Meanwhile every effort was being made from without to bring them succour. Although as soon as the accident took place the pumps were incessantly at work, the water had risen to a height of 14 metres in the shaft on the following morning, and as it was still rising there was reason to fear that the captives, blocked up in a constantly narrowing space, would soon be suffocated. It was resolved to strike a gallery from the neighbouring pit of Mamouster to Beaujonc, a distance of 175 metres. Unfortunately, only two men could hew at a time, but such was the ardour with which the work was prosecuted that on the morning of March 4 a shout of triumph announced that the longed-for communication was effected, and that the prisoners were alive. Crawling through the narrow passage, they were wrapped up in woollen blankets and strengthened with soup and wine before being hoisted to the surface. Goffin and his son, a lad of twelve, were the last to leave the pit; as a brave sea captain, after some great catastrophe, never thinks of his own safety till he has satisfied himself of that of his men. With the exception of those who were drowned immediately after the accident took place, all were saved. The joy of some families, the despair of others, may be imagined when the final count was made. As a reward for Goffin’s admirable conduct, he was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honour and received a pension of 600 francs. Nine years later he was killed by an explosion of fire-damp, and thus the hostile elements with which he had so long waged a successful war triumphed over him at last.