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Read Ebook: The Trail Boys of the Plains; Or The Hunt for the Big Buffalo by Allen Jay Winthrop Rogers Walter S Illustrator
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Ebook has 2208 lines and 64675 words, and 45 pages
"It's Dan Gubbins--and he's so scared he can't shut his mouth!" observed Dig.
This seemed true. Dan Gubbins ran with his mouth wide open and fear expressed unmistakably in his rugged features. He was one of the men working in the mine in which Mr. Havens and Mr. Fordham were interested.
"Hey, Dan! what's the matter?" shouted Dig, as the big miner came closer.
"She's caved!" croaked the man, his throat so dry he could scarcely speak.
"Who's caved?" demanded Dig.
"What's caved?" asked Chet, better understanding the vernacular.
"The Silent Sue! She slumped in like rotten ice in February!" gasped the big miner, leaning against the fence near the boys. "Oh, my Jimminy! It's awful!"
Chet turned pale. Dig reddened and gulped back a sob with difficulty.
"You--you don't mean the mine's all caved in?" stammered the latter.
"The shaft," replied Dan.
Chet, the practical, demanded:
"How many are caught in the cave-in?"
"There's five down there, besides--"
Dan halted and stared at the boy with sudden apprehension. Then, after a moment, he whispered:
"My golly, Chet! whatever am I to tell your mother? Yer dad's down there with 'em!"
"Father!" exclaimed Chet, seizing Dig's hand.
"Is my father in it too?" cried Dig, ready to burst into tears.
"Mr. Fordham warn't there noways," said Dan, getting his breath and able now to speak more intelligibly. "Whatever am I to tell your mother, Chet?" he repeated.
"You won't say anything to her, Dan," replied the boy, firmly. "I'll tell her myself. But give me the particulars. We want to know how it happened. Isn't there any hope? Can't we get at them down there?"
"Dunno," returned the miner. "Rafe Peters is in charge, and they are digging like prairie-dogs to get down into the gallery. Everybody down there is all right so fur. Ye see, it was like this: There was a blast goin' to be shot in Number Two tunnel. Ye know where that run to?"
Chet nodded. "Over toward the old Crayton Shaft--that's open now--on the other side of the mountain. Father was saying the other day that the Silent Sue's Number Two must be getting pretty near the old diggings."
"That's it," said Dan Gubbins, nodding, and wiping his moist forehead with the back of a hairy hand. "Well, they got ready that shot, which was a heavy one. The timbering of the lower part of the shaft didn't suit Mr. Havens and he told Tony to put in new cross-braces and some new planks."
"Tony Traddles?" demanded Chet.
"Yes. An' he oughter be jailed for what he done," added the miner, bitterly.
"How was that?" queried Digby, his eyes big with interest.
"Mr. Havens," pursued the miner, "went down to see that all was clear in the tunnel before the shot. He sings out to Tony and asks if the timbering was all right; and the lazy rascal said 'twas."
"And wasn't it?" snapped Chet, his eyes blazing.
"No. He'd come up to fill and light his pipe and hadn't blocked and wedged his cross-beams. There was five of the boys 'sides your father in the tunnel, and when the shot went off the shoring at the bottom of the shaft shook right out and she caved in! It was awful! I wonder you didn't hear the rumble of it. And what I'm goin' ter say ter your mother, Chet--"
"You're going to say nothing to her, Dan," repeated the boy. "I'll tell her. You go and get a doctor, or two, Dan--and all the other help you can. You saddle Hero and Poke, Dig. We must get up to the mine in a hurry. I won't be in the house long."
He turned quickly away and started for the back door of his home. The others did not see his face.
Those few yards between the corral and the back door of the Havens' pretty home in the Silver Run suburb were the hardest steps Chet had ever taken. For his age he was naturally a thoughtful boy, and he had been impressed by the manner in which his father ever shielded the delicate, gentle mother from all the rough things of life. If there was an accident in the mine, Mr. Havens seldom mentioned it before his wife, and never did he repeat the particulars.
Chet had seen and understood. He knew that his mother was not to be troubled by ordinary things if it could be helped. Of course, she must know of his father's danger; but the news must be broken to her carefully. He could not allow rough but kind-hearted Dan Gubbins to go in with his story of the accident at the Silent Sue claim.
As he entered the sewing-room where his mother was engaged at her work, she looked up with a little smile on her face.
"What's wanted, Chetwood?" she asked.
She was a small woman, with a very delicate pink flush in her cheeks and bands of prematurely grey hair above her forehead and over the tops of her ears. Chet often said, laughingly, that if he ever wanted to marry a girl, he'd wait to find one who wore her hair just like his mother wore hers.
"What's wanted, Chetwood?" she repeated, as the boy remained silent after quietly closing the door. Then she saw his troubled face and the work on which she was busied fell from her hands and, from her lap, slipped to the floor as she slowly rose.
"Chetwood! My son! your father--?"
Her cry was low, but it thrilled Chet to the heart. He sprang forward to seize her shaking hands. He knew that she was ever fearful when Mr. Havens was in the mine.
"It's not so bad as all that, Mother! Wait! don't believe the worst!" begged the boy, his voice choked with emotion.
"He--he isn't killed?"
"Not a bit of it! There's been a--a little accident. Father is down there with some of the other men."
"Down where?" she asked sharply.
"In Number Two drift. There was a cave-in. Of course they'll get them out. Old Rafe Peters is on the job already with a gang. I'm going right up there."
"Of course!" cried the boy, with strong conviction and even calling up a smile. "Dan Gubbins came down to bring the news and get some more men. Dig and I are going to ride right up."
"Where is Digby's father?" queried Mrs. Havens anxiously.
"He didn't happen to be there when the cave-in took place. But he's probably there now. We'll get at them all right. Don't you fear, Mother."
"Oh, but my son! I shall be fearful indeed until I know your father is safe. I am always afraid when he is in the mine. The men take such chances!"
"Well, the Silent Sue has not recorded many accidents. Father and Dig's father are both very careful. Now, Mother, don't worry any more than you can help. I'll send down word just as soon as we know anything for sure."
He kissed her--and kissed her cheerfully. That was the hardest part of his mission, for he, too, was greatly worried. Then he seized his cap and quirt and hurried out to the corral. Dig Fordham had, for once, been prompt. He held Chet's handsome bay, Hero, by the bridle, while his own sleepy-looking, Roman-nosed Poke was cropping grass at the edge of the road.
"Come on, Dig!" Chet cried, hastily jerking the reins from his chum's hand. "We must hurry."
"Did you tell her?" whispered his chum, awe-struck.
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