with muscular power
the effects of the explosion. Each alley had similar crews.

"Mule boy!" I roared with all my vocal power into what looked like an
ugly rent in the rocks. A moment later, I saw a glimmer of light, then
a mule shot up out of a hole and a black boy brought up the rear,
clinging to the tail of "Emma," the mule, our sure-footed locomotive.

We were handed a huge sledge-hammer each and the work began. My hammer
bounded off the rocks as if it were an air ball. It bounded for a
dozen heavy strokes.

"Turn that rock over and look for the grain!" the foreman shouted in
my ear. Then he took the hammer, turned the huge boulder over on its
side, struck it twice or thrice and it flew into splinters.

We acquired the knack of things quickly, and instinctively struck the
working pace. It was the limit of human strength and endurance. My
jacket came off first, then my overalls, then my shirt, leaving
trousers and undershirt only. The others followed suit. The sweat
oozed out of every pore of my body. We smashed, filled and ran out the
full cars. We worked silently, doggedly and at top speed. Several
hundred men were doing likewise in other pockets; they were less
bloody, perhaps, but the work was the same and they did it without
knowing that it was brutally hard. There was a halt of fifteen minutes
for dinner. Then we went at it again. Our best fell short of the
demand. For every car of ore blasted, the foreman got fifty cents and
for running out each car, we got twenty cents--a little over six cents
each.

"---- ---- your souls to h--l," the foreman shouted. "Why don't you
get a move on you ---- hey?"

We moved a little faster.

"You muckers ain't goin' t' get ten cars out t'day if ye don't mend
yer licks!"

We "mended our licks."

He looked like a wild beast. Short of stature, but his arms were
hardened and under the red skin the muscles were hard as whip-cords
and taut as a drum. His eyebrows were heavy and bushy and over his
strong chest grew shaggy masses of black hair. Our car slipped the
track once and when he heard the smash he came thundering along,
ripping out a string of oaths as he came. Putting his powerful body to
the lever, he lifted the car almost alone. As he did so, his lamp came
in contact with my hand. Unable to let go, I screamed to him to move.
As he did so, he saw the seared flesh.

"Too bad! Too bad!" he said, as he dropped the truck. I gazed into his
eyes.

"Look here!" I sa