At Twenty-two

"At Twenty-two" is an short story by Rudyard Kipling: This story was first published in The Week's News of 18 February 1888. It was collected in "In Black and White", No. 3 in The Indian Railway Library, and in Soldiers Three in 1895.
Janki Meah is an old blind white-haired coal miner who has married, rather ill-advisedly, a beautiful young woman, Unda. She plans to steal his savings and run away with her young lover, Kundoo, who is also a miner in Janki Meah's gang. One day, after weeks of rain, the mine is flooded, and their gang is trapped. Janki Meah, blind though he is, knows the mine galleries intimately, and leads the trapped men - including Kundoo - to a place where they can cut through to safety. He claims a pension from the company. But Unda promptly elopes with Kundoo.