the pipe, returned back through the gallery, so that there was a
constant current circulating all through the mine.

As they groped their way slowly along, their feet splashed into
pools of yellow clayey water at the sides of the drive, or stumbled
over the rough ground and rugged rails laid down for the trollies.
All along the gallery, at regular intervals, were posts of stringy
bark in a vertical position, while beams of the same were laid
horizontally across the top, but so low that Vandeloup had to stoop
constantly to prevent himself knocking his head against their
irregular projections.

Clinging to these side posts were masses of white fungus, which the
miners use to remove discolorations from their hands, and from the
roof also it hung like great drifts of snow, agitated with every
breath of wind as the keen air, damped and chilled by the
underground darkness, rushed past them. Every now and then they
would hear a faint rumble in the distance, and Archie would drag his
companion to one side while a trolly laden with white, wet-looking
wash, and impelled by a runner, would roll past with a roaring and
grinding of wheels.

At intervals on each side of the main drive black chasms appeared,
which Archie informed his companion were drives put in to test the
wash, and as these smaller galleries continued branching off,
Vandeloup thought the whole mine resembled nothing so much as a
herring-bone.

Being accustomed to the darkness and knowing every inch of the way,
the manager moved forward rapidly, and sometimes Vandeloup lagged so