Germinal - Emile Zola [45]
‘Yes, Monsieur Négrel, this is the man we took on this morning.’
They both slithered their way halfway down the coal-face, and Étienne was asked to climb up to them. The engineer raised his lamp to take a look but did not question him.
‘All right,’ he said finally. ‘It’s just that I don’t like the idea of taking complete strangers in off the street, that’s all…So make sure this doesn’t happen again.’
He paid no heed to the various arguments that were put to him, about the requirements of the job and the wish to have men rather than women putting the tubs. As the hewers were taking up their picks again, he had begun to examine the roof. All at once he shouted:
‘What the hell’s going on, Maheu? Don’t you give a damn what anyone says?…You’ll all be buried alive, for God’s sake.’
‘Oh, it’s solid enough,’ Maheu replied calmly.
‘What do you mean ‘‘solid’’?…But the rock’s already sagging, and the way you’re putting the props in every two metres, anyone would think you’d rather not bother! Ah, you’re all the same, you lot. You’d rather have your skulls crushed to smithereens than leave the seam for a single second and spend the necessary time on timbering!…Kindly shore that up at once. And with twice the number of props. Do you understand?’
When he saw that the miners were going to be uncooperative and start arguing the point, claiming that they were perfectly good judges of what safety measures were necessary, he let fly:
‘Look here! When you all get your skulls smashed in, it’s not you that’s going to have to answer for the consequences, is it? Of course not. It’s the Company that’ll have to fork out for pensions for you or your wives…I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. We know what you’re like. For the sake of two more tubs a day you’d all rather get yourselves killed.’
Despite his growing anger Maheu still managed to say evenly:
‘If we were properly paid, we’d do better timbering.’
The engineer shrugged but made no reply. He had now reached the bottom of the coal-face and simply called up to them:
‘You have one hour left. You’d better all help. And I’m fining this team three francs.’
There was much muttering and grumbling among the miners at this. Only their sense of hierarchy held them in check, the quasi-military hierarchy from overman down to pit-boy, which made them each subordinate to the person above. Nevertheless Chaval and Levaque both made an angry gesture while Maheu tried to calm them with a look. Zacharie simply shrugged his shoulders in dismissive mockery. But of all of them Étienne was perhaps the most outraged. Ever since he had found himself down in this hell-hole, the spirit of resistance had gradually been growing within him. He looked at Catherine and saw her resigned air, as she bent to the yoke. Was it possible that people could work themselves to death at such terrible labour, down here in this mortal darkness, and still not earn even enough for their daily bread?
Négrel, meanwhile, was departing with Dansaert, who had been content to keep nodding his approval. Once more their raised voices could be heard; they had stopped again and were inspecting the timbering along the roadway where the hewers were responsible for the maintenance along the first ten metres back from the coal-face.
‘I told you, they simply don’t give a damn!’ the engineer shouted. ‘And what the bloody hell have you been doing? Aren’t you supposed to supervise them?’
‘Yes, yes, of course,’ stammered the overman. ‘But I might as well talk to a brick wall – ’
‘Maheu! Maheu!’ Négrel bellowed.
They all came down, and he continued:
‘Look at it. Do you really think that’s going to hold?…It’s completely botched. Look at that cross-timber there, the uprights aren’t even supporting it any more. And all because the whole thing was done in such a hurry. It’s obvious…God! No wonder the timbering’s costing us so much. Just as long as everything holds firm while you’re responsible, isn’t that it? And then it all collapses and the Company has