noon
There 'd been a strike in the mine , an ' my friend had took it in hand with knuckle-dusters on . He is n't the kind to fell a tree with a jack-knife . Then three of the strikers that had been turned away -- they was the ringleaders -- they laid a plan that 'd make the devil sick . They 've put a machine in the mine , an ' timed it , an ' it 'll go off when my friend comes out of the mine at noon to-morrow . '' Her face was pale now , and her eyes had a look of pain and horror . Her man -- him that she was to marry -- was the head of a mine also at Selby , forty miles beyond Bindon , and the horrible plot came home to her with piercing significance . `` Without a second 's warning , '' he urged , `` to go like that , the man that was so good to my little gal , an ' me with a chance to save him , an ' others too , p ` r ` aps .