what he had said and done had been bruited about. Some collier had heard
it and had told it to his comrades, and so it had gone from one to the
other. It had been talked over at the evening and morning meal in divers
cottages, and many an anxious hand had warmed into praise of the man who
had "had a thowt for th' men."

In the first gallery he entered he found a deputation of men awaiting
him,--a group of burly miners with picks and shovels over their
shoulders,--and the head of this deputation, a spokesman burlier and
generally gruffer than the rest, stopped him.

"Mester," he said, "we chaps 'ud loike to ha' a word wi' yo'."

"All right," was Derrick's reply, "I am ready to listen."

The rest crowded nearer, as if anxious to participate as much as
possible, and give their spokesman the support of their presence.

"It is na mich as we ha' getten to say," said the man, "but we're fain
to say it. Are na we, mates?"

"Ay, we are, lad," in chorus.

"It's about summat as we'n heerd. Theer wur a chap as towd some on us
last neet as yo'd getten th' sack fro' th' managers--or leastways as
yo'd turned th' tables on 'em an' gi'en them th' sack yo'rsen. An' we'n
heerd as it begun wi' yo're standin' up fur us chaps--axin' fur things
as wur wanted i' th' pit to save us fro' runnin' more risk than we need.
An' we heerd as yo' spoke up bold, an' argied for us an' stood to what
yo' thowt war th' reet thing, an' we set our moinds on tellin' yo' as
we'd heerd it an' talked it over, an' we'd loike to say a word o' thanks
i' common fur th' pluck yo' showed. Is na that it, mates?"

"Ay, that it is, lad!" responded the chorus.

Suddenly one of the group stepped out and threw down his pick. "An' I'm
dom'd, mates," he said, "if here is na a chap as ud loike to shake hands
wi' him."

It was the signal for the rest to follow his example. They crowded about
their champion, thrusting grimy paws into his hand, grasping it almost
enthusiastically.

"Good luck to yo', lad!" said one. "We'n noan smooth soart o' chaps, but
we'n stand by what's fair an' plucky. We shall ha' a good word fur thee
when tha hast made thy flittin'."

"I'm glad of that, lads," responded Derrick heartily, by no means
unmoved by the rough-and-ready spirit of the scene. "I only wish I had
had better luck, that's all."

A few hours later the whole of the little town was shaken to its very
foundations by something like an earthquake, accompanied by an ominous,
boo