Show I TOMMYNOCKERS WARNING I i By Sidney Church i Thc furnace fire roared merrily nnd the steam gause fiut the indicator on ascent as Arthur ual as Gradual tcred on Its grn the poker after an adjust I throw down tlJr i wont of the fuel and proceeded to nil I lubricator Tom oil cup of the i he I It whose duty 3 1Y the polntman JiL Yr thaw 4 steam point that wni1to syL the tunnel 1 orground underground dirt in the un the 1 lsthe and yel Icd on MB oilskin Dicker placed a fresh candle low souwester f u and two extra ones candlestick HI his c tl for thus prepared Docket and hlspoc in s n work laid his hand on the hs nights enginehouse door and said f Give her plenty of steam tonight Arthur and well get through early He pushed open the door and stepped out Into the clear cold air It was the creek In Sulphur depth of > winter on file Klondike country The moon had risen large and round but a short limo l before and as Its white light Illuminated frost particles with nated the dancing which the trees on the slopes of the ravjne were laden it intensified the sharp black shadows cast In the snow beyond The sky was a clear steely blue and as the Hteam passed In a face It jleecy vapor cloud across Its presented a study In lights and shades that would hale Inspired I the soul oc I an artist But Tom was not an atlst from the and as the sharp breeze I Dome cUt his face lie shivered as one I must whose blood is thinned from constantly working in steam lie sheltered shel-tered his fluttering candle light with one Hand as he scrambled the top of the cribbing at the mouth of the I shaft where the bucket waited to lower him to the bottom I All right he asked as a precaution precau-tion All set came the answer from the I engineroom Lower away Tom shouted as he I placed a foot in the bucket and caught the cable with his hand The rattling of the steam winch gradually died away as lie was lowered low-ered With practiced hand he reached out and caught the steam pipe and thus guided his way down the narrow shaft As the bucket reached the bottom he I stepped out Except for the small space around him dimly illuminated by the candle the underground chamber was utterly black But Tom had set the points since the excavation was first started and knew every curve I and angle of the drift Be walked to one side and seeing that the steam pump wns in order reached for the bell rope and rang out the signals to the fireman above for steam With a I preliminary creaking and squirting oWn o-Wn er from Hit steam chamber followed by a hlsbing of steam the pump started start-ed slowly then Increased until the sharp snapping in the water pipe I ahowcd that it was working properly I Leaving this he walked through the I accumulated water over the car track and with an air of perfect confidence J toward the back of the drift and proceeded pro-ceeded to adjust the steam line and set the row of points In position abreast about thirty Inches apart This completed com-pleted he stuck the candlestick in the ace of the drift and lighting another I started back toward the shaft Tho floor of the chamber was now drained I oC water and the spasmodic sucking ofr the pump showed that oven the sump I hole way empty Tom closed the steam valve on the pump line and ringing for a full head of steam opened the valve pn the line leading to the points Then with a satisfied sigh he turned and walked back to the points at the end of the drift This should be good dirt he mused as he placed the candle close to the face and pl ked with the candlestick the heavy sticky clay lying 1 directly beneath the gravel anl over the slabby I bedrock < Guess Ill make no mistake In 1 thawing here tonight Then lie pulled on a pgJr of heavy leather mittens to enable him to han lethe le-the hot steam pipes and opened the J valve on the flrst point A fine stream of water issued from the small 6pc1n LugJnthe end of the point followed I iya Jet of steam He pressed hard ajalnst the head of the point as he endeavored en-deavored I by turning It backwards and forwards to bury > It In the frozen wall The steam liigcdloudly and curled In I a vwhlte + loud toward the ceiling then settle c downward until he was envelope a en-velope In steam and the candle stick I ingin the I wall couple of > feet from him seemed no more than a hazy dot Of light Then thomuclc and gravel j roof thawed slightly by the escaping steam began to drip mud on him some i of which found Its way down the back of his neck Ugh1 came the disgusted exclamation exclama-tion as he drew his souwester farther back to better protect his neck Guess this point must be up against a stone I and he caught up a wooden mallet With one or two heal swings the point broke through lilt > e obstacle > audburled Itself I six inches < beeper The steam coaxed to escape hi the drift but was How by reason of Its depth confined the dlll aifdlnstead of the angry hiss Ing could now be heard only the sub d I duel purring In the depths of the wall By a combjnatlon of forcing and turn ing the point sank deeper and deeper in the face iTher9j > 4iuin1bpr ant entered he I t tjdf f withl1 a sigh ofrelief and he I ifallllhtulJ the second and turned on tUicjstoani R I Again hewas enveloped in I I the steam rloudarid tho mud continued 0iyJJioncs too loosed from fief fro crisu 1T iitirt fell uncomfortably hard on his head and struck his hands The PQint struck a huge stone at the start and the accumulating steam became so dense that the heal almost suffocated d 1 urn and ncrspliatlou streamed from I > his face lie work l CurlQuslyy l and finally succeeded In working around the Hone and boon the second point was I entered r With varying success he labored for nn houri longer muttering to himself at times when something more exas perating than usual happened When hit lust theline of points were alh sunk half length m the face and the steam had partially cleared from the drift he threw himself on the hot dirt with an exclamation of fatigue and unmind fill of the splashes of mud which fell I on his face he closed his eyes relaxed Ills muscles and enjoyed a luxurious lQlit Suddenly he became aware of a slight rapping noise Indistinct Jit first but gradually becoming clearer It was I Arthur custom when wishing to com municate from above to rap on the pipe but this sound l had not that me EIILC riph and Ir It seemed to come from anew here In particular It was i irom ahe 01ld eternally frozen wall bo I itlnd i hlm No couldnt be Arthur o ci Ijfc I 9 uld find no other explanation so Sroplr his way to the mout io the shaft nat he shouted Hello Arthur own Onl vo the hollow reverberation of his own voice answered him andhe start cd back to complete his work Scarco I ly l had he started however when the I j klocking Cflme asitlu this time clearly dad distinct 1 I qhr was 110 mlstalting so he turned qulekland jskld Hello whos I there The folly of the question then forced itself upon him There was no i ladder down the shaft the bucket was Iytng where he had left It and the day anon were too tired at night to come i back J to the scene of their labor Thev I I saw enoujiv of that in their ten hours I > Ie was much surprised then when he I I beard a voice that Seemed m QJ1e t from the wall hack bt r him say r Itum a TomluykriockoiV 1J I Of course It irtust be a JQ > Fe11r I I caught up the candle and explordiT every niche of this underground lI1Vi There was no one there and he heard I I no sound of anyone changing his posl i I 1 tion which would be necessary to avoid him Not a little alarmed he returned to the point from which he started Dont bo afraid he heard the voice again 1 urn Tommyknocker and a Tommyknocker never hurts a fellow miner Toms knees shook under him and he started as though to rush to the shaft and give the signal to hoist but even above his terror he had a horror of being Joshed and 1C J by any chance this was a practical Joke of any of the men his flight would give them tho opportunity he meant they shouldnt have So with a heroic effort he choked down his fears and stood his ground nA Tommyknooker he asked in a I voice that trembled In spite of hlmeclf What do you mean He remembered of having heard some miners telling of things they had learned from Tommyknockera back In t11e mines In Colorado but for fear of showing hlH Ignorance he had hesitated to ask them to explain What Dont you know asked the voice In a surprised tone You are a tenderfoot then It continued sadly If you had ever been in the miner for any length of time you would have known what Tommyknockers nre and long ago formed our acquaintance There Is no uat in concealing theft the-ft that I was a bookkeeper before I came up to this country Tom thought ruefully but ho said nothing We Tommyknoekeis are what you would call the spirits of departed miners mi-ners continued the voice From long earthly associations wo still find a great pleasure in frequenting the I mines although we arc Invisible to I men and it la only when a miner is I alone that we speak to him Why we I are invisible and why we never make ourselves known whore thorc < IB more than one miner you will know when j you become a Tommyknocker All you need know now 1 have told you Sometimes Some-times we come simply to converse with a lonely miner sometimes to impart information but most frequently to warn of Impending danger Tom stood fascinated as though rooted root-ed to the spot Not even when a piece of gravel dropped from the ceiling and extinguished one of his candles did he I change his position Only a slight shiver shiv-er and a contraction of his muscles greeted this rfudden darkening of hiM I surroundings You are a tenderfoot T was a tenderfoot ten-derfoot once myself I was employed as a shipping clerk In the East but the girl I loved married another and I came to the West to mingle In a new life and forget the past J worked underground un-derground InoheoC the largest silver mines in Colorado I liked the work and wan quickly promoted I had boon there some years and WHS happy In I my new surroundings One night my duties called me alone to he drift on the third level While there a Tommy I knocker came to me as I come to you nort and warned me r was told that I the clutch was unsafe and that I must not uib the cage to go on top I had hitherto attributed stories of Tommy knockers to the superstitions of Cousin Jacks and had not believed I resolved that the next morning however I would Inspect the cages and cables and ace that all was well bQt 1 did not relish rel-ish the Idea of ladder climbing I sig nalled for the cuR9 and aa it stopped at my level I got In ana gave three bells as H signal that I was 6n board They hoisted promptly but Just as I passed theHOcond level 1 the cage parted from the cable and I fell to the bottom uf the shaft and Joined the Tommy knockers And now I come In my tUrrtto warn you A little io tills sldtf of the shaft I I in the roof of the drift isa body of frozen muck Overlying this Is a thin stratum of gravel I This gravel Is 1 I thawing back more rapidly than the muck and the support of this frozen chunk will oon give way ami It will I fall I have warned you uewaro The voice toward the end grew fainter I faint-er and fainter LP though receding and r as the laHt word was uttered It died I away in a horse whisper and nothing I was audible but the purring of the I steam deep in tho face of tho drift Yet Tom stood motionless A sudden rapping at the pipes attracted at-tracted his attention and 10 knew that Arthur was calling This broke the spell and with a shudder he Picked up the lighted candle and stumbled back to the shaft toythe shaftyou he shouted Arthur 1c Oh Tom the Injectors gone wrong again and Ill have to hut off the steam Better como to the top while theres steam to pull you up Tom stepped Into the bucket and reached for the bell rope At this moment there was a slight rumble followed by a heavy thud and Tom was covered with u shower of mud which splashed from the floor He stepped out and holding the candle over his head saw In front of him a huge body of frozen muck which had fallen from the roof of tho drift He stepped back Into the bucket and gave the bell rope three hard Jerks |