Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-09-12

WAY or toll n dress. anu ne Iiaoe
very comfortable income at It,. He
dabbled in outsiders on the turf, in
shares of unchartered gold mines. IN
the fascinating gam of unlimited. too.
and was able TO look complacently on
the results. He went into all these
and other operations with a genial
childish simplicity. and like the bank
steady pull in his favor. How 1t was
done nc one knew. He did not know
himself. and he and all his world mar
veled and prophesied that his luck
would some day turn with a rush and
a sweeping tide.
When he got mixed up with the
Shelf affair. 1t seemed as if this would
be the case.
There was something very near akin
to a panic in Lloyds when the total
loss OF the Port Edes was reported. and
those u~nfortunates who had underwrft-
ten her were anxious to dispose Of their
risks at any price to any man
who believed that this first report was
a canard. Consequently there was
some pretty steep gambling gone
through in the space of minutes. and
more h one sinal man got broke
with surprising rapidity.
Now. Master Losing happened to be
In the room as an idle spectator and
was bit with the excitement and asked
a. l. Ma5 Il I'M W y Lol
him. I'm going to play a hand In
this" Quoth Master LOSING.
AT that price, asked his friend.
when tney get to SO guineas pre-
MUM"
II suppose you know that makes you
liable for about G10.S00. There's
G540. 900 underwritten."
Pm good for that" said Losing. and
an hour afterward proved himself so.
as he had to pay. To this day many
Lloyds men who We're interested in
that scene congratulate themselves on
having made Gl0.S00 salvage by a
f1uke out OF q ship la was totally
lost.
1t began to dawn on Losing after
the event hat he had made a fool OF
himself and that his luck was through.
but he had the sense not to whine
aloud. and so his friends forgot the
matter in the excitement of other in
~terests. Losing did not forget, because
the bank had written to him that his
account was overdrawn, and he had
several bills which much wanted pay
ing. Cnostentatiously he began to
look about him for Il means of making
a more regular and steady livelihood.
AS after several months OF search
this last did not seem any appreciably
nearer. he was able to give full atten-
tion to a letter he received concerning
IN = w " oAo bCl Val ~. ~ VEL
unsigned and bore an American post
mark. 1t ran as follows:
Sir: l hear that o are now legiti-
mate owner of the Port Edes and her
cargo. She was picked up at sea and
is now in the Everglades OF Florida in
(here followed the exact latitude n
longitude). The specie is taken out
Of her. and you will find 1t by digging
Chere came elaborate cross bearing and
directfons). If o are a wise man and
wish to enjoy what is 10Y your own.
you will say as little about it to any
one as possible"
The communication was. to say the
least OF 1t. mysterious. but because
Losing was a fool he did not see so
many possibilities in 1t as a man with
more imagination might have done He
determined to find out how the matter
lay with his own eyes and with that
purpose journeyed to the hotel at Point
Sebastian. now rebuilt with new mag
%nificence. 1t was the winter season.
the crowd was Lossing's old friend
Kent Williams. again at the end Of
his new quarters allowance. The pair
had several cocktails together and
some talk. and finally set off into the
Everglades under the guidance of an
ancient alligator hunter. The saga of
their doings for the next six months
NOSo NV ORPOoAs ~ ~ 10 NiIC"II SLl1
other men Joined them. including sew
eral In the nautical interest. so that
there must have been quite a colony
OF them out there. presumably at some
sort of employment or other. Messrs.
Kent Williams n Losing again re-
turn to view on board a royal mail
boat bound home from q port of vest
ern South America.
The pair Of them watched the shores
sink under the sea, n That's done
WITH" said Kent-Williams.
1T Is returned LOSING" and I'm not
sorry. and I am satisfied. It's a bigger
puzzle than I shall ever make out in
this life. First a steamer that's sup
posed. to be sunk gets up and goes
overland and plants herself in the mid
die OF a forest. as though she wanted
takes us six months to cut a canal to
the nearest river. Then someone paints
a different pattern on one smokestack
and leaves the other as 1t was and al
ters some of the name plates on her en-
gines and fittings and leaves the names
then the gold that's in her flies two
miles farther up country and dives
twenty feet under the ground without
disturbing the network OF mangrove
roots which are so matted above that
we had to cut them with an AK"
II think. dear boy, we've been wise
In selling the steamer with n different
name on her to a man who gave her
a low price and asked no questions"
I'm sure of 1t. But still I'd like to
know how it was all done. DO you think
that Cambel had a finger in IT,"
d you think" retorted Kent-Wil-
ltanls. that If Patrick Cambel had his
finger on half a million that no one
else knew about 1t wouldn't have been
his hall million? No. sir. that cock
the Kildar girl and that took up ali
his time. 1 guess. He married her In
the early autumn. and they've gone
somewhere west. I fancy. and I don't
exactly know Where. She'd 4 sister