The Iola register., 1889-08-16


by night 1t don't look jest honest
like. and it amt healthy. nuther."
'It's the only way l can rest" said
Dobbles. brokenly; lit seems to do me
more good than sleeping"
This was followed by another spasm
of coughing The old man tottered
away, his legs trembling under the
weight of his body and his head shaking
as if palsied.
A syndicate of Eastern capitalists
bought five or six adjoining claims that
gave promise of great production. and
by summer time the new company had
owe one hundred men hard at work.
Improved machinery brought vast
amounts of precious ore out of the soil
of the Red Star gulch and every claim
that promised gold in abundance was
speedily staked out by fresh arrivals,
who came in hundreds.
| Maurice Tellson, a dashing black
whiskered, athletic-looking fellow. who
stood over six feet in his long boots.
had been selected as the superintendent
of the Marjorie" as the big claim of
the Eastern spectators was styled.
Tellson had come to the gulch few
weeks previous to Dobbles' first appear
ance. He was not particularly well
liked, for he was distant and inclined
to be overbearing; but he was a fluent
talker when he wanted to be. dead
shot and thoroughly game" qualities
which ensured him respect if not
| esteem.
Wages were paid to workers on the
Marjorie on the first day of every
month, and Tellson personally super
vised the paying off. Gold and silver
coin were the only forms Of money
ever seen in the Red Star region in
those days. and even that would not
have been available were it not for
little bank which had been started
about two years earlier at Payson City.
forty miles distant from the gulch.
Naturally enough, the work of bringing
the coin on from the bank was also
personally superintended by Tellson,
who devoted three days to the round
trip. always accompanied by an ample
| guard, for the ..rustlers" were per-
niciously active in the vicinity of pros
porous frontier communities in those
days.
The reason why the company pre-
ferred to pay n currency rather than
dust" was that payment in the latter
commodity involved more or less waste
or overpayment The miners would
unquestionably have preferred the dust.
| but were forced to content themselves
with Tellson's way of doing business.
But during the summer complaints
came in faster and thicker that much
of the coin was .'queer"-in other
words, spurious and counterfeit.
That curious" said Tellson. when
one of the men brought this grievance
! to the superintendent; 'the bank
wouldn't play such trick on me, and
I'll swear the queer stuff wasn't SUBJ
stituted for good on the way home. If
the money was changed-aud it GER
| tainly appears to have been-it hap
pened after we got here with it, and
without my knowledge"
A few days later a delegation of the
miners waited upon the superintendent
in his ca bin office and made general
protest that they were being paid in
counterfeit money. Tellson repeated
what he had said on the former Occa-
sion. and added, impressively:
boys, this thing has gone far enough
to require Investigation. There is un-
doubtedly some one showing the queer
right and left. He may be some one
who is shrewd enough, and has facil-
tiles for robbing me and replacing it
with his own bad coin. Keep your eyes
open, and if the scoundrel is caught he
will get swift Justice
The men departed, growing and dis
satisfied. but determined to keep on
the alert and capture the counterfeiter
if possible. One look at their faces
would have satisfied any one of the hor-
rible fate in store for the unknown ras-
cal when he should be detected. An
other payday came around, and sever
al thousand dollars more of the worth
less currency got into circulation. de-
spite the great vigilance exercised by
every one concerned.
| Excitement and Indignation grew to
feverish proportions. and on the follow
ing morning strange stories got ahoat
about the gulch. 1t was said that a
solitary horseman had galloped into
the camp late at night, that he had
gone straight to old Dobbles' cabin. had
remained there for upwards of an hour.
and had then galloped off again at a
break-neck pace. The visits of the
mysterious stranger. coupled with the
circulation of spurious money, assumed
dark import in the minds of the
miners when these rumors became gen.
orally known.
About four o clock in the afternoon
T, old Dobbles. apparently feebler than
ever. strolled into the vicinity of the
Marjorie. The men regarded him with
the blackest of looks which ne did not
seem to notice. He tarried for several
minutes. speaking to no one. and spoken
to by none. At last he turned to go,
when. as if by common impulse. the
miners roughly seized aim and threw
him to the ground.
Old Dobbles lay there as if dazed,
and asked no explanation. Twenty or
thirty mel bounded off to his cabin.
and came back few minutes later with
several small bags Of specie. The