Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1906-11-02
CHAPTER Will

stuck out stifay from under his fur cap,
4 red, dubious nose, and shifty, suspi-
eious eyes. He saluted US with a touch
Of bis cap in military fashion.
"ARd what is your business, gentle
menT he asked.
1T is less business than gratitude"
said Graden courteously. eve have
made this little pilgrimage to thank the
producer Of the Lemsdorf hams"
"You are not dealers, thenr
"No, but II"
"Then take yourself OFF,
''Herr DrobinF'
"GO! clear out! Do not make myself
plainT he cried, his flushed face nod
ding in time to his violent gesticuiations.
II will have no spies about the placer
Graden sprang out Of the sleigh and
strobe up to the angry farmer. For
moment thought there would be a
Bcrimmage; but the huge bulk Of his an
tagonist was not without its effect upon
the German. have often noticed that
great stature has a curiOusly soothing in
nuenee ON the bad temper Of an Oppo-
nent.
why did you call me spyT' demand
Cd my cousin.
'sThe people about here gossip Of some
secret hold" he answered sulkily.
Perhaps they speak true; perhaps false
Who can say1 At least, / am no longer
q fool; my eyes have been opened. You
have a good thing here, Herr DrObin.
There Is a great future before you, IL
only you keep your knowledge to your
self, said the Englishman to me. If
strangers come asking questions, they
win be spies; send them away 1t was
fine advice he gave me; anyone can see
that So be off with your
II am an Englishman myself, Herr
Drobln. May / ask my cOmpatriOt's
name?"
II do not remember"
what then, was he ihep'
II cannot describe him."
"YOu are discreet, herr DrObin. Come,
now, let us strike a bargain. / will
make a guess at your secret; X l am
right, you will tell me what you know
Of this Englishman."
The German started back, staring at
Graden with little, bloOdshOt eyes, In
which surprise and fury were oddly min.
glsd. Then, side BY side, they stepped
Into the shadow Of the pines, whispering
together.
'gThey are all liars, these Germans"
said our driver cOnhdentially, turning to
me. "FOr myself, am a Pole"
"YOu heard what was said. Do you
know anything Of this English visitor to
Herr Drobin2"
Most certainly, mine Herr. He was
Of the name Of Wakefield. He has stay
cd several nights at the Golden Adler
For the rest, he has been the guest Of
him who lived out there" and he made
q gesture down the road that we had
come.
A nameless fear took me by the throat
Ia fear Of unknown possibilities. 1
would have questioned the man more, but
at that moment Graden and the farmer
emerged from the shadow of the pines.
The latter had abandoned his truculent
manner. Indeed, he seemed oddly sub
servient. As Graden stepped into the
sleigh, the man bowed low a curtsy,
which my cousin answered with a curt
nod Of dismissal
"Drive onp' he cried, and once more
we were ploughing our way back to the
Lemsdorf road
"Did you ever study the properties of
the root called madden, commonly known
a. a dyer asked my cousin suddenly.
"No."
'Then / must explain from the begin
ming. 1t is right that you should hear"
He pulled the flaps OF his deerstalker
cap over his ears-indeed, it was bitter
cold-and settled himself amongst the
rugs. l caught the outline of his face
as jaws set, the cheeks drawn, the eye
hard and keen, the whole purposeful and
remorseless.
"When was slicing the ham to-day"
be continued, ian odd thing happened.
My knife struck the bone and passed
through it as if 1t had been patty. At
a second glance / noticed that the inte-
rior of the section so divided was of n
brownish red. 1t set me thinking. |
began to remember certain facts. The
talk of the old servant concerning a
secret held by the owner of the pig farm
at Gran concentrated my suspicious, the
proximity of the dye-works confirmed
them. l was almost certain of Herr
Drobin's secret before he charged me
with coming to steal it.
LET me explain. Nader is a dye,
as you know. But administered to man
or beast, it has the curious effect of
coloring and pulping the bones to a girls
tie. 1t is used sparingly on a few South
German pig farms, that the hams NAV
appear attractive when carved. Herr
Drobin introduced it into German Po-
land. He obtained the root as he reouir-
ed it by arrangement with the dye works.
Perhaps their presence suggested the
idea to him.
whether OF no Marnac knew Of the
uses of madden before he came to LENS
dorf, cannot tell. From my talk with
Drobin 1t would seem that his visit to his
farm was more or less of an accident.
But, either way, the visit gave him the
weapon by which he might make a toad
Of his enemy. That bitter criticism, YOU
may be sure, was for ever running In
his diseased brain. The practical details
be learned at the farm would help him In
what he had undertaken. His advice
to that old German was a sound move,
designed to cover his visits to the farm
and the suspicious they might afterwards
have excited.
His method Of getting into touch with
his victim was simple. He introduced
himself as an Englishman by a letter
which he himself wrote in his capacity
Of Heidelberg professor, we'll knowing
"a h.