The Killer Mine

CHAPTER NINE Blasting Operations

The sight of the old man's face peering out from between the bars of that little window gave me a horrible sense of satisfaction I had wanted justice. This was vengeance. I thought of how my mother had looked out from behind those bars and how it drove her to suicide. And now, the man who had made her believe she had killed Kitty's mother, the man who had shut her in there away from the world, was himself locked in that room — and mad, really mad. I started to laugh. The sound of my voice jarred and frightened me. It was a harsh laugh, but I couldn't stop it.

Dave looked round. 'Ssh!' he said. 'Somebody might hear you.' But I went on laughing. 'Man alive, what's got into you?'

I shook my head. Gradually my laughter died away and I felt weak and exhausted. 'You wouldn't understand, Dave,' I said.

We had reached the shaft now. Dave stood aside and motioned me to go first. It was then that I remembered Kitty. It was two forty-five. I'd only quarter of an hour to wait. 'You go on down,' I said. 'I'll stay up top a bit.'

He looked at me quickly, his eyes suddenly suspicious. His hand came out of his jacket pocket. The blue steel of his gun glinted. 'Go on,' he said. 'Get down the shaft.' His voice had the high pitch of tension. He was scared of me.

'For God's sake, Dave,' I said. 'We came up for a breath of air, didn't we? It won't hurt to stay up top a little longer. You don't want to go down to that stuffy little hole again, do you?'

'No,' he said. 'But I'm taking no chances, see. You heard what the Captain said. He said if you weren't here in the morning, I'd get no passage on the Arisaig.' 'But, good God,' I said, 'I'm not going to run away.'

'Bloody right, you're not,' he answered sharply. 'Now get going.'

'Listen,' I said. 'I just want to stay up here for a few minutes more. I won't run away. I give you my word.'

'Think I'd take your word. It's daft, you are, to talk of such a thing.' His dark eyes watched me narrowly, the gun gripped in his hand. 'It's up to something, you are, man,' he said excitedly. 'And I'm taking no chances. I'm wanted for murder. And the only man who can get me out of the country safely is Captain Manack. Now, get down that shaft. Try anything and I'll shoot you.'

I laughed. 'You wouldn't dare,' I said. 'Captain Manack needs a live miner to open up that gallery. A dead one's no good to him. Look, Dave — I'll tell you why I want to stay up top a little longer. There's a girl up at the house. She used to know my mother. I've arranged to meet her down here. There, will that satisfy you? She's coming down at three o'clock — that's in ten minutes' time.'

'You're lying,' he breathed excitedly. 'I don't believe a word of it. It's up to something, you are. I know it. You want to get away on your own — turn King's Evidence, maybe. If you hadn't turned up the other night, I'd have taken Sylvia Coran with me and the police would never have known I'd survived the disappearance of the Isle of Mull. Your fault it is that I'm on the run. Do you understand? Your fault. And now you want to get away from me. Now you think I'm dangerous.' He was quivering with the violence of his feelings and there was a murderous gleam in his eyes. 'Well, I am dangerous,' he added. 'I'm not afraid of using a gun. And I don't want any more talk about girls. You're not meeting a girl. You're trying to get away. All that nonsense about seeing the old man safely up to the house. Lies, all damned, lousy, bloody lies. You're trying to get clear of us. Well, you're not going to do it, see. Now, get down that shaft or I'll start shooting.'

He was all worked up. The gun literally quivered in his hand as he brought it up. I believe he wanted to use it. I think he wanted to feel the power that firing a gun gives a man. He needed that sense of power, for he was scared — and that made him dangerous. I sat down on the protecting wall of the shaft. I did it with an assumption of ease which I certainly did not feel. 'Have some sense, Dave,' I said. 'Fire that thing and it'll be heard for miles. Kill me and — "

'It's fitted with a silencer,' he interrupted with a tight-lipped grin.

'All right,' I said. 'But if you kill me, Manack won't do anything for you. Right now he needs me.'

'I shan't kill you,' he answered.

'All right,' I said. 'But if you wound me, it'll be just as bad. Captain Manack needs that gallery opened up right away. A wounded miner is no more use to him than a dead one.'

Dave laughed. 'It's a good shot, I am. And a miner can work all right even if he has no toes.' His voice suddenly became almost strident. 'For Crissake, man, get down that shaft or do I have to hurt you?'

He raised his gun. He meant it. I could see that. I shrugged my shoulders. What was the good? I'd need my feet if I was to get Kitty away from this place. He was raising the gun now. His whole body trembled with the desire to fire it. His eyes were almost glazed. I had broken out into a sweat. 'All right, Dave,' I said quickly, as the black barrel of the gun pointed at my left boot. 'I'll go down.' He didn't seem to hear. I could see the white of his first finger knuckle as he squeezed at the trigger. 'All right, Dave,' I shouted.

His eyes lost their glazed look and met mine. Then he looked down at the gun in his hand. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he lowered his arm to his side. The sweat glistened on his face. He seemed dazed. 'Get on down, then,' he said in a voice that was strangely husky. He was like a man drained of all energy.

I went down the shaft. The rock holds were wet and slimy under my hands. Darkness and the sound of water closed me in. The world above was reduced to a white circle of light. The moon was so low that no light came down into the shaft. Then the circle of light was filled with Dave's dark figure and the yellow gleam of his torch shone on the rock walls.

Back in the hideout, he closed the entrance and bolted it. Then he had me sit on one side of the dugout whilst he squatted on a box on the other side, the gun across his knees and his black eyes watching me ceaselessly. I lit another miner's lamp and sat there thinking of Kitty. The hands of my watch moved slowly round to three o'clock.

Blast that frightened little Welshman! She'd be up there waiting for me. She'd think I wasn't coming because I was angry with her. My God, she might do anything if I didn't turn up. The picture of her seated by the kitchen range, dry-eyed and shaken with fearful sobs, leapt to my mind. She had blamed herself for what had happened. She was in no fit state of mind to be left alone. If I didn't meet her, she might… I thrust that thought out of my mind. She'd come down to the hideout as she had done before. No good imagining things. She was upset — terribly upset — that was all. It was quite natural. She wasn't the sort of girl who would go and do anything foolish.

But as the time drifted by I became more and more worried. I kept on seeing her standing up there all alone as the moon's shadows lengthened and lengthened. And then when I didn't come… There were the cliffs straight ahead of her. She'd think of the cliffs and how my mother had ended her life. She was bound to.

I kept on glancing across at Dave Tanner. And every time I did so, his black eyes would meet mine watchfully. Once he said, 'It's no good. I'm watching you and I'm not sleepy.'

I fancied I could hear the tick of my wrist-watch. It was so still. It was like a tomb. Suddenly there was a new sound. Dave started to his feet, the gun in his hand. It was the hollow sound of rock on rock. It came from the entrance-way. 'Somebody's trying to get in,' Dave whispered. His eyes were dilated and his whole body tense. 'It's the police. It's tapping, they are — searching for the entrance.'

'Nonsense,' I said. 'It's the girl. Open up, Dave.'

'No,' he cried. 'No. Stand back.'

His gun was pointed at my stomach. He was so strung up I didn't dare move. If I'd moved he'd have fired. 'I didn't tell the Captain,' he whispered. 'But when I was coming here I ran slap into the local bobby. Up on the main road, it was. I came that way because it was quicker than going round by the moors. He was standing quite still fiddling with his bike. I didn't see him until he shone his torch on me.'

The tapping ceased. There was a far-away, distant sound. It might have been water or it might have been somebody calling. The thickness of the rock slabs deadened all sound. It came again. After that there was silence. I looked at Dave, measuring the distance for a sudden spring. I had to get to that girl. But he saw my intention in my eyes and retreated to the far corner, the gun levelled at me. 'Dave,' I said, 'I must speak to that girl.'

'You stay where you are,' he ordered.

'But good God,' I said, 'what makes you think that was the police? I tell you it was the girl. She came to find me, like she did earlier this evening.'

'Indeed, I hope you're right.' He sat down heavily on one of the cases. 'My God, I hope you're right.' He wiped the sweat from his face with a dirty rag of a handkerchief. 'If that was the police—" he didn't finish. 'What makes you think it was the girl?' There was a note of hope in his voice.

'Look,' I said, 'the kid's had a hell of a shock. She's just discovered that old Manack murdered her mother.'

'You don't say?'

I told him the whole story then. It was the only way. I told him everything. And when I had finished, he said 'Jim, bach, that's ter-rible.' It was incredible how emotional he was.

'Now, will you let me go up and see the girl?' I asked. 'I'm scared she may do something silly up there on her own.'

He hesitated. Fear and love of the dramatic and the emotional were at odds in his mind. I said, 'For God's sake, can't you see what's in her mind? She feels that it's her fault my mother went over the cliffs that day. She needs me to tell her it's all right. If I'm not there — " I stopped then, loath to put the thought into words.

He nodded and got up irresolutely. 'I give you my word not to try to escape from you,' I said. 'And if the police are around we'll come straight back. Okay?'

He went over to the entrance and quietly eased back the bolts. Then he pushed back the top slabs and peered cautiously out. I was right beside him. The gallery was dark save for the light of our lamps on the rock wall immediately opposite the hideout. It didn't take me long to go up the cross-cut to the shaft and climb the stone sets to the top. The moon had just set. The sea's horizon stood out sharp and black like a ruled line against the vague light left in the night sky. The cliff tops were full of dark, huddled shapes, impossible to tell whether Kitty was there or not. I ran stumbling down to the sheds of the mine. She wasn't there. I started calling her name. It came echoing back to me from stone heaps and ruined mine buildings. But she did not answer. I went down along the cliffs towards Botallack Head. Time and again I thought I saw her. But it was only a bush or an old stone wall.

I didn't like that place at night. It gave me the creeps. It had been all right in full moonlight. But in this half-light it seemed hostile and withdrawn into some primitive past of its own. All those workings! The sweat of thousands of men had gone into honeycombing these cliff tops. Ignoring Dave's protest, I stumbled up and down along the top of those cliffs, calling her name. But never an answering call, save for a distant owl. I was beside myself. Kitty suddenly became very precious to me. I needed her. And I was afraid I'd lost her. Dave, limping along behind, caught up with me as I stood once again on the brink of the dark cliffs of Botallack Head. The place fascinated me. The long rollers marched in endless straight lines against the base of the cliffs. Black rocks showed in the boiling surf. Away to the left the old engine house stood like a castle outpost, its brick chimney half-smothered in spray. I thought I saw a body down there on a sloping slab that gleamed dully with the water that poured off it. I blinked and when I looked again it had gone.

The light played tricks. I stepped back. I don't suffer from vertigo, but there was something about those cliffs — they drew me Dave caught hold of my arm. 'It's back to the house she's gone. I'm thinking,' he said, with all the quick sympathy of an emotional nature.

'Yes,' I said. 'She's back at the house.' I turned away. 'We'll go up and see,' I added, and strode off inland to the track that ran up to Cripples' Ease.

He raised no objection. I could hear him limping along after me. The light was fading out of the western sky. It was getting darker every moment. The ruin of the old mine workings seemed to jump at us out of the night; strange, blurred shapes that had no substance. The lights of a car moving along the main road through Botallack village threw Cripples' Ease in sudden dark relief. Once more I felt that sense of unreality the building had conveyed that first night. It had no right to be occupied in the midst of all this desolation. It should have been allowed to disintegrate with the rest. It was part of the past.

The lights of the car beside it swung in a great arc. For a second I was looking straight into the beams of the headlights. Then they disappeared behind the house. 'Get down, man,' Dave called as I stood there, dazed by the brilliance. I dived behind a wall of ruined stonework. The car was coming down the track towards the house. Dave crawled up and lay panting beside me. 'What would a car be wanting here at this time of night?' he muttered. The tremor of his voice betrayed the state of his nerves.

Trippers coming back late from a dance,' I suggested. 'Not a bad place for necking.' But I don't think I believed that myself. Somehow I didn't see a young couple coming out here after the moon had set.

The headlights swung clear of the house. The stones gleamed on the great heaped-up piles alongside the workings. I looked at Dave. I could see his face quite clearly. It was white and his breath came quickly. The car slowed down to a crawl as it came level with the house not fifty yards from where we lay hid. The headlights swung away from us as the car turned. Finally it stopped, its lights blazing full on the dark facade of Cripples' Ease. Two men got out and went to the front door. One wore uniform.

'Police,' Dave whispered. 'The bloke in plain clothes is a detective.'

I nodded.

'If they'd got anything on the Captain they'd have brought more men and surrounded the place,' he added. 'It's suspicious they are, that's all.' Relief and fear showed themselves in his voice.

The two policemen waited in the doorway. At last the door opened. It was Captain Manack. He had a dressing-gown on over his pyjamas and he carried a lamp. A few words and the two police officers went inside. The light entered one of the front rooms. I could see right into it for there were no curtains and the shutters were not closed. It had apparently been the bar. It did not appear to have been altered since the days when the house had been a pub. Even at that distance I could see the bar counter with shelves for bottles behind and a dartboard hanging on the wall above the fireplace. Captain Manack went out. A few minutes later he came back into the room and shortly afterwards Slim entered, followed by Friar. They were both in their night things. Then the old woman came in. And finally Kitty.

A great weight seemed lifted off my mind at the sight of her standing there in the doorway in her dressing-gown. She seemed heavy and tired. Her face was white and expressionless. I couldn't bear to watch her being interrogated. 'Maybe we ought to get back to the hideout,' I suggested.

'Lie still, man,' Dave whispered urgently. 'Lie still and don't move. They may have men posted all round with night glasses. Just lie still and wait.'

For the better part of half an hour we lay there, our stomachs pressed to the cold stones that became sharper as the minutes lengthened. At last there was no one in the room but Captain Manack and the two officers. All three were smoking. Then they went on. The door closed and the house was black again. The light appeared next at the front door. The two policemen went across to their car. I heard the plainclothes man say in quite a cheerful voice. 'Good night, sir. Sorry we called so late.'

'That's all right,' Captain Manack answered. 'Good night.'

There was the slam of doors as the policemen got into their car. Then the engine roared into life. And at the same time a face appeared at the little dormer window at the top of the house. I could see it quite clearly in the blaze of the headlights. It looked white and strained and the beard was thrust between the bars. I could see the old man's eyes.

Then the car began to move, the headlights swung away from the face of the house and I could no longer see the window. The house was no more than a ghostly shadow in the sudden blackness.

We watched the car turn right on to the main road. We followed its headlights all the way to St. Just and traced its movement right out along the Penzance road. Only then would Dave agree to move and return to the hideout. So much had happened my brain was dazed. The girl was safe. To that extent at any rate my mind was at rest and I fell asleep with my clothes on.

I awoke at the faint sound of metal striking rock. I was sweating and the air in the dugout was stale. I rolled over and looked at my watch. It was eight-thirty. Dave was sitting on his bed, rubbing his eyes. His face was pale and beaded with sweat and there were dark rings under his eyes.

The slabs of the entrance were being struck from outside in the gallery. It was a regular beat to the form of a signal. Dave went over and drew back the bolts.

The slabs swung back and Captain Manack came in. He too, looked tired and his hair stood straight up like fine wire. He glanced quickly from one to the other of us. 'Had breakfast yet, Pryce?' he asked.

'No,' I said. 'I overslept.'

'So I see.' He was like an officer on a foot inspection. His eyes took in the frousty disorder of the dugout. At length they fixed themselves on Dave, who had retired to the farthest corner, and sat biting his nails and casting surreptitious glances at his master. Manack moved towards him. His eyes had a strange look. I began to get my things together. Those eyes of his scared me. I wondered how much of his father's madness he'd inherited. He caught hold of Dave by his collar and jerked him to his feet. 'The police were here during the night.' The words were bitten short between his clenched teeth. 'I thought you said nobody saw you coming here?'

'Well, you see — "

'I don't want any more of your lies,' he almost screamed, shaking the little Welshman to and fro. It was amazing the strength he had in those thin arms. 'You said you met no one. But the local policeman, of all people, swears he saw you coming along the main road just outside Botallack. Is that true? Answer. Did he see you?'

'Yes. I was going — "

'God in heaven!' Captain Manack cried and flung Dave against the rock wall. 'You fool! Why the hell didn't you tell me? At least I'd have known what to expect.' He turned to me. 'Pryce,' he said, 'you've got to be through to the sea bed tonight.'

That's impossible,' I told him.

'Nothing's impossible,' he barked. 'Make the preliminary charges bigger. The Arisaig will be off the adit at four tomorrow morning. If the job's done you sail with her. If not — " He shrugged his shoulders. Then you take your chance in this country. Understand? You'll have Friar to work with you on the drilling. Slim, Tanner and myself will clear the loose rock after each blow. Now get moving.'

I took a can of bully, some bread and a bottle of milk and joined Slim and Friar in the gallery outside. As we went towards the gig I heard Dave's voice, pitched high on a note of fear, cry out, That's not true. I swear it isn't. I didn't want to scare you unnecessarily, look you. It was dark and — "

'Scare me?' Captain Manack laughed harshly. 'I suppose an unexpected visit from the police at four in the morning is one of those little surprises that are expected to act as a sedative Well, now I'm going to do some scaring.' There was a sudden scream and then silence.

'What the hell's he done?' I asked Friar.

He pushed me into the gig. 'You don't want ter worry yer 'ead aba't that,' he said. Slim threw over the lever and we rattled down into the depths of the mine. "E ain't killed 'im, if that's wot's worryin' yer,' Friar shouted in my ear. 'Though Gawd knows it's wot 'e deserves. Four o'clock in the bleedin' mornin' the police turns up. That's a bastard hour fer hinterrogation.'

'How did Captain Manack explain my visit?' I asked.

The gig slowed up and came to rest at the bottom of the shaft 'Easy,' Friar answered as we stepped out. 'Told 'em the truth Said yer was a deserter from Italy wot'd just come into the country. Told 'em you'd come ter 'im fer 'elp because you'd bin wiv 'im fer a short time in Eighth Army. 'E said 'e'd 'ad ter refuse yer and you'd gorn orf in the direction of St. Just.'

'And Dave Tanner?' I asked.

'There wasn't nuffink ter prove 'e'd ever come da'n ter Cripples' Ease. Believe it or not, the coppers 'adn't even got a search warrant. They just questioned us and then left. I was scared the old man would let somefink slip, but when they 'card 'e was ill, they let it go at that. But they'll be back. That's why the Capting's so keen ter get the 'ole thing finished an' the Arisaig away tonight. An' ruddy glad I'll be when it's done, too. I ain't too keen on coppers in and a't of the place like trippers.'

We climbed on to the carriage. Slim pulled back on the lever and we started down the gallery. I opened the can of bully and started my breakfast. 'What was it you discovered last night, Friar?' I shouted through a mouthful of bread and corned beef.

Friar glanced at me quickly. 'Wot d'yer mean?' he asked.

'Last night — whilst you were down the mine looking for the old man,' I shouted to him. 'You discovered something. "Fair makes me sweat to think about it" — that's what you said. What was it?'

"Ow d'you know wot I said?' he asked. 'You wasn't wiv us.'

'No,' I answered. 'But I went up for a breath of air. I heard you talking amongst yourselves as you took Old Manack up to the house. What had you found?'

'Oh, nuffink much.' Friar turned his head away and made a pretence of being interested in the movement of the bearing against the rock walls. There was more water comin' into the Mermaid than we'd reckoned, that's all.'

'That wouldn't scare me,' I shouted.

'Wot?' He gave me a quick glance. 'Let it go, mate. It ain't important.'

'Where did you find the old man — up in the old workings?'

He nodded. 'Yep.'

I fell silent then, watching that crazy contraption move steadily down the wet gallery that ran out under the sea. My guess was they'd never been down the Mermaid last night. Captain Manack had known where his father had gone and he'd made straight for the old workings. I felt uneasy. They'd discovered something; something the old man had been up to. Fair makes me sweat to think about it. I glanced closely at Friar, wondering whether he was thinking about it now. He was staring in front of him, his big, calloused hand clenched on the guard rail. Well, whatever they'd found, the old man was out of harm's way now.

The carriage slowed. The great timber beams of the scaffolding showed in the lights of our lamps. I went to have a look at the effect of the previous day's blast. The trickling sound of water was loud now that the carriage was not bumping and swaying along the ledges. There were several inches of water on the floor of the gallery. We sloshed through it. The timbers across the pit were piled high with rubble. The charge had blown out more than I had expected. I directed the beam of my lamp to the roof. Everything was covered with a thick film of rock dust. It had mingled with the water to form a slimy grey paste. One of the scaffolding timbers had been split by the blast. Water streamed down from the shaft. I picked up a piece of rock from the floor.

It was granite all right. But it was streaked with basalt.

'Wot's up, mate?' Friar asked.

'The rock's weaker here,' I told him.

'Dangerous?' he asked.

'Maybe,' I said. 'Let's go up and have a look.'

We set ladders up into the freshly blown section of the shaft and clambered up. The rock was faulty. You didn't need to be an expert to see that. It was streaked with veins of basalt and cracked with the force of the explosion. Through a thousand minute crevices the water was seeping. It splashed on our helmets, on our upturned faces and sizzled as drops struck the naked flames of our lamps. It streamed down the walls so that they glistened like burnished steel. 'Don't look too safe to me. Friar said. "Ow much rock is there between us an' the sea?'

I glanced at the rock walls, measuring with my eye the height added to the shaft by last night's blow. 'About fifteen feet according to Captain Manack's reckoning,' I told him.

'Fifteen feet don't seem much,' he muttered.

I examined the rock again. The roof of the shaft was no longer neatly cut out by the force of the charge. It was broken and jagged. 'Two more blasts should do it,' I said.

Two more!' His voice sounded doubtful. 'Blimey! I ain't sure I cares very much aba't doin' one more. Look at that crack there, mate. Wide enough fer me ter put me fist into. Looks ter me as though the 'ole bleedin' lot'll fall away soon as we get the drill goin'.'

'Looks worse than it is,' I told him. 'We'll drill the charge holes and then probe ahead with the long drill.'

He caught hold of my arm and peered up into my face. 'You 'ave done this sort o' thing before, ain't yer? I mean, yer do know wot yer up ter?'

'Scared?' I asked.

'Wot, me?' He drew back angrily. "Course I ain't. I just like ter know I'm workin' wiv somebody wot knows his onions, that's all.'

Within ten minutes we had the drill clamp fixed across the shaft. Then Friar started up the compressor and the whole undersea gallery reverberated to the roar and chatter of the pneumatic drill. By the time we'd done two holes, Captain Manack arrived with Dave and Slim. They off-loaded the compressor and then set to work loading the broken rock on to the carriage. Manack climbed up beside us. 'How's it going?' he shouted.

I shut off the air. 'Getting pretty wet,' I said. 'Have you got the long drill?'

'Do you want it immediately?' he asked.

'No,' I replied. 'But I'll probe ahead as soon as we've finished the charge holes.'

He nodded. 'I'll bring it down next time I come. I want to get this rock clear now. When will you be ready to blow?'

I looked at my watch. It was nearly ten. 'Midday,' I told him.

'What are the chances of being through to the sea bed tonight?'

'All depends how quickly you can clear the debris,' I said. 'Reckon I can blast faster than you can clear. Trouble is it may not be a very neat job. Rock's faulty here.'

He nodded and climbed down. I turned on the air again. The drill leapt in my hand and bored into the rock. Pieces flaked off. Nose, eyes and mouth were full of rock dust despite the spray of water that hissed into the drill hole. Every few seconds I paused to examine the rock. I was scared of a fall. Down below us Captain Manack, stripped to the waist, drove himself and the other two. They were clearing the pile of rock fast. He brought me two long drills when he returned from disposing of the first load of rock. By eleven-thirty I had finished the charge holes and Friar and I started to drill the probing hole. When the drill was only three feet in, water began to trickle along my hand and down my upturned arms. By the time the drill was full home there was a steady flow from the hole, running out of it as though from a tap only half turned on.

I called to Captain Manack. 'I think your figures are wrong,' I told him when he'd clambered up on to the ladders beside us. 'It may be due to the flaws in the rock. But I'd say we'd drilled pretty near to the sea bed.'

He nodded. 'Asdic wouldn't take into account a deep fissure in the rock,' he said. 'It gives you the general level of the sea bed. You think we'll be through at this blow?'

'No,' I answered. 'But we may come pretty near it, and that may make it unsafe to do any more drilling. I don't like this rock If you want my advice,' I added, 'you'll start the whole thing again somewhere else where the rock isn't faulty.'

But he shook his head. 'No time for that. If I'm to run any more cargoes I must have this undersea route open. I'll take a chance on it opening with a clean break.'

'Okay,' I said. 'Got the charges?'

He went down and brought up the charges. I tamped them into the charge holes. The rock had all been cleared, except for one great jagged piece too heavy to lift. They were rigging a pulley. We loaded the compressor and the tools. I fixed the fuse and we tramped back along the gallery to the main shaft. Then Manack thrust over the lever that operated the carriage haulage gear. The hawser lifted out of the mud with a sucking sound, tightened and began to reel in on the drum beside the water wheel. We waited until the carriage appeared out of the gloom of the gallery. Then we went up to the surface in the gig. As we went up, I said, 'Supposing the police arrive and start searching the mine. Who's to warn us?'

The girl,' he answered.

'What makes you think she wouldn't give you away?' I asked him. 'After what she heard last night she must hate the place.'

He looked at me and smiled beneath his moustache. 'She'll warn us all right,' he said.

'I don't see why she should,' I persisted.

'Don't you?' He laughed. The harshness of it sounded above the noise of the gig wheels on their wooden runners. 'She'll do it for your sake.'

'My sake?'

'Yes. Good God, man — don't say you haven't realised she's in love with you? Why else do you think she went searching for you up in the old workings last night?' He put his hand on my arm. 'You don't have to worry about that,' he said. 'By daylight tomorrow you'll be beating out past the Scillies on the Arisaig. She doesn't know that, of course. And see you don't tell her. Not that you'll be seeing her before you leave. But if she heard about it. Well, women are funny creatures. Look at the mess Dave got himself into.'

The callous way he spoke of it… I could have killed him. Perhaps he saw how I felt for he said, 'You stay down here till the job's done. The Arisaig will be off the adit at four o'clock. I fixed that this morning. And Mulligan has his orders. He'll not interfere with either you or Tanner. I'll bring you letters for the manager of my estate this evening. Believe me, the sooner you're out of the country the better for you.'

The gig stopped at the store gallery. We all got out with the exception of Captain Manack. He went on up to the surface. I followed the others into the dugout. I was thinking of Kitty. I had to get a message to her somehow. But it was no use asking Manack to take it. Friar was sorting through one of the cases of rations. 'Wot aba't bully an' apricots?' he suggested.

I caught hold of his arm. 'You going to the house, Friar?' I asked.

He looked up. 'No,' he said. 'My orders is ter stay da'n 'ere. We starts work again soon as them charges is blown.'

I sat down on the bed. What the hell would Kitty be thinking of me? Manack was right. If she heard I was leaving on the Arisaig in the early hours of the morning, anything might happen. I couldn't leave her here. And he'd said she loved me. My God! I needed somebody to love me. I needed her. I couldn't go on like this — alone. I thought of the hot moonlit nights in Italy. The women there were easy enough. But a man needed something more than that of a woman. If Kitty were with me… I got up and started pacing up and down the dugout. I suddenly knew that I had to have Kitty with me. I wouldn't go without Kitty. It wasn't only that I needed her — that I loved her. It was the thought of her staying on up there in the house. She'd go mad She'd brood and brood on what had happened. And then… It didn't bear thinking on. I had to get her away from the place. I'd refuse to go on with the job unless Manack agreed to her leaving with me. Yes, that was the answer. I'd refuse to do the job for him 'Ain't yer feelin' 'ungry?' Friar asked me.

'Eh?' My mind was so full of my thoughts that I scarcely understood what he said.

'Wot's got into yer — pacin' up an' down like that? Yer ain't worried aba't that shaft, are yer? Yer don't think it'll collapse on us?'

'No,' I said. 'No, I wasn't thinking about that.'

'Then s'ppose yer come an' 'ave somefink to eat?'

I took the plate of bully and bread that he offered me. And at that moment there was the distant, muffled sound of an explosion. Once again the dust rose with the blast of air that swept through the mine. Friar stood up. 'The Capting said we was to start again as soon as the charges 'ad exploded.'

I said, The dust would choke you. We wouldn't be able to see a thing. Give it time to settle.'

He hesitated. Then he shrugged his shoulders. 'Okay, mate. But you'd better do the explainin' ter the Capting.'

We finished our meal and then prepared to go down again. I was just refilling my lamp with carbide when Captain Manack entered. 'Has the charge gone off yet?' he asked.

'Yes,' I said. 'About twenty minutes ago.'

'Then why the hell aren't you down there, getting on with it?'

'Waiting for the dust to settle,' I told him.

'To hell with the dust,' he cried angrily. 'Go on, get on with it. We haven't time to waste worrying about dust.'

'You can't do much till the dust has laid a bit,' I answered.

He was about to make some angry retort, but he thought better of it.

'Is the ol' man still safely locked up?' Friar asked.

'Yes,' was the reply.

We went down then. I was still thinking about Kitty. I'd have to have it out with Manack. But I put it off. I'd wait till we came to the last blow. He'd be easier to handle then.

When we reached the end of the Mermaid we found it wetter than ever. The fall had not been as heavy as I'd expected. I climbed up into the shaft and found the reason. We were through the faulty rock. The roof was solid now with the exception of several deep fissures through which the salt water poured in a steady stream. Manack clambered up beside me. 'How many more blastings?' he asked.

'Two at least,' I said.

'The second going through to the sea bed?'

'Possibly,' I said. 'You can see the rock is more solid here.'

He nodded and went down to help the others clear the rubble. Friar took his place beside me and we began to drill the charge holes. It took longer this time and before we'd finished the fifth hole the rock had all been cleared, including the big piece. We were alone with the roar of the compressor and the chatter of the drill as it ate into the rock face.

Friar, I noticed, kept looking down. And every time I switched off the air he'd cock his head on one side, listening. 'What are you expecting?' I asked.

'Nothing,' he said quickly. 'Nothing.' His face was running with sweat. He wiped it off with a brightly coloured handkerchief. "Ow many more ruddy 'oles are yer goin' ter drill?' he asked.

'Three more,' I said. 'Why?'

'Oh. I just wondered.' His manner was a little too off-hand. There was something on his mind.

'What's worrying you?' I asked.

'Nothing.' He turned back to the rock face. 'Come on, fer Gawd's sake. Let's get on with it.'

I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him towards me. 'What's on your mind, Friar?' I asked.

'Nothing,' he replied savagely. 'Nothing. Come on. Let's get crackin'. Sooner the sea's in this 'ere ruddy gallery the better I'll be pleased.'

We drilled the remaining three holes and I fixed the charges Then we drilled to the limit of the long drill. Water poured down the drill and on to our arms. But it was not a steady stream, only a trickle. We weren't through to the sea bed.

As I tamped down the charges, Friar stood back and gazed down to where Manack and the others were replacing the timbers that covered the pit. 'Wish ter Gawd 'e'd 'ave somebody stay up at the 'ase,' he muttered.

'What are you worried about?' I said. 'The police?'

'Yep. The perlice an' that crazy ol' man. I don't like it. I tell yer straight, I don't like it. 'Ere we are cooped up da'n 'ere an' nobody up top to give us warnin' 'cept the girl. Anything might 'appen.'

I stopped then and looked at him. He turned away and pretended to adjust his lamp. 'What's on your mind, Friar?' I asked.

'There ain't nuffink on me mind.'

I took hold of his arm. He was getting on my nerves. 'There's something you know and I don't,' I said. 'What is it?'

'It ain't nuffink.' He pulled his arm free. 'It's me nerves, that's all. All very well fer you — you're a miner. I ain't used to this sort o' work. Gives me the willies, that's wot it does. It ain't natural like ter be standing 'ere breaving God's air when we're right underneath the sea.' He handed me another charge. I tamped it home. But my mind wasn't on the job. He was scared. Not just scared because he was working down here under the sea. He was scared because he knew something — something that threatened us. I thought of the conversation I'd overheard the previous night. 'See you don't mention it to Pryce. I don't want him scared' That's what Manack had said. I glanced at Friar. The sweat glistened on his neck as he bent to unscrew the drill clamp. His eyes met mine and turned away quickly. His hands fumbled. He was a bundle of nerves. And when we'd fixed the charges his haste to get out of the Mermaid gallery was so marked that it would have been funny had I not felt the threat of something I did not know about.

The gig stopped as before at the gallery leading to the hideout. We all got out with the exception of Manack. 'I'll be back in a few minutes with some tea,' he said. The others went on up the gallery. I hesitated. Then I turned to Manack. 'Will you be seeing Kitty?' I asked.

He nodded, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

'Then tell her to be ready to leave with me tonight,' I said. 'I'm taking her with me.'

'You'll do nothing of the sort,' he snapped, his eyes flashing angrily. 'The Arisaig isn't a refugee ship. Mulligan wouldn't stand for a woman on board.'

'I'll look after Mulligan,' I said.

We faced each other sullenly for a second, neither speaking. I was cursing myself for putting it the way I had. I should have flattered his sense of power by appealing to him to allow her to come with me. Instead I'd imposed it on him as a decision already made. I'd have to make it an ultimatum now. 'Either she comes with me,' I said. 'Or else — "

'Or else what?' he snarled.

'Or else the Mermaid stays like she is.'

'I see.' His eyes were furious.

'See here, Captain Manack,' I said, 'the girl can't stay on in that house — not after what she's heard. It wouldn't be safe for you in any case. I'm offering you the easy way out. What about it?'

His face relaxed. He hesitated. Then he nodded. 'All right, Pryce,' he said. 'Maybe it's all for the best. But it's up to you to make your peace with Mulligan. All right?'

'Thanks,' I said. 'You won't forget to tell her, will you? And tell her I'm sorry about last night. I was going to meet her down by the mine buildings. Explain why I couldn't, will you?'

'All right,' he said. And the gig rattled up to the surface.

The charges exploded just after five-thirty. A few minutes later Captain Manack returned with two big Thermos flasks of hot tea. 'Police been around at all?' Slim asked.

'No.'

'Wot aba't the ol' man?' Friar put in. 'Did yer see 'im? Wane locked up orl right?'

'Of course,' Manack answered sharply, and out of the tail of my eye I saw him jerk his head significantly in my direction He was clearly angry with Friar for putting the question.

As Slim poured out the tea, Manack came over to me. He had a bulky envelope in his hand. 'There you are, Pryce,' he said, handing it to me. 'There's letters of instruction there to Mulligan and Carlo Forzala, the manager of my estate. There's also two hundred and fifty quid in pound notes.'

Thanks,' I said. 'What about the girl? Did you see her?'

'Yes,' he said.

'What did she say?'

'She said she'd like to see you before you go.'

'Is that all?'

He nodded.

'Didn't she make any comment? You did tell her that I wanted her to come to Italy with me?'

'Yes, I told her.'

'How did you put it to her?' I didn't trust him. 'You tried to put her off,' I accused him.

'Don't be a fool,' he answered angrily. 'What did you expect? The kid's scarcely been out of Botallack. It'd suit me if she did go with you. She's good looking enough to cause trouble sooner or later. See her before you go. Maybe you'll be able to make her change her mind. It'd help if you were offering to marry her.' x 'But — " Hell!! I hadn't thought about it. He'd turned away now and I sat down and glanced through the package. The letters seemed okay. I folded the envelope and tucked it into my body belt.

As soon as we had finished tea we went back to the Mermaid. The fall of rock was about the same as before. The water was seeping in faster and the pit below the boards was a small lake. Friar and I re-rigged the ladders whilst the others cleared the rock from the timbers covering the pit. As I worked away with the drill, I noticed Friar getting more and more nervy. And when the others had left with the first load and we were alone up there on the torn scaffolding, he became really scared.

At length I shut off the air and said, 'For God's sake, Friar, what's wrong with you?'

'Wot yer mean?' he asked, his eyes darting towards the gallery below us. 'There ain't nothing wrong wiv me.' But his eyes were wide and his breathing heavy. And all the time I felt he was listening for something. Though with the roar of the compressor it was impossible to hear anything.

'Go on,' he said. 'Get on wiv it, can't yer?'

'What's the hurry?' I asked.

'I told yer — I don't like workin' da'n 'ere. The sooner I'm hup top again, the 'appier I'll be, that's all. Is this the last blow?'

'I don't know,' I said. 'Maybe.' Then I caught hold of him by the shoulders. 'Listen, Friar,' I said. 'There's something worrying you that I don't know about. Suppose you tell me what it is.' And when he didn't reply, I said, 'I'm not doing any more drilling till I know. It isn't the water above us you're scared of. It's something back there in the mine. What did you discover last night?' I shook him angrily. 'You discovered something. What was it? And why are you worried about the old man being locked up safe? It's something to do with the old man, isn't it?'

Slowly he nodded his head.

'Well, come on — out with it,' I said. 'You can't expect me to work down here with you knowing what the danger is. Come on. What are you scared of?'

'I ain't scared,' he whimpered. 'Honest, I ain't.' His Adam's apple jerked up and down as he swallowed. 'It's just that — " He hesitated. Then his eyes looked straight at me. 'You won't tell the Captain, will yer?'

'Of course not,' I said.

'Okay. Well, this is wot 'appened las' night. We came da'n the mine ter find the ol' man — remember? The Capting seemed ter know where 'e'd be. 'E took us straight up into the old workings. We 'ad ter crawl on our bellies through a ruddy tunnel no bigger'n a tree trunk. 'E led us right back where the mine narrers between Botallack and Come Lucky. That's where we fa'nd the ol' man. 'E'd got a biddle an a pile o' drills an' 'e was 'ammering 'is way into the rock face at the end of a gallery. Fair swimmin' in water that gallery was. "Wot are you doin'?" the Capting asks 'im. "Making sure you'll not be lettin' the sea into the Mermaid," the ol' man answers wild like. We took him a't then. Mad as a coot, that's wot 'e is. Slim ast the Capting wot 'e reckoned the ol' man was up ter. The Capting said 'e didn't know. But 'e did, an' so did I. So did Slim, too. We was right under Come Lucky in that gallery. Wot the ol' man was doing was breaking a way fru' into the flooded mine. Water was fair rushin' da'n that gallery. If 'e'd made a breach it'd 'ave come roarin' right through the mine, A't 'ere we wouldn't 've stood a chance.'

So that was it. No wonder he was scared. I lit a cigarette. 'Yer won't say anyfink aba't it to the Capting, will yer?' he said. 'I didn't oughter've told yer.'

'No, I won't say anything,' I told him.

The carriage came rattling back along the gallery. We could hear it even above the roar of the compressor. We started drilling again. By the time the debris had all been cleared and the compressor loaded on the carriage we had finished the charge holes and were working with the long drill. But still we weren't through to the sea bed, though there was plenty of water about. Manack climbed up beside us. 'Well?' he shouted. 'Shall we make it this time?'

I pulled the drill clear and told Friar to go and shut the compressor off. 'No,' I told Manack, 'It'll be the next blasting.'

He glanced at his watch. 'You'll be running it a bit fine,' he said. 'It's past nine already.'

I shrugged my shoulders. 'Can't be helped,' I said. 'Even if I put heavy charges in I don't think it'd break through. It wouldn't be a neat job, anyway.' The compressor engine slowed and coughed into silence. The sudden quiet was uncanny. The trickling sound of water whispered through the gallery. We went back to the dugout then and waited for the blast of the charges. Manack didn't go up to the house this time, though Friar suggested twice that he ought to. We were all a bit jittery.

At last it came — a dull, distant thud. Then the blast of air. We only waited ten minutes. Then we went down in the gig and stumbled along the Mermaid gallery through choking clouds of dust. It clogged nose and mouth and hurt the eyes. I could feel the grit in my teeth and on my tongue. We were walking this time, leaving Slim behind to run the carriage out. I don't know what I expected. We must be very close to the sea bed now. I wouldn't have been surprised to find the gallery blocked by sea water.

But it wasn't. We went on down till the dripping walls told us we were under the sea. The gallery was still open. I don't know how the others felt. But my nerves were strung taut as I walked down that gallery. I didn't know what thickness of rock now stood between us and the sea, and that's a frightening thought to a miner.

At length we reached the new fall. I flashed my lamp up into the dark hole of the shaft. Water was seeping through from a number of places. It glistened silvery in the light. Our gum boots stood six inches deep in a muddy grey lake. Captain Manack rang Slim and told him to send the carriage down. The hawser sucked clear of the muddy stream as it pulled taut, water dripped from it.

Friar and I set the ladders up and climbed into the shaft. A loose bit of rock crashed down, narrowly missing my head. Water poured over me. The rock looked pretty thin. Friar, close behind me, said: 'Gawd! An' ter think there's fishes and things swimmin' ara'nd just above our heads.'

I didn't say anything. No need to tell him I didn't like it. The carriage arrived with the compressor. Manack came up as we were getting the drill clamp fixed. He looked at me. He was enough of an engineer to realise that the creviced roof of rock wasn't any too safe. There were great cracks in it and the water came through in a steady stream. I sent Friar down to start up the compressor. 'Better take it easy when you start drilling. Manack said.

I nodded. 'I'll put double charges this time,' I said.

'Right. I'll have this rock cleared as fast as I can. This is no place to hang around.' He grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. 'Don't take any risks,' he said. The compressor started up, drowning all other sound. I watched him climb down the jagged rent of the shaft. Crazy, reckless and unscrupulous he might be, but he knew how to handle men.

Friar climbed up beside me and we started drilling. The time was then just eleven. For two hours we worked in that cramped space, thrusting that bucking drill into the watery rock face. Each time I thrust it home to the hilt my heart was in my mouth. Once a whole section of rock broke away, crushing the ladder on which Friar stood. He only saved himself by hanging on to the drill clamp. If I'd any sense I'd have refused to go on. But then Manack wasn't the sort of man to stand for that. He came up to have a look more than once. And each time I sensed the intense excitement in him. This was the sort of thing he enjoyed.

By one o'clock they'd finished clearing the debris from below the shaft. Once when I looked down I caught Dave's eyes glancing nervously up at the shaft. The water was rising. It was almost to the top of his gum boots. His face looked white in the orange glow of the lamps. They cleared the planks from above the pit. Friar glanced nervously down at the black expanse of water below us. 'Ain't we nearly finished yet?' he asked. His face was streaked with wet rock dust and his eyes looked fever bright with nervous exhaustion.

'Only one more,' I said.

Then somebody shouted down below. I could just hear it above the roar of the compressor. I looked down. Captain Manack was on the far side of the pit, the side where the telephone was. He seemed excited and he was giving orders to Slim, who glanced quickly up in our direction. Friar suddenly pulled at my sleeve. 'Somefink's up,' he yelled. His voice was high pitched, almost a scream.

Manack scrambled along one of the ledges. Slim turned and vanished into the gallery. Dave followed, casting one quick, frightened glance in our direction. Manack scrambled up the scaffolding and on to the ladders in the shaft. 'How many more?' He shouted the question into my ear. His voice was steady and controlled.

'One,' I told him.

'Okay,' he said. 'We'll get everything ready. As soon as you've placed the charges, ring Slim at the bottom of the shaft. He'll bring you in on the carriage with the compressor.'

I nodded.

He patted me on the shoulder and disappeared down the shaft. Then I started the airflow again and began to drill the last hole. I was halfway through when Friar began tugging at my arm. I stopped the drill. 'Somefink's wrong,' he said. Sheer terror showed in his eyes. He was trembling. He was sweating so much that the water ran off his face as though it had a film of oil on it. 'I don't like it,' he screamed. 'They've all gone.'

I looked down. The gallery was dark. There was nothing there but the roar of the compressor. 'Why've they left us?' he cried. 'It's a trap.' He swung round on me, shaking with fear. 'I tell yer it's a trap.' He started down the ladder then.

I caught him by the shoulder. 'Don't be a fool,' I said.

'Leave go of me,' he shouted. 'I tell yer he means ter kill us. He's goin' ter let the sea in wiv us da'n 'ere.'

I pulled him back. 'We're the only people who can let the sea in,' I shouted. 'Now pull yourself together.' I shook him till I was afraid I'd throw him off the ladder. At length he quietened down. His eyes became more normal. 'Nothing can happen to us so long as this rock stands between us and the sea. Understand?'

He nodded.

'All right then. Let's finish this hole.'

When the drill had gone in up-to the hilt, I sent him down to stop the compressor. In the sudden silence he called up to me. 'The water's rising,' he said. 'It's over two feet deep.'

I said, 'Bring the charges up.' I wanted to get it over.

'No,' he said. 'No. I ain't stayin' any longer. You stay if yer like. But I've 'ad enough. I'm going back up the shaft.'

'Come back, Friar,' I shouted.

'No,' he shouted. 'No. I ain't never comin' back da'n 'ere.' His voice faded away down the gallery.

I climbed down. The charges were lying on the carriage alongside the compressor. I picked them up. Then I hesitated. The place was deathly quiet save for the sound of the water. There was no light but my own. Far away down the half-flooded gallery Friar's lamp flickered in the water. The stillness and the sense of being deserted was overwhelming. I put the charges down and climbed on to one of the ledges. When I dropped off the ledge on the other side of the pit the water came in over the top of my gum boots. I pulled back the rock and wound the handle of the field telephone. There was no answer. I tried again and again. No answer. And all about me the water trickled and dripped. I glanced up at the dark hole of the shaft. Should I go up there again and fix the charges? I thought I could feel the rock splintering under the strain. My nerves sensed the weight of the water on that thin shield of rock. I was sweating and I wanted to start running down the gallery.

I got a grip on myself. It had held for two hours. And all that time we'd been drilling. If it held then, it'd hold now. I was being a fool. It was just that fear was catching. If only Slim had answered the phone. But probably they hadn't had time to get back to the main shaft.

I literally forced myself to go back along the ledge, get the charges and climb into the shaft. Twice I paused. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to go back. But each time I made myself go on. At last I was up there with the thin sheet of rock pouring water over my face and hands. I started tamping the charges home. They were double charges this time. The work quietened my nerves. I concentrated all my mind on the task of fixing those charges.

Suddenly a new sound invaded the dripping stillness. I stopped my work and listened. There it was again. It was like a bell ringing. Had the air pressure suddenly increased, making my ears sing? Suppose the gallery leading up to Come Lucky had given way? The old man had been drilling into the face of it, Friar had said. He might have weakened it. If the water from Come Lucky was flooding into the Mermaid gallery the air pressure would rise, making my ear drums sing. My hands trembled at the thought. I could feel the sweat forcing its way out through the pores of my skin. I listened for the distant roar of water pouring down the gallery. But everything was quiet, only the drip of water and the insistent sound of that bell. Some trick of the rock perhaps. I flashed my lamp on the roof of the shaft. The fissures gaped wide. Water hissed on the flame of my lamp. I licked my lips. They were wet and salt from the water that fell on my face. And still that bell kept ringing in my ears. It was so indistinct that it was scarcely audible above the sound of the water. Imagination perhaps… And yet… I thought of all the cases I'd heard of miners being warned of disaster. Often it was a noise that warned them. Some sixth sense. Some change of the air pressure making their heads sing. The sound was still there, insistent, urgent, as though it had a message for me.

And then suddenly I remembered the telephone. I dropped the charge I was holding and scrambled down the ladder. I fell the last few feet, splashing into the water below me. I staggered to my feet. There at the end of the gallery a red light glowed just above the place where the telephone was concealed. I laughed out loud so that the sound of my own voice startled me. The relief made me feel light headed. I waded to one of the ledges, my gum boots heavy with water. I climbed along it to the telephone.

But it wasn't Slim's voice who answered me as I picked up the receiver. It was Kitty's. 'It's you, Jim?' she said. 'Oh, thank God. I didn't know what had happened. They all came out except you and Friar. I've been ringing and ringing.'

Her voice sounded nervous and she was panting. 'What's happened?' I asked.

'Nothing,' she said. 'It was only that I got worried when I saw them coming up out of the gallery. Captain Manack seemed almost — almost scared. I wanted to make certain that you were all right.'

'Yes, I'm all right,' I said. 'Why did Manack come up?'

'I rang him — about ten minutes ago.'

'Anything wrong?'

'Nothing serious. Only that old Mrs Brynd let his father out of that room. The old man came straight down the mine. I saw him going down —"

'You mean old Manack's escaped?' I shouted. 'And he's in the mine?'

'Yes,' she answered.

The strength drained suddenly out of my joints. I glanced into the dark tunnel that stretched away ahead of me. Any moment I expected to hear the roar of water. 'Listen, Kitty,' I said urgently. 'Go straight up to the surface. Understand? Get straight up to the surface.'

I didn't wait to hear her reply. I dropped the receiver and scrambled back along the ledge. Beyond the pit I dropped to the floor of the gallery and ran splashing and stumbling through the water down the long tunnel that led to safety.