Part 1 (1/2)
The Copper Princess.
by Kirk Munroe.
CHAPTER I
STARTLING INTRODUCTION OF TOM TREFETHEN
”Look out, there!”
”My G.o.d, he is under the wheels!”
The narrow-gauge train for Red Jacket had just started from the Hanc.o.c.k station, and was gathering quick headway for its first steep grade, when a youth ran from the waiting-room and attempted to leap aboard the ”smoker.” Missing the step, he fell between two cars, though still clutching a hand-rail of the one he had attempted to board.
With cries of horror, several of those who witnessed the incident from the station platform averted their faces, unwilling to view the ghastly tragedy that they believed must occur in another instant.
At sound of their cries, a neatly dressed young fellow, broad-shouldered and of splendid physique, who was in the act of mounting the car-steps, turned, and instantly comprehended the situation. Without a moment of hesitation he dropped the bag he was carrying and flung his body over the guard-rail, catching at its supporting stanchions with his knees. In this position, with his arms stretched to their utmost, he managed to grasp the coat-collar of the unfortunate youth who was being dragged to his death. In another moment he had, by a supreme effort, lifted the latter bodily to the platform.
Those who witnessed this superb exhibition of promptly applied strength from the station platform gave a cheer as the train swept by, but their voices were drowned in its clatter, and the two actors in their thrilling drama were unaware that it had been noticed. The rescued youth sat limp and motionless on the swaying platform where he had been placed, dazed by the suddenness and intensity of his recent terror; while the other leaned against the guard-rail, recovering from his tremendous effort. After a few minutes of quick breathing he pulled himself together and helped his companion into the car, where they found a vacant seat.
A few of the pa.s.sengers noted the entrance of two young men, one of whom seemed to be in need of the other's a.s.sistance, and glanced at them with meaning smiles. There had been races at Hanc.o.c.k that day, and they evidently believed that these two had attended them. No one spoke to them, however, and it quickly became apparent that the supremest moment in the life of one of the two, which would also have been his last on earth but for the other, had pa.s.sed unnoticed by any of the scores of human beings in closest proximity to them at the time.
It was hard to realize this, and for a few minutes the young men sat in silence, dreading but expecting to be overwhelmed with a clamor of questions. It was a relief to find that they were to be unmolested, and when the conductor had pa.s.sed on after punching their tickets, the one who had rescued the other turned to him with a smile, saying:
”No one knows anything about it, for which let us be grateful.”
”You can bet I'm grateful, Mister, in more ways than one,” answered the other, his eyes filling with the tears of a deep emotion as he spoke. ”I won't forget in a hurry that you've saved my life, and from this time on, if ever you can make any use of so poor a chap as me, I'm your man. My name's Tom Trefethen, and I live in Red Jacket, where I run a compressor for No. 3 shaft of the White Pine Mine. That's all there is to me, for I 'ain't never done anything else, don't know anything else, and expect I'm no good _for_ anything else. So, you see, I hain't got much to offer in exchange for what you've just give me; same time, I'm your friend all right, from this minute, and I wouldn't do a thing for you only just what you say; but that goes, every time.”
”That's all right, Tom, and don't you worry about trying to make any return for the service I have been able to render you. I won't call it a slight service, because to do so would be to undervalue the life I was permitted to save. Besides, you have already repaid me by giving me a friend, which was the thing of which I stood in greatest need, and had almost despaired of gaining.”
”Why, Mister--”
”Peveril,” interrupted the other. ”Richard Peveril is my name, though the friends I used to have generally called me 'd.i.c.k Peril.”'
”Used to have, Mr. Peril? Do you mean by that that you hain't got any friends now?”
”I mean that five minutes ago it did not seem as though I had a friend in the world; but now I have one, who, I hope, will prove a very valuable one as well, and his name is Tom Trefethen.”
”It's good of you to say so, Mr. Peril, though how a poor, ignorant chap like me can prove a valuable friend to a swell like you is more than I can make out.”
At this the other smiled. ”I don't know just what you mean by a swell,” he said. ”But I suppose you mean a gentleman of wealth and leisure. If so, I certainly am no more of a swell than you, nor so much, for I have just expended my last dollar for this railroad ticket, and have no idea where I shall get another. In fact, I do not know where I shall obtain a supper or find a sleeping-place for to-night, and think it extremely probable that I shall go without either. I hope very much, though, to find a job of work to-morrow that will provide me with both food and shelter for the immediate future.”
”Work! Are you looking for work?” asked Tom, gazing at Peveril's natty travelling-suit, and speaking with a tone of incredulity.
”That is what I have come to this country to look for,” was the smiling answer. ”I came here because I was told that this was the one section of the United States unaffected by hard times, and because I had a letter of introduction to a gentleman in Hanc.o.c.k whom I thought would a.s.sist me in getting a position. To my great disappointment, he had left town, to be gone for several months, and, as I could not afford to await his return, I applied for work at the Quincy and other mines, only to be refused.”
”Is it work in the mines you are looking for?” asked Tom Trefethen, evidently doubting if he had heard aright.
”Yes, that or any other by which I can make an honest living.”