The Princeton union., 1900-10-25

the lower hall he suddenly struck
5parlor match that hared up and IL
lumined the winding staircase to the
third story. Some thought as sudden
prompted her to glance aloft, just in
time to catch glimpse of a woman's
face withdrawing swiftly over the
balcony rail. In her hatred of any
thing that sayored of spying the girl
could have called aloud demand
to know what Mrs. Fletcher wanted,
but strange things were in the wind,
as she was learning, and something
whispered silence. Slowly she re-
turned to Jessie's side, and together
once more they searched with the
glasses the distant trail that, dis
tinctly visible now in the slant of the
morning sun, twisted up the north
ward slopes on the winding way to
Frayne. Not Whit of dust could
they see.
Meantime John Folsom strobe swift.
ly down the well-known path to the
quartermaster's depot, q tumult of
suspicion and conjecture whirling in
his brain. AS he walked he recalled
the many hints and stories that had
come to his ears of Burleigh's ante
cedents elsewhere and his associa-
tions here. With all his reputation
for enterprise and wealth, there were
'shady" tales of gambling transac-
tions and salted mines and watered
stocks that attached perhaps more
directly to the men with whom he
foregathered than to him. "A man
is known by the company he keeps"
said Folsom, and Burleigh's cronies,
until Folsom came to settle in Gate
City, had been almost exclusively
among the "sharps,' gamblers and
their kindred, the projectors and pros
pectors ever preying on the unwary
on the outer wave of progress. With
in the past six months he had seen
much of him, for Burleigh was full of
business enterprises, had Investments
everywhere, was lavish in invitation
and suggestion, was profuse in offers
of aid of any kind if aid were want
ed. He had gone so far as to say that
he knew from experience how with his
wealth tied up in real estate and
mines a man. often found himself in
need of few thousand in spot cash,
and as Folsom was buying and build
a little short and needed ten or twen-
ty thousand, say, why, Burleigh's
bank account was at his service, etc.
It all sounded large and liberal, and
Folsom, whose lot for years had been
cast with a somewhat threadbare ar
ray of people, content with little,
impecunious but honest, wondered
what manner of martial man this
was. Burleigh did not loudly boast
of his wealth and influence, but i'm
pressed in some ponderous way his
hearers with sense of both. Yet,
ever since that run to Warriors Gap,
q change had come over Burleigh. He
talked more of mines and money and
showed less, and now, only yesterday.
when the old mans heart had mel
lowed to him because he had first held
him wholly to blame for Deans ar
Irest and later found him pleading for
the young fellows release, a strange
thing had happened. ,Burleigh con
fided to him that he had simply fab
ulous opportunity-a chance to buy
out mine that experts secretly told
him was what years later he would
have called "bonanza,' but that in
the late sixties was locally know1
as "Shanghai." Twenty-Five thou
sand dollars would do the trick, bu,
his money was tied up. Would Fol-
som 60 in with him, put up twelve
thousand five hundred, and Burleigt
would do the rest? Folsom had beer
bitten by two mines that yielded only
rattlesnakes, and he couldn't bt
lured. Then, said Burleigh, wouldn't
Folsom go on his note, so that ht
could borrow at the bank? Folsom
seldom went on anybody's note. I,
[ was as bad as mining. He begged off
and left Burleigh disappointed, bu,
not disconcerted. '1 can raise Il
without trouble" said he, "but it may
: take forty-eight hours to get thu
cash here, and I thought you woult
be glad to be let in on the ground
floor"
r. 'S oOOA ACO Ia W COO "duN
Z floors, MAJOR said he. you'll hav'
to excuse me-" And so Burleigh
with his Louisiana captain, had driver
: off to the fort, where Newhall asket
for Griggs and was importunate, no.
did Griggs' whisky. freely. rendered t,
all comers of the commissioned class
;. tend to assuage his desire. Back hat
they gone to town, and then came tn,
cataclysm of noon.
In broad daylight, at his of6cia
desk, in the presence and hearing O
officers, civilians and enlisted men, 81
the soldier lawyers would have it
, a staff official of high rank had bee,
> cowhided by cavalry subaltern, ant
that subaltern, of all others, the onl,
; brother of Folsom's fair guest, Jessi
: Dean-the boy who had saved tn
lives of Folsom's son and\his sons i'm
, periled household, and had thereby en-
: deared himself to him as had no othe
? young soldier in the service. And nov
:, what fate was staring him in tn
) face? Released from arrest but da,
or SO before upon appeal of tho off