f the tunnel.

"Yes, the boss was in the mine, too--had been there all day. It might be
that he is dead this moment, for all I know," said the stranger. From his
description of the boss, Tad guessed that it was no other than Mr.
Williams himself.

When the mine was reached, operations were at once commenced to remove
the fallen stones. Tad took command, and several times he thought he
heard the sound of hammering from the other side--but, perhaps, after all
it was only an echo. After a careful examination, it was decided that all
the loose rock had fallen, and that to remove it was not dangerous. They
began work at the top in order to make a hole big enough to reach the
men. They had not worked long when they heard sounds from the other side.
They were not all dead at least, and if they could but get to them before
they suffocated all would be well. The imprisoned miners evidently
understood the plan of action, for the sounds from the other side
indicated that they, too, were working at the top of the wall. By night a
small opening was made and messages exchanged. There were seven men
inside--one dead, two very badly hurt, and the others bruised and cut,
but able to help themselves. Water and hot food were passed to them,
then the work of rescue was taken up in earnest. Mr. Williams had a
fractured leg and was unconscious, but was still living. Instead of
rushing to the solid wall end of the tunnel, where he would have been
comparatively safe, at the first sign of danger he had rushed toward the
entrance with one other man, and had been struck down by the falling
stone. If he had started out thirty seconds sooner, he would have been
crushed to death, as his companion was.

Late that night a large enough hole had been made to move the wounded men
out. Tad was the first to enter, and the first man to be brought out was
Williams. Tad picked him up in his great strong arms and tenderly carried
him to the cabin. By midnight the broken leg was dressed and the cuts and
bruises bandaged. Tad proved as good a nurse as he was a miner. As he
worked over Williams a great pity filled his heart, for Tad knew only too
well that he had been anything but a happy man.

The tunnel had been driven very rapidly without proper trussing, and it
seemed to Tad that the entire dyke must have been shaken by the blasts
that had caused Mr. Thornton's death years before. Without a second's
notice the shaly rock had given a little, then caved in.