Tommy glanced at the yellow paper and saw it was a telegram. Instinctively he understood.
“What is it, sir?” he gasped. “An accident at the mine?”
“Yes, an accident at the mine.”
So the old life was going to ruin the new life, after all!
“And father is hurt?”
“Very badly hurt,” said the head-master, tenderly. “You must start home at once.”
“But he is not dead?” cried Tommy.
“No, not dead—yet.” And he led the boy away, too crushed to question farther.
CHAPTER XIII
BACK TO NEW RIVER VALLEY
The hour which followed remained always in Tommy’s memory as some tremendous nightmare. He remembered going to the gymnasium, removing his football suit mechanically, taking a bath and rub-down, and getting into his other clothes. Then he made his way to his room, and Sexton, Reeves, and Blake came up and tried to tell him—each in his own way—how sorry they were, and to give him such crumbs of comfort as they could.