Billy Keating went out again, saying that he knew a man who might be willing to talk to him on the quiet, and give him some idea what was going to happen to Hal. Meantime Hal and Edstrom sat down to dinner with MacKellar. The family were afraid to use the dining-room of their home, but spread a little table in the upstairs hall. The distress of mind of MacKellar's wife and daughter was apparent, and this brought home to Hal the terror of life in this coal-country. Here were American women, in an American home, a home with evidences of refinement and culture; yet they felt and acted as if they were Russian conspirators, in terror of Siberia and the knout! The reporter was gone a couple of hours; when he came back, he brought news. “You can prepare for trouble, young fellow.”
“Why so?”
“Jeff Cotton's in town.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw him in an automobile. If he left North Valley at this time, it was for something serious, you may be sure.”
“What does he mean to do?”
“There's no telling. He may have you slugged; he may have you run out of town and dumped out in the desert; he may just have you arrested.”
Hal considered for a moment. “For slander?”
“Or for vagrancy; or on suspicion of having robbed a bank in Texas, or murdered your great-grandmother in Tasmania. The point is, he'll keep you locked up till this trouble has blown over.”
“Well,” said Hal, “I don't want to be locked up. I want to go up to Western City. I'm waiting for the train.”
“You may have to wait till morning,” replied Keating. “There's been trouble on the railroad—a freight-car broke down and ripped up the track; it'll be some time before it's clear.”
They discussed this new problem back and forth. MacKellar wanted to get in half a dozen friends and keep guard over Hal during the night; and Hal had about agreed to this idea, when the discussion was given a new turn by a chance remark of Keating's. “Somebody else is tied up by the railroad accident. The Coal King's son!”
“The Coal King's son?” echoed Hal.
“Young Percy Harrigan. He's got a private car here—or rather a whole train. Think of it—dining-car, drawing-room car, two whole cars with sleeping apartments! Wouldn't you like to be a son of the Coal King?”
“Has he come on account of the mine-disaster?”
“Mine-disaster?” echoed Keating. “I doubt if he's heard of it. They've been on a trip to the Grand Canyon, I was told; there's a baggage-car with four automobiles.”
“Is Old Peter with them?”
“No, he's in New York. Percy's the host. He's got one of his automobiles out, and was up in town—two other fellows and some girls.”
“Who's in his party?”
“I couldn't find out. You can see, it might be a story for the Gazette—the Coal............