ake until the sun was high in the heavens. He wondered that no one
had called him, as had been agreed.

It might be that the men had also been overcome by sleep. Poor
wretches, they also were exhausted. He hastened to the pit. The men
told him they had watched all night, but there had been no sign of
water in the tank. He waited patiently for twenty-four hours. Not a
sign of water!

Ivan thought he could explain the absence of the water by the theory
of the periodic springs--a theory too complicated to enter upon here.
It is sufficient to say that the water-supply of the mine was worked
by the pressure of the air upon these springs. If the water did not
now return, it would be attributable to one of two causes: either the
pipe which conducted the water from the larger basin had suddenly
closed, and was no longer subject to atmospherical pressure, on which
it depended to keep open; or some split or crevice had come in the
stone masonry which protected the basins, and the force of the air had
driven the water down farther into the bowels of the earth, where, no
doubt, another basin was ready for its reception. We will remember
that from the first Ivan had the idea that some such reservoir
existed. But where?--that was the problem; and if the reservoirs were
not found, what then?

The cavern where Ivan stood was empty. The black portals which guarded
the subterranean kingdom of death stood open to him. He could enter
the labyrinth; he could discover what he had long sought, the
communication between the upper and the lower water basins. One
difficulty lay in his way. He should take a workman with him. He
called the old miner, Paul.

"Paul, how old are you?"

"Sixty-nine."

"You would like, no doubt, to complete your seventieth year."

"I should like to see the gold wedding of this pit. Next year it will
be just fifty years since it was opened."

"And if you die before then?"

"I should say, 'The name of the Lord be blessed.'"

"Are your sons grown to man's estate?"

"My grandson is able to keep himself."

"Would you be ready to accompany me on a dangerous expedition--one
where the chances are we might never return?"

"I think I have run that chance before now."

"You must understand, Paul, the whole risk before you agree. We are
going to look for the water that has left the tank. It is a matter of
life and death to every one of us, and, therefore, I think God will
help us; but it may not be so. The Almig