nd
so they will."

"If the roof don't fall," said a low voice close by me, and the same
voice said, "Lift this poor fellow up and take him to the infirmary."

"Nay, I weant go," cried Pannell, "aw want to stay here and see them
mesters come out."

"Let him rest," said the manager, and upon his asking me I raised
Pannell's head, and let him rest against my chest.

Then amidst the painful silence, and the fluttering and crackling of the
fire, we heard again the rattling of bricks and stones; but it was
mingled with the falling of pieces from the roof. Then there was a
crash and a shriek from the women as a cloud of dust rose, and my heart
seemed to stand still, for I felt that my uncles must have been buried;
but no, the sound of the bricks and stones being dragged out still went
on, and the men gave another cheer.

The manager went round again to the back of the place, and came tearing
back with three or four men shouting loudly:

"Come out! Come out! She's going!"

Then there was a horrible cry, for with a noise like thunder the left
side and part of the roof of the building fell.

The dust was tremendous, and it was some minutes before the crowd could
rush in armed with shovels and picks to dig out the bodies of the brave
men buried.

The murmur was like that of the sea, for every man seemed to be talking
excitedly, and as I knelt there by Pannell I held the poor fellow's
hand, clinging to him now, and too much shocked and unnerved to speak.

"They're killed--they're killed," I groaned.

But as I spoke the words the people seemed to have gone mad; they burst
into such a tremendous cheer, backing away from the ruins, and dividing
as they reached us to make way for my uncles to bear to the side of
Pannell the insensible figure of the man they had saved.

That brave act performed for an utter stranger made the Arrowfield men
talk of my uncles afterwards as being of what they called real grit; and
all through the winter and during the cold spring months everything
prospered wonderfully at the works. We could have had any number of
men, and for some time it was dangerous for my uncles--and let me
modestly say I seemed to share their glory--to go anywhere near a
gathering of the workmen, they were so cheered and hero-worshipped.

But in spite of this good feeling there was no concealing the fact that
a kind of ill-will was fostered against our works on account of the new
inventions and contrivances we had