The sun., 1908-04-26

neok0d beer.
'Doin' this he showed on his hlggin'
hand q ring with a dimond In II about tho
si10 Of a stopper on a Christmas bottle o
German cologne. The di'mond made me
peerin' claim merchants-still Waitin' at the
end OF the hotel desk for somebody 10 swing
along and push EN- on the water wagon
kick each other on the leg some more. A
man with a rock like that, they figured,
was prob'ly there with bundle the size OF
a buck soldiers washin' after a practice
march.
Mystery Spinks mooohed around after
signin the register waitin' for his room 70
be made up, and Tufty Mallon kicked right
in and got acquainted with i'm. Tufty had
capitalized at 900 900 (SS Of II paid in) about
a dozen Of the most promisin' gravel beds
west o. the Big Divide, and Tufty when
Spinks liz there was dishin' out the stock
TO the Chink that kept the tamale joint
at the rate Of 81, 900 worth of stock for two
bit meal Spinks seemed to be wiUin' 10
be talked TO and at, but he didn't appear
TO be strvin' for fresh honors as chin.
tester himself. He just gased and gazed
at Tufty In a please tell me some more
II IL don't fatigue you too much Kind OF
way, while Tufty, herdin' him In a corner,
told him how easy II was TO get wealthy
beyond the dreams OF Aladdin almost
while you waited II you got in right at
Thunder Crick. meanin', o. course, that
Mallon- -GolcOnda az ~ cents share
(sure TO be quoted on the Denver Minin
Exchange two months from date at sisb
share was the only reliable method
o. maxim Rockefeller look by comparison
like somebody with a misfit wig standln
ia the bread line. Spinks beamed upon
Tufty Mallon out Of his mild Alice blue
agates
well no gurgled, sort o hesltating,
when Tlfty pullin' up for breath, gave him
a chance to stick in word, l--er-really
hadn't thought OF going into mining here,
you see. had-er-a sort Of an idea that
this would be a good place to-uh-'
at form a telephone company got ye
-Guv'nor. cut in Tufty. handing Spinks a
sly dig in the surcingle. l kind o knowed
il was tn telephone bizni you wanted q
naugurate in Thunder Criok even before
you mentioned IT, Here, let's go out front
away from these plottin', TubbeTin' camp
waits that re nudgin' over this away WITH
their ears a-hangin' down on their shoul.
ders and Tufty, noticin' that several OF
his pards in the promotin' industry was
siinkln' over, hungry eyed, 70 where ne
was buzzin' the new live one, took hold OF
a fap OF Spinkss tunio and dragged him
out 10 the wooden pavement, where he
pressed him against one OF the gummy
hotel windows and then picked up HE
stride where he'd left on.
I'm the telephone party In this yere
camp. and seein that you come here al.
lowin' { be a telephone magnate you'd a
been lookin me up in day or 80 annyhoW.
because | got tn goods. tn Common
Council give me tn Thunder Crick tels-
phone franchise two days after tn Coun-
oil was orRaniSed-I helped { organize it
and all YOU and mes got + do now IL Z
form a company and install tn telephone
plant. me t furnish tn franchise and you
-
but, cut in Spipks. lookin embarrassed
and some alarmed too, l-er-you see,
Mr.. Tufts -Tufkins-oh. yes Mr.. Mallon-
YOU see, ! really don't know q thing about
the telephone business. As matter OF
fact I'm a ca ca a--' and Eustace Murga-
troyd Spnks stumbled little tryin TO
get out the word, But Tufty was on the
job and helped him,
a'Cap'talist-as if you'd hayet put me
wise 4 that. slammed in Tuftv, with a
hemp Of oily hattery in his grin. Cap ptallst.
o course. And a cap 'talist in tn real estate
line. Now, homhrey-' 'scuse me, Guv'nor
I hit Thunder Crick before il had a name
| liz hers when they want nothin here but
four woodchucks playin tag in IN dry bed
o tn Crick and the sun a-shinin' overhead
That's how come { git in strong on Ihnn-
der Crick real estate. ! got about Two
dozen choice, passels o Thunder Crlek
real estate-Thunder Crlck and oontlgyus
-thatl make your teeth leak { look at,
and
"Just then Jef Hibbs, the hotel clork
showed up at the door and told Spinks his
room was ready, and Spinks looked az II
JEFF had handed him n reprieve from tho
Governor ten minutes before hangn' time,
and Tuftv glared at JeiT and muttered things
in his throat, and Jeh grinned back a.
Tufty and asked him if he'd done any good
for hisself; and Splnks managed to beat II
10 his room.
Now, I've handed YOU a lot o. the south
breeze that TGty shot at and into Eustace
MmRatroyd Spinks. because Tuftys heat
EN- TO it spiel was good sample o the
stuff all the rest o them personally con-
Quoted Thunder Crick promoters tossed at
Spinks, separately and in grouDs durln the
next three or four days. From dawn's
early light till his hour for bunkln IN
Spinks had his trail oamped on like as u he
was attic thief that bad ruStled SEQ head
o mavericks and was maxim for the Pan
Handle.
"They bounded along in the wake o
Spinks like b,iazards chasin' flock @
prairie sohooners. They grabbed hold Of
his coat and breathed their hot breath into
his nigh ear they elbowed him into corners
where he couldn't bust loose without dlvin'
through EN- head foremost; they shooed
him into his own room and followed him in
there and nursed him over by the one win
dow, IN that he had 10 listen to EN- or Jump
out; they planted themselves at the table
where he was tryin TO eat and spread frayed
and frazzled maps and blue prints and
prospectuses and things all over his vittles,
and they'd have battered their way into his
room at night and eat on the edge Of his
bunk till mornin' II he hadn't barricaded his
door with his two big trunks and the wash
stand. They did al the talkin'. Spinks
couldn't drive in word with a rock maui.
He tried TO tell am dozens OF times in his
p'lite kind o. constrained way that he had
no idea in the world NJ maxim any invest
ments in Thunder Crick k-eyen, II he had
much 10 invest, he added, which made 'em
lust laugh out loud at the very idee Of such
Joke They knew difrent, and they kept
right on houndin Spinks.
-Four days after lightin' in Thunder
Crck Spinks rented an office. The office
was over lsidor Blumenheim's New York
Emporium-Isdo sold everythin' from a
bandanna 10 a bass drum-and Eustaoe
Spnks sure put on dog in
ixin' the Office up-oicloth on the floor,
and washstand with sure elegant pitcher
and basin with flowers ornamentln' 'em,
and a new kind Of chair. II was a red
plush tilt back chair, kind Of cross be-
tween a harbors and a dentists chair,
with a footrest and handle that worked
the up and down screw hewgag. That
chair puzzled Spinks's visitors at first.
but they got used 10 II in day or so When J
they found Spinks leanin' back in II gain
out Of the window they figured that IL must
be all right. They doped It out that prob'ly |
il was a newfangled kind Of chair that
capitalists back East used SOS to allow
themselves 10 think keener about high