Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-10-10

ana out. There's no use fighting in
this court any longer, for the Judge
won't let us work the ground ourselves,
even If we give bond, and he won't
grant an appeal. He says his orders
rent appealable. We ought to send
Wheaton out to Frisco and have him
take the case to the higher courts.
Maybe he can get Il writ Of supcrse.
IDEAS"
Il don't rec'nize the name. but If it's
as bad as it sounds it's sure horrible.
Ain there no cure for it,"
1T simply means that the upper
court would take the case away from
this one"
well let's send him out quick. Ev-
cry day means $4,000 to us. It'll take
him a month to make the round trip,
so l s'pose he ought to leave tomorrow
on the Roanoke"
Yes, but where's the money to do
It with? Mcnamara has ours. My
God. What a mess we're in. What
fools we've been. Dex! There's a con-
spiracy here. I'm beginning to see 1t
now that it's too late. This man Is
looting u country under color of law
and figures on quitting all the mines
before we can throw him off. That's
his game. He'll work them as hard
and Us bng as he can. and heaven
only knows what will become of the
money. He must have big men behind
him in order to fix n United States
judge this way. Maybe he has the
Frisco cOI1rtg rOrrI1ntpd foo
IF he has, I'm goin' to kill him"
said Dextry. i've worked like a
dog all my life, and now that I've
struck pay l don't aim to lose it. If
Bill Wheaton can't win ont accordin'
to law, I'm soin' to proceed accordin'
to justice"
During the past two days the part
ners had haunted the courtroom where
their lawyer, together with the counsel
for the Scandinavians, had argued and
pleaded. trying every possible profess
sional and unprofessional %artifce in
search Of relief from the arbitrary rul-
ings Of the court, while hourly they
had become more strongly suspicious
OF some sinister plot. some hidden,
powerful understanding back Of the
Judge and the entire mechanism Of jus
tice. They had fought with the fury
Of men who battle for life and had
grown to hate the lines Of Stillman's
vacillating face, the buster of the dis
trict attorney and the Sinking conf
dence of the clerks, for 1t seemed that
they all worked mechanically, like
toys, at the dictates OF Alec McNa-
mara. At last when they had ceased,
beaten and exhausted, they were too
confused with technical phrases to
grasp anything except the fact that
relief was denied them, that their
claims were to be worked by the re-
ceiver and. as n browning defeat. they
learned that the Judge would move his
court to st. Michael's and hear no
cases until he returned. a month later.
Meanwhile, Mcnamara hired every
idle man he could lay hand upon and
ripped the placers open with double
shifts. Every day a stream of yellow
dust poured into the bank and was
locked in his vaults, while those mine
wner who attempted to witness the
cleanups We're elected from their
! CIulhlS. DOIltltldi li'l WILL tN
with incredible swiftness and system,
and a fortnight after landing he had
made good his boast to Strive and
was in charge Of every good claim In
the district, the owners were ousted,
their appeals argued and denied and
the court gone for thirty days, leav-
ing him a clear field for his operations.
He felt n contempt for most of his vic
tins, who were slow witted Swedes,
grasping neither the purport nor the
magnitude of his operation. and to
those litigants who were discerning
enough to see its enormity he trusted
to his organization to thwart them.
The we partners had come to feel
that they were beating against n wall
and had also come squarely to face the
proposition that they were without
funds wherewith to continue their bat
tie. 1t was maddening for them to
think Of he daily robbery hat they
suffered, for the Midas turned out
many ounces of gold at every shift,
and more maddening to realize the re-
ceiver's shrewdness in Gripping them
by his theft of the gold in their safe.
That had been his browning stroke.
I'VE must get money quick" said
Glenister. "Do you think we can Dor
row."
Borrow" shifted Dextry. Folks
don't lend money in Alaska"
They relapsed into a moody silence.
II met a Teller this mornln' that's
workin' on the Midas" the old man
resumed. "He came In town fer q
pair of gum boots, an he says they've
run into awful rich ~ground-so rich
that they have to clean up every norm
in when the night shift goes off cause
the rifles clog with gold"
"Think of IT." Glenlster growled. "If
we had even a part Of II OF those
cleanups we could send Wheaton out
side"
In the midst Of his bitterness a
thought struck him. He made ns
though to speak. then closed his mouth.
But his partners eyes were on him.
filled with a suppressed but ~rowlng
nre. Dextry lowered his voice eau
tiously:
"There'll be $4,000 in them sluices
tonight at midnight"
Glenister stared back, while his pulse
pounded at something that lay in the
others words.
ut belongs to u.s." the young man
said. There wouldn't be anything