The Proud Valley Page #6

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and lots of luck.

But you're coming with us, Dave.

No, no.

I wouldn't be much help to you in there.

I'll just stay here...

and, uh, hold the fort,

as the sergeant says.

You're wastin' time.

Go on inside.

- Stick it the Welsh, eh, Ned?

- That's it, son.

- I'm sorry, sir, but that's the position.

- I tell you, it must be done, Mr. Lewis.

- Tomorrow we may be at war.

- But, SirJohn, I can't -

I have promised the government

40,000 tons a week.

But our weekly output is only 30,000 tons.

30,057 to be precise.

All right.

We must restart some of our pits.

What about Trehenwg, Blaendy,

Cymlyn, Tyncoom?

SirJohn, you can't open an idle pit

like opening that door.

What the devil are you doing here?

- We've come to talk about that idle pit in Blaendy.

- And what's that got to do with you?

Well, sir, we chaps work down that pit,

as our fathers did before us.

And we want to go on working.

That's all, SirJohn.

I see. Well, I can assure you that we are

very anxious to see you start work.

But there's nothing we can do

for you at the moment.

But there's something

we can do for you, sir.

Give us the chance, and you'll be getting coal

from Blaendy pit within a week.

- I'd like to know how you're going to do that.

- If you'll allow me to -

My boy, we have gone

into this matter thoroughly.

Even if we undertook the cost

of driving a new hard heading...

to skirt the sealed section,

it would take us at least a month.

Yes, but there's a quicker way than that -

straight through that sealed section.

- You'll never get through alive.

- That's our business.

My lad, in that sealed section,

there may be gob-fires, gas accumulations -

We are not asking you

to go through it, are we?

Now, now, Nick. Don't lose your head.

Listen, SirJohn.

We heard you say that

tomorrow we may be at war.

In that case, you know the risks

that will have to be faced in the trenches...

in the sky, on the sea - aye, and by

our women and children in their homes.

Coal in wartime is as much a part of our

national defense as guns or anything else.

So why not let us

take our chance down the pit?

Well, Mr. Lewis, what do you think?

SirJohn, if they get through, it'll give

the government that extra 10,000 tons.

- And I think with these men, it might be done.

- It can be done.

- What's your name?

- Emlyn Parry.

Well, Parry, as a mining engineer...

I should consider it a privilege

to lead you men in this attempt.

SirJohn, with your permission,

I'll leave for Blaendy tonight.

Now let's make sure we've got everything

and it's all in order. Blasting powder.

- Here, sir.

- Battery box.

- Here, sir.

- And I've got the cable.

And I've got the yellow sparrow.

I hope it don't conk out.

Now, now. None of your nonsense.

Come on, lads.

- Shall we start, sir?

- Yes, right away.

Get at it, boys.

A penny for 'em, Em.

They're worth more than that, Dave.

In ages past

Our hope

For years to come

Our shelter

From the stormy blast

And our eternal home

Well, it won't be long

before we're back, Jim.

- I hope so, sir. Good luck.

- Thank you, Jim.

Just a minute.

I'll test for gas.

Yes, a bit of gas here.

Put you respirators on.

Come on, Phil. We must get this wall

sealed up again.

- But that means shutting them up in there.

- Mr. Lewis's orders.

If there's trouble, he doesn't

want it to spread to the rest of the pit.

- Come on. Get on with it.

- Come on.

All clear.

Take your respirators off, lads.

- There's a big fall of roof in there.

- I can see it, son.

Are you gonna blast your way through,

Mr. Lewis?

I don't like it, but we'll have to.

Otherwise, it'll take us a day to get through.

- Emlyn, see to the placing of the shot.

- Yes, sir.

- Dave, let's have that powder.

- Here it is.

- Ned, get me some sludge to back the charge with.

- Right you are.

- Where you gonna place it?

- Right here in the middle of this big stuff.

Okay.

- Can you manage, Dave?

- It's all right, Em.

Get 'em in as far as you can.

- Nearly ready?

- In a minute, Mr. Lewis.

- Good.

- Well, we'd better put little Caruso...

in a place of safety before the big bang.

Seth.

Poor fellows.

I expect they was caught by that fall.

Connect up, Emlyn.

Stand clear, lads!

All set.

Let her have it, Em.

Roof's a bit shaky.

- Lloyd, get some of that loose timber over there.

- Very good, sir.

- Morgan, give him a hand.

- Yes, sir.

Shall we go up to the rise

and see how it's looking?

- Yes, carry on.

- Come on, boys.

Morgan, hurry up with that prop.

Put it in here.

Get it up. Steady.

- Here you are, sir.

- That's right.

- Get some more timber, Lloyd.

- Aye, sir.

- Which way now, Em?

- To the right. We'll try the door.

- And we'll have to clear that lot.

- What, with these flamin' things on?

There's no gas just here.

All right. Take 'em off.

- Well, this'll come in handy, Seth.

- Yes.

Careful with them, Seth.

Pile them up on here.

- All ready, Em.

- Clear away, Ned.

Well, here goes.

Say " open sesame," Dave.

Open sesame.

Shut the door.

The trucksl

My God, Mr. Lewis!

- This roof is working like yeast.

- Don't move, Morgan, whatever you do.

- I'll get another prop.

- All right.

Mr. Lewis!

Mr. Lewisl

Mr. Lewis!

Go for it, boys!

There!

- Any news, Mr. Trevor?

- Not yet, Ned.

I'm sorry. There's no definite

news for you yet.

- Do you think they'll get through, Mr. Trevor?

- God only knows, my dear.

Yes, only he knows.

I'm afraid it's no use, Nick.

That rock still sounds like cast iron.

Well, they must keep on trying.

- Do you think we've got a chance, Nick?

- Of course we have.

How does that feel now?

- Not so bad.

- Here, wet your lips.

- That sounds better.

- Think so?

Try it further along.

- Was that a weak spot?

- dd

No. No, you take it easy.

It's no good tappin' anymore.

Let's get at it.

He's right, Em.

Let me have it.

- It's pretty hard, Ned.

- Aye, son.

Nick, Emlyn,

look at this lamp.

Gettin' short of oil, I expect.

- Is it, Ned?

- The lamp's not short of oil.

What it wants is air.

I could do with a lungful myself.

And a quart of beer apiece

wouldn't do us any harm.

Don't waste your breath, my boy,

for you have little enough left.

It's getting pretty thick.

We shan't last more than an hour.

Well, that's the end of that.

We must be a daft lot.

Why didn't we think of it before?

- Think of what?

- Blasting, of course.

Can't we fire a shot

and blow our way through?

Aye, that's it. Place a shot

at that weak spot David was working on.

- Give us that blasting powder.

- What for? To blow ourselves to pieces?

It'll be certain death to fire a shot

in a place this size.

It'll be certain death

if we don't do somethin'.

We can hide ourselves

against that rock face around the corner.

- That's right. Where's the cable?

- Aye, quick, let's have it.

Weren't you carrying it, Dave?

No, not me, boys.

Mr. Lewis had the cable.

Oh, hell!

Look at the flamin' thing,

just four foot of rock...

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