The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1906-08-19

tor anything ike a redsOnapc PRIV
"Well, it hasn't been for sale, said |,
duly. but if any one can buy It at a
fair figure, | suppose | am ne. II the
| cash were coming to pay for It..
| Maybe here's your chance, said Osh-
kosh, and. taking up letter, passed It
over to me; then he turned to write,
digging away with his pen at a wonder
full rate on something that was evidently
Juicy to him.
THE letter was from a capitalist VINO
was at the head of a syndicate. that was
offering to buy developed mining prop
erty. 1t was evident that they meant
business and had millions back OF them.
while | was reading and Oshkosh
was still writing like fury, clerk slipped
| in with a basket containing the usual
grist of papers that daily passes through
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 it?' he said, wheeling around to me,
Tn sure the Conqueror could be sold
| If 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 20 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 such 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 ~
| the race with some OF your plans, and
this offers another very good opportun-
ty 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 IT.. and
this is what / have made; but if any
soul on earth can tell what it is, it's more
than I can do 1t did not contain a word
to make it ineligible But it 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 Cunciform, or Aztec
or Choctaw and ! would have believed
tor, for that matter, design tor 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 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 If it ever meets with
that dummy document of Oshkosh's;
savants will waste their lives trying to
decipher It.
"Well that worthless thing the old
man fastened with a big bank pin to
that worthless draft, and addressed it TO
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 wien it comes back.
Now go long about your business.
Il did go about my busness-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 that | didn't imagine the
banks it went through and the stir il
must have made in some of them. Oh
the blooming young clerks that handled
it-and reverently. too, good Lord land
Of the old-timers they appealed to, per
haps, who were afraid TO take 1t seri-
ously and afraid to take it as joke.
None of my schemes positively failed,
but they tantalized me with numberless
delays that ate into my nerves like lye,
Still the return of the draft was provi-
dentially delayed. Then, when each day
dawned with the dread that it would
bring the crack of doom, the consumma-
ton of the Conqueror mine deal became
assured. The final settlement of the sale
that would give me money to burn ran
neck and neck with the return of that
| 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 thought.
less thing for the old man 70 do-hC
knew my eonditon-why, ! thought Of
suicide as | went up town!
odd Oshkosh was waiting for me II
his private office, looking as usual, faith
erly and kindly serious. But the dool
had hardly closed on us when he flew
at me and beat and pounded me on thu
back, and shouted an undertone OF SOM
good news into my ear; ! couldn't max,
out what.
LOOK. look. James. my boyp h
cried, snatchng up a BIZ OF paper Th'
Sultan's Draft, the Sultan's Draf,P
The engraved voucher swan befor
my eyes, but ! giddiiy saw enough
| lanes Hazlet0n-hfieen thousand dol
/ lars-the Sultan's Draft had been paid
= "Wen. what do you think Of that !!
b marvcled De Loss.
From that on Il seemed that every
thing came my wav.' resumed Hazleto1
More than a hundred thousand ca v
pouring in on me in the next few weeks
But Raudebaueh and ] never tired o.
Specializing on the reason the Sultan hon
ored the draft spent a good deal try
. ing % clear up the mystery. OF course
The Sublime Porte received i through