The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-04

hand on all that silver
CHAPTER III
Autumn gone and winter. too. and spring
co11c-tle carly, fragrant spring Of those
favored southern climls.
Ruth Basse-t was sitting on the same
stone on which she had some eiEht months
previously awaited the arrival OF her lover.
and she again awaited his coming But
she was not alone. Jack had gone away
as the carly winner SHOWS clad the moan
tains with her glisrenlEE pail. and nad
tp- her that he was going TO his home in
Tennessee 10 sell what ue possessed there
the little farm Wlich the old folk uad
left him. and the furniture and the stock
and that he would come back prepared
70 make q home for her where she de-
sired 20 uve-1ear her old grandfather.
The girl had cred over the again enforced
parting, ana made her lover swear faith
and truth and allegiance, and they had
slipped the honey OF the sweet-bitter hour
OF parting from one another's lips. and
had read poems Of happiness in one an
others eyes
Jack had gone 70 Tennessee. and had left
his friend, Godfrey Totten, % take care
Of his love. Godfrey had vowed 20 be
worthy u his trust. and faithfully 10 shell
ter and guard her.
Mind you, may be a long time. my
darling Jack had said. Il may be longer
arise. But Of one thing De sure. j shall
come back % make you my own. my very
own. dear wife" And she had kissed him
and smiled. "Oh. l know IL. / know it,"
and he placed her hand IN Geonrey Tot
tens hand as a sacred charge. and had
gone away, and she had sat there looking
AFTER him until man and rider became
TIMER and timer between the mesauit
pushes and had finally quite disappeared,
leaving merely cloud OF dust on the hor-
lion.
Jack had ungrumblingIy accepted the
old mans nat that the Canchito mine
should be left untouched. His loves
grandfather wished II, and that was sur
hcient for him. Not so Godfrey Totten.
Jack Ormbridge had been reared amid the
homely usages OF a Tennessee country
homestead, and he had learnt there thar
hlrai duty and obedience which the early
settlers of the west had always deemed
one Of the brightest ornaments OF their
family life. He was simple in his mind
and habits, and simple in his wants. AMI
a manly life amid the wilds Of New NfeNi-
can mountains suited him well. Thus he
had met Ruth Rdssett through being
grievously injured in hunting the grizzly
20 his mountain Businesses
Not 50 Godfrey TOtten. Godfrey had
been brought up in a hard school among
the mOney-grabbing classes of the great
cities His father had been rich, but had
died in penury. His uncle, who hal
brought up Godfrey after the elder To-.
tens death. had instilled into him the
maximum that money made the man. He
had told him-"Iye not been very SUI
cessful myself. boy; that was the fault of
luck and not OF trying; but you have all
the world before you. When you see a
chance come don't let It slip! You may
have but one all your life"
When. on his beath-bed, he told his
Nc hen al
fabulous wealth, he did not mention the
terrible murders. and the horrible mis-,
fortunes that followed and which red
dened the ore with their stain. Geoffrev
had gone 10 the Canchito. and having
discovered 81, or rediscovered it, ne made
up his mind that he would not be baked
by all the COLLINS, sprites, or silver kings
in the universe. stupid, foolish tales 10
brighten women he said, "at which a
man might laugh"
The only point which bothered him was
the fact that the mine was not public
property, after all. The last Of the thir-
teen lived and he was the owner of the
mine. Although GeOffrey's uncle might
have had as clear a title TO the property
as George Bassctt, Godfrey Totten could
not produce a scrap which would enable
him to make a claim against the old
mans. The mine, he said 10 himself, he
would have, and ne would work it In
spite Of million ghosts and demons;
and there was only one way TO have the
mine, and that was, if possible, to marry
the granddaughter of the man who owned
1.-THE woman who would one day own
it herself
Therefore, when Jack Cambridge had
gone, he began to lay siege 10 the heart
of the girl whom he had sworn TO guard
and keep for his friend. When the russell
autumn came and the evenings lengthen-
ed, he never left the girl except TO make
excursions to the Canchito gorge, and there
to descend the shaft and explore as far
as he could the place where ne hoped to
make his fortune. When wintcrcane wit n
its long evenings and nights, and the cold
became as bitter as II was short lived IN
these mountain ATTITUDES and the nights
black and bleak, so that indoor life be-
came necessity, he was ever by her
side, praising Jack with one gilded phrase
and dropping poisonous sylables into her
ear the next moment. Jack was a good
man-of that he was sure. He was sure
also that he would never forget her, I'M
less
UNLESS wiat?" the girl would ask in
timid amazement. All" he would ex-
claim. You wouldn't understand. You
are not accustomed TO life further east
There are so many temptations"
What temptations ?" Ruth would in
would never forget me fur another wo-
man" He would not, I'm sure, unless
something extraordinary happened" Ce-
offrey would answer. But there, you can
rely upon his coming back to you. l know
he's a man of his word, and will keep it
unless something very powerful will pre-
vent him And thus on-one spoonful Of
honey, and one drop Of gall to leaven with
its poison the fair speeches that preceded
H.
Ruth and Godfrey were sitting together
on large boulder by the side of the noun
tain torrent where the girl had refreshed
her face so many months back. He was
splashing about with the tip of his boot.
in the pearling water that rushed and
bubbled away at his feet she with her
eyes to the ground, and her hands folded.
listening to him. Thus they had been to-
gether day after day, month after month,
and what wonder was there that during
that long intercourse the maiden should
have come to look with favorable eyes
upon the only marriageable man whose
path crossed hers, and who professed such
devotion to his friend-a man among men.
she called him. No girf of sixteen even is
so innocent that looks of fiery devotion
movements in which the language Of the
heart is writ-escape her. Godfrey made