Word came back that there was no one in the shaft.
"Who opened the hole?" asked Bob.
"It is an old trap that has been closed for years. It simply caved in, that's all. Order the timber-men to put in a new piece and some fresh supports. Telephone to the top and find out if they have heard anything there."
No one seemed really to know what to do. All believed that Steve Rush had been dashed to death.
"Did—did he fall on a skip?" asked Bob in a trembling voice.
"I am afraid that is what has happened," replied the mine captain. "I am waiting to hear from the surface and if they have seen nothing of the body, we will examine the shaft all the way up."
Bob groaned and, walking over, leaned heavily against the partition.
Steve's fall had been so sudden that he had no time even to utter a cry. The blow that he had given the catch on the tram car had been too much for the sawed support under the old trap. The support had collapsed under his weight and Rush had dropped through the opening.
He shot down feet first to the platform below, bounded off and dropped into the shaft itself.