Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1899-11-30

hardly earned and the life of a navy
| not bad exchanged! Il wonder whom
! the other letter is FROM"
1t proved to be from Il gentleman
| signing himself Richard Blake. and
who gave his address as the kildare
| Street. Dublin. Club. He had. he said.
| just heard from O'Brien & Grldgery of
| the discovery in Queensland of the
missing heir, and. as Il relative. he
| FASTENED to send his congratulations.
I'VE shall all be delighted to see a
T. master at the head Of the old place
once more" he added, except. per-
haps. your cousin. Richard, who. bar
| ring YOU, would of course, succeed to
| Arnewood. and who may be n trifle
sore at first 1 suppose you will keep
O'Brien Il Grudgery informed as to
your movements. and hope you'll find
/ time to drop me a line. as well"
This .epistle might have been meant
in the 'friendlest spirit. but it produced
no other effect"upon its recipient than
i tC provoke an cjaculatio of contempt
"Pshaw!' he exclaimed. aloud. as
Though he were addressing the writer
in person. Il wonder what sort of Il
numbskull YOU take me for Mr.. Rich
| ifl bldke:
Nevertheless. the idea that he was
thus early being sought out and toad
led to. pleased him. in IL way: and he
went to his dinner in as contented Il
frame of mind as is possible to Il man
of naturally morese disposition.
1t is Il custom, rarely honored in the
breach, that when a digger stays over
night in a town he shall go the round
OF certain resorts. chiefly public houses
patronized by other gold hunters, and
there exchange mining gossip and
scraps Of news. Our man had proved
an exception to this rule. hitherto; and
in all his previous visits to Cooktown
he stunned the society of other dig
gers-for his own good reasons. New
ertheless. upon this particular evening
he so far relaxed this aloofness as to
share in the conversation and numer-
Gus drinks INDUCED in by a number of
gold hunters who had found their way
to the bar of the Miners Arms. APP
parently either he deemed that the
good news from Dublin had rendered
his WOnted caution unnecessary. or.
being almost IL stranger in the district,
he trusted to pass unquestioned.
So he did. until man, remarkable
alike for his well-nigh dwarfish short
ness Of stature and almost ludicrous
breadth of shoulder, pushed his way,
good-humoredly, to the somewhat
crowded bar.
Clear the road for the Dutch giant.
lads" he chuckled. hoarsely.
"Halloa. Dirk! What cheer, old
maE:' chorussed several voices.
Nigh stony. boys!!' replied the new
conner, and With scarcely a trace Of
foreign accent. But Dirk Vallstrom's
Always good for a few drinks. ell,
boss? What, you here?" he added, adj
dressing the recipient of the letters.
Yes" growled the latter. Cant
you see 1 am: Why shouldn't. 1 Beg"
NO reason that know of, mate"
rejoined Dirk, drily. except that 1
thought you and your mate were too
busy clearing out old Schneiders
claim on the Black Horse to waste n
night in Cooktown."
1t was difficult to define, from the
speakers tone whether he were in Joke
CT in earnest; but, from the chorus of
laughter which greeted his words. it
was evident that the bystanders re-
garded the alleged discovery of the old
joke. Not so the object of the dwarf
ish Dutchman's banter, who, shortly
afterward, retired. sulkily for the
night. Dirk gaZed refectively, upon
his retreating form. but he made no
further allusion to Black Horse Gully.
The lean horse had good spell of
rest. for not until O'clock the next
morning was he called upon to bear his
owner to the local branch of the Ma
tional Bank. The manager smiled as
his red-shirted visitor removed his
bread. many-buckled leathern belt and
placed it upon the counter. Banks
made a good profit upon the purchase
Of gold. and but little Of the precious
metal had found it's way to Cooktown
lately One by one. and very carefully,
he emptied the pockets, fixed upon the
inside CT the belt. of the gold dust and
"shctty nuggets which they contained.
The delicate bullion scales were then
called into requisition, and gave the
aggregate weight of the gold as 2lbs.
0oZ. 6dwt.
will YOU draw the value in cash
! now?' inquired the manager suavely.
NO; I'D rather leave it with YOU for
the present" was the reply II have
more gold besides that lot"
I'm very glad to hear it, replied the
manager. Well buy all you care to
bring us. I'll just make out a deposit
receipt and take your signature"
Hesitatingly and slowly as though
unused to welding pen, the new de-
positor wrote Luke Arnewood in the
signature book, received his deposit
fern and slouched out of the bank.
Dirk Vanston was standing outside the
building with. apparently no more en-
crossing occupation ON hand than to
study the anatomy Of the lean horse.
"Good-day, mate" was the Dutch
mans cordial greeting. "Been putting
up some of old Schneiders leavings
He used to bank in the very same
crib"
For all reply. the digger sprang
swiftly upon his horses back and
drove home his sharp spurs. With /,
snort of pain, the poor brute dashed
out viciously. and came within an ace
Of dashing out the Dutchman's brains.
Horse and rider then disappeared down
| the. street.
Dirk Vanston's eyes flashed fiercely,
1