hich he had gained by his courage in descending into the
mine, in his battle with Tom Walker, and by the clear-headedness and
quickness of decision which had saved the lives of the survivors of the
explosion, was immensely increased; and any who had before felt sore at
the thought of so young a hand being placed above them in command of the
pit, felt that in all that constitutes a man, in energy, courage, and
ability, Jack Simpson was worthy the post of manager of the Vaughan
mine.

Bill Haden was astonished upon his return home that night to find that
his wife had all along known that it was Jack who had defended the
Vaughan, and was inclined to feel greatly aggrieved at having been kept
in the dark.

"Did ye think as I wasn't to be trusted not to split on my own lad?" he
exclaimed indignantly.

"We knew well enough that thou mightest be trusted when thou wer't
sober, Bill," his wife said gently; "but as about four nights a week at
that time thou wast drunk, and might ha' blabbed it out, and had known
nowt in the morning o' what thou'dst said, Jack and I were of a mind
that less said soonest mended."

"May be you were right," Bill Haden said after a pause; "a man has got a
loose tongue when he's in drink, and I should never ha' forgiven myself
had I harmed t' lad."

CHAPTER XXX.

RISEN.

It was not until the pit was cleared of water and about to go to work
again, that the question of Bill Haden and his wife removing from their
cottage came forward for decision. Jack had been staying with Mr. Brook,
who had ordered that the house in which the late manager had lived
should be put in good order and furnished from top to bottom, and had
arranged for his widow and children to remove at once to friends living
at a distance. Feeling as he did that he owed his life to the young man,
he was eager to do everything in his power to promote his comfort and
prosperity, and as he was, apart from the colliery, a wealthy man and a
bachelor, he did not care to what expense he went.

The house, "the great house on the hill," as Jack had described it when
speaking to his artist friend Pastor years before, was a far larger and
more important building than the houses of managers of mines in general.
It had, indeed, been originally the residence of a family owning a good
deal of land in the neighbourhood, but they, when coal was discovered
and work began, sold this property and went to live in London, and as
none cared to