Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-20
CHAPTER XIV.
Tin Hill: The journey.

Now. lead mining has been stopped in
Upper Wharfedale these thirty years. but
still boy who has been brought up in a
village there may wei have some general
knowledge of ores and the methods of
getting them. The mining first began in
those dim British days before the Romans
came and it has continued on down
through the centuries till the influx of for
eign lead brought prices below e25 ton.
and the mines could not be worked at a
profit
Raw dumps and grass-covcrcd dumps are
traceable on every hand. and though the
older tunnels are ohliterated, there are
Stll enough shafts and drifts and adits 10
he found IN the gray stone hills to occupy
many months exploration.
George Garter had heard of the past
glorics of lead from his earliest years, and
old residents pointed to the ruined cot
tageS chat were filled and Hour!Shing when
the village held 500 people who lived by the
mines. instead of the 2tD who dwelt there
now and made a lean living out of little
limp farming With pockets stuffed with
Candle-ends he had splashed into the old
levels and wandered for miles in the heart
of the limestone hills and hacked with rusty
pickheads at forgotten working faces; he
had rakod among the old ruined ma
chuery beside the dumps; he lad studied
the run of the water races and as far as
man with a natural engineering bent may
reconstruct these things from memorials of
thu past he had done 80 most thoroughly,
80 d, ,,,r.,-. a., nv. ~ tbnea hIrin-qIInln,ed
rifins of the past. and that without even
having seen lead mine in real work.
limestone hc lad seen in not very we'll
cquirreG school museum: tin mine he
l,r,,- .-r,. rr,,, an ola booJ; ON Cornwall
VIII ch treated that country more from the
picturesque point of View than the me-
Charictl or lGc scientific.
T.r,+ tr, Thing that lad fired his mind one
l,.'sf,, d,y .r Efq5Ia-EulIa was q newspa-
70 r-.1ra,eTg.rh which smoke Of the price of
lin IN I'M tr,r like The majority of the
I.-,r.5n rage Ee lad not troubled his head
as ., whether Tin was G.. a ton or 500 But
here Ea saw that it he'd gone MP to no less
a figure than CIR los per ton He wished
he ,.o.fld nrt a tin mine. but concluding he
rfrft n. wen search that particular part
Of sr,amy Africa for great auk's eggs
went rr further than framing the wish
TL,n came the happenings at Mokki and
All hon IIgszp'u's parting gift of the little
graz stone duck which had urmtstakablc
brown Tin crystals for it, head. its wings
and it's fe=t. ami on tile top of all arrived
E.r,,- cah}egram y sweating operator
had read that message from under sea as
il w.r1,ed out in a Garkcncd cable hut: run
ners had carried the curt words along roar
ing beaches. paddIers had borne them by
far-oT Hamburg had pledged the perform
ancc of their promise. A day later the
slatterulv SIS Frau Pobst Iurched untidily
nm The muddy creeks and commenced to
flowing wealth of West African produce
Garter itched to be off 1t had come to
this. he could not trust himself in Rates
neighbour hood Laura Slade saw or fancied
she saw how things were and bravely ask
ed him one day to break their engagement
Buf carter drew her down onto the office
chair hesidc him and NM an arm round her
and kissed her. Now he said. tell out
frankly who il is that YOU like better than
Won like me-"
III isp't tbat George
I didn't suppose it was Come now. out
with il. what's the trouble? | suppose
you're lust going to be a woman and tell
me it's nv fault? | don't agree with Won
I'm lie same me as always was-red hair
large feet ana as big am appetite as the
coast will allow"
She nut her face against his shoulder
Its Kate. George
you must let me refer 30 her as Miss
OMEN. be-" said Carter dryly. You see, she's
my employer-or was-and were naturally
not on intimate terms Wen. what's Miss
ONeN gDt to Go with my marrying you?'
Shes always been opposed to it"
'"TwaddIe, Now look here nv dear:
you've been nervy and upset ever since that
bit of scrap at Smooth river. Now
haven't you?'
Il suppose l have"
I'm sure of il. And it's not surprising
That was a pretty tough time for any girl
10 go through. Well as I've told you. I've
got my nose onto "A fortune that's tucked
away up in the bush. and L m going to look
for IT, In the meanwhile as l managed
TO screw sixty golden sovereigns OUT of
that greedy old BaIgarnie for curios that
he II sell for at least a hundred and forty.
there's just that amount of cash to take
you on taunt TO Grand Canary for rose
growing"
Rose growing
TO put color In your checks. then. you
pale young person.
But / couldn't take the money from
you
And pray who has a greater right to