Polly glanced anxiously from Mr. Dalken to Jack, and then at Eleanor, but the young man explained without waiting longer: "All the miners working at Rainbow Cliffs went on a big strike shortly after the calamity on Grizzly Slide, and so unreasonable were their demands that Mr. Brewster refused to grant them. That stopped work on the lava jewels, too, and everything is closed down until next year. Of course, while there is no work going on, there are no wages to pay, but there is also no income from the vast amount of money invested in machinery." "Dear me, then really, I am a pauper for the time being," exclaimed Polly, but not in a distressed tone as one would expect after such dire news. "Your mother told me most emphatically, that that was _not_ the case. Everyone at Pebbly Pit seems to want you to continue with your studies until you have finished; and your father said there was a tidy fortune in a Denver bank for you, so that no matter what happened to others, you were amply provided for. With your business that you wish to take up, you will not have to worry over the future," explained Jack Baxter. Eleanor remembered that Mr. Dalken had invested heavily in these two Pebbly Pit ventures, and now she turned to him. "Will everyone connected with those two mines lose a great deal of money?" "Your father, the Latimers, the Evans', myself and John Brewster hold equal shares of stock, but Polly's father holds twice as much as anyone else, for he holds Polly's stock as her guardian as well as his own. The Montresor Estate, representing the heirs of Kenneth's uncle who first discovered the mine on Grizzly, and then willed it to Polly who later re-discovered the same vein of ore in the cave, hold the same number of shares in the stock-company as either of us, although they did not furnish any cash for their stock. "Now Ebeneezer Alexander told Jack to tell us, that he simply could not stand city-life another day. And, after enjoying the freedom and open life of the Rockies again, he was determined to stay at Pebbly Pit and see the tangle worked out. His experience will be most valuable to Tom and John, who are only young engineers, after all. And Mr. Brewster is a stock-grower with no knowledge of mining. So we think it is a good plan to let Mr. Alexander take up some of our shares, and sell him an interest in the future of these mines. "If anyone can pull Choko's Find Mine out of the grave it is buried in, old Ebeneezer can do it. He has such energy and perseverance that nothing daunts him--excepting big cities." "And titles!" added Eleanor, making her friends laugh. "Oh, I'm glad to hear he will stay there to help. I like him so much!" declared Polly. "Well, now that most of our evening was given to the story about the land-slide on Grizzly, how much time am I to be given for the furnishing of my apartment?" asked Jack Baxter. "Just talking about it won't furnish it," retorted Polly, smilingly.