The Irish standard., 1903-09-12
CHAPTER XVII.

Moses DennlSOn CnaC Lnere is anOuner
claimant to the land about which we
have been in correspondence. OF
course l expect to have all titles
thoroughly examined by my attor-
ncys before close any bargain with
you. What does Dennison mean?
What sort of interest has John r.
Wright in the land? Answer at
cnce."
70 this Franklin replied:
81 cannot learn from Wright the
grounds upon which he bases his
claim to ownership, unless there is
| some flaw in the title of which he has
| taken advantages; or else some mis-
carriage in the payment of taxes re-
| sulting in sale of the land, of which
| know nothing. 1t is possible that
Wright may have some lien upon the
| land. i will investigate, and if l find
| that it can be wiped out for reason
able sum of money, would you be
| willing to supply the cash?"
| TO this Mr.. Merivalc wrote in re-
ply:
s.Of course 1 would. Wipe out the
defect at once, whatever it is, no
matter what it costs. l am willing to
advance any SUN necessary, with the
understanding that it is to be repaid
from the receipts of the mine. Write
me at your earliest convenience the
| exact nature of the defects, and let
me know the amount of money you
need"
| Franklin to Merivale:
ga good many years ago the Colo
RADIO tract was sold to stock COM
pany in which 1 was the principal
stakeholder. AS you know, the land
had for Il long time been considered
practically worthless. had almost
entirely lost sight of it and long con-
sidered it a hopelessly worthless in
vestment. l put my shares of stock
away and never looked at them care
fully until a few months ago, when
L discovered that considerable pro-
portion of them had been lost, or, as
l now suspect, deliberately abstract
ed. Enough are missing to place me
in Il minority, and | suspect that
Wright, or some one behind him, had
engineered a scheme for the purpose
of freezing me out; and l strongly
suspect that the hand of some Colo
RADIO mining Spectator is in it. If
you will back me up may be able to
buy up some of the innocent stock
holders and possibly-with what 1
already hare-gct Il ma, GRITTY of the
existing stock. If l only had the
services of some good detectives and
some money to collect evidence, L
could easily defeat the damnable
scheme which has been organized
against me-"
Mer,ule replied as follows:
IL am perfectly willing to spend
money to get possession of the new
land, but if you do not own ma
jority of the stock 90 not see what
is to he gained by any further cor
lcspondence on the subject. Unless,
therefore, you choose to make me a
definite proposition showing me how
; we may get clear title to the land,
} | decline to bargain with you any
further"
Franklin then made q. proposition
as follows:
} "To get l,alf interest in the land
) by purchasing it from other stock
holders will cost you somewhere be-
! tween $3,O00.OoO and S5,OOO,0OO. If
| you are willing to help me recover
be done for say 100000 at the out
side, I will share it jointly with you.
BY liberal expenditure we can OBJ
tain practically complete possession.
1t seems to me that it is to your in
terest to ally yourself with me. 1t
may be necessary to do some fighting
in the courts, and to meet the con-
} spirators at every point will require
!. money. If you will agree to let me
draw on you to the extent of 100000
AZ occasion requires, /, on my part,
will agree to this: That within six
months we shall have exclusive DOS
session, or il ! fail by that time you
can have the equivalent of the $780,
COO advanced out Of my stock"
. Mcrivale replied promptly:
81 would like to close this business
up as soon as possible. My mining
|, resources are all lying idle, and I am
losing money every day thereby, I
cannot wait six months. Make it
three months and state your agree
: ment in writing, and I will see you
| about it,
Franklin then wrote:
J 81 accept Your amendment, and
hereby obligate myself within three
months to secure possession of the
} tract in - county, Colorado, for
you and myself jointly, or, on failure
to do so, to remuncratc you out of
my stock on condition that YOU will
honor my drafts to the extent of
, 100000
Merivale answered laconically:
: lit is a go. Draw away"
This letter from Franklin to Meri-
: vale may be interesting:
} Send check for $1,000 to Thomas
: Morris, Yokohama, Japan. This is
, for stock purchased through him.
l Charge the amount to my account
r just before Fcnton left Colorado
, for Nilus he induced Mcrvale to
1 write this letter to Franklin:
e st seems to me that if your stock
t was stolen from you, the proper way
L would be to steal it back Can't you
;. find anyone with nerve enough down
l your way to do it? The three months
t having expired, shall come to Nilus
). to settle matters at issue between us
: If by the time l get there you have
J. by hook or crook, got possession OF
Il the stock, all right If not, l must
e have the 100000 worth of stock"