The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-08-19
CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY

sum for the purpose you are at least
her equal"
Iris looked puzzled. rs that your
way of telling me that fine feathers
would make me a fine bird?" she
asked.
NO. I intend my words to be under
stood in their ordinary sense, You are
very. very rich, Miss Deane, an ey-
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 a walking dress from lead
ing Paris house,"
Thirty pounds
And an evening dress:"
"Oh, 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 u 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 peltinS 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 it,
Prom the cave, 1 suppose? l. thought
you said anthony was not very valu-
able:"
THAT is not anthony. 1t 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 | 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.
Il am so glad for your sake. but tell
me, pray. Mr.. jerks what have | got to
do with it,
You. he repeated. care 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 all. You find
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
~ acted like Il devoted nursemaid in
charge of a baby. Really, Mr.. jerks
''RCally, Miss Deane, You will annoy
me seriously if you say another word.
1 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 a brute he was to be sure. She
was only child in ordinary affairs,
and he ought to have explained things
more ucidly 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 l speak, she in
CURED Il don't want to annoy you,
but am simply dying to talk"
He had forgotten his own injunction.
Let us first examine our mine" 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 dixie. now yellow in its absO
lutte purity. at times Il blush 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.
lions 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
The hour drew near when jerks
climbed to the Summit rock. He Shout
dered AK 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 a woman yet
who could take her eyes off a written
document which confronted her. She
could not help seeing that one small
morsel contained her own name.
Though mutHated, 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
earnestly. Not for worlds would she
pick up all the scraps and endeavor to
sort them. Yet they had a fascination
for her, and at this closer range she