Months pass, and Étienne grows more comfortable and competent in the mine. He grows accustomed to the darkness, the draughts, the airlessness, and the tunnels, which he now easily navigates. He becomes one of the best putters, and everyone likes and respects him—except by Chaval, with whom he shares a “mutual animosity” (139). Maheu and the other miners recognize that Étienne is well educated. Maheu often assigns him to the task of timbering, for Étienne’s timbering most often passes Négrel’s inspection. Catherine and Chaval are now a couple, and they show affection openly. Catherine and Étienne tease each other about it, ignoring the chemistry between them.

Spring arrives, and new life is all around. Étienne often sits in Rasseneur’s bar, the Advantage, nursing a single beer. He speaks with Souvarine, Rasseneur’s other lodger, a mechanic at Le Voreux. Souvarine comes from a noble Russian family; he left medical school to become a mechanic so he could “mix with the common people” (142). Like many young Russians, he participated in socialist protests. One evening, Étienne says he’s had communication from Pluchart, a mechanic he used to know who is now an official in the International Association of Workers and who thinks Étienne could be “useful […] for spreading propaganda among the miners” (144).