Ioan Sanders was stricken with a coughing fit, one of many, which had afflicted him over the past month since he had arrived in Schuylkill County. He spit into his handkerchief and was greatly annoyed to see the blackish color in the mucus.
“You"ll be able to paint your roof with it by the time you"ve retired from here,” one of his co-workers chuckled, shaking his head.
“I don"t know what"s worse around here, the conditions, or the gallows humor,” Ioan snapped back.
“Did you not realize there"s a depression out there, Paddy?” a second worker jerked a thumb at the mine shaft leading a half mile upwards to the surface. “Maybe a couple of weeks of begging on the street might give you a little humility.”
“My name"s not Paddy, it"s Ioan, I told you that already,” he glared. “Maybe I can hel
