r th' reet thing, an' we set our moinds on tellin' yo' as
we'd heerd it an' talked it over, an' we'd loike to say a word o' thanks
i' common fur th' pluck yo' showed. Is na that it, mates?"

"Ay, that it is, lad!" responded the chorus.

Suddenly one of the group stepped out and threw down his pick.

"An' I'm dom'd, mates," he said, "if here is na a chap as 'ud loike to
shake hands wi' him."

It was the signal for the rest to follow his example. They crowded about
their champion, thrusting grimy paws into his hand, grasping it almost
enthusiastically.

"Good luck to yo', lad!" said one. "We'n noan smooth soart o' chaps, but
we'n stand by what's fair an' plucky. We shall ha' a good word fur thee
when tha hast made thy flittin'."

"I'm glad of that lads," responded Derrick, heartily, by no means
unmoved by the rough-and-ready spirit of the scene. "I only wish I had
had better luck, that's all."

A few hours later the whole of the little town was shaken to its very
foundations, by something like an earthquake, accompanied by an ominous,
booming sound which brought people flocking out of their houses, with
white faces. Some of them had heard it before--all knew what it
meant. From the colliers' cottages poured forth women, shrieking and
wailing,--women who bore children in their arms and had older ones
dragging at their skirts, and who made their desperate way to the pit
with one accord. From houses and workshops there rushed men, who, coming
out in twos and threes joined each other, and, forming a breathless
crowd, ran through the streets scarcely daring to speak a word--and all
ran toward the pit.

There were scores at its mouth in five minutes; in ten minutes there
were hundreds, and above all the clamor rose the cry of women:

"My Mester's down!"

"An' mine!"

"An' mine!"

"Four lads o' mine is down!"

"Three o' mine!"

"My little un's theer--th' youngest--nobbut ten year owd--nobbut ten
year owd, poor little chap! an' on'y been at work a week!"

"Ay, wenches, God ha' mercy on us aw'--God ha' mercy!" And then more
shrieks and wails in which the terror-stricken children joined.

It was a fearful sight. How many lay dead and dying in the noisome
darkness below, God only knew! How many lay mangled and crushed, waiting
for their death, Heaven only could tell!

In five minutes after the explosion occurred, a slight figure in
clerical garb made its way through the crowd with an air of excited
determinati