"Why should I do anything like that?"
"I dunno, 'cept that you wanted to get clear of the thumpin' that the regulators promised."
"I'm not such a fool as that," Fred replied carelessly, and then the outpouring of coal put an end to further conversation.
CHAPTER V
THE MOB
Fred could not prevent himself from glancing now and then in the direction of Skip Miller and his friends during the forenoon, and on each occasion he found one or more of the party gazing at him as if in wonderment. They failed to understand how he succeeded in leaving the shaft, and this surprise was less than that called forth by the fact of his remaining silent regarding their ill-treatment.
One, two, three hours passed much as usual, and then something happened which caused the oldest worker in the mines unbounded astonishment.
The machinery suddenly stopped, and from all the bosses came the orders that every laborer should return home without delay.
No explanations were given, and when the vast army were on the outside they stood in groups around the works discussing the cause of this very strange state of affairs.