Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns

Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Boy Scounts in the Coal Caverns
by Major Archibald Lee Fletcher Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: Boy Scounts in the Coal Caverns
Author: Major Archibald Lee Fletcher
Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6338] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on November 28, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, BOY SCOUNTS IN THE COAL CAVERNS ***

Scanned by Sean Pobuda ([email protected])
Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns, Or The Light in Tunnel Six
By Major Archibald Lee Fletcher
CHAPTER I
CAMPING IN THE BREAKER
"And so I says to myself, says I, give me a good husky band of Boy Scouts! They'll do the job if it can be done!"
Case Canfield, caretaker, sat back in a patched chair in the dusky, unoccupied office of the Labyrinth mine and addressed himself to four lads of seventeen who were clad in the khaki uniform of the Boy Scouts of America.
Those of our readers who have read the previous books of this series will have good cause to remember George Benton, Charley ("Sandy") Green, Tommy Gregory and Will Smith. The adventures of these lads among the Pictured Rocks of Old Superior, among the wreckers and reptiles of the Florida Everglades, in the caverns of the Great Continental Divide, and among the snows of the Hudson Bay wilderness have been recorded under appropriate titles in previous works.
The four boys were members of the Beaver Patrol, Chicago. Will Smith was Scoutmaster, while George Benton was Patrol Leader. They wore upon the sleeves of their coats medals showing that they had passed the examination as Ambulance Aids, Stalkers, Pioneers and Seamen.
Instructed by Mr. Horton, a well-known criminal lawyer of Chicago, the boys had reached the almost deserted mine at dusk of a November day. There they had found Canfield, the caretaker, waiting for them in a dimly-lighted office. The mine had not been operated for a number of months, not because the veins had given out, but because of some misunderstanding between the owners of mines in that section.
The large, bare room in which the caretaker and the Boy Scouts met was in the breaker. There was no fire in the great heater, and the tables and chairs were black with dust. A single electric light shone down from the ceiling, creating long, ghost-like shadows as it swayed about in a gentle wind blowing through a broken window.
"Well," Tommy Gregory said, as the caretaker paused, "you've got the Boy Scouts, and it remains for you to set us to work."
"And a sturdy looking lot, too!" grinned the caretaker.
"Oh, Mr. Horton wouldn't be apt to send a lot of cripples!" laughed Sandy Green. "He's next to his job, that man is!"
"I presume he told you all about the case?" suggested Canfield.
"Indeed he did not," replied Will Smith.
"Not a thing about it?" asked the caretaker.
"He only said that you would give us full instructions."
"That's strange!" Canfield observed thoughtfully.
"Perhaps he thought we wouldn't want to undertake the job if we knew exactly what it was!" suggested Sandy.
"It is a queer kind of a job," Canfield admitted, "but I don't think you boys wopuld be apt to back out because of a little danger."
"I wanted to back out several times," laughed Tommy, "but, somehow, these others boys wouldn't permit me to."
"Go on and tell us about it," urged Sandy. "Tell us just what you want us to do, and then we'll tell you whether we think we can do it or not."
"You've got to find two boys!" replied Canfield.
"Mother of Moses!" exclaimed Tommy. "I hope we haven't got to go and dig up blond-haired little Algernon, or discover pretty little Clarence, and turn a bunch of money over to him!"
"I think these two boys may have money coming to them," the caretaker replied. "There must be money back of it or the friends of the lads wouldn't be giving me cash to spent in their interest."
"Where are these boys?" asked Will.
"I've heard