The Killer Mine

Thanks,' I said. 'What about the girl? Did you see her?'

'Yes,' he said.

'What did she say?'

'She said she'd like to see you before you go.'

'Is that all?'

He nodded.

'Didn't she make any comment? You did tell her that I wanted her to come to Italy with me?'

'Yes, I told her.'

'How did you put it to her?' I didn't trust him. 'You tried to put her off,' I accused him.

'Don't be a fool,' he answered angrily. 'What did you expect? The kid's scarcely been out of Botallack. It'd suit me if she did go with you. She's good looking enough to cause trouble sooner or later. See her before you go. Maybe you'll be able to make her change her mind. It'd help if you were offering to marry her.' x 'But — " Hell!! I hadn't thought about it. He'd turned away now and I sat down and glanced through the package. The letters seemed okay. I folded the envelope and tucked it into my body belt.

As soon as we had finished tea we went back to the Mermaid. The fall of rock was about the same as before. The water was seeping in faster and the pit below the boards was a small lake. Friar and I re-rigged the ladders whilst the others cleared the rock from the timbers covering the pit. As I worked away with the drill, I noticed Friar getting more and more nervy. And when the others had left with the first load and we were alone up there on the torn scaffolding, he became really scared.

At length I shut off the air and said, 'For God's sake, Friar, what's wrong with you?'

'Wot yer mean?' he asked, his eyes darting towards the gallery below us. 'There ain't nothing wrong wiv me.' But his eyes were wide and his breathing heavy. And all the time I felt he was listening for something. Though with the roar of the compressor it was impossible to hear anything.

'Go on,' he said. 'Get on wiv it, can't yer?'

'What's the hurry?' I asked.

'I told yer — I don't like workin' da'n 'ere. The sooner I'm hup top again, the 'appier I'll be, that's all. Is this the last blow?'

'I don't know,' I said. 'Maybe.' Then I caught hold of him by the shoulders. 'Listen, Friar,' I said. 'There's something worrying you that I don't know about. Suppose you tell me what it is.' And when he didn't reply, I said, 'I'm not doing any more drilling till I know. It isn't the water above us you're scared of. It's something back there in the mine. What did you discover last night?' I shook him angrily. 'You discovered something. What was it? And why are you worried about the old man being locked up safe? It's something to do with the old man, isn't it?'

Slowly he nodded his head.

'Well, come on — out with it,' I said. 'You can't expect me to work down here with you knowing what the danger is. Come on. What are you scared of?'

'I ain't scared,' he whimpered. 'Honest, I ain't.' His Adam's apple jerked up and down as he swallowed. 'It's just that — " He hesitated. Then his eyes looked straight at me. 'You won't tell the Captain, will yer?'

'Of course not,' I said.

'Okay. Well, this is wot 'appened las' night. We came da'n the mine ter find the ol' man — remember? The Capting seemed ter know where 'e'd be. 'E took us straight up into the old workings. We 'ad ter crawl on our bellies through a ruddy tunnel no bigger'n a tree trunk. 'E led us right back where the mine narrers between Botallack and Come Lucky. That's where we fa'nd the ol' man. 'E'd got a biddle an a pile o' drills an' 'e was 'ammering 'is way into the rock face at the end of a gallery. Fair swimmin' in water that gallery was. "Wot are you doin'?" the Capting asks 'im. "Making sure you'll not be lettin' the sea into the Mermaid," the ol' man answers wild like. We took him a't then. Mad as a coot, that's wot 'e is. Slim ast the Capting wot 'e reckoned the ol' man was up ter. The Capting said 'e didn't know. But 'e did, an' so did I. So did Slim, too. We was right under Come Lucky in that gallery. Wot the ol' man was doing was breaking a way fru' into the flooded mine. Water was fair rushin' da'n that gallery. If 'e'd made a breach it'd 'ave come roarin' right through the mine, A't 'ere we wouldn't 've stood a chance.'

So that was it. No wonder he was scared. I lit a cigarette. 'Yer won't say anyfink aba't it to the Capting, will yer?' he said. 'I didn't oughter've told yer.'

'No, I won't say anything,' I told him.

The carriage came rattling back along the gallery. We could hear it even above the roar of the compressor. We started drilling again. By the time the debris had all been cleared and the compressor loaded on the carriage we had finished the charge holes and were working with the long drill. But still we weren't through to the sea bed, though there was plenty of water about. Manack climbed up beside us. 'Well?' he shouted. 'Shall we make it this time?'

I pulled the drill clear and told Friar to go and shut the compressor off. 'No,' I told Manack, 'It'll be the next blasting.'

He glanced at his watch. 'You'll be running it a bit fine,' he said. 'It's past nine already.'

I shrugged my shoulders. 'Can't be helped,' I said. 'Even if I put heavy charges in I don't think it'd break through. It wouldn't be a neat job, anyway.' The compressor engine slowed and coughed into silence. The sudden quiet was uncanny. The trickling sound of water whispered through the gallery. We went back to the dugout then and waited for the blast of the charges. Manack didn't go up to the house this time, though Friar suggested twice that he ought to. We were all a bit jittery.

At last it came — a dull, distant thud. Then the blast of air. We only waited ten minutes. Then we went down in the gig and stumbled along the Mermaid gallery through choking clouds of dust. It clogged nose and mouth and hurt the eyes. I could feel the grit in my teeth and on my tongue. We were walking this time, leaving Slim behind to run the carriage out. I don't know what I expected. We must be very close to the sea bed now. I wouldn't have been surprised to find the gallery blocked by sea water.

But it wasn't. We went on down till the dripping walls told us we were under the sea. The gallery was still open. I don't know how the others felt. But my nerves were strung taut as I walked down that gallery. I didn't know what thickness of rock now stood between us and the sea, and that's a frightening thought to a miner.

At length we reached the new fall. I flashed my lamp up into the dark hole of the shaft. Water was seeping through from a number of places. It glistened silvery in the light. Our gum boots stood six inches deep in a muddy grey lake. Captain Manack rang Slim and told him to send the carriage down. The hawser sucked clear of the muddy stream as it pulled taut, water dripped from it.

Friar and I set the ladders up and climbed into the shaft. A loose bit of rock crashed down, narrowly missing my head. Water poured over me. The rock looked pretty thin. Friar, close behind me, said: 'Gawd! An' ter think there's fishes and things swimmin' ara'nd just above our heads.'

I didn't say anything. No need to tell him I didn't like it. The carriage arrived with the compressor. Manack came up as we were getting the drill clamp fixed. He looked at me. He was enough of an engineer to realise that the creviced roof of rock wasn't any too safe. There were great cracks in it and the water came through in a steady stream. I sent Friar down to start up the compressor. 'Better take it easy when you start drilling. Manack said.

I nodded. 'I'll put double charges this time,' I said.

'Right. I'll have this rock cleared as fast as I can. This is no place to hang around.' He grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. 'Don't take any risks,' he said. The compressor started up, drowning all other sound. I watched him climb down the jagged rent of the shaft. Crazy, reckless and unscrupulous he might be, but he knew how to handle men.

Friar climbed up beside me and we started drilling. The time was then just eleven. For two hours we worked in that cramped space, thrusting that bucking drill into the watery rock face. Each time I thrust it home to the hilt my heart was in my mouth. Once a whole section of rock broke away, crushing the ladder on which Friar stood. He only saved himself by hanging on to the drill clamp. If I'd any sense I'd have refused to go on. But then Manack wasn't the sort of man to stand for that. He came up to have a look more than once. And each time I sensed the intense excitement in him. This was the sort of thing he enjoyed.