FAST IN

AN ADIT. 127

“The Philology of the English Tongue;” and one by the
Rey. W. W. Skeat, of kindred reputation, entitled,
“Specimens of English Literature,” (1.p. 1394—1579).
Mr. Skeat has also just published an edition of Chatter-
ton’s poems, with a memoir of the “Marvellous Boy,’
in which we may say that he has completely solved
the literary riddles which so perplexed the older critics.

formerly professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University,

FAST IN AN ADIT.

AAT is an adit? Putting this question to

}} the puzzled old Cornish miner who had

come upon us, while we were chipping off

fragments of the rare serpentine rock for
ie

which the coast is famous, he replied as

follows :—

“Why, sir, it be a tunnel run into the shaft of a mine
from the lowest level we can get.”
Seeing me still adrift, he further explained himself.

“Supposing a shaft be sunk on the top of a hill, we go | along the bottom of the adit, and the echo of my own

to the bottom of it a mile or so away, and tunnel through
and through, till we pierce the shaft, and thus make a
passage or outlet to carry off the water, which otherwise
must be taken to the top of the pit.” “ Is there danger in
this work?”  “ Lor, sir, is there any work we miners do
that isn’t chock full of it 0’ one sort and another? Inmy
time I ha’ been in perils with foul air, fire-damp, explo-
sions, falls of earth, and slips and stumbles that have
brought me very nigh death; but I never were fast in an
‘adit,’ though I once helped to dig outa mate o’ mine that
was; and I'll tell you, if you like to listen, how it came
about.

“This adit were about a mile long, and as there were
some sort of an obstruction in it, the captain of the mine
ordered one of us to find out what it was, and remove it.

| Zt fell to the lot of Will Thomas to do this, and several

of us saw him enter; but expecting he would go right
through to the shaft and out by the ladders, we thought
no more about him till leaving the mine myself, some
hours afterwards, I saw his young wife standing at the
door, with her baby in her arms. It war the first time
since the little un wer born, some three weeks before, and
she looked proud and happy, as I stopped—we were near
neighbours ye see—to speakacivil word. Butshe looked
wistfully over my shoulder the while, and asked if I
hadn’t seen her Will, and what wer keeping him so long.

«JT don't know whether it wer her anxious look, or a
thought of how this pale weak mother and her babe were
dependant on Will, that made me feel uneasy for a mo-
ment, though I answered her cheerly enough that he
wern't far behind, and then went on towards my own
cottage. But the queer feeling was on me still, and I
turned back to meet my mates, and ast ‘ Whose seen Wil!
Thomas ?”

“he words went from mouth to mouth, ‘ Who’d seen
him?’ No one, since he entered the adit.

«May be he stopped at Ludguan, to have a chat with
old Daye Pentreath. He often do, somebody sug-

gested, and I went home better satisfied, for Dave wer a
bit kin to Thomas; and as he wer a wise old man, that
knowed amost every thing, it wer only natural that Will
|should give him a look in nows and thens.

; and crawled on faster than before.

“Some two hours after this, when I'd a’most forgotten
all about it, and was having my pipe while the youngsters
learned their Bible verses, Will Thomas’s wife came to
the door pale and frightened. He had not returned.
Where could he be? could no one, no one tell her ?

“In a moment the thought come across me, ‘ He’s fast

| in the adit,’ and blaming myself for not thinking this

sooner, I started up—bid my old woman take care of the
poor trembling creature, and went as fast as my legs
would carry me to hunt up all those who had worked in
the same cour (corps) or gang as Will. He must be
found, we wer all agreed upon that; and as he wera
neighbour and mate of mine, I offers to be the one to
search for him. We miners are used to groping in the
depths of the earth, and this wer no worse than I had
done before, yet my heart beat fast, and the big drops 0”
sweat stood on my face, as I crawled along expecting
every moment to come upon the dead body of Will
Thomas. Nay once, though I’m no coward, I was a’most
ready to go back; I did’nt though, and every odd while
T called out tothe missing man. But the shout awoke no
answer, except the trickling of the little stream that ran

voice that sounded strangely hollow in my ear.

“Vd crawled about the third of a mile, when far away
I heard a muffled shriek, which could only come from
my poor mate. Though I had been listening for some
sound to tell me that he wer still living, a cold shiver
ran through me when that dismal screech pealed along
the adit; but I shouted back lustily that help wer near,
By and by I could
hear a deep groan, then the low mutter of some one
praying, and I knew I was nearing the place where Will
mustbe. At last squeezing myself through the narrowest
part of the passage, I came to where he lay, as I expected,
wedged in by a slip of the earth.

“Pinned down on his face—obliged to throw back his
head, which was all he could move, to keep the waters of
the stream from entering his mouth, and drowning him-—
may be, sir, you can guess what he wer suffering better
than I in my rough way can tell ye. Seeing the agony he
must be in—keeping his head in that position—I tool:
off my coat and rolling it wp placed it under his chin.
Then getting some brandy down his throat I bade him
cheer up and be a man, while I went back to the shaft
for more help.

“We gave a gasp, and pitifully begged me not to
leave him. Those hours of pain and darkness in which
he had eried out so often for some one to save him, then
fancied he heard a step and grown full of hope, only to
lose it again and give himself up for lost, had pretty nigh
made a child on him. How he must ha’ thought o’ the
poor wife fretting for him—of the babe they was so proud
on, of the few angry words they'd said to each other now
and again, and how he could never make friends with a
kiss as he used to do, don’t bear talking about; nor the
prayers that I heard him putting up to his Maker. I
couldn’t wonder that he felt as if it wer more than he
could bear to see me and my lantern go away from him,
and leave him once more alone.

“But there was no help for it, and when I told him
it wer the only chance of saving him, he said, ‘ Go then,
Jack, and God bless ee! Make the best on it to my poor
Bess |’

* And so I went; but it wer with a sinking heart, for

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