“He says he feels sure I can expect that much. If I get it, it will be a big lift to us.
“So far we have heard nothing further from Jabez Garrison. More than likely he has fled from the country.
“We have just received a letter from your brother Mark. He mailed it at Santiago, Cuba. His ship was then about to sail for Charleston, so it won’t be long before he is again at a United States port. He does not know how soon he will reach Philadelphia and receive his discharge.”
“Mark is a sailor, sure,” thought Frank, after reading the communication. “But I hope when he gets home he will be content to settle down.”
Our hero was sorry to learn that nothing more had been heard of Jabez Garrison. Perhaps the man had disappeared for all time.
Frank had never visited a coal mine, and on a Sunday afternoon he took a walk to where there was an abandoned mine. He was accompanied by a boy named Darry Field, who lived at the hotel at which the young book agent was stopping.
Darry was a nice lad, and Frank had taken to him from the start.
“I know that old mine from end to end,” said Darry. “I can show you every nook and corner of it.”
“How can we get down the shaft?” questioned Frank. “There isn’t any car running, is there?”
“We won’t have to go down by way of the shaft. There was once a cave-in, along the mountain side, and we can get into the mine that way.”