Chapter Forty-Two Summary

The pumps are successfully keeping the water under control in the mines, while crowds of angry men remain outside. Olwen comes to tell Huw that the horses are going untended; a few sympathetic helpers from the crowd take them to pasture. Gwilym goes underground to be sure the water is not flooding the pits. Later, Cyfartha goes down to check things out and to find Gwilym.

Huw goes to Beth, who is sitting in the darkness waiting. She says Ivor has been there, and that he smiled and nodded to her.

The girls have brought food for Gwilym, but some of the roof has fallen into the pit. After hours of digging, there a tapping in the stall road area. Dai finally pulls Cyfartha out. Huw goes back and finds his father, buried in coal, but still alive and smiling. The...