Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-06-03

slightest doubt that Frederick Meri-
vale would give at least $1,Oo0,o0O for
the rights secured in the Wright es-
tate by this paper"
"But-how can it be?" asked Irving
in q whisper.
Before explain this part, let me
tell you this; that the Shelby County
Real Estate & Investment company
and the Diamond Mining company Of
Colorado are virtually and practically
James Franklin. These facts were
discovered by Fenton, who at my
suggestion has examined the records
in the registers Office, and learned
the exact state Of the case. It was
easy sailing about the real estate
company, but the facts concerning
the mining company were harder to
get at. It became necessary to have
q thorough investigation, and with
this end in view Fenton went to Colo
RADIO and there he soon learned that
the local incorporators In the Dia-
mond Mining company were dunn
mics, and that James Franklin owned
Q large proportion of the stock.
These two companies were evidently
created by Wright and Franklin for
the purpose Of more thoroughly con-
Dealing the real nature of the trans
fers made. Fenton paid visit to
the Colorado tract of land, and it
proved to be in the heart Of rich
mining section. Originally Wright
had bought 1t for q song and had
looked upon It as q very Indifferent
speculation; but in 20 years great
changes have been wrought, mines of
vast richness have been worked, and
now it turns out that the eyes Of all
the gold diggers in Colorado are
turned greedily toward this tract Of
land situated among the hills. To
the northeast Of the tract a very
successful mine has been conducted
for q number Of years. Recently the
vein Of ore became richer and richer
until finally it ran dead against ire
mendous wall of solid sandstone,
which some upheaval of nature had
thrust into the precious vein. For
days and days the miners sought TO
discover the broken thread, but in
vain, until an old fellow who owned
Q dog" came along. The dog" is
some kind Of mystic apparatus which
will indicate the whereabouts of gold,
Just as the witch-hazel is said to point
out subterranean stream Of water.
Well, this old fellow climbed over the
great wall of sandstone into a rocky
reach Of land; and as he was going
about with his dog" he soon dis
covered violent symptoms, as it were,
Of gold. The vein was continued with
apparently double richness on the
other side Of the intervening sand
stone. Fenton was fortunate enough
to meet an old fellow out there who
had gone west from this section of
the country and who had bought that
tract of land for Wright; and as soon
as he learned Of its possibilities he
wrote to Wright telling him that he
probably had a large fortune in it, If
he had continued to hold 1t. Wright
wrote back that the land was still
his, and that the taxes had been paid
upon 1t regularly. This letter has
been secured. OF course the news Of
the discovery Of this valuable vein on
Wright's land created intense excite
ment, and Frederick Merivale, the
largest stakeholder in the adjacent
mine, at once placed himself in cor
respondence with James Franklin.
Just what has taken place between
them is merely matter of surmise.
but this Is doubtless the cause OF
Merivale's visit to Nilus."
"No wonder they were willing and
ready to spend money, and to employ
all sorts Of means to thwart the in
vestigation of the truth. 1t is now
only too plain that the murder Of
John T. Wright was simply part of
a great conspiracy to get possession
Of the Mines"
mot q doubt of 1t; and there is no
reason to suppose that the conspira-
tors will quietly allow this paper to
remain out Of their possession. They
viii do some dark scheming to get
hold Of 1t. I think, therefore, that
we had better take copy Of It,"
The lawyer got from his desk q
piece of paper, old and somewhat
soiled, which could very easily be
taken for the paper on which the
original agreement had been written,
and then he instructed Warde to
make copy Just as much like it as
deft penmanship could contriye. Irv-
ing was expert enough to make one
that could hardly have been told from
its prototype. This was held before
the FIRE SO as to dry the ink and
draw out its blackness. It was then
folded and backed with the words,
"John T. Wright's Copy of the Agree
ment," Just as the original had been.
Hardly had this task been accom-
plished when the door bell rang and
soon afterward the servant an
nounced that Col. Franklin desired
an audience with Mr.. Everett. The
lawyer saw that 1t would arouse
Franklin's suspicious If he declined
an interview, and he was not averse
to a contest of wits with that astute
individual. At first he was puzzled
to know what to do with Irving. It
would not do for him to go out in
the hall and risk being seen by the
colonel.
The left side Of Mr.. Everett's L.
brary was covered with book shelves,
but one of the cases was q revolving
door and bookcase combined. A
slight push turned 1t sideways and
permitted entrance to the next apart
ment, which was sort Of lounging
room for the lawyer. There were q
great many easy chairs therein, q
lounge, and all the facilities for the
dreamy recreation of reading. When
the lawyer wanted to work he occu-
pied the library; when he wanted to
read he sought the luxurious chair in
the lounging room.
It was the work Of moment to
throw back this door, which had been
contrived purely as convenience,
and not for the purposes of weird
r0rnopco md <hrnet Trv3po into tho