who should pass.
After some difficulty he succeeded in pushing the broken piece of iron into the sockets in such a manner that a casual observer would hardly notice anything wrong, and then, extinguishing the light in his cap, he went swiftly toward the shaft, arriving there just as half a dozen men were on the point of descending.