Into the skip next to Duff and neither of them spoke again until they

reached the tenth level. They went down the drive, only a short way

before they reached the end. There were men there with crowbars and

shovels standing undecided, waiting for orders, and Mbejane shouldered a

path through them. He and Duff stood together in front of the new wall

of broken rock that sealed the tunnel, and the silence went on and on.

Then Duff turned on the white shift-boss. Were you at the face? Yes. He

went back to call you, didn't he? Yes. And you left him there? The

min couldn't look at Duff I thought he was following us, he muttered.

You thought only of your own miserable skin, Duff told him, you filthy

little coward, you slimy yellow bastard, you, .

Mbejane caught Duff Is arm and Duff stopped his tirade.

They all heard it then, clink, clink, clink. It's him, it must be him!

whispered Duff, he's alive! He snatched a crowbar from one of the

natives and knocked against the side of the tunnel. They waited, their

breathing the only sound, until the answer came back to them louder and

sharper than before. Mbejane took the crowbar out of Duff's hands. He

thrust it into a crack in the rock jam and his back muscles bunched as

he heaved.

The bar bent like a liquorice stick, he threw it away and went at the

stone with his bare hands. You! Duff snapped at the shift-boss. We'll

need timber to shore up as we clear the fall, get it. He turned to the

natives. Four of you working on the face at one time the rest of you

carry the stone away as we loosen it.

Do you want any dynamite? asked the shift-boss. And bring the rock

down a second time? Use your brains, man. Go and get that timber and

call Mr du Toit while you're at the surface. In four hours they cleared

fifteen feet of tunnel, breaking the larger stabs of stone with sledge

hammers and prising the pieces out of the jam. Duff's body ached and

his hands were raw. He had to rest. He walked slowly back to the lift

station and there he found blankets and a huge dish of soup. Where did

this come from? Candy's Hotel, sir. Half Johannesburg is waiting at

the head of the shaft. Duff huddled into a blanket and drank a little.

of the soup. Where's du Toit? I couldn't find him, sir.

Up at the face Mbejane worked on. The first four natives came back to

rest and fresh men took their place.

Mbejane led them, grunting an order occasionally but otherwise reserving

his strength for the assault on the rock. For an hour Duff rested and

when he returned to the head of the tunnel Mbejane was still there. Duff

watched him curl his arms round a piece of stone the size of a beer keg,

brace his legs and tear the stone out of the jam. Earth and loose rock

followed it burying Mbejane's legs to the knees and Duff jumped forward

to help him.

Another two hours and Duff had to rest again. This time he led Mbejane

back with him, gave him a blanket and made him drink a little soup. They

sat next to each other with their backs against the Wall of the tunnel

and blankets over their shoulders. The shift-boss came to Duff. Mrs

Rautenbach sent this down for you, sir It was a half-bottle of brandy.

Tell her, thank you Duff pulled the cork with his teeth and swallowed

twice. it brought the tears into his eyes, he offered the bottle to

Mbejane.