Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1906-08-23

| w ell II ndSn I utCn lot SAFE Sdlu
DULY. but If any one can buy it at
fair figure. | suppose ! am he If tn
cash were coming TO pay for IT,
Maybe here's your chance, said Osh
kosh, and, taking up a letter passed ]
over to me; then he turned to write
digging away with his pen at a wonder
ful rate on something that was evidently
Juicy to him
"The letter was from a capitalist who
was at the head of a syndicate that wa.
offering to buy developed mining prop
erty II was evident that they meant
business and had millions back of them
While ! was reading and Oshkosh
was still writing like fury, a clerk slipped
in with a basket containing the usua
grist OF papers that daily passes through
a bank, all made up ready to sign and
mail, and on the top of the heap was
the Sultan's Draft. give you my word
of honor, De, grew sick again at sight
of it,
"The old man finished with a final
skate across the paper as the clerk passed
out
"'Well, James, son, what do you think
OF iii? he said, wheeling around to me.
Tn sure the Conqueror could be sold
il the price isn't out OF sight. II you
can swing that deal, my boy you can
snap your fingers at the whole pack Of
your debts, and the Sultan's Draft, too.
Your commissions on the sale would
amount to five times the sum Of your
present needs. Do you think you can
make It go through in six weeks? That's
about the limit of time I'm giving to the
return Of this hoax
"'Oh, my God We can't count on
that in srch a desperate emergency as
this = / cried, in panic
" Keep cool, James Keep cool. Sit
on the safety valve and throw in your
bacon and coal oil You must beat in
the race with some of your plans. and
this offers another very good opportun-
ity to win out Now look here Osh-
kosh continued, taking the paper he had
just been working over, that draft has
TO have something to go with il, and
this is what ! have made; but If any
soul on earth can tell what it is. it's more
than can do. II did not contain a word
to make it ineligible But il was beau
tiful to look at The pen strokes were
decorative as Chinese characters, and
seemingly As precise as German script
Any one might have told me it was San
scrit, or Runic, or Cuneiforn. or Aztec
or Choctaw, and ! would have believed
it-or, for that matter, a design for an
Oriental rug or an Arabian mural deco
ration; it would have been all the same
TO me. Why. De, what was intended to
convey the idea Of a signature and ended
in that last almighty skate of Oshkosh's,
beat Spinner's and was a master
piece finer than that of the Sultan him
self that they inlay in mother-of-pearl on
the tops Of tabourets. Heaven help the
British Museum il it ever meets with
that dummy document Of Oshkosh's
savants will waste their lives trying to
iecipher It
well, that worthless thing the old
man fastened with a big bank pin to
hat worthless draft. and addressed it 10
his correspondent here in Chicago
There you are, James. my boy; bid
it good-by but be ready TO greet it with
amount on demand when It comes back.
Now go long about your business
q did 60 about my business-you can
bank on that ] fairly tore up the earth
to be ready TO meet the return of that
draft. Why, ] couldn't think Of that in
fernal draft thar | didn't imagine the
banks it went through and the stir il
must have made in some of them. OF
the booming young clerks that handled
lt-ard reverently, TOO, good Lord and
Of th' od-timers they appealed to, per
haps, who were afraid 10 take il seri-
ouslyand afraid % take K as Joke.
Nine OF my schenes positively failed.
| but tiey tantalized me With nunberless
delayl that ate into my ntyes like i've
Still the return of the draf, was nroy;-
dentiillv delayed Then, whel each dav
dawred with the dread that would
brinq.the crack OF doom, the com ,,r,a-
ton OF the Conqueror mine deal hame
4 assured. The final settlement of the, Ia
that would give me money to burn \,
neck and neck with the return of tina
! daredevil draft that would bring me
ruin and disgrace.
AT last a bank messenger came dowr
TO the works to tell me Oshkosh wanted
to see me Immediately II was a thought
less thing for the old man to do-hC
knew my condition-why ] thought Of
suicide as ] went up town
"Old Oshkosh was waiting for me n
his private office, looking as usual. faith
erly and kindly serious. But the door
had hardly closed on rs when he flew
at me and beat and pounded me on the
back. and shouted an undertone OF some
good news into my ear; coaldn't make
out what. a., :,
Look. look, James. my boy h
cried. snatching up bit OF paper ne
Sultans Draft, the Sultan's DraftF
"The engraved voucher swan befor'
nv ewes. but ! giddily saw enough
lanes Hazleton-hfteen thousand dol
iars-the Sultan's Draft had been paid
"Wen, what do you think of thatP
marveled De Loss.
"From that on it seemed that every
thing came my way" resumed Hazleton
More than hundred thousand ca,n'
pouring in on me in the next Jew weeks
Rut Raudebaugh and never tired o
Specializing on the reason the Sultan hon
ored the draft. spent a good deal Try
ING 10 clear up the mystery. Oh course
Inc Sublime Porte received il througl
the usual channels, London and Frank
fort. but when the Yildiz closed II. iron
gates upon II its story was lost. Mem
hers of the Young Turk party, strung
,cross the continent Of Europe, all bitter