Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed text > Martin Craghan

Martin Graglian. 7
his breath, and turn white and sick with fear.
He thought at first, in his foolish terror, that
he would leave the trucks for ten minutes
— ten minutes would bring him to the shaft
— and see if his father were still there ; but
suddenly, the idea vanished — what! leave his
work now, when the time must be nearly
up, and the wages due ? " No, I am not
quite a coward," the boy said, laughing out
loud as he spoke, to convince himself of the
truth of his words, and he caught up the
dim echo of the song, and chanted it mono-
tonously. It was a Methodist hymn — a para-
phrase — and two lines ran thus : —
"His Angels He shall give in charge — "
"And they shall bear thee up."
He meant to encourage himself, and forget
the momentary fear, but, somehow, his voice
sounded so odd and doleful, and the little
tallow dip in the front of his cap gave such
a fitful light, that he grew frightened again,
and paused — listening to what 1
To a strange, rumbling noise, that seemed
to come in an instant, and swallow up all his
lesser troubles in one great fear.
Little blocks of coals came crumbling from
the walls on to the ground at his feet, and
then, without any warning, the distant rum-
bling sound broke out again, and with it