The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-17
The Episode of the
Drawn Game

wet or fine, he must set out from Lon
don. whether the house is sitting or
not In defiance OF the most urgent
three line whips; and at dawn on the
18th he must be at work on his moors,
shooting down the young birds with
might and main, at the earliest posi-
BILE legal moment.
He goes on like Saul, Staying his
thousands, or, like David, his tens Of
thousands, with all the guns IN the
house to help him, till the keepers warn
him he has killed as many grouse as
they consider desirable, and then, hav-
ing done his duty, as he thinks, In this
respect, he retires precipitately with
flying colors to Brighton, Nice, Monte
Carlo or elsewhere. He must be al
ways ION the trek" when he is buried,
I believe, he viii not be able to rest
quiet in his grave-his ghost will walk
the world TO terrify old ladies'
at Seldom, at least" he said 10 me,
with a sigh, as he stepped into his
Pullman, II shall be safe from that
impOstorl''
And, indeed, as soon as he had begun
10 tire a little of counting up his hun
dreds of brace per diem, ne found
triflng piece of financial work cut
ready to his hand which amply dis
tracted his mind for the moment from
Colonel Clay, his accomplices, ana his
villainies.
Sir Charles, I ought TO say, had Sc
cured during that summer very ad-
vantageous option in a part of Africa
on the Transvaal frontier, rumored to
be auriferous. Now, whether ii was
auriferous or not before, the mere ftCt
that Charles had secured some claim
on t naturally made it so; for no man
had ever the genuine Midas touch to
q greater degree than Charles Van
drift: whatever he handles turns at
once to gold. II not to diamonds.
Therefore, soon as my brOther-in-law
had obtained this option from the ma
tive vendor, a most respected chief,
by name Montsioa, and promoted a
company of his own 10 develop 1t. his
great rival in that region, Lord Craig
Ellachie formerly Sir David AleXan-
der Granton), Immediately secured a
similar option of an adjacent track,
the larger part of which had pretty
much the same geological conditions as
that covered by Sir Charles right of
presumption.
We were not wholly disappointed, as
IT turned out. in the result. A month
OF two later. while we were still at Sell
don, we received a long and encOurag g
ing letter from our prospectors on the
spot, who had been hunting over the
ground in search of gold reefs. They
reported that they had found a good
auriferous vein in a corner of the
tract. approachable by adit-levels. but,
unfortunately. only few yards Of the
lode lay within the limits of Sir
Charles area. The remainder ran on
at once into what was locally known as
Craig Ellachie's section.
However our prospectors had been
canny, they said; though young Mr..
Granton was prospecting at the same
time, in the self-same ridge, not very
far from them. his miners had failed
TO discover the auriferous quartz; so
our men had held their tongues about
It. wisely leaving 1t for Charles to gov
ern himself accordingly.
can you dispute the boundary"
asked.
impossible" Charles answered. ''You
see. the limit is a meridian OF longi-
ture. There's no getting over that
Can't pretend to deny il. No buying
over the sun! No bribing the inStru-
mentsi Besides, we drew the line our
selves. We've only one way out of 1t,
Sey. Amalgamate Amalgamate!'
Charles is a marvellous man! The
very voice in which he murmured that
blessed word ''amalgamate" was in It,
SELF a poem
'-CapitaIP' 1 answered. Say nothing
about it and join forces with Craig
Ellachie' Charles closed one eye pen
siveIy.
That very same evening came tel
egram In cipher from our chief engi-
neer on the territory of the option
Young GrantOn has somehow giver
us the slip and gone home. We sus-
pect he knows all. But we have moi
divulged the secret to anybody"
Seymour" my brother-in-law said
impressively, there is no time to be
lost. I must write this evening to Sin
David mean to my lord. Do ycU
happen to know where he is stopping
at the present."
'aThe Morning Post announced two
or three days ago that he was at Glen
Ellachie," I answered.
''Then I'll ask him to come over and
thrash the matter out with me-" my
brother-in-law went on. "a very rich
reef, they say. 1 must have my finger
in itr'
We adjourned into the study. where
Sir Charles drafted, l must admit, q
most judicious letter to the rival cap
italist. He pointed out that the min
eral resources OF the country were
probably great. but as yet uncertain
That the expense of crushing and mill
ing might be almost prohibitive. That
access to fuel was costly, and its con-
NeNaICe QlUlGull 1lAdN water Nds
scarce, and commanded by our section
That two rival comIanies, If they hap
pened to hit upon ore. might cut one
another's Threats by erecting two sets
of furnaces or pumping plants, GnC
bringing two separate streams to the
spot, where one would answer. II
short-to employ the golden word
that amalgamation might prove tettel
In the end than competition, and tina
he advised, at least, a conference OF
the subject.
I wrote II out fair for him, and ST
Charles. with the air of a Cromwell
signed IL.
This is important. Sey," he said. Il
had better be registered, for fear o
falling into improper hands. Don't Civ
IL TO DobsOn: let Cesarine take it owe
TO FOWLS in the dog cart"
1t is the drawback of Seldom that W.
are twelve miles from railway sta
ton. though we look out on one o
loveIlest firths IN Scotland.
- Cesarine took il as directed-an in
valuable servant. that grill Meanwhile
We learned from the Morning Pos
next day that young Mr.. Granton haC
stolen q march upon us. He had ar
rived from Africa by the same mai
with our agents letter, and had JOINED
Ms father at once at Glen Ellachie.
Two days later we received a mos
DoIite reply from the opposing interest