Yuki-Onna

Chapter 4

Just then the royal decree came out. The king ordered a hundred poods of sapphire to be extracted.

"Listen! - workers heard the cry of the supervisor coming down to them in the Elevator. -"Listen to the order!"

As soon as the Elevator slammed to the ground, the supervisor jumped out of it, ran down the tunnel past the surprised workers, and deftly crawled through the small passageway that separated one face from the other to where Haru was.

— Who of the working people will find a sapphire block in a hundred poods, the free will be paid! And a hundred rubles in silver.

— Who will refuse the will? I will try, and whether I find it — this is how my happiness will fit. - With that, he began to work with the pick.

— I advise you to hurry. The clerk told me to tell you that if you don't do it, you'll be knocked out of your wits with three blows.

He laugh got along, and sees-have Haru on top of the lesson tricked out, and Saphir selection, grade by grade. "What does he think it is? Where did this come from?» He climbed into the hole, looked at everything and said:

— Let's Go, Haru. - The warden called to him, and he followed him down the tunnel. They stopped at a bare black wall. The man couldn't help but chuckle.

— You can show us your skills here, kid. - He pointed at the bare black wall.

They both started working. What one has, what the other does not go. Just a stone. The warden smiled contentedly, but suddenly saw a blue-haired girl in a white raincoat appear in front of Haru. She smiled at him and clapped her hands. Noticing the warden's startled gaze, she winked at him and disappeared, scattering white petals.

After that, instead of the black stone, there was finally a sapphire mixed with other crystals, and that one — the nephew-say, there is nothing good, only the stone goes. Here the warden and swept away the case.

His eyes widened, and the hand holding the lantern began to shake. The nephew wiped the sweat from his brow, turned to his uncle and companion, and gasped.

- How ... - the man muttered in a sinking voice and rushed to the guy. — Nephew.

- Nothing good, uncle, - he shook his head, spreading his hands. - One stone is coming.

- Try, - the overseer whispered in a frantic, trembling voice, grabbing him by the shoulders. - Do not let yourself be fooled ...

He rushed in the opposite direction and climbed through the tunnel, only his heels sparkled. There he climbed into the elevator and signaled, tugging at the rope. Two workers spun the drum with such speed in the opposite direction that it flew out of the elevator like a cork, falling on its stomach and raising a heap of dust. Panting, cold sweat rolling down his face and a crazy look, all this immediately attracted attention. Jumping to his feet, he ran to the clerk.

- Not otherwise, the boy Haru sold his soul to evil spirits! Heaped up crystals - one passion! - He shouted in one breath, baptizing. A whispering crowd of people gathered around him. Everything scared what he heard. They only lacked evil, and the boy became scared.

The clerk says this:

- This is his business, to whom he sold his soul, but we need to take advantage of it.

The clerk got into the elevator and called for the rest of the workers, ignoring their fear. The one that twisted the trigger drum crossed. The workers gasped when they saw sparkling crystals and a sapphire block in front of Haru.

- They say that you are terribly lucky, kid. Lucky to such an extent, as if he had sold his soul to the devil, - the clerk grinned with an eager gleam in his eyes. - You will be relieved. Hey you, - he said to the rest of the workers. - Remove it from the chain and take it to the face where the mountain gave the sediment. And the borders themselves in hand, yes help him there.