The Amazing Mine Story

Since before he could remember, Phil had always dreamt of finding wealth in the old and abandoned Creaky Rock mine. Each day, Phil would pack his tools and trudge up the steep mountain to the mine for another day in search of this buried treasure. This day, Phil had a strange feeling that he would find his treasure at last.

As Phil was unpacking his rope and tools from his cart, he heard a terrible noise. The sound surrounded him. It was the sound of breaking frames and falling rocks. A CAVE- IN!! Suddenly, everything was as black as night.

When Phil re-lit his lamp, he was amazed at what he saw. All around him were huge rocks of gold and silver. “This gold and silver must have become exposed as rocks fell during the cave-in,” the miner thought to himself. In his excitement, Phil forgot all about being caught in the mine and began to fill his cart with the valuable gold and silver.

Once his cart was full, Phil remembered that the cave-in had blocked the exit to the mine, and he might never find a way out. Sad and alone, Phil began to cry. He wished for a way out of the cave so that he could show the world his newly found treasure. Suddenly, Phil heard a faint cry from somewhere in the darkness. Curious, he began to explore inside of the mine.

From under a rock, Phil heard a whimper, “Help me! I’m stuck!” Phil picked up the rock from which the noise came. Underneath the rock was a small brown and white mouse. “Hello,” the mouse said, “my name is Peeps the Mouse. That rock fell on me during the cave-in. Thank you for rescuing me.”

“Well, sure,” said Phil, “but I don’t know if I have rescued you since we are both trapped in the mine with no way out.” “No, we aren’t,” Peeps the mouse explained. “I know a hidden passage out of the mine. We can both escape.” Together they headed through the mine with Peeps in the lead and Phil wearily following close behind, pulling his cart of gold and silver.

After traveling deep into the mine, the two explores came to a tall ledge, which blocked their way. Though both could climb over the wall, Phil could not lift his treasure cart high enough to move it over the ledge. Phil did not want to leave behind his treasure and so he began to think of a way to move his cart over the wall. Looking around, Phil saw some wide planks lying on the ground. “I know,” Phil said, “we can build a ramp to help us move the cart over the ledge.” Phil placed one end of the plank on the ledge and the other end on the ground. This made a ramp. But when he tried to push the cart up the ramp, it was still too hard for him to push.

Phil remembered that it is easier to move something up a longer ramp. Looking around, Phil found a longer board to make a bigger ramp As Phil was pulling the cart up the ledge, Peeps remembered an old mouse saying: “If you take a small bit at a time, even a mouse can move a mountain.” Even though Phil now had a longer distance to pull the cart, he was able to easily pull it up onto the ledge. The larger ramp had made it easier to pull the heavy cart and finally, Phil succeeded and reached the top.

Peeps and Phil had been traveling a very long time when they came to a tall mine shaft. “Oh no,” Peeps said, “How are we going to get our gold up the mine shaft? It is so high and the gold is so heavy.” Phil sat down to think of a way they might lift the gold up the tall mine shaft. “Peeps,” Phil asked, “can you climb with my rope in your teeth up the mine shaft?” “Well, yes, but why?” Peeps ask. “I want to make a pulley to lift the gold out of the mine shaft.” Peeps climbed up the shaft with the rope in this mouth.

He lowered the rope down over a strong old log. With one end of the rope tied to the cart, Phil pulled with all this strength, but the cart was so heavy with all the gold and silver that he just could not lift it.

Then Phil remembered that the more loops a rope makes through a pulley, the more a person can lift. Together, Peeps and Phil made several more loops of the rope over the log and through the cart. This time when Phil pulled on the rope, the cart easily lifted into the air. Although now, there was more rope to pull, each tug was much easier than before. Peeps, again, remembered the old mouse saying. “If you take a small bit at a time, even a mouse can move a mountain.” In a short while, the cart was up the mine shaft, and the explorers were continuing on their way.

Together, Peeps and Phil continued towards the secret exit to the mine. Up ahead, Peeps saw a glimmer of light. Sunlight! Peeps and Phil made their way down the long tunnel toward the light. As they moved closer, the daylight coming from outside the cave became brighter and brighter.

Phil could smell the warm, dry air, and as he was inhaling another breath, he heard the terrible noise of another cave-in. After the dust settled, both Phil and Peeps saw a large stone boulder blocking the way out of the cave. Discouraged, Phil and Peeps sat down to think. They had used a ramp to get over the high wall, and they had used a pulley to pull themselves up the tall hole, but how could they move such a large stone?

Phil began to think to himself, “If I had dynamite, I could blow up the rock, and if I had a hammer, I could break the rock into little pieces. All I have is my gold.” Looking around Phil also saw come old boards and a few small rocks. All of a sudden, Phil jumped up. “I know how we can move the heavy rock, we can use a lever.” Peeps looked confused, “What is a lever?” he asked? “A lever works like a seesaw: as one end is pushed down, the other end rises”

Together, Phil and Peeps began to build a lever. Using the small rocks, they made the base of the lever. Phil then placed the strongest board he could find on top of the rocks. When he did this, the board teetered back and forth. Next, Phil put one end of the board under the large stone that was blocking the cave’s exit.

“By pushing the long end of the lever down, we will force the short end up. Now, if we are heavy enough,” Phil said, “we will be able to move the rock.” Both Peeps and Phil climbed up on the end of the lever. Nothing happened. “Oh no, we are not heavy enough to move the rock that is blocking the entrance. We need something heavier. What do I have that is heavy?”

“We have the gold!” Peeps answered. “But if we use the gold to lift the rock, wont the gold and silver be trapped in the mine?” “Yes, it will,” answered Phil, “but now that I can use simple machines, I can come back to get my gold any time I want.” With that, Phil and Peeps loaded the gold and silver onto the high end of the lever. As they loaded the last piece of gold onto the lever, the pile of gold began to sink to the floor as the stone was lifted into the air by the lever.

As they headed down the mountain, Peeps thought about how simple machines make work easier by only doing a little work at a time. “If you take a small bit at a time, even a mouse can move a mountain.”