Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-05-23
NUMBER q.

NO. | intend my words to be under
stood In their ordinary sense. You are
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 houseI"
Thirty pounds
"And IN evening dreSS!'
"Oh. anything from fifty upward"
He picked up Il 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
best dressed woman you meet ut your
first dinner in England
do you mean by pelting herr she
inquired mi chevOusly.
Far worse. BY wearing more ex-
pensive costume"
His manner was SO earnest that he
comEciied seriousness. Iris took the
profIered specimen and locke! 1t it,
From the cave, suppose! thought
you said antimony was not very valu-
able:'
THAT is not antimony. 1t Is gold.
BY chance 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 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 |, Wealthy she gasped.
81 am so glad for your sake, but tell
me. pray, Mr. jerks, what have got to
do with iti''
You" lie 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
uSLllii- PRIV HtScS.
81 don't see that at all. You find q
gold mine and cOolly tell me that | am
a half owner of it because you dragged
me out of the sea. fed me. housed me,
saved my life FROM pirates and general
IL acted like Il devoted nilrsemaid in
charge of a baby. Rca..y. Mr.. .IenlS'-
Really. Miss Deanc. y0u VIII annoy
me seriously il You say another word.
| absolutely refuse to listen ID such an
argument.
For some time they stood In silence
until the sailor commenced IL rcpr1lch
himself for his rough protest. re.hJps
lie Lad hurt her sensitive feelings.
20 VI hat "A brute lie WAS to De 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 dmpling with
amusement. for she understood him SC
we'll that had he threatened 10 kill her
she would have laughed ut him.
Would You mind getting the lampT
lie said softly. surprised TO catch her
expression of saucy humor.
"Oh. please may | speak" size in
quired. Il don't want to annoy you,
but | am simply dying TO talk"
He had forgotten his own inj inction.
Let us first examine our nine. lie
said. IF yJu bring tie lamp We can
have rooi look NJ it,"
Close scrutiny Of the work already
done merely confirmed the accuracy or
his first impression. While Iris held
the light lie opcLei UP tie seam with
few sli iJie, %! tie ,i'n. cI few
IL, .leS il b.JadCnCi ia Il EJ.sTorthy
volcanic u...r. aJW :,-.J..' in ii' aDSo-
lutte purity, 81 Tines blush black
W Zen fused with otter metals. 1he ad-
ditional labpr involved caused him to
follow up tie line of the fault. Sud
denly the liaLIe of the lamp began to
flicker in Il draft. There was an air
passage betWccn cave and ledge.
They came back into the external
glare. Iris was now SO serious tlat she
forgot TO eXtinguish the little lamp.
She stood with outstretcheI 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 shoul.
dered Ak and rifle and set forth. Iris
heard him ruStling upward through tie
trees. She set some water Il boil Tor
tea and. while bringing Il fresh supply
of fuel, passed the spot where the torn
scraps Of paper litic.cd the sand.
She was the soul of honor for wo-
man, but there was never Il woman yet
who could take her eyes oil written
document which confronted her she
could not help seeing that one small
morse contained her own name.
Though mutilatcd. it had clearly read
Dear Miss Deane.'
80 il was intended for me-" she
cried. throwing down her bundle and
dropping TO her knees. She .ecured
that particular sip AID eXa!.incd 1t
earnestly. Not for worlds would she
pick up all the scraps IN endeayor to
sort them. Yet they had Il fascination
for her, and at this c!o cr range she
saw another which bore tie 'egend-"I
love YOU"
Somehow the two seemed 10 fit to-
gether very nicely.
Yet third carried the same words
Il love you They were still quite
coherent. She did not want 10 look
any further. She did not even turn
over such of the torn pieces rs had
duttered to earth face downward.