Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-07-31

1 Iris looked puzzled. "Is that your way of telling me that fine feathers would make me fine bird?" she asked.
 "No. I intend my words to be under. stood in their ordinary sense. You arc very, very rich, Miss Deane, an ex. travagantly wealthy young person.
 "Of course you know you are talking nonsense. Why, only the other day my father said"-
 Excuse me- What is the average price of walking dress from lead ing Paris house."
 Thirty pounds"
 And an evening dressT'
 "Oh, anything from fifty upward"
 He picked up few pieces of quartz from the canvas sheet.
 Here is your walking dress" he said, handing her lump weighing about a pound With the balance in the heap there you can stagger the best dressed woman you meet at your first dinner in England"
 Do you mean by pelting her." she inquired mischievously.
 Far worse. By wearing a more ex- pensive costume"
 His manner was so earnest that he compelled seriousness. Iris took the proffered specimen and looked at 1t.
 From the cave, suppose? thought you said antimony was not very valu- able?'
 That is not antimony. It is gold. By chance have hit upon an extreme ly rich lode of gold. At the most mod est computation it is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. You and I are quite wealthy people. Miss Deane.'
 Iris opened her blue eyes very wide at this intelligence It took her breath away. But her first words betokened her innate sense of fair dealing.
 You and I! Wealthy" she gasped. "I am so glad for your sake, but tell me, pray, MT. Jenks, what have got to do with it?'
 Your he repeated. Are we not partners in this island? By squatter's right if by no better title we own land, minerals, wood, game and even such weird belongings as ancient lights and fishing privileges"
 'I don't see that at all. You find a gold mine and coolly tell me that am half owner of it because you dragged me out of the sea, fed me. housed me, saved my life from pirates and general ly acted like a devoted nursemaid in charge of baby. Really, MT. Jenks'- Really. Miss Deane, you will annoy me seriously if you say another word. I absolutely refuse to listen to such an argument"
 For some time they stood in silence until the sailor commenced to reproach himself for his rough protest. Perhaps he had hurt her sensitive feelings. What brute he was to be sure! She was only a child in ordinary affairs, and he ought to have explained things more lucidly and with greater com mand over his temper. And all this time Iris face was dimpling with amusement, for she understood him so well that had he threatened to kill her she would have laughed at him.
 Would you mind getting the lamp?" he. said softly, surprised to catch her expression of saucy humor.
 "Oh. please may speaki" she in- quired. T don't want to annoy you, but am simply dying to talk"
 He had forgotten his own injunction. Let us first examine our min '" he said. "If you bring the lamp we can have a good look at it."
 Close scrutiny of the work already done merely confirmed the accuracy of his first impression. While Iris held the light he opened up the seam with few strokes of the pick. Each few inches it broadened into a noteworthy volcanic dike, now yellow in its abso- lute purity, at times bluish black when fused with other metals. The ad- ditional labor involved caused him to follow up the line of the fault. Sud denly the flame of the lamp began to flicker in a draft. There was an air passage between cave and ledge.
 They came back into the external glare Iris was now so serious that she forgot to extinguish the little lamp. She stood with outstretched hand.
 There is a lot of money in there," she said Irons of it.
 "No need to quarrel about division. There is enough for both of us"
 Quite enough. We can even spare some for our friends
 1 The hour drew near when. Jenks climbed to the Summit rock. He shoul- dered ax and rife and set forth. Iris heard him rustling upward through the trees. She set some water to boil for tea and, while bringing fresh supply of fuel. passed the spot where the torn scraps of paper filtered the sand. She was the soul of honor for a wo- ] man. but there was never a woman yet who could take her eyes of a written document which confronted her. She ! could not help seeing that one small morsel contained her own name. ' Though mutilated. it had clearly read Dear Miss Deane."
 ! "So it WAS intended for me" she | cried. throwing down her bundle and dropping to her knees. She secured that particular slip and examined it