The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-23

VvOA J0A00 kA0 6A0AO w NV
until within the last year, and then 10
VA sixty years old. Now he was In
. situation where all the money On
earth could do him no good.
When the now frantic proprietor Of
the overwhelming transaction" said
he was willing to give 100000 to
stand on solid land, Jack Albright
replied:
II have a proposition to make. II It
would be any relief to you to send .
cablegram to your people,"
what! We have no wireless out.
ht!"
II understand navigation" went on
Jack, land I have kept myself in
formed as to the proposition of this
ship ever since she placidly shed her
%tailfeathers. I know that we are now
within eight miles of a small island
on which the new ocean cable which
is now being laid is landed by this
time. The idea is, you know, to make
the island of which I speak a relay
station so az to avoid a stretch OF
1000 miles without a break. I am sure
that the cable has reached that island
since we sailed on this old hooker. No
body on board has thought of it, If he
knows any thing about the subject,
and for reasons of my own, I don't
intend to remind any n but you of
the fact. l can reach that island, and
send a cablegram to any part of the
globe"
IF you can do that, I will make you
rich, and you will. in my estimation,
become famous" the fnancier repeat
ed. How can yo- set to the island?"
"You have apparently forgotten that
you have a motdgboat on this ship.
We can get permission to have your
boat put overheard, and / a make
the island in four hours. l a steer
straight to it by Compass"
IF you can, you can help me to
make a lot of money!" said the vic
tim of the wealth-getting habit. q"
will tell you confidentially, that l have
a heavy financial interest in a chain
OF insurance companies in London. !
can send the officials a cipher cable
gram telling them to write risks on
this ship, it's cargo, and the life of ev-
cry mothers son of us. Doubtless we
have been posted as lost and the
public will stampede to get such in
surance. The chances are we will be
picked up, some day, and the premi-
ums will be enormous in the aggre-
gate. The proposition is not in the
nature of a swinc'e, for there is a
chance that we may be lost after all.
But that is not the transaction I have
in mind. That is something which,,
in my opinion, overshadows the insur-
ance proposition to such a vast extent
that the insurance scheme is, compar-
atively speaking, inconceivably trivial
insignificant"
"Golly sakes alive!" exclaimed Jack.
'In my estimation the destruction
of the world would be a slight affair
in comparison with the transaction l
have in mind. But didn't you tell me
that you were a ncwspaperman?"
81 did"
DOCSHC yOuA liz "oPopSl iiotihSS
prompt you to make a big fee by send
ing a report of the fate of this ship,
describing existing conditions there
on, to the leading journals of the
world?"
81 have a better scheme than that.
I was once discharged by a managing
editor for something I didn't do. It
was about the only thing in my v a
ried career that I was not guilty as
charged, and the nasty treatment
received nettled me. Besides that,
the person who fired me is about the
cheapest of my acquaintance that
draws a big salary which he doesn't
earn. Now, here is my plan: After
1 have worked off your cablegrams
and given them a few days to soak
and bear fruit, I will cable the owner
of the paper emplo. ing my enemy.
will say to that owner that l can fur
nish his paper with a cracking good,
| exclusive account of the fate of this
vessel, and that I will not send a sin
gle word until he forwards proof that
he has publicly discharged that pin
head managing editor with a guaran.
tee that he will never be re-employed.
My enemy will either be fired or there
will be a riot-mayhap a lynching. AT
any rate, I will get more satisfaction
out of the affair than I could out of all
the money I ever saw"
So it was arranged that Jack was
to have the motorboat set afoat fol
the ostensible purpose of scouting in
search of a sail.
Mr.. Robinson carefully wrote his
dispatch relative to the grand trans
action" and then prepared his cipher
to the insurance people.
Jack Albright started for the island
He had an anxious afternoon, bu,
found his calculations correct. AS he
handed the message to the cable op
orator, his eyes took in at a glance the
words:
"Say, doc! is it a boy"
And oc ho rood this moSsaoo 70