Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-06-26
The Price of a
w eek S Board
Bv RUTH GRAHAM

l,am Burns, farmers boy. who
didn't like farm work, went srom Hi
notS out into the wild west There he
wandered about, making Il living M
best he could out there was little for
him to do, except XIII the animals OF
the Wilderness either for their meat
or their skins During his waudcriugs
Tom married the daughter Of settler
who had come from Ohio She wished
10 set back to that state aS much M
her husband wanted to return IL Iii
nois, Rut instead OF drifting eastward
they drlttcd farther westward, for as
civilization Cucroached upon them the
Wild animals. by which Tom made
living, became scarce, and they were
obliged to ind now hunting grounds,
So at last they found themselves in
gulCh where game was plcntv and
nCighhors were few II WAS desc
late life, especially for the woman
Tom offered to take his wife east, hut
she know he had never fitted himSclt
FOR the work to be done there and she
preferred t. remain where they were
rather than run the risk of starving IN
her former home
One day 4 mau came trudGing up the
gulch and, stopping 1T the Burns cab
in, asked Mrs Burns il he could he
accommodated for a short time She
told him that her husband would he
home soon aud then she could give
IN answer. The stranger said he
would pay wen for his board When
Tom returned il was agreed between
him and his wife that thcy would take
the stranger in, though there was only
one room in the cabin, aud they were
all obliged 10 sleep in the same room
divided into two parts by n curtain,
The man went out every morning
prospecting for something lie didn't
say what-and every night returned TO
the cabin. He remained with the
Burns couple week, then said to
them;
Tim going away from here. and |
cant pay You any board. | have been
told that an article Is 10 he found in
this region that is very valuable Had
found il could have paid you thou
sands of dollars for my keep As It is
can't pay you anything
THAT'S all right, stranger, said
John we wouldn't have fclt war
ranted in charging YOU over ST any
way. 80 II doesn't matter much
ut matters more to me than 10 YOU
Ii may he that I've missed the deposit
I've been looking for. ana some day
you may stumble on It. But you won't
recognize Il If you do I'm going to
leave You some chemicals. ANA II YOU
and mix II with the chemicals and burn
the compound il will give II green
flame
He gave them some idea OF what the
substance looked like in its crude form
and, pouring the chemicals from his
stock into bottles, left them with him,
with his address. telling them if they
ever found the article To write him
aud he would make them rich.
A month passed after the strangers
departure ana the Burnscs would have
almost forgotten his coming had il not
been for the bottles he had left them
that stood in the cupboard One day
John, instead of hunting in the gulch
aud the region thcrcabout. went down
to It's mouth and, rounding mountain
spur, entered valley He encounter
al trapprr. who told him that moth
ing could live there, not even animals,
and there was no use for him 20 try TO
get amy game there SO dcsuinte was
the place that BE- was called Death
valley. John had heard of II and con,
cluded To have n look ut II before go
ing home So he wandered about IN 1t.
He hadn't gone far before he saw
scattered about substance that nm
swcrcd the description his hoarder had
given him lie gathered SON" Of Il
and took il home with hm
After supper whit" his wife was
washing he dishes ne took piece
of the substance hc bad brought from
Death valley and, putting il in a tim
pan, poured the chemicals over It and
set fire to it, As he did so his wife
paused ia wipiug dish and watched
him. As the flame burst forth The two
lt'Ntb ~ fdfh DlHtI WIN NHlIi i@t "Iip
pleasure
II burned green
The cot To- talked that night over
various plans to secure what value
there might be in their find 10 them
selves They thought Of presenting q
claim for the ground where they had
found he substance but realized that
they were too poor and too ignorant
OF The subject to handle if themselves.
50 they wrote 10 thcir odgcr that they
thought they had found what hc had
been looking for He came Ia s"e them,
and john showed bin specimen or
his find ana also that it burned green,
The stranger uttered IN exclamation
Of delight
"That is bornX," he said used for
washing purposes IN every household
In Ameriea.
He told John that if he would tell
him where Il iaN hr would form 4