"Crushed in an instant. I heard one cry. Why not we, too?"
"It was such a bad fall?"
"The whole mine seemed to come down." George felt the shudder of the huge frame. "I escaped; you must have been caught by some of it. Macgregor was right underneath it. But there was an explosion besides."
"Macgregor's lamp? Broken?" whispered George, after a pause.
"Possibly. It couldn't have been much, or we should have been killed instantly. I was only stunned—a bit scorched, too—not badly. You're the lucky one. I shall die by inches."
"Cheer up!" said George, faintly. "I can't last—but they'll find you."
"What chance for either of us," said Burrows, groaning. "The return must be blocked, too, or they'd have got round to us by now."
"How long—"
"God knows! To judge by the time I've been sitting—since I got you here—it's night long ago."
"Since you got me here?" repeated George, with feeble interrogation.