Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-06-30
CHAPTER IN Continued

IlhI Elt ! y Continued
"Of course you know you are talking
nonsense Why, only the other day my
father said
Excuse me. What is the average
Ing Paris house,
Thirty pounds"
And an evening dress:"
ooh. anything from fifty upward"
He picked up a few pieces of quartz
from the canvas sheet.
Here Is your walking dress" he
said, handing her II lump weighing
about 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 peltinS herr" 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 ut it.
From the cave. suppose? thought
you said anthony was not very valu-
abie?"
THAT Is not antimony. It is gold.
By chance l have hit upon an extreme
ly rich lode Of gold. At the most mod
est computation 1t 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. 1t took her breath
away. But her first words betokened
her innate sense Of fair dealing.
you and 1! Wealthy" she gasped.
II am SO glad for your sake, but tell
me, pray. Mr.. jerks, what have l got to
do with it,"
you" 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"
Il don't see that at oil. You find q
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
~ acted like devoted nursemaid in
charge of baby. Really, Mr.. jerks
Really, Miss Deane, you will annoy
me seriously II you say another word.
l 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 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 1 speak?" she in.
quired. Il don't want to annoy you,
but I am simply dying to talk"
He had forgotten his own Injunction.
LET us first examine our mine," he
said. III you bring the lamp we can
have a good look ut 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 q
few strokes Of the pick. Each few
inches 1t broadened into a noteworthy
volcanic dixie, now yellow In its abso-
Lutte purity. at times a blush black
when fused with other metals. The ad-
ditonal labor involved caused him to
follow up the line of the fault Sud-
denly the fame 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.
lions Of it,
mo need to quarrel about division
There is enough for both Of u.s.
'Quite enough. We can even spare
some for our friends"
The hour drew near when jerks
climbed to the Summit rock He shout
dered az and rifle and set forth. Iris
heard him rustling upward through the
trees. She set some water to boil for
tea and, while bringing a fresh supply
Of fuel. passed the spot where the torn
scraps Of paper Uttered the sand.
She was the soul Of honor for a wO-
man. but there was never q 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, 1t had clearly read
Dear Miss Deane."
so 1t was intended for me" she
cried. throwing down her bundle and
dropping to her knees. She secured
that particular slip and examined 1t
earnestly. Not for worlds would she
pick up all the scraps and endeavor to
sort them. Yet they had fascination
FOR her, and at this closer range she
saw another which bore the legend-"I
love you!"
Somehow the two seemed to ft to-
gether very nicely.
Yet third carried the same words
Il love you" They were still quite
coherent She did not want to look
any further. She did not even turn
over such OF the torn pieces as had
6uttered to earth face downward.
Opening the front Of her bodice, she
brought to light small gold locket
containing miniatures Of her father
and mother. Inside this receptacle she
carefully placed the three really mate
rial portions Of the sailors letter.
When jerks walked down the hill
again be heard her singing long before