The Owosso times., 1907-11-15

court" said Durham, "and mat II une
naners were not delivered before he
arrived it might cause a lot Of trouble
litigation. riots, bloodshed ami all
that. He filed her up on generalitles
Till the girl was frightened TO dealt,
and thought the safety of her uncle ard
the whole country depended on her"
"Wen." continued Struve, "it's dead
easy to hire men to jump claims, and
IFS dead easy to buy their rights after
ward. particularly when they know
they haven't got any. But what course
do you follow when owners go cunning
for your
Mcnamara laughed.
"Who did thatF
"a benevolent, silver haired old Tex
an pirate by the name of Dextry. He's
one-half owner in the Midas and the
other half mountain lion, as peaceable.
you'd imagine, as q benedictiOn, but
with the temperament of a Geronimo.
I sent Galloway out to relocate the
claim. and he got his notices up in the
night when they were asleep, but at 6
q. m. he came flying back to my room
and nearly hammered the door down.
I've seen fright in varied forms and
phases, but he had them all, with some
added starters.
"'IIide me out, quick! he painted.
"'what's upY I asked.
"I'ye stirred up breakfast of griz-
zly bear, smallpox and sudden death,
and ii don't set well on my stummick
Let me in
"I had to keep him hidden three days,
for this gentle hammered old cannibai
roamed the streets with cannon in
his hand, breathing fire and pestilence."
Anybody else act up?" queried Dun
ham.
"No; all the rest are Swedes, and
they haven't got the nerve to fight
They couldn't lick spoon If they
tried. These other men are different,
though There are two Of them-the
old one and young fellow. I'm lit
tie afraid to mix it up with them, and
If their claim wasn't the best in the
district I'd say let it alone"
"I'll attend to that" said Mcnamara.
Struve resumed:
Les, SeutieLieh, VIC oSSh "oANAS
pretty hard and also pretty much in
the dark so far. I'm cropping for light.
When Miss Chester brought in the pa
pers l got busy instanter. clOuded
the title to the richest placers In the
region, but I'm blamed IL l quite see
the use of 1t. We'd be thrown out Of
any court In the land If we took them
to law. What's the game-blackmail?'
"Humph!' calculated Mcnamara.
"What do you take me for?"
"Well, 1t does seem small for Alec
| you're up to-"
"Within a week I'll be running every
| good mine in the Nome district"
| McNamara's voice was calm, but de-
| cisive, his glance keen and alert, while
| about him clung such a breath Of
power and confidence that it compelled
belief even In the face Of this astound-
| ing speech.
In spite Of himself Wilton Struve,
| lawyer, rake and gentlemanly adven-
turer, felt his heart leap at what the
others daring implied. The PROPOSE
tion was utterly past belief, and yet,
looking into the mans purposeful eyes,
he believed.
That's big-awful big-too big" the
younger man murmured "Why, man,
It means you'll handle $4,000 dayw
Dunham shifted his feet in the ST.
lence and licked his dry lips.
"Of course it's big, but Mr.. McNa-
mara's the biggest man that ever came
to Alaska" he said.
"And I've got the biggest scheme
that ever came north, backed by the
biggest men in Washington" continued
the politician. Look herew He dis
played a typewriter sheet bearing
parallel lists Of names and figures.
Struve gasped incredulously.
"Those are my stockholders, and
that Is their share in the venture. Oh,
yes, we're incorporated-under the
laws Of Arizona; secret, of course. 1t
would never do for the names to get
out I'm showing you this only be-
cause l want you to be satisfied who's
behind me-"
Lord, I'm satisfied" said Struve,
laughing nervously. "Dunham was
with you when you figured the scheme
out, and he met some Of your friends
In Washington and New York. If he
says it's all right, that settles It, But,
say, suppose anything went wrong
with the company andklk leaked out
who those stockholders afe?"
There's no danger. 1 have the
books where they will be burned at the
first sign. We'd have had our own
land laws passed but for Sturtevant Of
Nevada, curse him. He blocked us
in the senate. However, my plan Is
this" He rapidly outlined his PROPOSE
ton to the listeners. while a light Of
admiration grew and shone In the
reckless face of Struve.
"By heavens, you're wonder!" he
cried at the close. "And I'm with you
body and SOUL It's dangerous-that's
why like It."
Dangerous? Mcnamara shrugged
his shoulders. bah! Where Is the
danger? We've got the law, or, rather,
we are the law. Now, let's get to
work."
1t seemed that the boss of North