The mine prop
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
At the end of the narrow gallery, Mr Bell stopped beneath a timber support. The other men had passed it without a glance, but he struck it twice with the head of his lamp and listened. He studied the beam as suspiciously as a magistrate questioning an uncertain witness. Then he ordered the carts back and sent Amos for another prop. A thin stream of dust slipped from the roof.
Identify the comparison used to describe Mr Bell’s examination of the beam and explain how it prepares the reader for his decision to stop the carts.