ey're finished, and a sinking ship, and the men ought to leave them like rats leave a sinking ship. But folks talk so much, of course there was a boom during the war. When Sir Geoffrey made a trust of himself and got the money safe for ever, somehow. So they say! But they say even the masters and the owners don't get much out of it now. You can hardly believe it, can you! Why I always thought the pits would go on for ever and ever. Who'd have thought, when I was a girl! But New England's shut down, so is Colwick Wood: yes, it's fair haunting to go through that coppy and see Colwick Wood standing there deserted among the trees, and bushes growing up all over the pit-head, and the lines red rusty. It's like death itself, a dead colliery. Why, whatever should we do if Tevershall shut down—? It doesn't bear thinking of. Always that throng it's been, except at strikes, and even then the fan-wheels didn't stand, except when they fetched the ponies up. I'm sure it's a funny world, you don't know where you are from year to year, you really don't.” It was Mrs. Bolton's talk that really put a new fight into Clifford. His income, as she pointed out to him, was secure, from his father's trust, even though it was not large. The pits did not really concern him. It was the other world he wanted to capture, the world of literature and fame; the popular world, not the working world.

博尔顿太太说：“许多矿工都离开特弗沙尔，去斯塔克斯门以及怀特沃尔谋生。”“您没见过斯塔克斯门战后新建的矿场吧，克利福德爵士？噢，有空您可得去看看，崭新崭新的，矿坑旁边是硕大的化工车间，看上去根本不像煤矿。据说，他们那里仅靠化工副产品，赚的钱就比煤炭还多——我记不得那产品的名字。矿工宿舍也是全新的，漂亮得很！四面八方的穷光蛋们自然聚集到那里。许多特弗沙尔的矿工也去了，而且混得还有模有样，比在咱这里强得多。他们都说特弗沙尔完蛋了，没希望了，唯一的悬念是再过几年，它才会关张。步新伦敦的后尘。天呢，特弗沙尔煤矿要真的不复存在，那可不是儿戏。罢工期间已经够惨的，要是煤矿真的歇菜，那还不跟世界末日似的。我小的时候，这里可是全国最棒的煤矿，能在特弗沙尔混碗饭吃，那可是几世修来的福分。啊，特弗沙尔赚过很多钱呢。可现在，大家都说它像条行将沉没的轮船，是时候另寻生路了。听着就让人心寒！当然，不到万不得已，很多人还是都不愿离开。他们不喜欢新式煤矿，深不见底，而且都是机器在干活。有些人对这些铁家伙——他们这样称呼那些机器——心怀畏惧，这些挖煤的机器代替了以往的人力。他们还说那是种浪费。花在机器上的钱，总要从矿工的工资那里省回来，而且省得还不少。似乎很快世界上将不再需要人力，所有的活都由机器代劳。但当年老式织袜