The Calumet news., 1911-07-22

flank Gfiuley, muSed the presi-
dent-"uank Gridley and his reputa.
tionp 1t would certainly be a pity if
that were TO get corroded In any way.
There Is a man who properly belongs
to the stone age, what you might call
an elemental scoundrei.
"Ever hear of the story of his mar
riage? No? Remind me of It some
time and I'll tell you. But we were
speaking OF Flemister. You say tho
Wire Silver has turned out pretty
well?'
Every well, indeed, believe. Flem-
lister seems TO have money to burn"
"Ie always has-his own or some-
body else's. 1t makes little difference
to him. The way he got the Wire
Silver would have made Black Beard.
the pirate. turn green with envy.
Know anything about the history Of
the mine?'
Lidgerwood shook his head.
"Well. do; just happen to. You
know how II lies-on the western slope
of Little Butte ridge?"
"Yes."
"That Is where 1t lies now. But the
original openings We're made on the
eastern slope of the butte. They
didn't pan ont very well, and Elem
lister began to look for victim to
whom he could sell. About that time
n man whose name i can never recall
took up n claim on the western slope
of the ridge directly opposite Flem-
lister. This man struck It pretty rich,
and Flemister began to bully him On
the plea that the new discovery was
only continuation of his own vein
straight through the hill. You can
guess what happened"
"Fairly WELL" said Lidgerwood.
"Flemister lawed the other man out"
"He did worse than that. He drove
straight into the hill, past his own
lines and actually took the money out
of the other mans mine TO use as
fighting fund. Flemister put the 9TH
er man to the wall in the end There
was some domestic tragedy involved,
too. In which Flemister played the
devil with the other mans family, but
don't know any of the details"
Just then the waiter opened the door
second time to say that luncheon
was served.
Don't forget to remind me that I'm
to tell you Gridley's story, Howard"
said the president, rising out of the
depths of his lounging chair and strip
ping Off the dust coat Breads like n
romance, only l fancy It was anything
but "A romance for poor Lizzie Gridley.
Let's go and see what the cook has
done for u.s."
At luncheon Lidgerwood was made
known TO the other members OF the
private car party. The white haired
old man who had been DOING In his
chair was Judge Holcombe, Van Lewis
uncle and the father of the prettier of
| the two young women who had been
entertaining Jefferis, the curly headed
collegian. Jefferis laughingly dis
claimed relationship with anybody.
But Miss Carolyn Doty, the less pret-
| ty but more talkative of the two
young women, confessed that she was
n cousin twice removed of Mrs.
Brewster.
Quite naturally Lidgerwood sought
to pair the younger people when the
| table gathering was complete and was
not entirely certain of his prefiguring.
Eleanor Brewster and Van Lew sat
together and were apparently absorb
ed in each other to the exclusion of
all things extraneous. Jefferis had
Miss Doty for n companion, and the
ailliction of her well balanced tongue
seemed to affect neither his appetite
nor his enjoyment of what the young
woman had to say.
| Miriam Holcombe had fallen TO Lid
gerwoods lot. and at first he thought
that her silence was due to the fact
that young Jefferis had got upon the
wrong side Of the table. But after she
began to talk he changed his mind.
"Tell me about the wrecked train
we passed little while ago, Mr.. Lid
gerwood," she began, almost abruptly.
'Was any one killed?"
"No. 1t was freight, and the crew
escaped. 1t was rather narrow es-
cape, though, for the engineer and
| fireman"
| I'VE saw You go down to speak to
two Of your men, one who wore his
hat pulled down over his eyes and
made dreadful faces Mt you as he
talked"-
"That was McCloskey, our trainmas-
ter" he cut in
"And the otherT
"Was wrecking boss No. @" he told
her. my latest apprentice and n very
promising young subject. This was
his first time out under my admins
tration, and he put McCloskey and me
out of the running Mt once"
| What did he do?" she asked. He
saw wistfulness I'm her eyes and won
| dered at It,
| 81 couldn't explain It without being
unpardonably technical. But perhaps
1t can best be summed up In saying
that he Is n fine mechanical engineer,
with the added gift of knowing how to
handle men,"
"You are generous, Mr.. Lidgerwood,
toto subordinate. He ought to be