A Copper Harvest; or, The Boys who Worked a Deserted Mine

In a modest Nebraska town where the river hums and the general store buzzes, two teenage friends—Jack, a sturdy city boy learning the hard ways of farm life, and Charlie, the doctor's eager son—spend an idle stormy night exploring the backroom of a drugstore. Their curiosity leads them to a freshly arrived corpse, a mystery that beckons the boys to play amateur detectives, poking at clues the adult world prefers to keep hidden.

As they sift through the odd details of the dead man’s final moments, the pair discover a link to a long‑abandoned copper mine on the outskirts of town. Their youthful daring and quick wits turn a simple inquiry into a daring venture, drawing them into the forgotten tunnels and the promise of hidden riches. The story captures the restless energy of adolescence, the allure of untamed frontier work, and the bonds forged when friends chase a secret together.