"sweetheartin'." The shrewdest among them had observed
Derrick's interest in her. They concluded, of course, that Joan's
handsome face had won her a sweetheart. They could not accuse her
of encouraging him; but they could profess to believe that she was
softening, and they could use the insinuation as a sharp weapon against
her, when such a course was not too hazardous.

Of this, Derrick knew nothing. He could only see that Joan set her face
persistently against his attempts to make friends with her, and the
recognition of this fact almost exasperated him at times. It was quite
natural that, seeing so much of this handsome creature, and hearing
so much of her, his admiration should not die out, and that opposition
should rather invite him to stronger efforts to reach her.

So it was that hearing Miss Barholm's story he fell into unconscious
reverie. Of course this did not last long. He was roused from it by the
fact that Anice was looking at him. When he looked up, it seemed as if
she awakened also, though she did not start.

"How are you getting on at the mines?" she asked.

"Badly. Or, at least, by no means well. The men are growing harder to
deal with every day." "And your plans about the fans?" The substitution
of the mechanical fan for the old furnace at the base of the shaft, was
one of the projects to which Derrick clung most tenaciously. During a
two years' sojourn among the Belgian mines, he had studied the system
earnestly. He had worked hard to introduce it at Riggan, and meant to
work still harder. But the miners were bitterly opposed to anything
"newfangled," and the owners were careless. So that the mines were
worked, and their profits made, it did not matter for the rest. They
were used to casualties, so well used to them in fact, that unless a
fearful loss of life occurred, they were not alarmed or even roused. As
to the injuries done to a man's health, and so on--they had not time to
inquire into such things. There was danger in all trades, for the matter
of that. Fergus Derrick was a young man, and young men were fond of
novelties.

Opposition was bad enough, but indifference was far more baffling. The
colliers opposed Derrick to the utmost, the Company was rather inclined
to ignore him--some members good-naturedly, others with an air of
superiority, not unmixed with contempt. The colliers talked with rough
ill-nature; the Company did not want to talk at all.

"Oh," answered Derrick, "I do not s