in it. I suppose there'd be no difficulty in
getting permission to put up the line on the land between the creek and
Hetertown?"

"Oh, no!" said Harry. "A good part of the woods along the road belong to
father, and none of the people along there would object to us boys
putting up our line on their land."

"I thought they wouldn't," said Mr. Martin. "I'll talk to our people
about this, and see what they think of it."

As Harry and Tom rode home, Harry remarked, "Mr. Martin's a trump, isn't
he? I hope the rest of the mica-mine people will agree with him."

"I don't believe they will," said Tom. "Why, you see they'd have to pay
for the whole thing, and I reckon they won't be in a hurry to do that.
But wouldn't we have a splendid line if they were to do it?"

"I should say so," said Harry. "It's almost too good a thing to expect.
I'm afraid Mr. Martin won't feel quite so generous when he calculates
what it will cost."

CHAPTER XXVI.

A GRAND PROPOSITION.

The summer vacation was now over, and the Board of Managers of the
telegraph company, as well as the other boys of the vicinity, were
obliged to go to school again and study something besides the arts of
making money and transacting telegraphic business. But as there was not
much business of this kind to be done, the school interfered with the
company's affairs in little else than the collection of money due from
private individuals for telegraphic services rendered during the late
"rise" in the creek. The committee which had charge of this collection
labored very faithfully for some time, and before and after school and
during the noon recess, the members thereof made frequent visits to the
houses of the company's debtors. As there were not more than
half-a-dozen debtors, it might have been supposed that the business
would be speedily performed. But such was not the case. Mr. Darby, the
storekeeper, paid his bill promptly; and old Mr. Truly Matthews, who had
telegraphed to Washington to a nephew in the Patent Office Department,
"just to see how it would go," paid what he owed on the eighth visit of
Wilson Ogden to his house. He had not seen "how it would go," for his
nephew had not answered him, either by telegraph or mail, and he was in
no hurry to pay up, but he could not stand "that boy opening his gate
three times a day." As for the rest, they promised to settle as soon as
they could get some spare cash--which happy time they expected would
arrive w