"Oh, nothing," said Fred. "It was jolly fun. You know we made some gas the other night in father"s old pipe? Well, teacher had some of this same coal-gas in a bottle. All of a sudden he pulled the cork out of the bottle and put a light near it. My stars, Norah, there was a bang. It made all the boys jump. But it was fine fun after all.""Why did he do it?" asked Norah. "He told us," said Fred, "that this gasis always coming out of the coal down in the mine. If the men down there go about with a lighted candle the gas will at once take fire and explode. Then the mine is blown up, and perhaps hundreds of men are killed. The gas in the bottle gave us a good idea of the way it explodes in the mine.""But," said Willie, "I liked that picture of the mine. We saw the shaft, and the great cage hanging by its strong chains.
"The cage was coming down full of miners. At the bottom there was a truck loaded with coal ready to be sent up.""Yes," said Fred, "and we saw the wide road cut through the coal, and the wagons and horses going along.""Horses!" said Norah.
"Yes, little girl, horses," said Fred. "I thought Ishould like to be one of those boys to have a whip, and go for a ride along that funny road.""What, all in the dark?" said Norah.