SETTING TO WORK.
A week after Jack Simpson had gone to work in the "Vaughan" there was a
knock one evening at the door of the schoolmaster of the Stokebridge
National School.
"Please, Mr. Merton, can I speak to 'ee?"
"What, is that you, Jack Simpson!" the schoolmaster said, holding the
candle so that its light fell upon the boy before him. "Yes, come in, my
boy." The lad followed him into the parlour. "Sit down, Jack. Now what
is it? Nothing the matter at home, I hope?"
"Noa, sir. I wanted to ask 'ee what books I orter read, so that I may
grow up a clever man?"
"Bless me, Jack," Mr. Merton said, "why, I never expected this from
you."
"Noa, sir, but I ha' made up my mind to get on, and I means to work
hard. I ha' been told, sir, that if I studies at books in all my spare
time, and saves my money, and works well, I may get up high some day;"
and the boy looked wistfully up in the master's face for a confirmation
of what had been told him.
"That's quite right, Jack, whoever told you. Hard work, study, thrift,
and intelligence will take any lad from the bottom of the tree to the
top. And you are quite in earnest, Jack?"
"Quite, sir."
The schoolmaster sat in silence for a little time.
"Well, my boy, for a bit you must work at ordinary school-books, and get
a fair general knowledge, and be careful to observe the way things are
expressed--the grammar, I mean; read aloud when you are alone, and try
in speaking to get rid of "thees" and "thous," and other mistakes of
speech. I can lend you ordinary school-books, fit for you for the next
four or five years, and will always explain any difficulties you may
meet with. The books you will want afterwards you can buy second-hand at
Wolverhampton or Birmingham. But there will be time to talk about that
hereafter. What time have you to study? You have gone into the Vaughan
pit, have you not?"
"Yes, sir. I ha' time enough all day, for I ha' nowt to do but just to
open and shut a door when the tubs come along; but I ha' no light."
"The time must seem very long in the dark all day."
"It do seem long, sir; and it will be wuss when I want to read, and know
I am just wasting time. But I can read at home after work, when dad goes
out. It's light now, and I could read out o' doors till nine o'clock.
Mother would give me a candle now and again; and I should get on first
rate in the pit, but the Vaughan is a fiery vein, and they ha' nowt but
Daveys."
"Well, my boy, here are a few books, which will suit you for a time. Let
me know how you are getting on; and when you have mastered the books,
let me know. Remember you want to learn them thoroughly, and not just
well enough to rub through without getting the strap. But don't overdo
it. You are a very small boy yet, and it is of as much importance for
your future life that you should grow strong in body as well as in
brain. So you must not give up play. If you were to do nothing but sit
in the dark, and to study at all other times, you would soon become a
fool. So you must give time to play as well as to work. Remember, do not
be cast down with difficulties; they will pass by if you face them.
There is an old saying, 'God helps those who help themselves.' And look
here, Jack, I can tell you the best way to make the time pass quickly
while you are in the dark. Set yourself sums to do in your head. You
will find it difficult at first, but it will come easier with practice,
and as you get on I will give you a book on 'mental arithmetic,' and you
will find that there is nothing more useful than being able to make
complicated calculations in your head."
The next six months passed quickly with Jack Simpson. He started early
with his father for the pit, and the hours there, which at first had
seemed so long, slipped by rapidly as he multiplied, and added, and
subtracted, finding that he could daily master longer lines of figures.
Of an afternoon he played with the other pit boys, and after that worked
steadily at his books till eleven o'clock, two hours after Bill Haden
and his wife had gone to bed. Once a week he went in the evening to Mr.
Merton, who was astonished at the progress that the boy was making, and
willingly devoted an hour to explaining difficulties and helping him on
with his work.
Satisfied now that the boy was in earnest, Mr. Merton a few days
afterwards took occasion, when Mr. Brook, the owner of the Vaughan mine,
called in on school business, to tell him how one of the pit boys was
striving to educate himself.
"He is really in earnest, Merton; it is not a mere freak?"
"No, Mr. Brook, the lad will stick to it, I'm sure. He goes by the
nickname of Bull-dog, and I don't think he is badly named; he has both
the pluck and the tenacity of one."
"Very well, Merton; I am glad you spoke to me about it. I wish a few
more boys would try and educate themselves for viewers and underground
managers; it is difficult indeed to get men who are anything but working
miners. I'll make a note of his name."
A few days afterwards Mr. Brook, after going through the books, went
over the mine with the underground manager.
"Do the waggons often get off the metals along this road, Evans?" he
asked, stopping at one of the doors which regulate the ventilation.
"Pretty often, sir; the rails are not very true, and the sleepers want
renewing."
"It would be as well if there were an extra light somewhere here; it
would be handy. This is Number Ten door, is it not?"
"Yes sir."
"Who is this? a new hand, is he not?" raising his lamp so as to have a
full look at the lad, who was standing respectfully in the niche in the
rock cut for him.
"Yes, sir; he is the son of a hand who was killed in the pit some ten
years ago--Simpson."
"Ah! I remember," Mr. Brooks said. "Well, serve the boy a lamp out when
he goes down of a day. You'll be careful with it, lad, and not let it
fall?"
"Oh yes, sir," Jack said, in a tone of delight; "and, please, sir, may I
read when I am not wanted?"
"Certainly you may," his master said; "only you must not neglect your
work;" and then Mr. Brook went on, leaving Jack so overjoyed that for
that afternoon at least his attempts at mental arithmetic were egregious
failures.