The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-11-18

saw him on the rear platform Of the
train for the east, which was just pullt
ing OUT - >. I
There was silence for minute.
Doubts, hopes, fears-all played hide
and-seGk. E.t
Tom Gable was the first to find his
voice. -
"By-by,'' he said.
whats the matter? 2" asked Truslow.
"Our seating fund.-" replied Gable;
1--WE won't seat this year."
Then in few words Tom told him
all about it.
The next thing in order was 10 decide
what to do.
II suppose we could telegraph east
and catch him." said one.
''tAnd lock him up" said another.
"For good rope" said a third.
"After all our hard work." cried the
rest.
It was really too bad. To many
towns $4,000 isn't much, but to Boulder
it meant an awful lot of hard work
and self-denial. Put yourself in our
places and then blame US if you can for
the hard thoughts that would come to
us. Think of the loss of your money,
and worse than that, the loss of your
dearest hero and your fondest faith in
mankind. It wasn't nice, not little
bit.
An angry murmur went around.
There was lynching in the air that
night. It didn't help improve the at
mosphere very much, either.
"Humph!" said Doc Sloane, "what'n
Mrs. Lem say-and Buster?"
Then strange thing happened.
We were standing at the bar. Our
drinks had been poured out, but in the
excitement we had forgotten them.
We took our glasses in our hands and
looked down into them, and then sud-
denly, right down in the bottoms of
the glasses, in the whisky and water,
the pictures of two golden heads
peeped out full and fair, with the SUM-
beams shining down on them so that
the little halos danced all around. A
strange place for two golden-haired, in
nocent little heads to be, wasn't it?
We took our drinks.
SWELL" said Jim Truslow, "they
mustn't know, anyhow"
In the east the crowd would have
said amen. We didn't say it, but we
meant it.
We felt better already.
whats $4,000, anyhow" said Tom
Gable.
We felt ever so much better.
'Those fellows in Phoenix might
have taken the money and never given
us their votes, anyhow said Doc
Sloane.
We were almost all right again.
"They know me- said Truslow. "I'll
go over and promise them the money
and tell 'em how it is. They've been
in hard luck themselves, and will see
us out"
Why, we were all happy again.
Prosecute Lem? Not much! Break
that little heart? Not bit of it!
1t was decided that Jim should start
the next day. AS to Mrs. Lem, we were
to wait a day or SO to see what was to
be done.
A few days later word came from tho
effete east that Lem was in New York.
A kind friend wrote to Tom Gable and
said that, by-the-way, Lem was at the
Astor house. Tom wrote back at once
to the friend and told him to keep an
eye OIL Lem.
No word came direct from the man
who had made the strike, however, and
| a fvxv0 0f l. = L
all about LENS defalcation we didn't
know at what time some sympathizing
female might go to Mrs. Lem and tell
her all about it. So it was decided to act
at once.
Tom Gable wrote to his friend in the
east to meet Mrs. Lem at the Grand
Central and take her to her husband,
and then he and Doc Sloane called on
her.
"Have you heard from Lem?'' they
asked.
NO." replied she; ''have you?'
eyes," said Tom; '3he's gone to New
York. He has settled our business for
us, and he got into faro-game in
Phoenix and made few thousands"
"Indeed!" remarked Mrs. Lem; ''it's
funny he didn't write to me about it,
WELL" said Tom, "you see he writes
that he's too busy. He sent me 5000
for you, and you are to pack up and
go to him at once.'
Mrs. Lem didn't see anything wrong
about this, or suspect anything wrong.
A rattlesnake always wonders why
everybody doesn't know what he
means when he rattles himself. and
Mrs. Lem, being good, thought all the
world was good.
Mrs. Lem took the money.
"He wants you to leave here to-mor-
row. Doc and will see you to she rail-
road, and you'll be met at the Grand
Central by Jim Carroll. You remem-
Der him, of course. Lem is too busy.
He's making loads of money!
Mrs. Lem and Buster left US the next
day. It was sad day for all of US. We
cheered them as they rode off with the
last 5000 left in town.
When they got to the railroad station
Doc Sloane handed Mrs. Lem a letter
for her husband.
"Give that to Lem when you see him, {"
said he. "Good- by, ma'am, and Buster,
take care of your mamma, and if you're
good you'll he man before she isl
Mrs. Lem Rugged Buster, and Buster
cried for the last time in the territory
of Arizona.
The train started, and when Mrs.
Lem handed over the letter to her hus-
| band he read: