White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1915-02-07

TIN On 1880
E8 beneath It and the window.
II can see clearly enough" said VIII
kerson. that there Is a girl mixed
up In this affair. Tom Gallon never
walked like that"
He rode slowly down the steep hill
till he reached the pumping engine.
Bill Tubbs. the bulky. sodden faced
engineer, came to the doorway.
as this The Master Keyr" de.
manded Wilkerson.
ut certainly is." was the response.
"And-old Tom Gallon runs it?''
wilkerson pulled out a flask, divining
Bill Tubs ruling vice. and the en-
gineer. after a long drink. wiped bis
mouth with the back of his oily hands.
$50 you are looking for Thomas Gal
lon, are your Well. he owns this mine,
but It's mostly run by a young girl
there In that bungalow IN the hill.
You see. Tom amt up to what he used
10 be. The ore Is getting worse every
day and the old mans sick up there In
his house"
"I'm going up to see him now" said
wilkerson. He rode on q few yards
and surveyed the snug houses. stamp
mill and all the apparatus of the grow.
Ing mine and snarIed. so this Is what
he wanted for himself"
The man be was seeking lay prop
ped up In bed. To Ruth he gave ey-
e~rytblng-silks and down and all the
soft things of this life. Himself he
still slept on a hard cot with q straw
pillow under his head-th that Is. he had
slept. Ii seemed to him that sleep
had forever fled. and he was now look.
ing up into Ruth's face almost plead.
ingly. trying TO keep his grim old lips
from asking sympathy There was
reason in his mind that he should ac-
cept no tender ministrsitlon from the
lovely girl who stood beside him. His
sacrifice NUS be complete; SO when
his daughter ben over him and asked
him II he felt all right he mustered a
smile.
There's nothing the matter with me,
Ruth he was saying. and his glance
sought that of John Dorr. who stood
at the foot of the bed. The eyes OF
the two men met. and Dorr impercep-
tibly nodded his head In token that be
would not tell. Not that he yet knew
ne recognized the fact that sooner or
later he was to know.
Ruth stopped over and said:
Papa. | don't believe you do feel
well. I'm going to make you some
thing hot TO drink I'll bring you a
toddy." And she went into the kitch
en- and shut the door.
When she was gone John nodded a
pleasant Good night" and also left
Then old Thomas Gallon rose and
went TO his worn desk and got his well
thumhed diary.
IL am haunted" be wrote slowly, al
ways haunted Am | 10 die without
knowing whether wilkerson Is alive
and that Ruth IL safe?"
At that moment be glanced up and
thought he saw the sinister face of his
former partner NJ the window BY the
strongest effort OF will he managed to
control himself and went on writing:
"Wilkerson still alive by night
When will he come out into the dayf
He shall never have the key that
would unloca the secret to my little
girls happiness. | will trust John"
Fancy TO yourself scenes that must
have ncd like swift films before the
old mans eyes as he put the diary
away. The desert and Its mortal
thirst: Wilkerson. ever drinking greed
lily OF precious water: gold; murder,
his escape with the plans, their loss
I'm the chest when the vessel went
down In a caldron Of flame; the image
of his dying wife; the picture OF the
babe he had lifted from her chill breas.
Ruth. for whom he had suffered. He
bowed his head Oh bis folded arms.
Such Is the bitterness that the night
brings upon those who are alone.
When Ruth came In with the steam
ing glass of teddy she quietly set the
glass down and went out on the porch
to look at the light across the gulch
which marked John DORIS window
Youth was calling TO youth.
Ii was no apparition shat Gallon had
seen Mt the window this time. II was
really wilkerson. who. after one salts
fed glance. rode swiftly away.
II was midnight when he raped at
the door OF the Vale Vista railroad
station and called the sleepy agent
II wan TO get n telegram through
right away" he said b%rusquely. There
Is an extra dollar In your pocket II you
can rush It."
The slender boy who represented the
Rocky Mountain Southern railroad 81
lently led the way In. turned up the
wick of the lamp and showed blanks
and pencil across the counter.
"You look half asleep to me-" Wilker.
son growIed as he picked up the pen
ell.
The boy scanned the stranger quiet
~ n opened the dra wer Of his tel.
egraph desk and faced his visitor
again. Wilkerson caught the CLINT Of
me steel barrel Of : revolver In that
dra wer.
--..