Scanned by Sean Pobuda (jpobuda@adelphia.net)
Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns,
Or The Light in Tunnel Six
By Major Archibald Lee Fletcher
"And so I says to myself, says I, give me a good husky band of Boy
Scouts! They'll do the job if it can be done!"
Case Canfield, caretaker, sat back in a patched chair in the dusky,unoccupied office of the Labyrinth mine and addressed himself to fourlads of seventeen who were clad in the khaki uniform of the Boy Scoutsof America.
Those of our readers who have read the previous books of this serieswill have good cause to remember George Benton, Charley ("Sandy")Green, Tommy Gregory and Will Smith. The adventures of these ladsamong the Pictured Rocks of Old Superior, among the wreckers andreptiles of the Florida Everglades, in the caverns of the GreatContinental Divide, and among the snows of the Hudson Bay wildernesshave been recorded under appropriate titles in previous works.
The four boys were members of the Beaver Patrol, Chicago. Will Smithwas Scoutmaster, while George Benton was Patrol Leader. They woreupon the sleeves of their coats medals showing that they had passedthe examination as Ambulance Aids, Stalkers, Pioneers and Seamen.
Instructed by Mr. Horton, a well-known criminal lawyer of Chicago, theboys had reached the almost deserted mine at dusk of a November day.There they had found Canfield, the caretaker, waiting for them in adimly-lighted office. The mine had not been operated for a number ofmonths, not because the veins had given out, but because of somemisunderstanding between the owners of mines in that section.
The large, bare room in which the caretaker and the Boy Scouts met wasin the breaker. There was no fire in the great heater, and the tablesand chairs were black with dust. A single electric light shone downfrom the ceiling, creating long, ghost-like shadows as it swayed aboutin a gentle wind blowing through a broken window.
"Well," Tommy Gregory said, as the caretaker paused, "you've got the
Boy Scouts, and it remains for you to set us to work."
"And a sturdy looking lot, too!" grinned the caretaker.
"Oh, Mr. Horton wouldn't be apt to send a lot of cripples!" laughed
Sandy Green. "He's next to his job, that man is!"
"I presume he told you all about the case?" suggested Canfield.
"Indeed he did not," replied Will Smith.
"Not a thing about it?" asked the caretaker.
"He only said that you would give us full instructions."
"That's strange!" Canfield observed thoughtfully.
"Perhaps he thought we wouldn't want to undertake the job if we knewexactly what it was!" suggested Sandy.
"It is a queer kind of a job," Canfield admitted, "but I don't thinkyou boys would be apt to back out because of a little danger."
"I wanted to back out several times," laughed Tommy, "but, somehow,these others boys wouldn't permit me to."
"Go on and tell us about it," urged Sandy. "Tell us just what youwant us to do, and then we'll tell you whether we think we can do itor not."
"You've got to find two boys!" replied Canfield.
"Mother of Moses!" exclaimed Tommy. "I hope we haven't got to go anddig up blond-haired little Algernon, or discover pretty littleClarence, and turn a bunch of money over to him!"
...