imed Oliver.

"It's only the kibbles," replied Captain Dan.

Before the captain could explain what kibbles were, these reckless
buckets met, with a bang, close to Oliver's cheek, and rebounded on the
beams that protected him from their fury. Naturally the young man
shrank a little from a noise so loud and so near. He was at once
scraped down on the other side by the pump-rod! Drawing himself
together as much as possible, and feeling for once the disadvantage of
being a large man, he followed his leader down, down, ever down, into
the profounder depths below.

All this time they had not met with a miner, or with any sign of human
life--unless the pump and kibbles could be regarded as such--for they
had been hitherto traversing the old levels and workings of the mine,
but at last, during one of their pauses, they heard the faint sound of
chip, chip, chip, in the far distance.

"Miners?" inquired Oliver.

Captain Dan nodded, and said they would now leave the shaft and go to
where the men were at work. He cautioned his companion again to have
regard to his head, and to mind his feet. As they proceeded, he stopped
ever and anon to point out some object of peculiar interest.

"There's a considerable space above and below you here, sir," said the
captain, stopping suddenly in a level which was not more than three feet
wide.

Oliver had been so intent on his feet, and mindful of the winzes, that
he had failed to observe the immense black opening overhead. It
extended so high above him, and so far forward and backward in the
direction of the level, that its boundaries were lost in an immensity of
profoundly dark space. The rocky path was also lost to view, both
before and behind them, so that the glare of their lights on the
metallic walls rendered the spot on which they stood a point of
brilliancy in the midst of darkness. Only part of a great beam was
visible here and there above them, as if suspended in the gloom to
render its profundity more apparent.

This, Captain Dan explained, was the space that had once been occupied
by a rich lode of ore, all of which had been removed years ago, to the
great commercial advantage of a past generation.

Soon after passing this the captain paused at a deep cutting in the
rock, and, looking sadly at it for a few minutes, said,--"It was here
that poor Trevool lost his life. He was a good lad, but careless, and
used to go rattling along the levels with his light in his ha