CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: The Coal and Mines Board
The offices of the Coal and Mines Board were in a large stone building in the centre of London. On a bright morning in August, Andrew ran up the steps of this building in high spirits.
‘I’m the new Medical Officer,’ he told the man at the door.
‘Yes, sir,’ said the man. ‘Mr Gill is expecting you. Jones! Take our new doctor to Mr Gill’s room.’
Andrew was led into a large, sunny room where Mr Gill, a cheerful little man, shook hands with him and said: ‘Please sit down. Would you like a cup of tea?’
While they drank their tea, Gill made some remarks about the weather. Then he led Andrew to his room, which was also sunny with a view of the river. ‘I – I hope you will like this room,’ Gill said with a smile.
‘Oh, yes – it’s a beautiful room!’
‘Now I’ll introduce you to your secretary – Miss Mason.’ Gill took him into the next room, where Miss Mason, a friendly young woman, sat at a small desk.
‘Miss Mason, this is Dr Manson.’
‘Good morning, Dr Manson.’
They had a short conversation, and then Andrew returned to his own room, where Gill remarked: ‘I’ll send you some reports to read.’
A pile of reports arrived. Andrew read these dull accounts of meetings of the Board as quickly as he could, and then went to Gill and asked: ‘When can I start work?’
Gill was surprised at his question. ‘Heavens, have you read those reports already? I thought that I had given you enough to keep you busy for a month!’ He looked at his watch. ‘Let’s go out. It’s time for lunch.’
At lunch, Gill explained that the Board would not meet again till the middle of September, and that there would be no other work for Andrew until after that meeting.
Andrew went back to Christine that evening with a feeling of disappointment. ‘Would you believe it, Chris?’ he said. ‘They’re not ready for me! For a whole month I shall have nothing to do except to read reports and drink tea!’
‘Never mind!’ said Christine, her thoughts on other things. ‘It’s lovely here – much nicer than Aberalaw. I went for a walk this afternoon. Oh! I planned such lovely things for us to do.’ He had rarely seen her so excited.
‘My love, let’s go out to dinner! Then, if you’re not too tired, we might go to the theatre.’
As she led him to the door, he laughed. ‘I need some entertainment after my first day’s hard work.’
Next morning, he read every report again. Then he began to explore the building. Suddenly he found himself in a long room, where a young man in a dirty white coat was sitting on a box, smoking a pipe and doing nothing.
‘Hullo!’ Andrew said.
The other answered tiredly: ‘Lost your way?’
Andrew introduced himself. ‘My name’s Manson.’
‘I thought so. So you’ve come to join the forgotten men!’ He paused. ‘I’m Dr Hope.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Heaven knows! Some of the time I sit here and think. But most of the time I just sit. Occasionally, when there has been an explosion, they send me bits of a dead miner to examine, and tell me to find out the cause of the accident.’
They went out to lunch together. Hope then told Andrew more about his duties, and about the members of the Board, three of whom were Challis, Abbey and Gadsby.
‘Do you know Gadsby?’ Hope asked.
‘I’ve met the gentleman!’ Andrew told Hope about his examination.
‘Gadsby is a clever man – but he’s only interested in himself.’ Hope, who had a great sense of fun, laughed suddenly and then told Andrew a joke that Abbey had once made about Gadsby. He gave another loud laugh and then became serious. ‘Abbey is the best man on the Board. The others spend so much time quarrelling that they never make any decisions!’
Andrew and Hope had lunch together nearly every day. Although Hope was always joking, he was a clever young man. Andrew believed that, one day, he might do something important.
While Andrew waited for the next meeting of the Board, he and Christine explored London. They began to feel that they belonged there.