Again he approached the house, and again he walked hurriedly past it. As he turned and walked towards it for the third time somebody came rapidly from the opposite direction, and stopped at the very door he was afraid to enter. They reached it at the same moment, and the somebody recognizing him, said heartily, "Ah, Derrick, is that you? I'm glad I got back in time. I was unexpectedly detained by business, and feared you might get here before me. Walk in."
There was no help for it now. Wishing with all his heart that he were safely at home, or down in the mine, or anywhere but where he was, and trembling with nervousness, Derrick found himself a moment later inside the house, and—alone with Mr. Jones in the library.
"Sit down, Derrick," said the latter, as he stood in front of the fireplace. "I have sent for you to ask you to help me out of a sort of a scrape."
So he was not to be asked to meet strange ladies or girls after all, and his fears were groundless. What a goose he had been! Why should he be afraid of a girl anyhow? she wouldn't bite him. These and other similar thoughts flashed through Derrick's mind as he tried to listen to Mr. Jones, and to overcome a feeling of disappointment that in spite of his efforts presently filled his mind.
"It is this," continued the mine boss. "For some time past my only sister, Mrs. Halford, who lives in Philadelphia, has been threatening to bring her daughter Nellie on a trip through the Lehigh Valley into the coal region to see me, and be taken down into a mine. They arrived unexpectedly this afternoon, and have got to return home the day after to-morrow; so to-morrow is the only opportunity they will have for visiting the mine. Of course I had made arrangements to take them around, and show them everything there is to be seen; but now I find I can't do it. Two hours ago I received a telegram telling me that an important case, in which I am the principal witness, is to be tried in Mauch Chunk to-morrow, and I must be there without fail. Now I want you to take my place, act as guide to the ladies, and show them all the sights of interest about the colliery, both above-ground and in the mine. Will you do this for me?"
Derrick hesitated, blushed, stammered, turned first hot and then cold, until Mr. Jones, who was watching him with an air of surprise and amusement, laughed outright.
"What is the matter?" he asked at length. "Ain't I offering you a pleasanter job than that of driving a bumping-mule all day?"
"No, sir—I mean yes, sir; of course I will, sir," said Derrick, finally recovering his voice. "Only don't you think one of the older men—"
"Oh, nonsense! You're old enough, and know the colliery well enough. I don't want them taken through the old workings," added Mr. Jones, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"If you did, sir, I believe I could guide them as well as anybody!" exclaimed Derrick, with all his self-possession restored, together with a touch of his old self-conceit.