Silence greeted Jem’s words. A distant rock dropped into an unseen puddle of water with a loud plop. Ellie startled at the noise.
“Hear that?” Jem said. “There’s plenty of water close by. The Belle mine is not very big. We just need to sit tight for a couple of days until they dig us out. Our wagon is tied up outside the mine. How can anybody not know we’re in here?”
Will nodded. “That’s right. My horse is there too.” Color returned to his face, and he let out a long, shuddering breath. “Thoughts of peace and not evil,” he whispered. “An expected end.” It looked like Will was rolling the two phrases around in his frightened mind. Jem hoped the verse stuck tight and kept Will calm.
“Well,” Nathan said, “if we’re going to be here for a couple of days, I think we should blow out all the candles but one.”
“No!” Ellie yelled, but Jem shushed her. It made sense to conserve their light.
“We light one candle at a time and stretch them out,” Nathan went on. “Ellie can hold the candle and be the light bearer.”
“But we blow it out when we go to sleep,” Chad put in.
Everyone turned to look at him. Chad sat shivering, and Jem noticed for the first time how cool the air felt. A mine was a blessed relief from a sweltering summer’s day, but the longer Jem stayed below ground, the less he liked the damp, chilly air.
“I’m not sleeping a wink,” Ellie said, “so nobody’s blowing out my candle.” She held it away from Chad, far out of range of his breath.
Jem had to use all his wits to sweet-talk Ellie into letting her light go out. “Don’t be silly. You’ll fall asleep soon enough. Your candle will drop to the ground and go out anyway.” Before she could protest, Jem added, “Give me your candle. You can sleep next to me. I promise I won’t blow it out until you’re sound asleep.”
“You told me to stay with Chad.”
“Fine.” Jem pulled himself to his feet and joined Ellie and Chad against the far wall. “Are you thirsty? I can dump out the matches and use the little tin to get you some water.”
Ellie giggled. The sound was so natural, so Ellie, that Jem grinned. Nathan chuckled. Even Will cracked a half-smile.
“Fetch water in that teensy thing?” She giggled again. “Now who’s being silly? I can wait ’til morning—whenever that is—and find my own water.” Then her face fell. “Anyway, you need the match tin to bring Chad water, since he hurts too much to get his own.”
Jem bit his lip and looked at his friend.
“I’m fine,” Chad whispered. “I’m not thirsty. But I’m tired. And cold.”
“So am I,” Nathan said from the other wall. He lay down in the dirt and curled up into a tight ball.
Jem took the candle from Ellie and motioned her to lie down. She propped her head in Jem’s lap and—in spite of her promise not to sleep a wink—was snoring softly in less than five minutes. Soon, Nathan and Chad were out cold. Chad sat against the wall, with his head thrown back and his mouth hanging open. Only Will and Jem remained awake.
Jem wanted to wait until everyone fell asleep before he plunged the mine into “outer darkness.” Will, especially, might panic. “Aren’t you tired?” Jem asked, yawning.
Will nodded. “But before you blow out the candle, I was wondering if …” His voice trailed off.
“Wondering what?” Jem prompted.
“If you know any more verses from Jeremiah,” Will whispered. “The prophet you’re named for.”
Jem nodded. “There’s lots of verses in Jeremiah I like.”
“No wonder you always win the Sunday school Bible verse contest,” Will muttered.
Jem ignored Will’s remark. “I know a good verse. It’s ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things.’ I’m thinkin’ it might be a good idea to call on God and ask Him to show us a way out of here.”
Will brightened. “I will if you will.”
After a quick prayer, Jem blew out the candle. For some reason, the absolute darkness did not feel as black as it had before. A warm presence seemed to surround Jem. He stopped shivering and let sleep take him away.
CHAPTER 18
The Price of a Mine
Jem jerked awake, shivering uncontrollably. Any feeling of warmth had long since vanished. His teeth chattered, and his fingers felt like chunks of ice. He sat up and discovered that his arms, legs, and backside were soaked. Water dripped from his sleeves. He clamped his hands under his armpits and clenched his jaw to keep his teeth still.
What happened? What’s wrong? His mind was as chilled as the rest of his body. And no wonder. He was sitting in water a few inches deep. Hands shaking, Jem fished in his pocket for the tin of matches. He opened it and struck one against the rock wall. Nothing happened. It took three tries before one of the matches sputtered to life.
Jem looked around. A shiny expanse of water covered half the tunnel floor. Slowly but steadily, the seeping ground water was rising. He remembered the small, bubbling stream outside the mine. The explosion must have given the water a new place to go. This is bad!
The light went out, and the rest of the matches were waterlogged and useless. Jem’s heart sank. He couldn’t see clearly. Chad, Nathan, and Will were gray forms pressed up against the rocky sides of the mine. Ellie was a dark shadow lying next to him.
Then he gasped. I can see them! Jem leaped to his feet. “Wake up, everybody! I see light!”
Hope surged like a fire through Jem, warming his arms and legs. He splashed through the shallow water until he came to a shaft of daylight shining down from above. Part of the ceiling near where the tunnel was blocked had completely caved in. To Jem, it looked like a light from heaven.
He whooped. “It’s a hole. I see daylight.”
“Is it big enough to crawl through?” Nathan asked, clomping his way to Jem’s side.
Will joined the boys and glanced up. “God showed us, just like you prayed,” he said in a hushed voice. He stared at Jem. “Can we get out?”
Jem nodded. “It’s not too far up. Somebody could stand on my shoulders and reach the surface. But …”
“But what?” Will demanded.
“You and Nathan are too heavy to shove through that hole,” Jem said.
Will’s face fell.
Jem grinned. “Don’t worry. I know somebody who’s just right for this job.”
Two minutes later, Ellie stood under the hole in the mine ceiling. She wrapped her arms around her body and shivered, looking up with wide, hazel eyes.
“Well? Can you do it?” Jem asked. “Can you squeeze through that hole and go for help? You just need to run down to the mine entrance and bring Pa and the others here.”
“What if n-nobody’s there?” Ellie said between chattering teeth.
“They are,” Jem assured her. “But if they’re not, then—”
“Then you can ride my horse and go find them,” Will offered.
Ellie whirled on Will. “Ride Prince Charming?” A grin split her face. “I’ll do it.” But when she learned how she would have to climb through the hole, she changed her mind. “I have to stand on your shoulders?” She shook her head. “No, Jem.”
“Why not?”
Ellie crossed her arms and scowled. “Because”—her face reddened—“you’ll see under my dress, and that’s not proper.”
Nathan gave a choked laugh, and Will rolled his eyes. From the tunnel, out of sight in the shadows, Chad snickered.
Jem slapped a hand against his forehead. “Roasted rattlesnakes, Ellie! I’ve seen your bloomers a hundred times.”
“Especially right after Mother made them,” Nathan added. “You twirled all over the house in those silly things.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “What about him?” She unfolded her arms and jabbed a finger at Will. “He might see and tell Maybelle.”
Will shook his head. “She’s the last person I’d tell anything to. But if it makes you happy, I’ll sit with Chad. Just go get help!” Muttering, he l
eft the shaft of light, leaving Jem, Nathan, and Ellie alone.
Jem started laughing. It was a miracle what hope did for a person. Will was acting like his old self, and Ellie was being a bother. They’d even gotten a chuckle out of Chad.
With Nathan’s help, Ellie soon stood on her brother’s shoulders. She reached up through the rocky ceiling to balance herself and squealed. “I can feel the dirt and see the trees. It’s nice and warm up here. Push me higher.”
Jem and Nathan took hold of Ellie’s high-topped shoes and lifted her as high as they could reach. There were a few groans, an “ouch!” and suddenly their hands were empty.
Ellie poked her head back through the opening and yelled, “I’ll be right back!”
“It’s been hours,” Will whined.
It did seem like hours, but Jem didn’t say anything. He, Nathan, and Will sat below the opening, waiting and hoping. Even Chad had summoned enough strength to move from the shadows to be near the shaft of sunlight. The seeping water had not yet reached this part of the tunnel, and there were plenty of dry spots to perch on.
Jem idly picked up a rock and tossed it down the tunnel. It plopped in the water. He threw another. Soon, Will and Nathan joined him. The plop, plop, plip-plop kept Jem’s mind from ticking off the seconds. What’s taking Ellie so long?
“Uh … fellas?” Chad interrupted Jem’s rock throwing.
Jem paused. “What?”
“Maybe you should take a look at the rocks you’re chucking.” He pointed with his good arm. “There’s a lot of sparkling dust around here. And this is a gold mine.”
A closer glance told the story. The rocks were worthless ore, but it looked like the blast had loosened a large quantity of placer gold from the surface. It had settled on the tunnel floor and—Jem noticed—all over their clothes. The light from above set the dust to glittering.
“You’re right.” Jem’s heart leaped, like it always did when he discovered a bit of gold. “But right now I’d trade it all to be up there.” He pointed toward the patch of sky.
The next moment a shadow blocked the opening. Pa’s voice called, “Stand clear. I’m coming down.” A rope dropped through the hole, and Pa slid into the mine so fast that Jem thought the rope might be greased. He didn’t wait for Pa to get his bearings. He slammed into him and nearly crushed him in a tight hug.
“Oh, Pa! Oh, Pa!” Jem didn’t have to be brave any longer. Pa was here. He’d get them out of this fix, and he’d get Will, Nathan, and Chad out too. “What took you so long?”
Pa laughed and ruffled Jem’s hair. “It’s only been half an hour. We were digging all night at the entrance, but Morrison reckoned it would be a couple more days before we broke through. Then Ellie showed up, howling like a banshee. Soon as we heard her story, we dropped everything, grabbed some rope, and headed up here.”
He smiled at the other boys. “We’ll have you out of here in no time.” His gaze fell on Chad. “Ellie says you’re hurt. Your pa went for the doctor.”
“Yes, sir,” Chad said. “It’s my shoulder. Popped right out and hurts awful bad.”
“We’ll lower Doc Martin into this hole to fix you up.” Pa grinned. “Most unusual house call he’s ever made, I reckon.”
Chad managed a weak smile.
Pa made short work of tying a loop in the end of the rope. “Step into the loop and hang on. The men above will do the rest.” He paused. “Who wants to go first?”
In the end, Will went first. Jem wanted to stay and see how Chad made out. Besides, Pa was here now, so the collapsed mine no longer held any terrors. It was just a cold, dirty, oversized coyote hole.
“Mr. Morrison heard—or actually felt—the explosion late yesterday afternoon,” Pa explained. He settled Nathan on the lifeline next and gave the signal to pull him up. “So we knew something bad had happened even before Wu Shen burst into my office screeching in Chinese.”
“Wu Shen?” Jem yelled. “He’s not dead? He escaped?” Thank you, God! You rescued us, and now Will won’t have to feel so guilty.
“By the hairs of his pigtail,” Pa said. “When I got him simmered down enough to speak English, he told me the whole tale.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Will Sterling nearly got you all killed. I’ve a good mind to—”
“No, Pa,” Jem broke in, shaking his head. “Will just wanted to help you. And me. He knows what he did. I … I think he’s been punished enough.”
Pa’s eyebrows shot up. For a minute he was quiet. “Will’s father has had a hard, soul-searching night as well,” he finally admitted. “Digging next to him was no pleasure, let me tell you. The man was frantic to save you kids. He blames himself for the whole thing.”
“Is he still going to make you evict Wu Shen’s family from the claim?” Jem swallowed and waited for the answer.
Pa shook his head. “No need. Will’s little ploy worked, however shameful it was.” He glanced around at the rubble and sighed. “The mine is no good to Wu Hao now. The Midas will get its air shaft. But at what cost?” He pulled Jem into a warm embrace. “Thank God this air shaft didn’t cost us your lives. That’s what matters most.”
Doc Martin was lowered into the hole a few minutes later and brought Chad much-needed relief. With his shoulder back in place and a dose of painkiller, Chad had no trouble being hauled up. “I’m gonna stick to chasing cattle,” he joked as he rose toward daylight. “I’ve had me a bellyful of gold mines.”
Jem agreed. He never wanted to see the inside of a mine again.
It was soon his turn to grab the rope. Jem emerged from the Belle diggings and into the bright noon light, blinking hard. He lifted his face to the sun, closed his eyes, and soaked in its blistering rays. “I will never complain about the heat again,” he said with a long, relieved sigh.
Well-wishers surrounded him; very few eyes remained dry. In a mining camp like Goldtown, everyone knew the horror of loved ones trapped underground—and the relief that came when they were brought out alive.
Jem suddenly felt himself engulfed in a bear hug. He opened his eyes to see Strike-it-rich Sam holding him in a tight, one-armed grip. Tears glistened in the prospector’s eyes. “Heard about the accident. They wouldn’t let me dig, but I was givin’ the Good Lord an earful the whole time. Glad to see you’re still with us, boy.” He let Jem go and wiped his brow. “That was pert-near the longest night of my life.”
“Mine too,” Jem agreed. He glanced around. “Say, have you seen Wu Shen? I—” His eyes widened. Spread out on the hillside above the mine, dozens of men were scooping dirt from the forested ground into wheelbarrows and gunny-sacks. “What’s going on?”
“Appears you young’uns started a minor gold strike hereabouts. The Sterling boy came outta that hole all covered in sparkly dirt. Didn’t take long for word to spread.” He chuckled. “It won’t last, on account of it’s just surface gold, but it’ll keep folks busy while they’re waitin’ for the Midas to reopen.” Strike laughed louder. “Sterling ain’t sayin’ a word about the miners crawlin’ all over his claim. Reckon he’s had a change o’ heart.”
Jem grinned. It was good to see the miners scratching away at the topsoil—just like during Goldtown’s boom days. Then he spotted a small figure sitting under a tree and waved good-bye to Strike.
Wu Shen’s face brightened when Jem ran up and fell to the ground beside him. “We thought you were dead!” Jem said with a gasp. “Caught in the falling debris. Will went a little crazy, thinkin’ he killed you.”
“Yes,” Shen said. “He find me and say he very sorry.”
“He did?” It appeared that a night in a collapsed mine had changed Will for the better. “I’m glad you’re all right, Shen, but it’s too bad about your folks’ mine. What will they do now?”
Shen gave Jem a sly grin. “Sheriff say Sterling must pay for claim. Much, much money. And my father say he will leave and work on new railroad. He not go before because of claim.” He cocked his head, looking puzzled. “I do not believe a track
can stretch from east to west. But Father say pay is good to cut through mountains. Many Chinese go. It is honorable work.” He shrugged. “Maybe they make this transcon-ti-nen-tal railroad happen.”
“Will you go?” Jem asked. He hoped Shen would not join the venture. It sounded dangerous, blasting through mountains.
Shen shook his head. “Uncle Jiang need me to help with laundry.” He laughed. “Maybe I start best Chinese laundry in California.”
Jem laughed along with his friend. “I sure could use a Chinese laundry right now. These clothes are filthy.” He looked down. Mixed in with the dirt and grime, gold dust speckled his shirt and britches. A lot of gold dust. He must have picked up more coming through the hole—his own little “stake” of the new gold strike.
“On second thought,” he told Shen, “I think I’ll do my own laundry today.” He grinned. “I’ve got some gold to wash.”
Historical Note
When prospectors first arrived in the California gold fields in 1849, they found gold scattered along riverbeds or buried just below the surface of the ground as dust, flakes, or nuggets. These forms of gold were called “placer deposits.” It was easy to separate placer gold from dirt with a shovel, a gold pan, and a source of running water.
It wasn’t long, however, before the placer gold began to disappear. The only gold left was buried deep under the earth in deposits called “lodes” or “veins.” The gold was embedded in quartz rock, called “ore,” and ran in all directions underground. The trick was to figure out where a gold vein was located. Miners dug shafts in places where placer gold had been found earlier. This was called “hard-rock” mining, and it was backbreaking work. Many times the miner was rewarded with only an empty hole.
When digging by hand became too difficult, teams of men with machinery and explosives took over. A company was formed and went to work. Miners labored underground all day (or all night), drilling, blasting, shoveling, and hauling the ore to the surface. Mining was dangerous work, especially extending the tunnels.
Tunnel of Gold Page 12