Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-11-23


besutiful than any coiored print that he
had ever seen. Had he brushed him in
passing Johnny would have felt thrill ::
had he spoken to him he knew
he would have been speech
less to reply. Judge then OF his utter
stu getactIon when he SAW Uncle
Ber-actually Uncle Beai-approach this
paragon Of perfection, albeit with some
embarrassment, sDd after word or two
ot u1iltelligible conversation walk away
with him! Need 1t be wondered that
johnny, forgetiul at once Of his BROTHER,
the horses, snd even tie collation. with liz
possible "goodies," instantly followed.
The two men turned into th5 side
street, which sitter few hundred yards
opened upon the deserted mixing G It,
crossed AID broken by the b0rrows
and mounds made by the forgotten
engines Of the early gold-geekers :;
johnny, ct times hidden By these irregu-
!sritise, kept closely in their rear, seuot.
eIirg whenever he came within the range
OF their eyes in that sidelong, spssmodic
AMI generally disg1nal fashion peculiar
to small boys, but ready ct any moment
10 assume inter Inconsistencies and the
appearance Of going somewhere else or Of
eesrch!ng for something on thu ground.
Ia this way appearing, II noticed ct all,
each time IL some different position to
the right or left OF them, J0hDny fol.
lowed item to the fringe CT woodland
which enahled him to draw closer to
their heels.
CHAPTER VI.
Utterly oblivious of this artistic "shsd-
owing" in the insignificant person OF the
small boy who once or twice even crossed
their path wish affected timiditY, they
continued En apparently confident 81 pre-
vious Interview. The words "stocks"
and "shsres" were alone Ineligible
Johnny had beard them during the day,
but he was struck OF the fact that Uncle
Ben seemed 10 be eeeEirg Information
from the paragon end was perfectly SUD-
nlissive and humble. Fnt the boy was
considerably myst.2s3 when alter tramp
OF hsls "a hour they arrived upon the de
bAtsble ground Of tbs Harrison McHin-
GtTy boundary. Having been e.
peCiEilY warned never 70 go
there, johnny ns c matter Of
course wag perfectly familiar with
It. But WIS. Was the tncomprebensicls
stranger doing there? Was he brought
by Ubcle Ben with vieE CO DersiYzDg
bC.A q the Combatsnts with tie specta-
Gle CT his Projections? Wac hs g Yousa-
tui sheriff, 5 young Judge, or maybe the
son OF the governor OF CnlifcTnis? Or
Wac IL tGst Ulcia Bee Was "s.il9," anG
dldn't Know th5 Locality? Here Yts an
opportunity fer him, JOHNNY, to intro
duce himself and explain aEd even mag.
nifty the danger, With pereaps slight
sllusion TO bis own fearless familiarity
with 1t. Unfortunately, IS he Was max.
ing up his Small mind bshird tree, the
paragon ,urned sid, Fl tn the easy dis
ds!n that SO well became him, said:
"Wel, wouldn't ofer dollar 81 acre
for the whole rsnche. But Il you choose
20 give fancy price, THAT'S your lock
out"
To Johnny's already preiudiced mind,
Uncle BE received this jdst contempt
submissively, IS he ought, ou. neverthe-
less he nuGLered something "silly" il re.
ply, which johnny wss really too Giss
gu5tsd to listen 10. Oaghs he net to step
IorHsrd snd iriorE Inc psEagcu thu. he
was wasting his time on MA VINO
couldn't even spell "5L-ker," and who
YVES taught his ietfezs by Lis Johuny's
brother?
Tde paragon continued.
"Aod Of course you know that merely
your buying the title to the lEad don't
give you possession. You'll have 20 fEdt
these sqasl!ers and jumpers Just The
sane. IIll be three instead O. two tght-
inF-that'a aN!'
Uncle Bsp's lmbccile reply did nct
trouble Johnny. He rad esra now cnlY
fer .hs superior intellect bsi3Te him. Il
coDttaued cooily.
"Syw let's take look at thSt yield Of
yGU5s. l haven't nacn lime 30 give you,
&c expect some Men to De looking far
ne here-and l tup2oss you WANT this
thing still kept secret. I GOL't Zee how
you've managed 10 do5t so far. Is POUR
claim nesr? YOU live en- il, think you
s.lt?"
But tbss ths little listener wss GO pre-
occupied with the stranger, this sug-
gestiou OF tU2cle Bets having e clsim
worth the attention OF that dis
tinguished presence would have set
him linking; the little that be Under
stood he Get down 80 UaCle Een's
"gassiI'." As the ING men moved for
WsCd egsin, he followed them until ia
Gle 8sn'5 hoU8e Wss TesS&cd.
It wss rude ehsnty of bosrds ,Ard
rough bouldll7; half burrG1ing in ora OF
the ycrgest m1ERds OF earn and gravel,
which had once represented the tsiliEgs
or refuse of tke.sbandoneG .C5disn Springs
Placer. In f$cl i WAS casually slleaad
by some that L 1cle Ben eksd out the
sceqIy "grub Wsges" &c made By
Actual mining, K TeHorkiag and Sitting
sSs ;ailiogs Ct o3t times-G degrading
work hitherto practiCed Gully BY
and unworthy the CAu-
,seicn ambition. The mixing code |
II honor held thai man might accept |
lie smallest results Of his daily labor, ss
org rs be wGs sustained by the prospscE
u larger "stTike,% our condemned his
with g mcdesS certainty.
svsFtheless little & this suspn ion en-
he dwelling and cGnEibuted
o its loueliness, even e. long ditch, the
ormer tail race OF the clsiE, separated
i'm from his neigh5ors. Prudently hall
ng ~ The edge OF the wood, Johnng saw
lis resplendent vision cEoss the strip Of
srren fat, and enter the csbin with
Jncle Ben like any other nortsl. He sst
own on o stump end waited its return,
which he fondly koped might be sloRe
It the end Of half an hou, he made
hort excursion 10 examine the cons
ition OF blackberry brsmble, and
eturned to his post Of observation. But
here WAS neither sound nor motion in
be direction of the cabin. Whea another
&c minutes had elapsed, the door opened
I'D to Johnny's intense discontinue
Inc!e Ben appeared alone and walked
,isurely towards the woods. Burning
'!ih sDxietY, Johnny threw himself In
IDcle Ben's way. But here occurred