It was as well the men below were in ignorance of the immediate and extreme danger they were suddenly exposed to by the lowering of a third person into the abyss; for their position was this:—The woodwork which had fallen over the mouth of the cylinder had held up the fallen earth when the wall caved in. This mould was now removed, and by the extraordinary skill and care of those engaged in the difficult task the woodwork had not shifted; but it remained to be seen whether the bad passage of a man working his way down with practically no light go guide him, and with the chance of dislodging odd pieces that had stuck fast in their fall, would not bring the whole thing upon their heads and his own, and, as Hayes put it, "finish the job and have done with them."
Geo was fully alive to the danger as he adjusted the rope round his body, put his foot into the loop, and gave the command to "lower away." At first he went down very slowly, and then came the order to "lower faster," and the crowd grasped the welcome fact that there was no insuperable obstruction in the cylinder.
For a short space of time there was an ominous silence, and then a closed lamp was let down, and the foreman's face cleared. One part of the difficulty had been surmounted; he began to feel more confident of success.
---
In the meantime Geo had reached the bottom, and found the men supporting each other as best they could, but stiff and chilled with their long immersion in three feet of water.
Hayes tried to raise a feeble cheer, but Chapman was past any attempt at cheerfulness. He had sunk into a sort of sullen apathy. Neither of them was capable of helping himself. At first both men wanted to come up at once, and Geo found himself suddenly confronted with an unforeseen difficulty. Chapman was obviously delirious, and Hayes was showing signs of losing his temper.
"One at a time,"said Geo decidedly. "Can't you see there's no room for two?"
"Well," said Hayes at last, "you can send up him; he's pretty nigh done for, and he've got a missus and little 'uns. Only hurry up and due it."
Geo lost no time in securing Chapman as best he could, and with a stern command to him (for he seemed to have completely lost his nerve) to hold on tight and keep his body straight, he chucked at the rope to show all was right, and with a beating heart watched him being drawn higher and higher, till he had passed safely through the aperture. Then he turned to Hayes. This was no time for sentiment, and neither of the men indulged in it.
Hayes had his pipe between his teeth. It had long ago been guiltless of tobacco, but it was comforting, all the same. He did not remove it, and he said nothing to Geo, but signified his gratitude by a nod, and what under happier circumstances might have been a wink.