Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-26

JAMES FRANKLIN. 'That is certainly one of the most remarkable documents that it has 1 ever been my fortune to consider" said the lawyer, his keen eyes snap | ping with relish for novelty in Ie- gal literature. Have you any idea what the paper is worth ?"
 .Y should say two or three hundred thousand dollars said Irving.
 I 'It is nearer ten or twelve mill l lions," declared the lawyer.
 | Irying's eyes betrayed dazed sur prise as he gaspingly repeated tire. words after Mir. Everett. The latter smiled and said: 'tI haven't the 1 slightest doubt that Frederick Meri- vale would give at least $1,ooo,000 for the rights secured in the Wright es- tate by this paper"
 "But-how can it be?'' asked Irving in a whisper.
 Before explain this part, let me l 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 l 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 I the mining company were harder to l get at. It became necessary to have thorough investigation, and with this end in view Fenton went to Colo rado and there he soon learned that
 te local incorporators in the Dia- tond Mining company were dunn nies, and that James Franklin owned } large proportion of the stock. These two companies were evidently created by Wright and Franklin for the purpose of more thoroughly con- cealing 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 a rich
 mining section. Originally Wright had bought it for a song and had looked upon it as 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 l for number of years. Recently the vein of ore became richer and richer until finally it ran dead against tre- mendous wall of solid sandstone, | ,S.-1. 1& lac H 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 a "dog" came along. The Sdog" is some kind of mystic apparatus which will indicate the whereabouts of gold, just as the witch-haze1 is said to point out subterranean stream of water. 1 We'll, this old fellow climbed over the great wall of sandstone into a rocky reach of land; and as he was going about with his stdog'' he soon dis covered violent symptoms, as it were, l of gold. The vein was continued with apparently double richness on the l other side of the intervening sand I 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 I tract of land for Wright; and as soon as he learned of it's possibilities he wrote to Wright telling him that he probably had large fortune in it, if he had continued to hold it. Wright wrote back that the land was still I his, and that the taxes had been paid upon it regularly. This letter has 1 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 stockholder 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 surnise, but this is doubtless the cause Of Merivale's visit to Mus"
 .'No wonder they were willing and I ready to spend money, and to employ all sorts of means to thwart the in- vestigation of the truth. It is now only too plain that the murder of John T. Wright was simply a part of great conspiracy to get possession of the naines.'
 Mot a doubt of it; and there is no reason to suppose that the conspira- tors will quietly allow this paper to remain out of their possession. They will do some dark scheming to get hold of it. I think, therefore, that we had better take copy of it.
 The lawyer got from his desk a 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 delft penmanship could contrive. Irv- ing was expert enough to make one that could hardly have been told from Tits prototype. This was held before
 the fire so as to dry the ink and draw out it's 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-