The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-26
THE BLAZED TRAIL.
By STEWART EDWARD WHITE
(A0thof of the Westerners).
Copyright 1902, by Stewart Edward White.

counter. At this moment the
bland voice of Mr.. Morrison made
itself heard al Thorpes elbow.
Good morning, Mr.. Smithers." it
said with the deliberatiOn of the con-
sciously great man. II have a few de-
scrlptions | would like to buy in the
northern peninsula"
Good morning. Mr.. Morrison. Archie
there Will attend to you. Archie, see
what MIR. Morrison wishes"
The lumberman and the other clerk
| consulted in a low voice. after which
the official turned to tumble among the
records Not finding what he wanted,
he approached Smithers. A whispered
consultation ensued between these two.
| Then Smithers called:
Take a seat. Mr.. Morrison. This
gentleman is looking over these town
ships. and will have finished in few
moments"
Morrison's eye suddenly became I'M
easy.
Il am somewhat busy this morning, 8"
he objected with shade of command
! in his voice.
If this gentleman-?" suggested
the clerk delicately.
Il am sorry" put in Thorpe with
! brevity. my time too is valuable"
| Morrison looked at him sharply.
MY deal is a big one" he snapped.
! II can probably arrange with this gem
! tleman to let him have his farm"
! Il claim precedence" replied Thorpe
calmly.
Well" said Morrison, swift as light.
| 'I'll tell you. Smithers. I'll leave my
| list of descriptions and a check with
you. Give me a receipt and mark my
lands off after you've finished with this
| gentleman"
Now government and state lands are
/ the property of the man who pays for
them. Although the clerks receipt
might not give Morrison valid claim;
nevertheless 1t would afford basis for
a lawsuit. Thorpe saw the trap, and
interposed.
! Hold on" he interrupted. 'I claim
precedence. You can give no receipt
| for any land in these townships until
! after my business is transacted. have
| reason to believe that this gentleman
and myself are both otter the same
| descriptions"
What" shouted Morrison, assum-
You will have to wait your turn,
| Mr. Morrison" said the clerk, virtuous
before so many witnesses.
| The business man was in a white
rage of excitement.
II insist on my application being
| filed at once!" he cried, waving his
J check. Il have the money right here
to pay for every acre of 1t, and if 1
know the law, the first man to pay
| takes the land"
! He slapped the check down on the
! rail, and hit Ii a number of times with
| the fiat of his hand. Thorpe turned
| and faced hm with a steel look in his
| level eyes.
Mr.. Morrison" he said, you are
quite right. The first man who pays
gets the land. but have won the first
| chance to pay. You will kindly step
one side until finish my business with
Mr.. Smithers here"
81 suppose you have the amount
actually with you" said the clerk, quite
Mr.. Morrison's claim will take prece-
/ dence."
II would hardly have any business
in a land office if 1 did not know that"
replied Thorpe, and began his dicta-
ton of the description as calmly as
though his inside pocket contained the
required amount in bank bills.
Thorpe's hopes had sunk to zero.
After all, looking at the matter dis
passionately, why should he expect
| Carpenter to trust him, a stranger,
with so large a sum? 1t had been
madness. Only the blind confidence of
the fighting man led him further into
the struggle.
Thorpes descriptions were contained
in the battered little notebook he had
carried with him in the woods. For
each piece of land first there came the
| township described by latitude and
east-and-west range. After this gen.
eric description followed another figure
representing the section of that par
ticular district. So Alt VS., meant
section s, of the township on range 49
north, II west. If Thorpe wished to
purchase the whole section that de-
scription woulds suffice On the other
hand, if he wished to buy only one for
ty, he described its position in the
quarter-section Thus SW-NW 49-17
IS, meant the southwest forty of the
northwest quarter of section in the
township already described.
The clerk marked across each square
of his map as Thorpe read them, the
date and the purchasers name.
In his notebook Thorpe had OF
course, entered the briefest description
possible. Now, in debating to the
clerk, he conceived the idea of specify
ing each subdivision. This gained
some time. Instead of saying simple
Northwest corner of section g." he
made of it four separate descriptions
as follows: Northwest quarter OF
northwest quarter; northeast of north
west quarter; southwest of northwest
quarter; and southeast of northwest
quarter.
He was not so foolish as to read the
. descriptions in succession, but so scat.
ter them that the clerk, putting dowr
the figures mechanically, had no ides
of the amount of unnecessary work ht
, was doing. The minute hands of the
/ clock dragged around. Thorpe droneC
/ down the long column. The clerl
scratched industriously, repeating in {
/ half voice each description as it wa:
: transcribed.
; At length the task was finished. L
became necessary to type duplicat,
| lists of the descriptions. While the som.
nolent youth finished his task. Thorpe
} listened for the messenger boy on tn,
stairs.
{ A faint slam was heard outside tn,
rickety old building Hasty step.
> sounded along the corridor The land.
locker merely stopped the drumming
of his fingers on the broad arm of tn,
chair. The door flew open, and Wallace
: Carpenter walked quietly to him.
Thorpe's face lighted up as he ros,
: to greet his partner The boy had no
forgotten their compact after all.
Then it's all right?" queried the lat
) ter breathlessly.
Sure" answered Thorpe heartily
got 'em in good shape"
, At the same time he was drawins
the youth beyond the vigilant watch
fulness of Mr.. Morrison.
You're just in time" he said in ar
undertone. Never had so close 4
/ squeak. l suppose you have cash OF
a certified check: that's all they'll take
here"