“Here’s the crowd, Sandy,” he remarked; “just my chum, Bob Archer, and myself. His father is interested in the Cherry Blossom along with my dad. And we’ve come to see what the trouble is, and try to fix things up.”
The other frowned, and then grinned, as he observed quaintly:
“I’ve heard how in one of the battles of your great war the Union forces were retreating in a panic, and received reinforcements in the shape of one man, and him General Phil Sheridan. But he coaxed his men to face the other way, and they won the victory. Perhaps this may be another Cedar Creek, Frank. But it looks like a tough proposition, boy; a tough puzzle for a lad to work out.”
“Then there’s a strike on, Sandy?” questioned Frank.
“Yes, it came at last, after long threatening,” replied the other. “I was just on the point of leaving the mine, to go back to the sea, when the storm began to show signs of breaking; so I changed my mind, and determined to see it through.”
“Are all the men against us, Sandy?” asked Frank, anxiously.
“Well, not all,” replied the other, with a humorous grin. “There’s the foreman, Mr. Riley, the two water boys, one other man, and myself standing by ye, Frank.”
The lad whistled, and looked at his chum.
“That looks pretty serious, eh, Bob?” he remarked. “And I reckon it’ll be worse before it’s much better. But there’s always a way out of these things. The men have a grievance, and Riley is inclined to be a pig-headed man. Up to a certain point it’s a good quality in a boss; but once in a while an overseer ought to know how to bend a little.”
“Mr. Riley has done wonders here, Frank,” remarked the Scotch engineer; “but as ye say he’s lacking in diplomacy. I tried to advise him how this storm might have been headed off, but he snapped his fingers in my face. Then I thought your father ought to get on the ground to see for himself how matters were drifting.”