The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-08

A w .A -
 my little box in the safety-deposit vaults of Vsg1s the Eureka bank. It lay, still crisp and sN rorgeous in a thick package of similar
 -s documents-stock certificates. gilt tering with hopes as they were profusely gilded What alluring, fantastic names they had-these defunct enterprises in Golconda Land! The Stn- hadSTrachyte Copper Mining and Smelling Com pany. the snowstorm Hydraulic Mining Company 1that was gold, and the certificates had delicate ygnette picturing valley among the serried peaks of the upper Rockies). Whatever gold there may be in that lofty valley still sleeps undsturbed beneath the Colorado snows There was an oil company in West Virginia, and out in Idaho there gation Company. Note, if you will, the geographi- cal sweep of our enterprises; they covered hair the states of the Union besides Mexico, and their Hence.
 :, And here were the Inventions, too: Gas and featuring acetylene gas out waste, and the Grass Mat Company, which had machine that could reeds or plain marsh grass. But the grandest of all the always handle with a special unrl!l' the that first led us astraynwas A Ensenada snow) It had beautiful picture of extinct crater from which there flowed black stream, pure .asphaitum. There nothing limited in our expectations of what that stream would do for us Weli believe got our moneys worth out of them all, in way; and carefully placed these outlawed drafts on the bank of Hope at the bottom of my tin box and locked them up for another long sleep. sighed middle-age sigh and thought of those vivid months when we were chasing rainbows.
 What had we to do with highly speculative .enterprises'-or more plainly wildcat schemes? teach the Beauty of Truth and the Truth of Beau ty to couple of thousand American youths? Per shaps that was the reason-we had no business whatever to go rainbow chasing. And yet drewssotne fat dividends. of kind
 John Jefferson Solomon was our first promoter in Rainbow Land. He then professor of Metallurgyi in the Scientific School of Eureka Uni- yersity. where stiIl hold the chair of Romance. Solomon was q hairy. brawny chubby six-foot pro- lessor. which is a rarity in the species. He had, know. thin1y yelled contempt for merely polite marks before the faculty. So it with feel ing of agreeable surprise that accepted invita- tion to his rooms. where as he said he had "some- thing to put before me-" We had met at the Campus Club, where usually dropped in of an afternoon to read the evening paper. Little Mac Williams, clever youngster who was assisting me in the department. was playing billiards at the time and joined us, I do not remember that Solo invited Mac. but the lad not bashful and often followed me about.
 Solomons study was crammed with dusty Iit- and outing fesa- lptoeing about the roam.s while our host dug out some chairs, I found basin re-
 Melton" solomon said gravely. taking tine basin tenderly between his hairy fingers, "do you know what Asphaltum is?'
 II admitted a layman's general acquaintance with that useful substance. Solomon, tapping the basin, \ 'This is crude Asphaltuml" Then he gave us g.
 little the copmercai import impressively. fondling that sticky mess in the wash basin. ''1 have been hunting for an asphalt lake for twenty years: You just dip out the stuff and more comes in from below You can't ex-
 "A real widows cruise!" Mac commented frivo-
 "At last," Solomon continued in condescending tones, "I think I have found one-that is one of my old students has found 1t among the mountains of Lower California. five been making tests of ifv a1Tn nha1f1 hay vuiro nings to go to the City of Mexico and get con eession from the government"
 If he would like 'tof eat it.
 .e Then, we shall form small company, incor- gested lightly. as if that was something he did Khy, you'll make your fortune." murmured Tt does look like good thing" he admitted calmly and after slight pause he said: Might let you. have block of the stock Melton, if you just now"
 sThat,s mighty good of you, sol," stammered grattfed that this of large affairs should think I kept few thousands of idle cash by
 I've shan't put out much stock" he explained, 'but I could let you have few hundred shares.'' :. "I don't believe that I could manage much as that" I said timidly. thinking of the twelve hundred dollars Ada and had painfully scraped together since our marriage for that year in Eu- rope n,
 pected to pay par," Solomon suggested. Say couple of hundred shares at twenty-five? You can SfxS. m0 your cQecK TOT WQaCS convenient ana make your note for the rest. I expect that we shall be paying dividends before the note would Mall due"
 M hurriedly subtracted twelve hundred dollars From i've thousand; it left large balance and Ada Wldnt rbel1eve in debts. Then l thought of Aunt $ilva's baauest to my wife. We called 1t the Ru1ld1ng fund.- and 1t reposed in the savings bank. NBome time we meant to build little cottage Hhe hills across the river.
 M Couldn't you let me have stock, MT. Solo, Mnon?" MacWilliams demanded eagerly, his cheek Blaming.
 K "Oh. we'll. how much?" Solomon asked 1ndifrer- BntIy.
 W Ten shares. say. shall get some money from W book I'm doing" Mac explained "and I want a .Eood chance to invest it.
 Ms ..Au right, the great agreed good-na- skuredIy q guess you can have your ten shares" E Then we talked asphalt until long after the din- her hour, and Mac and l talked it all tue way E5rocbx fN rnxyh houS hell