This mining was no life. At least the married men had families to
offer comfort and support and a wife to cuddle with at night. How did
the single men keep going?
He didn’t mind working from
before dawn until after dark on the ranch, but he hated being
underground. ‘Twas not a fit place for a human, only for worms and
moles and gophers. Plus the repetitive hacking at the coal wrecked his
back and shoulders.
Solve this puzzle soon or go mad.
Think of Lippincott’s fine ranch, boyo. ‘Tis going to be yours if you
can ferret out the troublemakers.
He figured there were
multiple problems at work. He no longer suspected Karpinski either. The
man was full of dark looks but he worked hard as he played. That left
Swensen and Hartford. Neither man was on his crew. Mayhap he could
strike up a conversation with Hartford at dinner or breakfast.
Swensen
was married and lived in one of the houses near Clayton. What excuse
could he find to talk to Swensen? Didn’t he have a son working in the
mine? Yeah, a kid about the same age as Lance Clayton.
Hmm,
that fact set him to thinking, but he’d have to work on that another
time. His mind had given all he could for this day. He laid the apple
core beside his boots and fell asleep.
When he woke the next
morning, the apple core was gone. Worse, his knife was visible inside
his boot. Last night, he’d carefully covered his boots to conceal his
weapons as he did each time he undressed.
He checked
around him, but others appeared engrossed in dressing and making their
way to the dining hall. Quickly, he pulled on his clothes and then his
boots. He knelt and looked under his bed. Sure enough, the apple core
was there next to his concertina and duffle bag.
James called to him, “Hey, come on if you want to make up for missing supper last night.”
“Coming.” Shoving his shirttail into his britches, he grabbed the core and tossed it in the rubbish bin as he followed James.
He
longed for a hot bath and his own bed at the ranch. The only reason he
slept soundly in this bunk with a thin, lumpy mattress was his complete
exhaustion. One thing was for sure, he was building muscles in his arms
that would help him later on the ranch. He hoped that’d be on his ranch.
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