Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-11-13
DAILY STORY
MY FRIEND JARDlN.
[Copyright, 1906. by c. III. sutcliffe.l

| he TO go west with an uncle and i TO
enter n law office at home. We wrote
each other weekly for three years and
were as faithful as lovers. Up to this
time we had both been poor, depend
/ ing on ourselves more than on our fa-
/ theirs, but now a relative died and left
me $4,000 in cash. My first letter to
Jardin after receiving the news was to
offer him present of $1,000.
He replied that he was doing well In
the mining business and did not need
and would not accept the money, but if
! wanted to double it in six months he
| would show me how and take n share
of the profits. After some further cor
respondence / started for the west with
my legacy in my pocket.
| l found Jardin serving as assistant
| superintendent in gold mine, and we
| greeted each other as two old friends
| should. He had prospected a bit and
made great find.
| 1t was Il week before we We're on
the mountain where his find was To-
| Gated and where my money would be
| needed to make wagon roads, purchase
| machinery and bring in 4 staff of la
| borers. On the forenoon of the second
| day our pack horse met with fall and
| was famed, and we decided to lay by
| for day to give him Il chance to re-
cover.
At O'Clock in the afternoon Jardin
started out to scout around the camp
and over the trail we were to follow
the next day, and 1 spread a blanket
over the pine needles and lay down
for nap. 1t was still. quiet day,
and | was doing when the thought
suddenly flashed over me that Jardin
meant me i'll, and 1 found myself sit
ting up before l l.new it. L laughed
aloud at the thought. If my own
mother had been there and told me
that he meant me i'll l would not have
believed it. 1 lay down again, and
then it struck me that he had acted |
rather queer and constrained since |
starting. He had written me to bring |
gold from Denver. He had made sure
that 1 brought $3S000 He had almost |
hidden me away in the mining village. |
and he had insisted that take another |
name and conceal my home address.
His excuses at the time seemed more |
than enough, but now when l began TO
argue things point by point l was |
stunned. Taking the ease wholesale.
as you might say, believed in him as
in no other man. Taking it point by
point, 1 had to conclude that he had
some evil scheme on hand
Jardin was absent for two hours and
then returned to report all quiet / /
began to watch him now. and knowing
him as well as / did l soon saw that
he was ill at ease. He no longer look
ed me in the eyes as of old. He was
nervous and furtive. l found Il dozen
reasons for suspecting him.
To the west of our camp the side of
the mountain rose sharply. and there
were several great powders almost
towering over u.s. If it had been the
rainy season l should have feared that
some of them might have become loos-
ened and fallen down on us. After
supper we smoked. talked of old times
and cared for the horses, and about .
o'clock Jardin suggested that we turn
in so as to get an early start in the
morning We had pitched our small
tent and gathered pine needles for
bed, and the night was one for sleep.
Jardin seemed to fall asleep almost at !
once, but 1 could not shut my eyes.
1 didn't sigh and kick about, and Jar I
asleep when he finally rose up with the
utmost care, looked at me for mo-
ment and then, taking the crowbar
from the pack, walked toward the 4
powders. What On earth he was go
ing to do was beyond me until / slyly 1
followed him to see with my own eyes.
1 found him digging and prying be-
hind the biggest bowlder, and that
bowlder was right in line with the tent
and only fifty feet away. L thought at
first that he was looking for gold; that
he was developing some sort of find
to show me in the morning. ! held to
this idea for three or four minutes and
was about to address him and give him
the laugh when another idea entered
my head and brought out the goose
flesh all over my body.
Jardin was working to roll that giant
bowlder down upon the tent and me as
l slept! 1t was a matter not to be ar
gued. 1t was murder he had been con-
templating ever since he had written
me to come westi Some men might III
have acted differently in my place.
They might have made their presence
known, exposed him, played the hypo-
critic or what not. l did nothing but II
wait and watch.
The man had worked for quarter of
an hour in my sight, when he passed
around to the front of the bowlder to
remove stone. He showed the crow
bar under it and gave a heave, at the
same time turning his face toward the
tent as If to see if 1 was astir. The big III
bowlder moved. 1t broke out of its bed
of sudden, and Jardin jumped to es-
cape 1T. He jumped down hill. 1t
caught him up and rolled oyer him in Il !
fash and then was over the tent and
through the trees until it final II
ly rested far below.
I ran to Jardin as soon as / could but II