Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-21
A. umroar now relansed into silence.

Mr. HiIlyear now relapsed into silence. 1
knew not whether he was trying to frame an
;dea into a sentence or peering out to get an
aim at me. "a
"Ain,t YOU comingr' I cried at last "Are
von going to help me get Pratt down He'll
die before we get to him"
.iuov-did-you-com - to -fnd-himr
came at length from Mr.. Hillyear's lips
with a sort of clownish judicial gravity.
sGood heavens!r I said Wi you stay
there all night and ask questions, while your
mariner is bleeding to DEATH Do you sup
pose I'd get out Of my bed to stand and call
here like a fool for nothingF'
Whats the mus!' cried a voice In the
darkness 1t was Bill Setter, who lived
I about an eighth of a mile distant. He had
come, reused by the shot and the sound OF
voices.
srye found Pratt badly hurt on Scrub
mountain. and am trying to get Hillyear to
help me down with him Hfllyear won't be-
ieve me, and that's what's the matter"
"Hipyear, get upl Don't be a fool" said
Setter.
Hillyear finally replied: albright! I'm
comm = with an expression as If he had
had no doubts as to the genuineness OF the
new and had but m~omentarily heard OF it
Our party reached Pratt, where | had left
him. With great difficulty We managed to
| carry him down the mountain. His utter
ances on the way Town all bore vaguely on
quartz hunting and the last scene or which
he had been conscious while in his right
mind. To Setter. they were a puzzle. To
Hillyear, | knew not how much or how little
meaning they conveyed. To myself they
were a sour of great uneasineSs. They
bore first on the secret OF our claim. Next,
they might confirm a suspicion, which, IL not
already developed, l knew was likely To be,
through the singular circumstances attend
ing nv finding Pratt 50 far up Scrub noun
tain in the dead of night 1t needed but a
worrl of his delirious u%tterance to make
known that we had qusrrelet.
We left Pratt in his cabin. Setter, whose
curiosity was evidently much aroused, said to
me. lust what | expected he would:
How did you come to find Pratt away up
theref'
told Setter that I heard Pratt's voice in
the night up the mountain, which was true,
but not in the sense | left Setter 10 infer.
| held that evasion WAS justitiable under the
| circumstances It's not SO much what we
tell that may damage Us as the construction
placed on it by those it may be told to. The
| only way ! know of when certain questions
are asked that many people will ask, to avoid
evasion or untruthfulneSS, is to say its none
Of YOUR business" That, Us society is now
constituted and complicated, would he quite
impossible. .
II wonder who shot himf' continued
Setter.
shot himself, maybe" replied.
Queer business, anyway" WAS Settlers
final remark, aS he trudged off home.
saw by his manner that he was full OF
| curiosity, and being full OF curiosity would
be soon full Of theories rs to I'll, cause OF
Pratt, hurt. and that "a curiosity and
| theories are contagious, lie would in II short
| time moculate all Bull Bar with them.
Next day | visited Pratt His head had
been hurt both by the ball and the fall. The
bullet had gashed the temple-not very deeply.
| The conclusion from the fall seemed 10 have
most affected him. That ON or other Of
these wounds had affected his brain was very
evident without the pompous declaration Of
the physician, who had been summoned, to
that effect.
Softer was present when I entered. Pratt
was living OH his bed silent, but the sight VI
me seemed 10 excite his brain to action, and
set in motion the thoughts, scenes and emo
tions common to the occurrence at the claim
They ran dangerously near, but did not ac'
| tuallv reveal me as a participation.
NO tools no notices." he cried. Pretty
| way to hold a claim"
"'What claim, Prattf' said Setter.
The sick mans eye fell Oh Setter with a
| gleam Of cunning. y claim" he sald.
| We're after rattlesnake oil. Hunting snakes
| in the chapparal. There's one now-on the
| lead. II yer not of while | count ten, I'll
put n ball through We. One-t"o- three
| OH aud he shrieked as IL with pain.
Hillyear spoke:
"He-mst-be kept-quiet. It's the-doc'
ter's-orders. The-doctor-says-his-sary
Observation-Disclosures
Queer business-aueer business" was Sef
| tcr's remark, as We left the house together
Il think he's had a shootin' scrape with some
holy"
Broencr returned. felt that ! could now
shift IA part Of the business to other shout
ders.
He heard my story. At is CONCLUSION
he settled back and laughed.
'ltRlllT ulIlt HONfl, VI ~ ""' 49,
Write it, print it, sell it. Well, young man,
you're improving rapidly. ! congratulate
YOU. | couldn't have wished you anything
better than the experience you've gone
through. You needed it. You're the kind
that must L. put in very hot water To draw
anything out Of you"
"But won't this put all Bull Bar on tho
scent of the 'Bank'f' ! asked.
First, lets compound some whisky with
sugar. lemons and nutmeg. Before we talk
business let's fix things 50 rs to make busi-
ness n pleasure, not by pouring the stun
down raw as the fools do at the store yonder,
but dress up the fluid decently and taste.
fully before we put it down. There would
I've far less drunkards il every man was com
| pellei by law To dress up and trim up his
drinks in this way before he swallowed
them" He continued rs he sipped his punch:
Make yourself easy, Holder, about tho
claim. You have liked that all right, or tho
Fates have for YOU. Pratt won't 60 up
there for a while, now that his wits are
knocked out Of his head, which for our pur-
pose is better far than knocking them out OF
his BODY. Because I'm fool enough TO lie
lieve that IL his wits were ont Of his body
they'd be in much better shape 10
come back and reveal our secret
than as they now are chained to a
cracked skull. and therefore in bad work
ing order. HilIyear, from what you say, Is,
! judge, only an appendage Of Pratts, and
not able TO do anything without him. At NIL
events, III find out soon. As for the Bank
] think I've got the cream out Of 1t already.
It's only a feeder to some bigger win in the
mountain That can lay for awhile. I've
got four or five caches Of quartz up there
that ! haven't shown you Wen get II all
down this week and hush up things for the
| present. There's, ! think, your fair shnre Of
divvy, 50 far as we've gone" and he put In
my hands a mint certificate Of deposit for
sl4,OJO. IF the rock that's minei out gives
down as I think It will, you'll have rs much
more coming 10 you. Are YOU Satisfedf
Satisfied! Dss than a year from home and
the poSssssor of what In Eastport was deemed
a ''small fortune" In the well-worn phrase,