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Moya, bringing up the rear, could hear Bleyer explain the workings to those at his heel He talked of stopes, drifts, tunnels, wage scales, shifts, high-grade ore, and other subjects that were as Greek to Joyce and India The atmosphere was oppressively close and warh heavily upon her She became aith so over her brain and a mistiness over her eyes To steady herself she stopped, catching at the rough wall for support The others, unaware that she was not following, round
When she cahts had disappeared She was alone in the most profound darkness she had ever known It seeible The girl was frightened Her iers Of cave-ins and explosions she had heard and read a good deal Anything was possible in this thousand-foot deep grave In a frightened, ineffective little voice she cried out to her friends
Instantly there ca on the wall alain that faint far tap--tap--tap--tap--tap--tap--tap Instinctively her hand went out, groping along the wall until it fell upon a pipe Even as she touched this the sound ca with it the faintest of vibrations She knew that so the pipe with a piece of quartz or , she found a bit of broken rock Three times she tapped the pipe An answer came at once
Tap--tap--tap--tap--tap--tap--tap!
She tried two knocks Again the response of seven taps sounded Four blows brought still seven Why always seven? She did not know, but she was greatly comforted to know that her friends were in colimmered at the end of the tunnel and moved slowly toward her Bleyer's voice called her name Presently the whole party was about her with syht of her fainting attack, but Verinder insisted on getting her back to the upper air in spite of her protests He had discovered that Joyce was quite ready to return to the sunlight, now that her curiosity was satisfied A very little of anything that was unpleasant went a long ith Miss Seldon, and there was soly of an irave
At dinner Verinder referred to the attack of vertigo "Feel quite fit again, Miss Dwight?"