s his greeting.

"A trifle late," father returned, pleasantly, adding, "you can dock my
day's wages for it if you like."

"I know that without you telling me, but I shouldn't like," Rutledge
said, crossly. We all knew him slightly, and I had thought him a
pleasant young gentleman, but he was looking sullen to-day, almost
angry, it seemed to me. We stood there waiting, and the cage had
reached the surface and automatically dumped its load before Rutledge
spoke again.

"I thought you weren't coming, in spite of your promise," he then
said, looking toward father. "No one could have blamed you if you had
shown the white feather--"

"Say, yo' heah me!" broke in old Joe, suddenly and savagely, his voice
quivering with indignation. "Ole Cunnel Gordon's son ain' one o' de
kine w'at done breaks promises, ner yit w'at's a-showin' w'ite
fedders. Ef yo's lookin' fer dat kine of a man, git a lookin'-glass
an' study de face dat yo' sees in hit, den maybe yo' fine 'im!"

Rutledge smiled, although he still scowled disapproval.

"That's all right, Joe; there are no cowards around the Gray Eagle
shaft-house, but I couldn't blame any one for keeping out of the mine
to-day--not but what it's safe enough, as far as I can see--I've just
been down."

For an instant his words startled and thrilled me. Could it be that
there was so much danger in working in the mine then? I glanced at
father. He was just stepping into the cage, and his face was as serene
as if Rutledge's discourse had been of some possible disturbance in
the moon. The look of displeasure on Rutledge's face deepened as I
caught hold of one of the ropes and swung myself lightly into the
cage, following father and Joe. Delaying the signal for descent,
Rutledge said:

"While it may be safe enough down there, it isn't exactly like a
lady's parlor, Gordon--not to-day, anyway."

"Oh, Leslie is just going down on an errand," father explained. "But,
Leslie, perhaps you had better wait here and let me send the spade up
to you."

"And make you walk from your tunnel clear back to the hoisting cage
again!" I remonstrated. "Why, Mr. Rutledge, I've been down lots of
times, you know, and I'm not at all afraid."

The superintendent had looked relieved when he heard that my stay in
the mine was likely to be a short one. I wondered, inconsequently, as
the cage started on its downward passage, if he had thought that I was
going down on a tour of inspection. There would have been not