Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1908-09-30
TIE OLD
PROSPECTOE2
How He oueered an AIlurIng
PropO6ltion.

he entered the Cfl.ce with his head
thrown back and his eagle nose In the
air, as grizzled an old prospector as
ever struck Broadway And so that
you may know q grizzled old prospec-
tor the next time you see one | will
unfold my plans. and specifications.
In the first place, he must be suffi-
cientiy cid so that his face is covered
with a labyrinth of little criss-cross
lines, for a smooth-faced old prosPec-
tor couldn't do business on Broadway
for two consecutive minutes. In the
second place, he must have skin like
leather-tanncd sir, by the summa
heat and the winter cold. He must
be innocent Of beard and other facial
trimmings, thus distinguishing himself
from the miner who, of course, is
bearded like a pirate, And he must
have an irritable, querulous look like
man who is not to be trihed with.
For the rest of it he carries long tin
cylinder filled with blue prints, he has
wallet full Of documents, wears boots
outside of his trousers, and If you
stood him on his head and shook him
smartly enough ore would fall out of
his pockets to start mine Such is
the grizz.ed old prospector when pros
pecting down Broadway.
You" he said, ARE the proprietor
Which modestly admitted.
That's easily seen, sir" he said,
very easily seen. Now, | have here
the best proposition you ever listened
to-a proposition That will ray you 100
per cent. every dag you live"
Whereupon insisted upon shaking
hands with him, and he kept my hand
in his while he gave my features a
long and careful scrutiny, as though
making up his mind as to whether or
not was worthy to be his "pard."
You'll Go,' he said at last.
And suddenly galvanizing into life,
he sn ,pped the top off his tin cylinder,
slapped his package of documents on
his knee, and delic2tely taking a sam
/, pie of ore between mis- thumb and fin
ger he held it steadfastly about two
inches from my highly gratified nose.
This" said he, is the ore
"O-ho!" said |. This is the ore;
Is it,"
"The mine is there; the ore is there;
and the miners are there" said he.
They're all ready to work for you
without wages and you don't have to
buy them any equipment, either. What
spades and picks and tools they'll need
they'll buy from you! What do you
think of that?"
let him see from my manner what
| thought of it, looking at him over
the sample of ore in breathless ad-
miration.
"Indians!" he whispered, and he
winked one eye.
And as for me, winked one eye
again.
Il see what you're thinking" said
he. You're thinking: Why do these
Indians sell gold for $40 an ounce
when they can get SIS and $40 for it at
the stores?'"
Distance" he whispered. Three
hundred miles to the nearest stores.
Three hundred miles back That's 900.
Six hundred miles on burros sir, across
the Great American desert, sir in a
blazing hot sun. That's what they do
now. ON the other hand, set up a
store right on their mines, well stocked
and capably managed-why, you could
get all the gold you want for $40 an
ounce-and-as-mu = lower-as-
you it-fair-to-take!
And bringing both his elbows to
rest upon the desk he said in a
soothing voice: Look closely at this
ore and see the gold And making a
little pass with his other hand, the
while he set me with his eye, he wan
dered on.
''Yaquis Yes, sir Look closely at
it. They know me and they're very |
fond of me, too These yellow specks
are gold. I've adopted one of the little
shavers Two years old sir. AS hand |
some child as you would wish to see,
sir. Killed his father, his mother and |
two uncles. They wanted my burro, |
sir And wanted it, too
And as blinked my eyes, he made |
another eager little pass and said:
Eighteen hundred dollars That |
Uuyb a uulL lhlOlNob lilo OhlCA pAA0OS
and there's fortune in it, sir.
Eighteen hundred dollars. Is that wa
ter in that inkwell? No? Wait. Il
have a few photographs I'd like to
show you"
And between his desire to keep his
eye fixed and his desire to find the
necessary photographs, he dropped a
great double handful of documents,
and helped him pick them up.
There" he said at last. That's
all, / guess"
@aNo," said, here's this"
WHY" he said, "whatever's that?"
"'Prof. Borem's Vest Pocket Edition
on Hypnotism,'" read from the title
why, mol" he said. That's not
mine. didn't drop that"
And as for me, winked one eye
again.
Business good?'' ! asked.
Rotten" he said.
And placing Prof. Borem's little
treatise in his pocket he further pock-
atad hia nugget and slllng his TIN cvlin,