CHAPTER VI 

NEWS OF IMPORTANCE 

"Link Merwell!" 

"Nat, you must be fooling!" put in Ben. 

"Why, we couldn't find a single trace of him after that awful landslide!" went on Dave. "We made a thorough search, too." 

"I don't know anything about that," returned the money-lender's son. "But I know Link Merwell is alive. I got a letter from him yesterday." 

"Are you sure that it was not an old letter delayed in delivery?" queried Ben. 

"No, it was not an old letter. It was dated only a few days ago. It was sent to me from Boston." 

"Boston!" cried Laura. "Then he must not only be alive, but he must have followed us East." 

"Did he say anything about Job Haskers?" queried our hero. 

"He said he didn't know what had become of Haskers. He said they had separated a short while before the big landslide struck them. He was pretty well bruised up, and had to rest in a little mining camp up in the mountains for two weeks." 

"This is certainly the strangest news yet," was Dave's comment. "I thought sure that he and Haskers had been swallowed up in that landslide, along with that miner who was with them. Nat, what caused him to write to you? I thought you told me that you had destroyed his last letter without answering it." 

"So I did destroy it, Dave, without answering it," returned the money-lender's son. "I was as surprised to hear from him as you would have been. I thought he would know enough to let me alone." 

1. who must be fooling ?
2. who said that ?
3. who got a letter ?
4. where did it come from ?
5. was it a new letter ?
6. what was it ?
7. who thought it was late in tranist ?
8. who do they know is still living ?
9. how do they know that ?
10. what person is the hero worried about ?
11. what disaster was happning ?
12. who was in that landslide ?
13. antone else ?
14. who cried boston ?
15. did he follow them west ?
16. who is still alive ?
17. what kind of land slide was it ?
18. did they search ?
19. what did dave think of the news ?
20. was dave surprisded ?

Numbered answers:
1. Nat
2. Ben
3. Dave's
4. Boston
5. no
6. old
7. Ben
8. Link Merwell
9. a letter
10. Job Haskers
11. landslide
12. Haskers
13. miner
14. Laura
15. East
16. "Link Merwell!"
17. awful
18. made a thorough searc
19. strangest
20. yes