CHAPTER XLIII
_The Camp Venture Mining Company_
The next morning the Doctor "drew" his coke oven, which was quite coolby that time. He minutely examined the coke and called Tom to look atit. "You see," he said, "how perfectly it is fused. You see how free itis from any sort of admixture of sand or anything else. I tell you, Tom,we've got a great mine here, and it is going to make all of uscomfortable for the rest of our lives. Your good mother is especially tobe congratulated. This find will make her not only independent, butreally rich. Now I want you to understand me, Tom. If your motherprefers to have anybody else manage this affair for her, I willinstantly withdraw. At present I have no interest whatever here, and Ican have none except by her consent. This mine is absolutely hers, to dowith as she pleases. I want to serve her in the matter, by finding amongmy friends the capitalists who can make the thing 'go.' If she prefersto put the matter into other hands, I hope, Tom, you'll urge her to doso."
Tom arose, took the Doctor's hand, pressed it warmly, and said simply:
"I'm not quite an idiot, Doctor. Go on with your plans."
Somehow, although Jack was Tom's elder brother, the Doctor and indeedthe whole company had learned to think of Tom as essentially the head ofhis family. Curiously enough his mother and the other boys themselveshad learned to regard Tom in precisely the same way.
"But Doctor," said Tom, eager to divert the conversation, "why were youin such a hurry to put out the fire here that night when we firstdiscovered the coal? Would it have burned any considerable way into thevein?"
"I can best answer you, Tom, by telling you that about fifteen or twentymiles back of Mauch Chunk, in Pennsylvania, there is a bed of coal thathas been burning for about half a century. Everything that humaningenuity could do to put it out has been done, but all to no avail. Thewhole mountain is slowly burning away, and when one walks about on thecrust he is liable at any moment to have a foot sink into the firebelow. So you see why I didn't want our mine to begin its career bygetting afire."
The next thing on the day's program was work upon the second truss forsupporting the mine roof, and this was got into place before midday, sothat the afternoon was given to vigorous digging into the coal bank.About five o'clock the Doctor called out:
"You needn't dig any further, boys, we've got it safe enough!" Then hebegan singing "Old King Coal," as he hugged some specimens of the coalhe had dug out of the extreme end of their little shaft to his bosom.
"Got what?" asked Tom, who watched the Doctor's antics with eagerinterest.
"Why, we've got what we've been looking for, coal equal to the very bestthat was ever mined in Virginia or West Virginia. I was sure I could notbe mistaken. Now I know." And with that the Doctor danced and sangagain.
"Now," he said, "you boys come here. I want to talk with you. I'm goingdown to the station to-morrow to see my father. I propose, if youapprove the plan, to have him come up here to inspect our find. Then I'mgoing to get him and my brothers and their financial associates to makea plan for capitalizing and working the mine. When their plan is made,you, Tom, and I will go to your mother and see what she thinks of it.You see the mine belongs to her absolutely, and any interest that anyof the rest of us get in it we must buy from her. But, by way ofpreparing for such a purchase, I'm going down to the contractor's campto-morrow, to get my father to come up here with a mining expert and anengineer, to look at the property and make up their minds about it."
The suggestion was welcomed by the three boys concerned, and so theDoctor made his preparations for an early departure in the morning.
The distance was not over two or three miles, and, as the Doctor had nowagon road to look out for, it took him less than an hour and a half toreach his father's headquarters. Early in the afternoon a cavalcadereached the camp. It consisted of the Doctor, his father, one of hisbrothers, a mining expert and two engineers.
They went at once to work to inspect the mine and its roof and everything else connected with it or in any way affecting its practicalworking. Finally they made their reports quietly to the elder Latrobe,and that gentleman bade them mount their mules and return to thecontractor's camp.
Then he asked the Doctor to bring the Ridsdale boys into conference withhim. Seated on a log, he explained the situation thus:
"Your mother has a very valuable coal mine here, in a most favorablelocality. It will need capital, of course, for its development, and thatI am prepared to furnish, as the representative of myself, my sons, andmy other financial associates. My proposal is this: that we capitalizethe mine at $400,000; that is to say, that we organize a company withthat amount of stock; that your mother shall put in the mine as$200,000, and receive stock to that amount; that I and my associates--Iwill take care of that--shall put in $200,000 in cash and take theremaining stock in payment for our contribution."
"I don't see," said Tom, "but that your proposal is a just and generousone. As I understand it, my mother is to put the mine into the company,as $200,000 capital, and you gentlemen are to put in $200,000 in moneyto be used as working capital, in operating the mine; my mother is toown one half the shares and you gentlemen the other half."
"That is quite correct," said the elder Latrobe.
"Then I am perfectly satisfied," answered Tom. "What do you say, Jack?What's your view, Harry?"
The two other boys had no objection to offer. Indeed the easy rolling oflarge figures as sweet morsels under the tongues of the financierscompletely appalled them, and so the whole matter was left to Tom tosettle.
That evening he went down the mountain with the elder Latrobe, leavingthe Doctor and the boys to guard the mine. The next day Mr. Latrobe andTom set off on mules for the town, fifteen miles distant, where Tom'smother lived. They arrived about noon, and Tom was eager to broach thebusiness at once. But Mr. Latrobe objected.
"I don't want to talk to you about this business, Madam, without thepresence of some legal adviser or man of business, whose advice willprevent you from making mistakes."
"Oh," answered the widow, "my Tom is here and he has a clear head."
"All the same I wish you would send for a lawyer," answered thegentleman.
"But I cannot afford it," said the lady.
"You can, Madam. Your coal property is rich enough to afford manylawyers. And besides, Tom here has money enough to his credit on ourbooks to pay a lawyer's fee ten times over. You have no idea what awinter's work your boys have put in on the mountain. Sincerely, I do notwish to lay my proposals before you without the presence of somedisinterested, professional person, who can wisely advise you as totheir acceptance or rejection. I have asked Tom to come with me in orderthat he may tell you how rich a property you have in this coal deposit,and warn your professional adviser against concluding any arrangementwith me and my associates which does not give you an adequate recompensefor the property that we ask you to put into this venture."
So the lady sent for a wise old lawyer, who, after hearing Tom'sstatement, earnestly advised the widow to accept the terms offered. ThenMr. Latrobe said:
"Madam, I am going to employ this gentleman, as a trusted friend ofyours, to draw up our articles of incorporation and complete the legalformalities necessary to our mining company's existence. Meantime Tomand I will go back to the mine and set men at work in its development."
"What name will you give to your company?" asked the old lawyer.
"Why, the 'Camp Venture Mining Company,'" quickly responded Tom, "andwe'll call the mine itself the 'Camp Venture Mine.' It all came out ofCamp Venture."
CHAPTER XLIV
_Little Tom at the End of it All_
All arrangements having been agreed upon between Mrs. Ridsdale and Mr.Latrobe, it was not necessary to wait for the formal organization of thecompany before beginning the work of developing Camp Venture mine. SoTom and Mr. Latrobe, as soon as the preliminary papers were drawn up andsigned, mounted their mules and returned to the mine. Tom reached thecamp that night and told the boys all about the arrang
ements that hadbeen made. The next morning Mr. Latrobe came up the mountain,accompanied by a mining engineer, a company of workmen and a wagon loadof tools, the latter guided by the same deaf and silent driver who hadbrought up Tom's load of supplies.
The men were set to work at once under direction of the engineer. Theycleared away the forest in front of the mine and, in the course of a fewdays built a chute so nicely calculated as to its incline that it wouldcarry coal gently but surely to the railroad below.
Meantime another company of workmen were busy constructing longsidetracks at the foot of the hill and connecting them with the mainline of the railroad, while still another gang was employed in making agood wagon road down the hill.
The boys, seeing their work done, began to prepare for theirhome-going--all but Tom and the Doctor. Those two sat on a log justwithin the light of the camp fire one night and talked.
"I am going to stay here," said the Doctor. "This climate agrees with meas no other ever did, and besides, I shall be needed here. We shall havehalf a thousand miners at work here within three months, and theirfamilies will occupy quite a little town, built upon this ledge. Aphysician and surgeon will be needed, and I have secured theappointment. The company will pay me a salary for treating all injuriesthat the miners may receive, and as for the rest, of course the minersthemselves will pay for my services in their families. Anyhow I'm goingto build myself a comfortable little house up here and live here, whereI can be strong and well and happy."
"I'm going to stay too," said Tom. "I'm going in as a miner if I can'tget anything better to do."
"But you can get something much better," said the Doctor, "and I wasjust about to speak of that. I have already talked to the chief engineerabout it. He introduced the subject himself. He is a person of veryquick perceptions, as every engineer must be if he hopes for success,and he has discovered certain qualities in you which commend you to himvery strongly. He has found out that, as you once put it, you 'lookstraight at things and use common sense.' Apart from a little technicalmathematics, that is absolutely all there is of engineering, and he hastaken a fancy to have you for an executive assistant. You see, instarting a mine so great as this, he will be obliged to plan many thingswhich he will have no time to supervise in the execution. He wants youas an 'engineer's overseer,' he calls it. That is to say, when he plansa truss or a support, or anything else that is necessary and explains itto you, he wants to leave the matter in your hands, leaving you todirect the workmen and to see to it that his plans are intelligentlycarried out. After his talk with me concerning you, he was certain thatyou are precisely the kind of assistant he wants, and the appointment isopen to you at a very fair salary."
"How can I ever thank you enough, Doctor?" said Tom, with tears in hisvoice. As for his eyes they could not be seen in the darkness.
"By not thanking me at all. Don't you understand, Tom, that my father,my brothers and myself have invested heavily in this mining venture? Ihave put into it every spare dollar I had in the world, and naturally Iwant it to 'go.' I believe that your practical common sense can mightilyhelp in accomplishing that, and for that reason I have encouraged thechief engineer in his purpose to make you his overseer."
"Thank you, Doctor," said Tom. "But if you know me at all you know I'mhonest. I made up my mind to stay here on any terms that I could make,because I want to study this thing that you call mine engineering. Iwanted to see how it is done, so that some day I could do it myself. Idon't intend to remain an engineer's overseer all my life. I intend tobe the best engineer I can make out of the raw material in me. So myplan is to stay here, keep my eyes and my mind open, and learn all I canof practical engineering work, till the mine begins to pay. Then Iintend to go away to some scientific school and take a regular course inengineering."
"That's admirable!" said the Doctor, with enthusiasm. "Now, I'll venturesome suggestions. How much mathematics do you know?"
"Algebra, elementary and higher, and a little geometry."
"Good!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Now, I propose this plan: You shall livewith me in the little house that I'm going to build, and serve as thechief engineer's executive at a fair salary from the company. I'll teachyou all I know of general chemistry and geology of evenings, and I'llinterest the chief engineer to teach you trigonometry, the calculus andsurveying. In the meantime you'll be learning the practical part ofengineering in your daily work, and when you go off to that scientificschool its faculty will have little to do except to take your fees,record your name, and grant you your diploma."
* * * * *
Six years later Camp Venture mine was, in the phrase of the investors,"one of the richest paying enterprises" in that part of the country. Dr.Latrobe had become president of the company after the death of hisfather, and the enterprise owed much of its success, as every bodyagreed, to the skill, the energy, and the wonderful common sense of itschief engineer, Thomas Ridsdale, Esq., graduate of a noted school ofmines.
Tom was only twenty-four years old then, but he had always beenaccounted "old for his age," and as he stood upon the bluff,contemplated the long line of cars loaded with the product of CampVenture mine and planned new side tracks in order that cars enough mightstand there to receive the other waiting cargoes of the concentratedsunshine of thousands of years ago, "Little Tom," grown now to six feettwo inches in his stockings, was satisfied with his life and his work.
* * * * *
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