l enable you to open the most extensive store in Ballarat"

"That is so," echoed Smith, approvingly.

We were about to make further inquiries, when, breathless with haste, a
miner rushed into our tent.

"In the name of God, Mr. Inspector, come and help me!" he gasped.

"Why, what is the matter, Bill?" Mr. Brown asked, quite coolly.

"It is matter enough. Our mine has caved in, and both Sam and Jack are
buried alive! Help me get them out and you shall have a share of the
gold they have got on their persons."

"Did I not tell you, no longer ago than yesterday, that you was not
shaping your shaft properly?" demanded the inspector, sharply.

"I know that you did, but we thought that we could save a few pounds,
and run a little risk," replied the miner, in a humble tone.

"And a pretty mess you have made of it with your meanness. I have a
great mind to let you do your own work, and save the lives of your
comrades as best you can," and Mr. Brown looked cross.

"Don't say that, sir, when two poor human beings are probably dying.
Hadn't you better help them first and scold them afterwards, if alive?"
I inquired.

"Your advice is too good to go unheeded," returned Mr. Brown; "Bill, I
will go with you at once, and do all in my power to assist you to rescue
your comrades."

The miner led the way towards his claim at a brisk trot, and while we
followed at his heel's, Mr. Brown explained what we afterwards found
often happened at Ballarat. Through neglect to buy staves, or heavy
pieces of timber to keep the sides of the shaft from caving in, the poor
fellows had been suddenly buried, and it was a question whether they
could exist long enough to allow of a force to remove the earth which
blocked up the entrance of the shaft.

When we reached the scene of the disaster not more than a dozen people
were present, and they did not display any intense affliction at the
catastrophe. Five or six were smoking and lounging about, discussing the
probabilities of the miners being alive, yet showing no great
inclination to commence work and put all doubts to rest.

One miner--an aged man who had worked in the coal mines of Newcastle,
England--expressed a decided opinion that both Sam and Jack were alive,
and proceeded to demonstrate it by saying that the mine had been worked
for some time, and it was probable that the men were at some distance
from the shaft when the earth caved in; and when I asked how they could
exist without air