New York: Cupples & Leon Company, (1926). Hardcover first edition - A novel which grew out of the Progressive movement against child labor, set in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. "The difficult life led by children working in the mines is explored through the character of Tom Martin, who takes his first job as a breaker boy at the age of ten. From this job, Tom moves to his next position as a Fan Boy, an extremely important job requiring him to keep the fans moving in order to circulate air within the mine. Failure to keep the air moving meant that the air quality would suffer; gas would be allowed to accrue in the mines resulting in an explosion. When Tom is a little older he is given the job of coal pusher, keeping the coal moving down the chute as fast as the miner with him could work it out. When he is not quite twelve years old, Tom is employed on the rotary hand screen. The rotary screen was used to sort coal after it had been brought out of the mine. His next job is driving the mules hauling coal along the mine gangway. At thirteen Tom was hired as a miners helper. It is at this job that Tom learns how to mine, becoming familiar with all the miners tools and their uses, and how to make a cartridge for blasting. In Phelps story, Tom reaches the top of his profession, working as a miner, at the age of 14." (University of West Virginia) Illustrated by Howard L. Hastings with a frontispiece with tissue guard and three glossy internal plates. 374 pp.