f coal-dust. It still rose in
clouds from the crushers and screens, but there was none above the
chutes. He understood the theory of jigs, but had never seen them at
work, and now he was so greatly interested in watching them as almost to
forget the errand on which he had come. It was only when Mr. Guffy spoke
to him that he thought of it, and handed the breaker boss the note he
had come to give him.

"All right," said the boss reading it. "I'm sorry to lose him, for he is
a quiet, steady lad, and, could in time be made very useful as a picker.
I doubt, though, if his back would hold out long at the work. Yes, you
may take him along now if you want to."

Stepping over to where his friend sat, Derrick said, "Come, Paul, you're
not to work any more to-day; I want to have a talk with you outside."

When they had left the breaker, Derrick said, "How would you like to go
down into the mine, Paul, and be a door-tender, very near where I work,
and get twice as much money as you can make in the breaker?"

"Of course I should like it," answered Paul, gravely; "but I don't think
they want a cripple like me down there."

"Yes, they do want just exactly such a fellow as you are; they found out
last night what you could do in a mine. Mr. Jones says that if you want
to you can go down with me to-morrow morning, and begin at once without
waiting for the end of the month. You are to go with me to the store
this evening for your mine cap, lamp, and boots. See, here's the order
for them."

Paul stared at the order for a moment as though he could not believe it
was real. Then exclaiming, "Oh goody, Derrick! I'm so glad to get out of
that hateful, back-aching breaker," he gave a funny little twirl of his
body around his crutch, which was his way of expressing great joy.

Derrick shared this joy equally with Paul, and to see them one would
have supposed they had just come into fortunes at least. To a stranger
such rejoicings over an offer of monotonous work down in the blackness
of a coal mine would have seemed absurd, but if he had ever been a
breaker boy he could have fully sympathized with them.

The two boys were standing beside the check-board, near the mouth of the
slope, and after their rejoicings had somewhat subsided Derrick said,
"Let's see who's sent up the most to-day."

The check-board was something like the small black-board that hangs
behind the teacher's desk in a school-room. It was provided with several
rows of p