as we approached, until we stood with 

 the miners in a foot or so of water 

 which showed yellow and shining in 

 the flickering light of four candles. 

 Then we went back to the smithy to 

 wait the result of the blast. 



There was a horrid jarring booming 

 sound. The miners listened intently. 

 McCaffrey said, " One." Another ex- 

 plosion in the tunnel followed — 

 "Two." Another — "Three." Then a 

 silence. "That's bad," said McCaff- 

 rey, shaking his head. "An unex- 

 ploded cap." 



" What do you mean ? " I asked. 



" There were four charges and should 

 have been four explosions. It's liable 

 to go off when we go in there." 



" Oh ! " I said. 



The miners waited a while for the 

 fumes of the dynamite to be dissipated 



