"Stand c-l-e-a-r!" called the powder-man in a sing-song tone. All hands ran back so as to be well out of the way, and now that Steve understood what was being done, he shouldered his shovel and moved leisurely off in the direction taken by the others. "That's the worst of a fool kid," grumbled the contractor. "They don't know enough to come in out of the wet----" "The fuse is fired! Look out!" warned the powder-man, starting away from the scene on a run. Steve watched the sputtering, squirming fuse far down the drift as the flame neared the charge of dynamite, six pounds all told. It seemed to him that all of them were in a dangerous position, but not being familiar with blasting, he supposed the miners knew their own business best. It is always an anxious moment in the mines when, gathered in an expectant group, the workers underground stand waiting for the charge of dynamite to explode. It is seldom that anyone speaks during this brief period of suspense until the flash comes, followed by a puff of white smoke, a heavy report and a rain of rock and ore. In this instance the wait seemed unusually long. The flash did not come. "Missed hole," announced Spooner in a tone of disgust. "Five minutes of valuable time lost. That's the way the money goes in this gang. Get in there and attach a new fuse, powder-man. Don't be all day about it, either. If I wasn't around here to watch things we wouldn't get half a dozen tons a day out of this drift. First thing you know we'll all be out of a job. Come, are you going to get in there?" "It ain't safe," answered the powder-man, shaking his head, sending a shower of grease from his candle into the face of Steve Rush. "I see I've got to do it myself," exclaimed Spooner, grabbing a handful of fuses from the shoulders of the man who handled the dynamite. The powder-man reached for his fuses, but the contractor already had them in his hand and was striding toward the drift. The powder-man hesitated, then started after him on a trot. "It's again' the rules, sir, to go in until ten minutes after firing the fuse when there's a missed hole," he warned. "Rules!" jeered the contractor. "I'm the rules. I guess I'm running this drift." By this time both men had reached the dome-like space where the drift ended, which included a very rich vein of iron ore. Steve Rush shaded his eyes and, stooping over, peered into the drift. He was looking between the two men who at that moment were arguing excitedly. They appeared to have forgotten that they were treading on dangerous ground, but long familiarity with high explosives had made them careless. The lad saw something a few feet beyond them that caused his heart to leap. A tiny spark had sprung up from the darkness, then as suddenly died out. "Look out!" shouted the young miner, now keenly alive to the danger of the men ahead.