of danger. Then off would go the blast, and when the smoke cleared away we went down again and sent up the rock broken out by the shot. After we put in the sapling floor over the water-hole we began to drive along the face of the reef, and had worked in about a foot when my gold-mining days were almost brought to a sudden stop.
My mate, the army man, had injured his hand, and knocked off work for a spell to get well. So "Dago" and I had to shift for ourselves. It was my turn down the hole, and I had succeeded after great labor in putting in two shots about eighteen inches deep, one each side the shaft where we were driving.
The labor of this was terrific, as, being single-handed, I had to swing my hammer—an eight-pounder—with one hand and turn my drill with the other. However, I got through, loaded up the two holes, bent my fuses over two pieces of candle, which I lit, and then shook the rope as the signal to hoist away. Just as I put my foot in the hook, however, I noticed that one of the fuses had buckled up with the heat and turned out of the candle flame, so I stooped down to bend it straight again. The casing of the other fuse blazed away merrily, and I knew that in a few seconds the fuse itself would catch. There was no time to lose. I turned to grasp the rope—but it was gone!
Looking up the shaft, I saw it disappearing high above my head. I shouted to "Dago," but he didn't seem to hear me. The hiss of the fuses, which I had timed for a half minute, attracted me, fascinated me. I remember looking helplessly at them, and thinking I could, perhaps, drag them out. I tried; but no! I had tamped them in so tight that they would not budge. My God! What was I to do?
There was about twenty seconds between me and eternity. I heard nothing but the infernal hissing of the fuses, and it seemed to get louder and louder.
