Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-14

men who had followed him into the dance
hall. The boy was in despair. Fourteen
said the ROLLER" Keno! Head her orr
shouted a voice that thrilled Arthur like
an electric shock. 1t was Charlie.
The fact that Charlie was gambling and
was not quite himself did not impress
Arthur. 1t was enough that he had found
the big brother whom he had always look
ed upon as being of a superior race, and
was to have his help in guarding the treas
ure, the loss of which would have meant
his dishonor. He told his story in whis-
per, and being now relieved of the nervous
strain Of his fear, was surprised to see how
terribly the news seemed to excite his
listener The men, as soon as they had
witnessed the meeting. had skunk away and
the two brothers reached the stable I'M
molested. Here Charlie severely iectured
Arthur on the danger he had Incurred and
insisted on taking the money belt himself.
Only too glad TO be rid Of the cause Of his
anxiety, the younger brother made the
change. and the two, pistol in hand, rode
rapidly to the mine. When they reached
the mine stable the man on watch handed
Charlie a note. 1t was from The under
ground foreman, asking directions for some
work in the neighboring mine; and Charlie
said he must go at once to the captain of
the night shift, which was then at work
on the second level. The two walked to the
shat: house together, and Arthur. who had
ON his working clothes. provided his brother
with bit of candle which he found in his
pocket and exchanged coats and hats with
him.
The candle is rather short, Charlie"
sail Arthur.
oh. guess it will last" replied Charlie
wait here till / come up
These were the last words exchanged
between the brothers. Charlie went down
the ladders, gave the captain of the night
shift a few directions, started back, and
went, no man knows where After wait
ing till he became nervous Arthur pro-
cured a light and went down the shaft.
He found the workmen and learning that
his brother had long ago left them he
promptly sent an alarm to the Office and
the workmen's quarters.
A fruitless search was kept up till day
light, although as soon as the story Of the
money belt was known no one but Arthur
expected to find the missing man. The
mine had water tunnel opening on the
mountain side and communicated with
several abandoned workings, all Of which
had exits, and IL would have been an easy
thing for Charles, who knew every inch
of the workings, TO have walked of with
the snug little fortune in his belt. 1t was
found that he had been gambling for a
long time and losing heavily, and that
not only had he dissipated his fortune,
which had been considerable, but that he
had incurred heavy debts among his
friends. This latter circumstance Arthur
never knew. The owner and manager of
the mine, a pig-headed Dutchman, was
completely in his brothers crime. and
he at once dismissed him. The two boys
were orphans and each had inherited a
considerable sum of money. Arthur at
once came forward with his entire prop
erty and paid 1t TO the mine, at the same
time offering to work for his board and let
his salary be withheld until he had made
up the full amount, OF which some hun
dre,is of collars were still lacking. He was
refused any position in the office and then
offered himself as a common laborer to
the underground foreman.
He had now been at work for nearly a
wear holding drills for the hammer men.
shoveling rock and pushing the cars. Every
month he reserved barely enough out of his
wages for necessary expenses: all the rest
he paid hack to his employer, and at the
time of which i write had almost completed
his self-imposed task of restitution. The
pathos of his faith in Charles was touching
All the damaging facts in his brothers lat
ter history were surprises to him. but aid
not in the least degree serve to convince
him that The popular theory was the correct
one. often he had been urged TO leave his
mental position and take a situation in the
office of another mine. but his answer was
always this: Charlie told ME to wait here