At this time Harry was summoned to New York, to attend
the trial of Laura Hawkins. It was possible
that Philip would have to go also, her lawyer wrote,
but they hoped for a postponement. There was
important evidence that they could not yet obtain,
and he hoped the judge would not force them to a trial
unprepared. There were many reasons for a delay,
reasons which of course are never mentioned, but which
it would seem that a New York judge sometimes must
understand, when he grants a postponement upon a motion
that seems to the public altogether inadequate.
Harry went, but he soon came back. The trial
was put off. Every week we can gain, said the
learned counsel, Braham, improves our chances.
The popular rage never lasts long.
This was the announcement at the tent door that woke
Philip out of a sound sleep at dead of night, and
shook all the sleepiness out of him in a trice.
“What! Where is it? When?
Coal? Let me see it. What quality is it?”
were some of the rapid questions that Philip poured
out as he hurriedly dressed. “Harry, wake
up, my boy, the coal train is coming. Struck
it, eh? Let’s see?”
The foreman put down his lantern, and handed Philip
a black lump. There was no mistake about it,
it was the hard, shining anthracite, and its freshly
fractured surface, glistened in the light like polished
steel. Diamond never shone with such lustre in
the eyes of Philip.
Harry was exuberant, but Philip’s natural caution
found expression in his next remark.
“Now, Roberts, you are sure about this?”
“What—sure that it’s coal?”
“O, no, sure that it’s the main vein.”
“Well, yes. We took it to be that”
“Did you from the first?”
“I can’t say we did at first. No,
we didn’t. Most of the indications were
there, but not all of them, not all of them.
So we thought we’d prospect a bit.”
“It was tolerable thick, and looked as if it
might be the vein—looked as if it ought
to be the vein. Then we went down on it a little.
Looked better all the time.”
“When did you strike it?”
“Then you’ve been prospecting about four
hours.”
“Yes, been sinking on it something over four
hours.”
“I’m afraid you couldn’t go down
very far in four hours—could you?”
“O yes—it’s a good deal broke
up, nothing but picking and gadding stuff.”
“Well, it does look encouraging, sure enough—but
then the lacking indications—”
“I’d rather we had them, Mr. Sterling,
but I’ve seen more than one good permanent mine
struck without ’em in my time.”
“Well, that is encouraging too.”
“Yes, there was the Union, the Alabama and the
Black Mohawk—all good, sound mines, you
know—all just exactly like this one when
we first struck them.”
