"I soon came to my senses, for I broke my leg; and it is wonderful I did
not break my neck by my fall. I was drawn up by cords, and was carried
to a hut in the mine, near the stables, where I lay in great pain.

"My master was in the mine at the time the accident happened; and,
hearing where I was, he had the goodness to come directly to me himself,
to let me know that he had sent for a surgeon.

"The surgeon, who lived in the neighbourhood, was not at home; but there
was then upon a visit at my master's a Mr. Y----, an old gentleman who
had been a surgeon; and, though he had for many years left off practice,
he no sooner heard of the accident that had happened to me than he had
the goodness to come down into the mine, to set my leg.

"After the operation was over, my master returned to tell me that I
should want for nothing. Never shall I forget the humanity with which
he treated me. I do not remember that I had ever heard him speak to
me before this time; but now his voice and manner were so full of
compassion and kindness, that I looked up to him as to a new sort of
being.

"His goodness wakened and warmed me to a sense of gratitude--the first
virtuous emotion I was conscious of having ever felt.

"I was attended with the greatest care, during my illness, by the
benevolent surgeon, Mr. Y----. The circumstance of my having been
intoxicated, when I took the leap, had been concealed by the man who
gave me the dram; who declared that I had fallen by accident, as I was
looking down the hole for a _gad_ that I had dropped. I did not join