078-Cave In by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:12:12+00:00

Chapter 12

Ghosts

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Joe exclaimed, looking at the old photo. "You say this place burned down about fifty years ago? There's a hotel just a few miles out of town that looks just like it."

"Oh, you mean Mountain Hotel, where them movie folks are?" the old Oreville resident said. "That place wasn't built no more than ten years back. But you're right, it does look a whole lot like Grizzly Bear Lodge." Scratching his head, he took the photograph from Joe and studied it for a minute. Grizzly Bear Lodge and Mountain Hotel were almost identical, giving the impression that Mountain Hotel had been constructed as a replica of the old place.

After staring at the photograph another moment, the white-haired man handed it back to the boys. "Well!" he said with some surprise. "I knew the two places were similar, but I didn't realize they were that much alike. What are you kids up to, anyway?"

"We're just curious," Frank said casually. "Do you know why Grizzly Bear Lodge burned down? Was it an accident?"

The man shook his head. "It wasn't no accident. But they never found out who did it. You see, there was fighting going on in Oreville back then."

"Between the north siders and the south siders," Joe put in, remembering what Tim's father had told them about the origins of the feud.

"Right." Their host nodded slowly. "I spent a couple of years in the mines myself before they were shut down. So I guess you could call me a south sider. Anyhow," he went on, leaning against the front porch, "after one of the mine shafts caved in one day, tilings got pretty nasty between the two sides. About a week later, the Grizzly Bear Lodge burned to the ground. It was owned by the north siders, and everybody was sure that the miners did it. That was the beginning of the feud."

"Tell us more about that cave-in," Joe asked, his breath visible in the cold air.

The Oreville resident laughed. "Let's go inside first before we freeze to death. I'll make some hot tea and tell you all I know."

Once inside the house, which was a small one-story structure just off Oreville's main street, their host motioned for the boys to sit at the kitchen table.

"I knew a few of the men who were killed in the cave-in," he said. "They were the more outspoken of the workers, trying to rally support for higher pay and better working conditions. That's why, when the shaft caved in, the other miners accused the owners of the company of purposely causing the accident—just to quiet the complainers down, if you know what I mean."

"What made the mine collapse?" Joe asked.

"A dynamite explosion," the old man replied.

Frank stroked his chin. "So the miners, or south siders, believed that the owners deliberately set up the explosion to silence certain people?" he asked.

"I thought so myself," the old man admitted. "And I still wonder about it. Anyway, that's how the feud began. And that's why Grizzly Bear Lodge was burned, along with other buildings.

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