The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1914-07-23
An ingenious
Mark
BY EDITH v. ROSS


Nathan Hartwell, fifty years ago a
pr0spectOr in the gold regions of Colo
RADIO, entered n tavern one evening at
B. in very excited state. A couple
of men standing at the bar noticed
him and heard him ask the landlord
for writing materials. These he took to
a table and sat down to write a letter.
"Do you know what's the matter
with himY' asked one of his observers.
"No, don't"
Hes struck bonanza. There's
nothin else In this here country TO
affect n man like that. I've seen men
in that fix before ana know the symp-
TOMS"
''WellY"
"Well, 1 think there's somepin In it
for u.s."
"HowT"
1--WE can keep an eye on him, see
where his claim is located and jump
it,"
AT that moment one OF the conspira-
tors noticed a man reading n newspa-
per by window and put his finger on
his lip. The two emptted their glasses
and went out. AS soon as they had
done so the man reading the newspa-
per arose and, going to Hartwell, said:
"My friend, overheard those two
men talking about you, and wish to
warn you" Then he told Hartwell
what he had heard. Hartwell appear
ed TO be very much affected by the In
formation. He thanked the stranger,
but said nothing about the truth or
falsity of the conspirators' surmise.
Hartwell had struck n rich vein of
ore and was writing to his daughter,
Mabel. in the east TO announce the
fact
One day Hartwell was found dead
near the hole he was pretending TO
work Not long after his death two
men laid claim to the place where he
was supposed 10 be digging, but, find
ing nothing. they soon abandoned 1t.
Mabel Hartwell had been posted by
her father as to his fears of losing
his property, and he had given her
some idea as 10 the location. But the
exact spot was unknown TO her, her
father not daring to state 1t, fearing
that his letter might be interrupted.
As soon as she had been informed of
her fathers death she determined to
go west with a view TO claiming his
mine.
When she reached the scene Of her
fathers efforts she first made inquiries
for the conspirators, but they had left
and no one knew where they had
gone. Mabel had the good sense to
realize that 1t would be difficult to
find and punish them, and even if she
did it would not bring her father
back TO life. She knew that he had
been very DESTROYS that she should
have the property he had discovered
and set about to find II.
Alone she visited the location that
he had given her. She found IL in a
canyon shut in on either side by high
mountains. There was a house at the
mouth OF the canyon, where she OBJ.
tanned lodgings and set out TO try
to discover the mine. But she had
little hope, for knowing that her ia
Their had been watched, she inferred
that he would not mark It. Neverthe-
less, not long before his death Hart
well had written her that be was
trying 10 find some mark by which In
case anything should happen to him
he might show her and her alone the
exact spot under which lay the rich
vein of ore he had discovered, for be
had obliterated all trace Of his mine.
Mabel hoped that her father had hit
upon some mark that only she would
understand, but had been stopped from
communicating II to her by his sudden
taking away. Her experience had
made her suspicious of every one. and
she dare not take any person with her.
Fortunately IL was summer, and the
weather was fine. She made daily
searches in the canyon, which, though
but a mile In length, was very rugged
and hard TO get over
One day she came to a rock on which
she was much astonished to find her
own name, Mabel" carved In rude
letters. Beneath was an arrow and
beneath the arrow a date-July Is.
There was no year given. only the
month and day OF the month. Nat
urally Mabel turned her glance in the
direction the arrow pointed. The first
object In line was perpendicular
rock. very thin, its outline being like
sugar loaf. Indeed, one side Of b.
was an edge like an ak, some parts or
which were not over a foot thick.
Mabel fell to thinking on the prob
lem. The arrow appeared to be In
tended to direct her attention to the
thin side of the rock, which was d.
rectiy In line with IT, What did the
date mean2 The day Mabel found the
sign was the Goth Of June. Her fa-
ther had been dead nearly year, hav-
ing been murdered on the 18th OF
July, three days after the carved date.
Mabel examined the thin rock careful
ly and found that hole half an inch
In diameter had been drilled through
its thlnnest part. Mabel at once infer
red that this hole had something to do