Part 16 (2/2)

Evans, you call the first level; I'll skin down this rope to the men below.” In an instant, as the men were flying on their errands, his red head disappeared down the rope into the darkness. At the bottom of the hoist in the third level Grant found forty or fifty men at work. They were startled to see him come down without waiting for the bucket to go up and he called breathlessly as his feet touched the earth: ”Boys, there's a fire above on the next level--I don't know how bad it is; but it looks bad to me. They may get it out with a hose from the main bottom--if they've got hose there that will reach any place.”

”Let's go up,” cried one of the men. As they started toward him, Grant threw up his hand.

”Hold on now, boys--hold on. The fans will be blowing that fire down this air shaft in a few minutes. How far up have you got the ladders?”

he asked.

Some one answered: ”Still twelve feet shy.” There was a scramble for the buckets, but no one offered to man the windla.s.s and hoist them up the air shaft. Grant was only a carpenters' boss. The men around the buckets were miners. But he called: ”Get out of there, Hughey and Mike--none of that. We must make that ladder first--get some timbers--put the rungs three feet apart, and work quick.”

He pointed at the timbers to be used for the ladders, stepped to the windla.s.s and cried:

”Here, Johnnie--you got no family--get hold of this windla.s.s with me.

Ready now--family men first--you, Sam--you, Edwards--you, Lewellyn.”

Then he bent to the wheel and the men in the bucket started up the shaft. The others pounded at the ladder, and those who could find no work clambered up the stairs to the bottom of the gap that separated them from the second level. As the men in the buckets were nearly up to the second level, where the hoist stopped, Grant heard one of them call: ”Hurry, hurry--here she comes,” and a second later a hot, smoky wind struck his face and he knew the fan was turned again and soon would be blowing fire down the air course.

The men had the ladder almost finished. The men above on the stairs smelled the smoke and began yelling. The bucket reached the top and was started down. Grant looked up the air shaft and saw the fire--little flickering flames lighting up the shaft near the second level. The air rus.h.i.+ng down was smoky and filled with sparks. The ladder was ready and the men made a rush with it up the stairway. Most of their lamps were put out and it was dark in the stairway. The men were uttering hysterical, foolish cries as they rushed upward in their panic. The ladder jolting against the sides of the chamber knocked the men off their feet and there was tumbling and swearing and tripping and struggling.

Grant grabbed the ladder from the men and held it above his head, and called out:

”You men go up there in order. You'll not get the ladder till you straighten up.”

The emergency-pa.s.sage was filling with smoke. The men were coughing and gasping.

Up and down the stairs men called:

”Brace up, that's right.”

”Red's right.”

”We'll all go if we don't straighten up.”

In a moment there was some semblance of order, and Grant wormed his way to the top holding the ladder above him. He put one end of it on a landing and nailed the foot of the ladder to the landing floor. Then he stood on the landing, a great, powerful man with blazing eyes, and called down: ”Now come; one at a time, and if any man crowds I'll kill him. Come on--one at a time.” One came and went up; when he was on the third rung of the ladder, Grant let another man pa.s.s up, and so three men were on the ladder.

As the top man raised the trapdoor above, Grant and those upon the ladder could see the flames and a great gust of smoke poured down. The man at the top hesitated. On the other side of the part.i.tion in the air chute the smoke was pouring and the fire was circling the top of the emergency escape through which the men must pa.s.s.

”Go ahead or jump down,” yelled Grant.

Those on the ladder and on the landing who could see up cried:

”Quick, for G.o.d's sake! Hurry!”

And in another second the first man had scrambled through the hole, letting the trapdoor fall upon the head of the scrambling man just under him. He fell, but Grant caught him, and shoved him into the next turn upon the ladder.

After that they learned to lift their hands up and catch the trapdoor, but they could see the flames burning the timbers and dropping sparks and blowing smoke down the emergency shaft. Ten men went up; the fire in the flume along the stairs below them was beginning to whip through the board part.i.tion. The fan was pumping the third level full of smoke; it was carried out of the stairway by the current. But the men were calling below. Little Ira Dooley tried to go around Grant ahead of his turn at the ladder. The cheater felt the big man's hand catch him and hold him.

The men below saw Grant hit the cheater upon the point of the jaw and throw him half conscious under the ladder. The men climbed steadily up.

<script>