"Mine is Bradley-Jake Bradley. I was raised in Kentucky, and I've got an old mother living there now, I hope. I haven't heard anything from her for nigh a year. It makes me homesick when I think of it. Got a mother, Ben?"
"Neither father nor mother," answered Ben sadly.
"That's bad," said the miner, with rough sympathy. "You're a young chap to be left alone in the world."
"Yes; I do feel very lonely sometimes, Mr. Bradley."
"Don't call me Mr. Bradley. I ain't used to it. Call me Jake."
"All right, I'll remember it. Where can I meet you again, Jake?"
"Here will do as well as anywhere."
"Will you be here to-morrow morning at nine o'clock?"
"Yes," answered Bradley. "I'll ask the porter to call me early," he added, with rough humor.
Ben remembered that his new acquaintance had no money to pay for a night's lodging, and would be forced to sleep out.