lled in the gorgeous coloring of the autumnal foliage which
covered mountain, hill, and valley with splendid mantles of crimson and
gold. As the train, following the picturesque windings of the Lehigh,
crept along some mountain-side hundreds of feet above the low-lying
bottom lands, his delight at the vast expanse of exquisite scenery
unfolded before them knew no bounds.

"I didn't know the world was so beautiful," he said to Derrick, with a
sigh of deep content, as the vivid pictures of the grand panorama
flashed rapidly by.

Derrick shared this enthusiasm, though to a less extent. He was more
interested in the various forms of mining operations which were to be
seen on all sides. His continued exclamations of, "Oh, Paul! look at
that new breaker," or, "Isn't that a capital idea for a slope?" at last
attracted the attention of a middle-aged gentleman who, with a lady,
occupied the seat immediately behind them.

Finally he leaned forward, and, speaking to Derrick, said, "Excuse me;
but as you seem to be familiar with mining operations, perhaps you will
kindly tell me what the great black buildings, of which we now see so
many, are used for?"

"Why," answered Derrick, somewhat surprised that anybody should be
ignorant regarding what to him were among the commonest objects of life,
"those are breakers." Then seeing that the other was still puzzled, he
explained, simply and clearly, the uses of breakers, and in a few
minutes found himself engaged in earnest conversation with the stranger
upon mining in general, and coal mining in particular.

At last the gentleman said, "You seem to be as well informed on the
subject as a miner."

"I am, or rather I have been employed in a mine until very recently,"
answered Derrick.

"Indeed! It must be a most interesting occupation, but I should think a
very dangerous one. I have a son who visited one of these coal-mines at
the time of a disaster that threatened a number of lives, and his
accounts of what he saw and experienced at the time are very thrilling.
It was, I believe, at a place called Raven Brook."

It was now Derrick's turn to be interested, and he said, "Why, that's
where we have just come from! Raven Brook is the station at which we
took the train."

"If I had known that we were to stop there," said the gentleman, "I
believe my wife and I would have got off and waited over one train, for
we have been very curious to see the place. We have been on a trip to
the W