The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1908-02-13
GContinued from page 2.1

His cou,panioa was Strives partner.
Dunham. a middle aged. poapous man.
They went directly to the o@css OF
Dunham 4 Struxs. where they fouad
the white haired janior partner.
Mighty glad 10 meet you. Mr. Nc
Namara." said Struye. "Ysuf name L.
S-.ousehoid word In my part OF the
country. Ny people were mixed up In
Dakota politics somewhat. SO I've al
ways had great admiration tor yoa,
and I'm glad you've come to ALASKA.
This Is a big country. aud We need
big men" -, -,
SsDid you have any troubae?" Dun
ham inquired when the three had ad-
journed to pglvnte room. -
~rrouble." said Struvs rsefuHy.
"WelI. ! wonder II l did. Miss Ches-
ter brought me your instructions o. x.
aud got busy right or. Bot tel me
this-how did you get the girl to act
az asmessengerT
~There was no one else to send" an-
swered Mcnamara. "Dunham intend
ed sa Hing on the first boat. bot be was
d4tained In. Washington with me. and
the Judge had to wait for US at Seat
tie We were afraid to trust 2 stranj.
ser for fear he might get curious and
examine the papers. That would have
meant. He moyedss his hand elo
quendy.
Strive nodded. ss-I see. Does she
know, what was In the documentsf I.
s@Decidedly not. Women and pusl.
ness don't naix. I hope you didn't ten
her anything"
-"No: | haven't had chance. She
sSemed to take a dislike to me Tor
some reason. l haven't seen her since
the day after she got here"
.sThe Judge told her 1t had something
to. do with preparing the way for bis
court" said Durham. ''and that II the
napers were not delivered before he
arrived ii might cause lot OF trouble
litigation. riots. bloodshed and all
that. He filled her UP on geueralities
till the girl was frightened to death
and thought thersafety of her uncle and
the whole country depended on her,.
"wal." continued Struve. "its dead
easy to hire men to Jump claims, and
IT'S 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 you?'
Mcnamara laughed.
"Who did that?"
"a benevolent, silver haired old Tex
an pirate by the name Of De1try. Hes
one-half owner In the Midas and the
other half mountain lion. as peaceable.
you'd imagine, as benediction, but
with the temperament Of Geronimo.
sent Galloway out to relocate the
claim, and he got bis notices up IN tne
night when they were asleep. but at q
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.
"'Hide me out. quick? ne panied.
whats upT asked.
"I've stirred up breakfast Of griz-
zly bear, smallpox and sudden death,
and it don't set we'll on my stummick.
Let me In
: .I had to keep him hidden three days,
for this gentle hammered old cannioal
roamed the streets with a cannon IN
his hand, breathing fire and pestilence."
"Anybody else act up?" queried Dun
ham.
mo; all the rest are Swedes, and
they haven't got the nerve to fight.
They couldn't lick spoon If they
tied. These other men are different,
though. There .are two Of them-the
old one and a young fellow. I'm lit
tie afraid 10 mix it up with them, and
If their claim wasn't the best in the
district I'd say let it alone"
an attend to that" said Mcnamara.
Struve resumed: -
ayes. gentlemen, I've been working
pretty hard and also pretty much IN
the dark so far I'm cropping for light.
When Miss Chester brought in the pa
pers | got busy instanter. clouded
the title to the richest placers IN the
region. but I'm blamed If quite see
the use Of it. We'd be thrown out OF
any court in the land If we took them
to law. What's the game-blackmatl"
,"Humph!' calculated Mcnamara.
what do you take me for"
"Well, It does seem small for Alec
Mcnamara, but 1 can't see what else
you're up to-"
"Within a week I'll he running every
GOOD mine in the Nome district"
AnfcNamara's voice was calm. but de-
cislye, bis glance keen and alert while
about him clung such a breath OF
pover and confidence that it compelled
belief even In the face Of this astound-
ing speech.
In Spite of himself Wilton Struve,
3aWSer, rake and gentlemanly adven-
tHer. felt his heart leap at what the
others daring implied. The PROPOSE
tion was utterly past belief, and yet,
,,,;ro, into tha mans purDOSeful eyes,