The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-20

| 1.-THE Oldest and most aristocratic in the
| camp. sang III the choir and taught a
class in Sunday school when the regu-
lar man was away in the hills. This is
OF the first Importance when you open
a new business in a Canadian town
10 identity yourself
! The manager of the local bank
attended the same service, and so the
two men became acquainted. But the
banker did not tell the assayer of his
mysterious visitor, or of the far-away
! river that rippled over bed of gold.
Not that he had forgotten. He lost
many an hours sleep on account of
! Uncle Ben and his fascinating story.
| Three fretful. feverish weeks passed.
the door squeaked and Uncle Ben stood
once more in the bankers private office.
/ The banker tried to appear uncon-
cerned. He got up and closed the door
that Uncle Ben had left open, but be-
fore be had resumed his seat the
strange visitor had swung it wide
again. The whole wide world amt
none too big fer me- said Uncle Ben,
an they amt no use droppin' the
| blanket over a square deal"
The old man had abode so long in the
| open. seeing and knowing only Chekko,
that he hated four walls and no OPEN
inc-
1t required a great deal of diplomacy
upon the part of the banker to bring
| the old miner to consider proposition
from a Macquagin who was not Sandy.
Finally, by careful angling. the money
man got from Uncle Ben vague PROM
| Use that if Chekko could be won over.
he would be willing 10 allow the banker
TO help them out, but with the explicit
understanding that the manager should
risk nothing. This was the wish of the
honest old proSpectOr He even insisted
I -, 10, A1,,.
nuggets and the dust tested before
shipping the former, so that no embar-
rassment could possibly come to his
new friend. 1t was further agreed that
the banker. for his part in the work,
should have a one third interest in all
that Chekko end Uncle Ben possessed.
But before we do more" said Uncle
Ben. you take this bar to an assaver.
or two if they's two in town, an see if
it's all right
Carefully covering the little slab of
gold with a newspaper, the banker
stole out in search of a man with
crucible and scales and bottles and
things for testing ore
OF course, the old miner went along:
not that he doubted the honesty of the
banker, but he had sworn to Chekko,
touching the witchhazel. that the treas
ure should not leave his sight. They
come to Calgary with the railroad and
had never accumulated enough wealth
to take him further, but the old assayer
was away. They gathered from d scrap
of paper tackled on the front door that
| it would be three or four days before
the professor would return.
The banker was saying that he would
risk it and send the slab to Montreal.
when the keen eye of Uncle Ben caught
the swinging sign of the new man.
''Ah, to be sure" said the banker.
beaming. Il had forgotten that Cal
gary has two assayers now. How stu
p:d of me-"
But" said Uncle Ben. Juggling at
the bankers sleeve, can I'VE trust this
stran=er?"
Yes, indeed. 1 know him well, goes
to our church, fine fellow and from the
south, too
The assayer was busy They could
hear him jingling his longs and when
the door opened they could smell the
ore roasting in the furnace in the little
! back room. When Uncle Ben had been
introduced he wanted to see the great
man at work, but the assayer explained
to him that il was only fair to his Gus
toners that no one should enter the
test room. A sprinkle of dust in a
worthless sample, he explained. might
cause a millionaire to exchange places
with a pauper. The banker expressed
the opinion that that would be a good
thing-for the pauper-and appealed to
Uncle Ben for his opinion on the point.
Not if he came by it through fraud. -
said the old man. his steel blue eyes
fixed upon the bankers face.
The assayer had informed his friend,
the banker, that it would be impossible