me of the others come to our help," was
the confused answer, given in a duet.

"Nay, it was me, my sons; he gave me such a chance--lighting up a whole
box of lucifers. I could see him splendid. Going to burn you out,
wasn't he?"

"No; to see if we were dead, and, if not, to fire again."

"I'm afraid the other beggar has got away."

"But you had some one with you?" said Dallas eagerly.

"Yes, I suppose so, but it is so plaguy dark. I was so long away that I
made up my mind--or something I can't explain made it up for me--to come
straight on and get to you early in the night; but that blessed sledge
got heavier and heavier, so that I had to stop and rest and have a pipe
now and then. Last time I was going to stop I was so near my shanty
that I thought I'd go round by it, and see how things were there. So I
did; left the sledge and crept up to it, to find a bit of fire
smouldering, showing some one lived there; but nobody was at home. No,
that isn't right, for when I got inside I struck a match, and somebody
was at home; but he didn't live there. Understand?"

"That scoundrel who was bitten by the dog?" cried Dallas excitedly.

"Was he there?" cried Abel.

"His mummy was," said Tregelly. "I dunno how they could do it--I
couldn't. I didn't want to live in such company as that. I stayed just
as long as the match burned, and then I came away as fast as I could.
Ugh! it wasn't nice. Those fellows can't be men."

"And then you came on?"

"Yes, my son. I came along at a horrible crawl, which was getting
slower and slower; for it's no use to deny it--us big chaps have so much
to carry on one pair of legs that we're downright lazy ones. There I
was, getting slower and slower, and smoking my pipe, and in a rare nasty
temper, cussing away at that old sledge for being so heavy, and that
sleepy that I kept dropping off fast as a top, and waking up again to
find myself going on like a bit o' machinery. `This won't do,' I says
to myself; and I roused up again, knowing that I couldn't have been
asleep long, because my pipe wasn't out; but all the same I dreamed a
lot, all about dragging a truck on a tram-line down in Botallack mine,
right away under the sea. Then I'm blessed if I wasn't asleep again,
fast as a top--chap told me once that didn't mean a spinning top, but a
_taupe_, which he said was French for dormouse. But that don't matter,
do it?"

"No, no," said Abel impatiently. "Go on."

"All right, my