The bee. (Earlington, Ky.) 1889-19??, 1908-10-08
THE OLD
PROSPECTOR
How He oueered an AIIurlnR
Proposition.

you may know a grizzled old prospec-
| tor the next time you zee one 7 will
unfold my plans and specifications.
In the first place. he must be sufii-
GENTLY old so that his face is covered
with a labyrinth Of little criss-cross
lines, for a smooth.faccd OH p~ospec-
tor couldn't do business On broadway
for two consecutive minutes. in the
second place he must have a skin IKE
leather-tanned, cir. by the summer
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 pirate. And he must
have an irritable, querulous look like
man who is not to be trihed with.
For the rest Of IL he carries a long tin
cylinder filed with blue prints, he has
a wallet full Of documents, wears boots
outside Of his trousers, and II you
stood him on his head and shook him
smartly enough ore would fall out Of
his pockets to start a mine Such IS
the grizzled 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 pay you 100
per cent. every day you live"
Whereupon l insisted upon shaking
hands with him. and he kept my hand
in his while be gave my features a
long and careful scrutiny, as though
making up his mind as 70 whether or
not was worthy to be his "pard."
You'll do" he said at last
And suddenly galvanizlng into life,
he snapped the Top of his tin cylinder,
slapped HIS package Of documents on
HIS knee, and delicately taking sam
pie of ore between his thumb and fin
ger be held It steadfastly about two
inches from my highly gratified nose.
This said he. els the ore"
"O-ho!" said l. 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 10 work for you
without wages and you don't have to
buy them any equipment, either. What
spades aud picks and tools they'll need
they'll buy from you! What do you
think of thRt?"
let him see from my manner what
/ thought OF It, looking at him over
the sample OF ore In GREATNESS ad-
miratlon.
''1ndians!" he whispered. and he
winked one eye.
And RS for me. wlnked 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 storesT"
Distance" he whispered. Three
hundred miles 10 the nearest stores
Three hundred miles back. That's 600.
Six hundred miles on burros, sir, across
the Great American desert, sir, in
blazing hot sun. That's what they do
now. On the other hand, set up
store right on their mines. we'll stocked
and cApably managed-why, you could
get all the gold you want for 80 an
unee-and-as-much - lower-as--
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS"
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
dored 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 a 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 |
buys a half interest in this enterprise,
and there's a fortune In 1t, SIR. |
Eighteen hundred dollars. Is that wa
NcA ia hhdl AuhWOIi ANOi wait. L |
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"
NO." ] said. here's this"
'Whyl" he said, "whateyeF's that?"
Prof BOrem'S Vest Pocket Edition
On HyDnotlsm, read from the title.
Why, mol" he said. That's not
mine. l didn't drop that"
And as for me, winked one eye
again.
Business good?" I asked.
Rotten" he said.
And placing Prof. Borem's little
treatise IN his pocket he further peck
sted his nugget and Blung his tin cylin-