The Bossier banner., 1915-12-30

fee. an I'm goin' to melt snow an
wash a pan of that same gravel for
luck"
Smoke departed. ax in hand. to blaze
the stakes Starting from the down
stream center stake OF No. q. De
headed at right angles across the mar
row valley toward Its rim. He pro-
ceeded methodically. almost automat-
tcally, for his mind was alive with rec
elections Of the night before. He felt
somehow that he had won to empery
over the delicate hne and tirm muscles
Of those feet and angles he had rub
bed with snow. and this emrery seem
ed to extend to the rest and Ill OF this
woman Of his kind. In dim and fiery
ways feeling Of possession mastered
him. 1t seemed that oil that was nee
essary was for him to walk up to this
Joy Gastell. take her hand In his and
say Come"
1t was In this mood that he dtscov-
cred something that made him forget
empery over the white feet OF woman.
At the valley rim he biazed no corner
stake. He did not reach the valley
rim. but instead he found himself con
fronted by another stream. He tinesi
up with his eye blasted willow tree
and Il big and recognizable spruce. de
returned to the stream where were
the center stakes. He followed the
hed OF the creek around wide horse
shoe bend through the fiat and found
that the tw" creeks were the saEic
creek Next he fiOundered twIco
through the SHOW from valley rim to
valley rim. running the first line from
the lower stake Of No. q. the second
from the upper stake OF No. %. ana
| he found that the upper stake OF the
latter was lower than the lower stake
Of the former. In the gray twilight
| and half darkness Shorty had Iocat-
ed their two claims on the horse
shoe.
Smoke plodded hack to the little
camp. Shorty. at the end of washing
pan OF gravel. exploded at sight Of
| him
I'VE got itr' Shorty cried. holding
out the pan. Look at 1t. A nasty
mess of gold. Two hundred right
there II it's cent. She runs rich
from the top Of the wash gravel"
Smoke cast an incurious gi;lnce ut
the coarse gold. poured himself cup
OF coffee ut the fire and silt down,
Shorty WIS disgruntled by his part
ner's lack OF delight in the discov-
cry.
why don't you kick In an get ex-
cited?' he demanded I'VE got our
pile right here"
Smoke took swallow of coffee be-
fore replying. Shorty. why are our
two claims here like the Panama. ca.
aal?"
Whats the answer?"
We'll. the eastern entrance OF the
Panama canal is west OF the western
entrance. that's ALL"
Go on" Shorty said. II amt seen
the joke yet"
I'm short. Shorty. you staked our
two claims on II big horseshoe bend.
The upper stake of 2S is ten feet be-
low the lower stake of 81"
You mean we amt got nothin'.
Smoker"
Worse than that; we've got ten feet
less than nothing"
Shorty departed down the bank on
the run. Five minutes later he return
ed In response to Joys look ne
nodded.
I'VE might as well break camp and
start back for Dawson" Smoke said.
beginning to fold the blankets.
Il am sorry. Smoke" JOY said. Its
all my fault. Dads staked for me
down near Discovery. know. i'll
give you my claim"
He shook his head.
shorty! she pleaded.
Shorty shook his head and began to
laugh. 1t was colossal laugh.
Chuckles and muffled explosions yield.
cd to hearty roars.
ut amt Mysteries" be explained. II
sure get powerful amused at times. an
this is one of them"
His gaze chanced to fall on the gold
pan He walked over and gravely
kicked it. scattering the gold over the
landscape. 1T amt ourn." he said.
1T belongs to the geezer | backed up
500 feet last night. An what gets the
is 400 of them feet was to the good
his good Come on. Smoke Let's
start the hike to Dawson. though II
you're hankprin' to kill me won't
lift finger to prevent"