The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-05-28

landlady should never employ female
servant unless she was hunchback or
cross-eyedl He followed her through
the room and out to the door Of the
bank, and when he returned he was
smiling blandly and his lips were NOV
ing as If talking to himself. He didn't
say : word to me. II he had could
could not have replied TO him, Is ! was
completely knocked out.
After that day noticed marked
change In Brown. He seemed to thaw
QUITO take moro interest in life; and
/ caught on to the fact that he was
writing private letters To some one.
One day he added to my establishment
by calling me into his private room
and inquiring If it wouldn't be . good
thing for us to pick up silver mine in
Nevada providing we got low figure
and a sure thing.
The next astonishing circumstance
happened week later. was out on
the street at I1:3O, an hour when every
man of the firm was invariably clos
eted with himself, and l suddenly
caught sight of Jones going into q
hotel. Believing myself to be the
victim Of an optical delusion soon
followed, and as looked about the Of
fee the clerk beckoned to me and said:
Room 44-Mrs Temple silver miner
She had been to the office to call ON
Brown, and now she had probably sent
word to Jones to call on her. ! would
have bet hundred to one that Jones
wouldn't have gone, even to close
deal in which there was q sure profit
OF ten Thousand dollars, but there
he's was. sure enough, and began to
feel annoyed and uneasy. was at the
I1office when Jones returned, two hours
later. He not only had a grin on his
face, but he felt so good that he actual
| ly whistled bar or two of a popular
air.
II anything further was needed to
convince me that everything was at
skies and sevens in the house ST Brown,
Smith & Jones the conduct of Smith
furnished it. On certain Wednesday
morning he was twenty-eight minutes
| late As II this were not enough, he
lcame=inleelxing frustrated and excited.
An@hour later a boy brought note
| which I carried to his room. 1t was
addressed in a woman's hand, and with
| in twenty minutes after receiving 1t he
left the bank evidently to keep an APP
pointment He had hardly gone when
Jones came out to me and began to dis
| cuss business matters. This had never
happened before, and Twas regarding
him with surprise and establishment
when he observed:
1-s'If we could pick up silver mine
| known by insiders to be worth mil
| lion dollars, and get it for about thirty
Thousand, it might be q good invest
| ment, eh?"
/ mumbled something in reply, and
he took three or four turns across the
room and disappeared into his private
offiee-At- ene=o,eleck= Smith came in.
| He had forgotten his usual dignity of
entrance and he was so absent-minded
that he hung up his coat on the
wrong hook. He fidgeted and then OBJ
! served:
| Il have had an offeHspf mining prop
crty which promises great things. Did
you ever hear of the Queen Anne mine
of Ncvada?"
| ] replied that never had, and after
sitting in deep study for awhile he
also retired He had evidently been to
! see Mrs. Temple also. Mrs. Temple,
/ then. was woman who had a silver
mine to dispose of.ZOf all men in the
world whom / should have hesitated
to approach were the three comprising
our. firm. OF all people liable to sue
coed with them woman would be the
very last. / couldn't make it out. 1t
/ seemed to me that the natural order OF
things had been reversed.
Before the week was out Jones es-
corted Mrs. Temple to the theater,
/ Brown had taken her out for drive,
and there were well-founded rumors
that Smith had sent her bouquet.
then set to work to find who Mrs. Tenn
pie was. No one could give me any in
formation beyond the fact that she was
the widow of Nevada mine owner, and
that she had come east for the purpose
of disposing of some mining property.
She had charts and maps and diagrams
of lands and mines, and seemed to be
well posted as to the business on hand.
1t was, however, the general impress
sion that she was sharper or ad-
ventures, with man behind her some
where, and it was further told mo that
Brown, Smith and Jones, individually
and collectively, were infatuated with
her.
always wondered why she did no.
attempt to secure my assistance in her
project, but she probably either mis-
trusted that l suspected her or she
thought she could work her cards with
out my assistance. While each of the
three partners knew that each of the
others had been approached on ethe
same subject-that of buying the mine
neither of them knew that the other
had been done for by her fascinating
ways / have the strongest grounds for
stating three separate and distinct be-
liefs:
First-that Jones expected to marry
her.
Second-that Brown expected to
marry her.
Third-that Smith had become so in
fatuated that he would have run away
with her, leaving wife, business and all
Well, the proposition to buy her sill
yer mine came up at the business meet
ing one morning. There was nothing
in the looks or words of either party to
lead one to mistrust that he had ever
met her or talked it over before 1t
would have been proper to send some
q expert OUT to the mine to investigate
and report, but she had given them the
names of parties to write to, and it was
agreed that if reports were favorable
the deal should be closed. / now for
the first time learned of the location of
the mine. had not only been on the
site and knew the mine to be worth
less, but had friends there who would
attest the fact. Under direction of the
firm, / wrote to the address given by
, Mrs Temple. Acting on my own judg-
ment, also wrote to other parties.