"Do you remember two years ago, the day you chose my pit pony in Christie's barn?" Dad asked. Savino nodded. He'd liked the slender pony with the big shock of golden hair immediately. "That one, Dad." The pony whinnied, nodding his head, as if to say Good choice. At first Dad was doubtful. "He's smaller than the others. And blind in one eye.

A good pit pony can save a miner's life." Like many children throughout Canada's history, Savino had to quit school when he was twelve to work and help his family. In Out of the Deeps , Savino spends his first day at the mine working alongside his father and Nelson, his father's pit pony. When Savino's headlamp goes out deep in the coal mine, Nelson leads Savino out of the danger. In 1944 the miners received their first paid holiday and insisted that their pit ponies receive a week's holiday too. In Out of the Deeps , Anne Laurel Carter captures a boy's first day at work in the mines and a special pit pony's first glimpse of daylight.