The three men thought of some harm it might do; they tried to make Hal consider the danger of being slugged or shot. “They’ll do it!” exclaimed MacKellar. “And no trouble for them—they’ll prove you were stabbed by a drunken Dago, quarrelling over some woman.”
But Hal had got his head set; he believed he could put this job through before his enemies had time to lay any plans. Nor would he let any of his friends accompany him; he had something more important for both Edstrom and Keating to do—and as for MacKellar, he could not get about rapidly enough. Hal bade Edstrom go to the post-office and get the registered letter, and proceed at once to change the bills. It was his plan to make out affidavits, and if the officials here would not act, to take the affidavits to the Governor. And for this he would need money. Meantime, he said, let Billy Keating write out the check-weighman story, and in a couple of hours meet him at the American Hotel, to get copies of the affidavits for the Gazette.
Hal was still wearing the miner’s clothes he had worn on the night of his arrest in Edstrom’s cabin. But he declined MacKellar’s offer to lend him a business-suit; the old Scotchman’s clothes would not fit him, he knew, and it would be better to make his appeal as a real miner than as a misfit gentleman.
These matters being settled, Hal went out upon the street, where Pete Hanun, the breaker of teeth, fell in behind him. The young miner at once broke into a run, and the other followed suit, and so the two of them sped down the street, to the wonder of people on the way. As Hal had had practice as a sprinter, no doubt Pete was glad that the District Attorney’s office was not far away!
IV
Mr. Richard Parker was busy, said the clerk in toe outer office; for which Hal was not sorry, as it gave him a chance to get his breath. Seeing a young man flushed and panting, the clerk stared with curiosity; but Hal offered no explanation, and the breaker of teeth waited on the street outside.
Mr. Parker received his caller in a couple of minutes. He was a well-fed gentleman with generous neck and chin, freshly shaved and rubbed with talcum powder. His clothing was handsome, his linen immaculate; one got the impression of a person who “did himself well.” There were papers on his desk, and he looked preoccupied.
“Well?” said he, with a swift glance at the young miner.
“I understand that I am speaking to the District Attorney of Pedro County?”
“That’s right.”
“Mr. Parker, have you given any attention to the circumstances of the North Valley disaster?”
“No,” said Mr. Parker. “Why?”
“I have just come from North Valley, and I can give you information which may be of interest to you. There are a hundred and seven people entombed in the mine, and the company officials have sealed it, and are sacrificing those lives.”
The other put down the correspondence, and made an examination of his caller from under his heavy eyelids. “How do you know this?”
“I left there only a few hours ago. The facts are known to all the workers in the camp.”
“You are speaking from what you heard?”
“I am speaking from what I know at first hand. I saw the disaster, I saw the pit-mouth boarded over and covered with canvas. I know a man who was driven out of camp this morning for complaining about the delay in starting the fan. It has been over three days since the explosion, and still nothing has been done.”
Mr. Parker proceeded to fire a series of questions, in the sharp, suspicious manner customary to prosecuting officials. But Hal did not mind that; it was the man’s business to make sure.
Presently he demanded to know how he could get corroboration of Hal’s statements.
“You’ll have to go up there,” was the reply.
“You say the facts are known to the men. Give me the names of some of them.”
“I have no authority to give their names, Mr. Parker.”
“What authority do you need? They will tell me, won’t they?”
“They may, and they may not. One man has already lost his job; not every man cares to lose his job.”
“You expect me to go up there on your bare say-so?”
“I offer you more than my say-so. I offer an affidavit.”
“But what do I know about you?”
“You know that I worked in North Valley—or you can verify the fact by using the telephone. My name is Joe Smith, and I was a miner’s helper in Number Two.”
But that was not sufficient, said Mr. Parker; his time was valuable, and before he took a trip to North Valley he must have the names of witnesses who would corroborate these statements.
“I offer you an affidavit!” exclaimed Hal. “I say that I have knowledge that a crime is being committed—that a hundred and seven human lives are being sacrificed. You don’t consider that a sufficient reason for even making inquiry?”
The District Attorney answered again that he desired to do his duty, he desired to protect the workers in their rights; but he could not afford to go off on a “wild goose chase,” he must have the names of witnesses. And Hal found himself wondering. Was the man merely taking the first pretext for doing nothing? Or could it be that an official of the state would go as far as to help the company by listing the names of “troublemakers”?
In spite of his distrust, Hal was resolved to give the man every chance he could. He went over the whole story of the disaster. He took Mr. Parker up to the camp, showed him the agonised women and terrified children crowding about the pit-mouth, driven back with clubs and revolvers. He named family after family, widows and mothers and orphans.
