"I have met
with our old enemy, the fire-damp!"
"But suppose it was another gas," said Starr. "Firedamp is almost
without smell, and colorless. It only really betrays its presence
by an explosion."
"Mr. Starr," said Simon Ford, "will you let me tell you
what I have done? Harry had once or twice observed something
remarkable in his excursions to the west end of the mine.
Fire, which suddenly went out, sometimes appeared along the face
of the rock or on the embankment of the further galleries.
How those flames were lighted, I could not and cannot say.
But they were evidently owing to the presence of fire-damp,
and to me fire-damp means a vein of coal."
"Did not these fires cause any explosion?" asked the engineer quickly.
"Yes, little partial explosions," replied Ford, "such as I
used to cause myself when I wished to ascertain the presence
of fire-damp. Do you remember how formerly it was the custom
to try to prevent explosions before our good genius, Humphry Davy,
invented his safety-lamp?"
"Yes," replied James Starr. "You mean what the 'monk,' as the men
called him, used to do. But I have never seen him in the exercise
of his duty."
"Indeed, Mr. Starr, you are too young, in spite of
your five-and-fifty years, to have seen that. But I,
ten years older, often saw the last 'monk' working in the mine.
He was called so because he wore a long robe like a monk.
Pages:
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64