Mower County transcript., 1897-06-16
The Old Silver Trail.
BY MARY E. STlCKNEY.
copyright. 1896. BY }. B. Lippincott Col
SYNOPSIS.


in Colorado. Harvey Neil. whose IA
tho east. has drifted to the Centennial
locates mining claim. which. after ap-
'derful richness. Col. Meredith, capitalist.
Mascot (Neil's mine(, lays his plans to
tap the rich vein. Lawsuits and intunc-
'tions follow.
CHAPTER !I-Dorothy Meredith. the
deraeerm In tse s her
rider. Opportunely discovered by Harvey
anf to ssT to an
II am doing beautifully, thanks"
There was a puzzled light in her eyes
as She looked at him with a. glance that
swiftly took note Of his dark brown,
close-cropped hair, showing tendency
to curl at the ends, which lay damp
against his forehead, the clear, gray
blue eyes, the dark moustache, and the
square-cut chin beneath. It was a
strong, masterfM face, fine-looking
rather than handsome There was in
tellectual force in the high forehead,
uprightness in the frank glance, which
had way of flashing in lightof humor,
exquisitely contagious when he smiled.
In that smile lay his strongest claim to
real beauty, softening and Frightening
the whole face, which expressed some
thing of severity. almost of sadness, in
repose. But even when he was grave
it was goodly face to look upon, face
to like and remember. If in any part
of the world she had ever met this man
before, Dorothy thought, it would seem
that she could hardly fail to recognize
him now, even under the partial dis
guise of his rough mining garb, and
yet
II beg pardon; you were about to say
something?" he asked, as with little
catch in her breath she looked away,
meeting his glance
1T was nothing, only" hesitating,
with shy little smile that made her
divinely pretty in the dancing freight,
''it struck me that I had possibly met
you somewhere before to-day"
II think you have, Miss Meredith" "
he answered, smiling so broadly that
she must note how even were the strong
white teeth showing under the brown
moustache. But hardly expected
that you would remember it, he added.
She looked at him for an instant in
silence, the puzzled expression sud-
denly changing to flashing smile of
recognition. II know" she breath
lessly exclaimed. 1T was at the
worlds fair!-It was you who"
'Who turned burglar to flch your
jacket from the Colorado building in
the dusk of a summer evening"" he
smilingly finished, as she hesitated.
"And to think of meeting you again
in this t-of-the-way place!" she cried,
with an excited little laugh, surveying
him incredulously. Il thought your
voice seemed familiar the moment
met you to-day; but did not half see
your face that night, and that it could
be you-of course such a thing could
not enter my mind" She looked at him
again, as though reduced to speech
lessness for the wonder of it, while he
laughed amusedly, saying nothing. "Of
course I guessed that you might be
from Colorado, from your familiarity
with the building," she presently went
on, "but to think of running across you
here, of all places"
"And I fancied also that you might
be from Colorado" he rejoined, look
ing up at her with pleased eyes. Just
as she had been keen to take account Of
his good looks a moment ago, SO was
he missing no charm of the bronze
brown hair with its soft love-locks
pressed fat against her forehead where
her riding-cap had been, no curve of the
daintily rounded form, so trinity dis
played in the well-ftting habit, of the
wildrose bloom of her face with its
gray eyes, that now looked black in the
shadows, of the enticing lines of the
small mouth, where pride and passion
seemed equally blended. But, unlike
her beauty in his eyes was simply per-
feet. And he could not say that he had
not seen her face on the night of which
she spoke, in the CLEAN of the electric
lights he had admired her then just as
he did now, and not one detail of her
loveliness had been forgotten. Il was
SC sure of it, indeed, that hung round
the building for days, hoping you would
come again, but you never did"
"No; we left for the east the next
morning." she replied, her cheeks
grown roster for:this frank confession.
''That was the reason was so anxious
to have my jacket. 1t was such shock
to me to find the building closed for
the night; believe was on the verge
of bursting into tears when you ap-
Peared. What funny little adventure
it was! shall never forget how I stood
outside and trembled while you
prowled about hunting my property.
think I counted on nothing less than
arrest for us both If you were discov'
ered."
1T might have been temporarily en-
barrassing, but you had the check t
show that the coat was yours, and since
they had carelessly neglected to boil
the one side of the door to the floor, sc
that the lock gave way so easily-well
they should have been thankful tha,
only such honest folk went in"