The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1918-07-05
! feelings. But Bill was blandly undis-

turbed.
"You don't need to look so horri-
fed" he drawled. "Tm going straight
to bed, little person. Scold not, nor
fret. William will be himself again
ere yet the morrow's sun shall clear
the horizon. Let US avoid recrimina-
tlon. Good night"
A week or SO later he became sud-
denly and Unexpectedly active. He
left the house as soon as his break
fast was eaten. and he did not come
home to luncheon--a circumstance
which irritated Hazel, since It was one
Of those rare days when she herself
lunched at home. Late In the after
noon he tslephoned hSiefy that he
would dine downtown. And when he
did return, ut nine or thereabouts In
the evening. he clamped a cigar be-
tween his teeth. and fell to work COW
ering sheet Of paper with intermin-
able rows Of figures.
"What Ii all the clerical work
about" she inquired. Reckoning
your assets and liabilitIesT
Bill smiled and pushed aside the
paper.
"I'm going to promote mining COM
pany." he told her, quite casually. 1T
has been put up to me as business
proposition---and I've got to the stage
where have to do something, or I'll
sure have the Willies."
She overlooked the latter statement {;
1t conveyed no special significance at
the time. But his first statement
opened up possibilities such as Of late
she had sincerely hoped would come
to pass, and she was all interest.
Promote mining company?" she
repeated. "That sounds extremely
businesslike. How--when--where
Nowhere In Granville" he re-
piled. "You see," he continued, warm
Ing up bit to the subject, ''when /
was prospecting that creek where we
made the cleanup last summer, !
ran across well-dehned quartz lead.
packed out a few samples In my
pockets, and happened to show them
as well as one or two of the mug
gets to some of these fellows ut the
club q while back. Lorimer took a
piece Of the quartz and had 1t assayed.
It looms up as something pretty big.
So he and Brooks and q couple Of
other fellows want me to 60 ahead
and organize and locate q group Of
claims In there. Twenty or thirty
thousand dollars capital might make
'em all rich. or course. the placer
end Of It will be the big thing while
the lode Is being developed. Getting
the start is easy. These fellows I've
talked to are dead anxious to get In"
"But"-her knowledge Of business
methods suggested difficulty-"you
can't sell stock In business that has
no real foundation-yet. Don't you
have to locate those claims first1"
"Wise old head; you have the idea,
oil right" He smiled. "But this Is
not stock-jobbing proposition.
wouldn't be In on It II 1t were, believe
me. It's to be a corporation. where
not to exceed six men will own all the
stock that's issued. And 50 fur as
the claims are concerned, I've got
Whitley Lewis located In Fort George.
and I've been burning the wires and
spending q bundle Of real money get
ting him grub-staked. He has got four
men besides himself all ready to hit
the trail as soon a. ] give the word"
"You won't hare 10 gof' size put in
quickly.
"No," he murmured. 'Tt isn't neces-
sary. at this particular stage OF the
game. But I wouldn't mind popping
a whip over a good string of dogs,
just the same"
"B-rr-rw she shivered involuntar-
lily. "Tour hundred miles across that
deep snow. through that steady. neah-
soaring cold. I don't envy them the
journey"
She came over and stood by him,
playfully rumpling his brown hair with
her fingers.
"Tm glad you've found something
to loose that pent-up energy Of yours
on, Billy-boy." she said. "You'll make
q success Of II. know. ] don't see
why you shouldn't make a success of
any hind Of business. But I didn't
think you'd ever tackle business. You
have such peculiar views about bust
ness and business practice"
II despise the ordinary business
ethic." he returned sharply. "Buf
can exploit the resources Of nature,
And that IL my plan. II We make
money it won't be- nlched by . com
plex process from the other fellows
pockets; it won't be wealth created By
shearing lambs In the market. By
sweStshop labor, or adulterated food
or exorbitant rental Of fllthy dealing
with. I'm not overly anxious to get
into it with them. But it promises
action Of some sort-and have tc
do something I'LL spring"
In the spring That brief phrase
set Hazel 70 sober thinking. With
April or May Bill would spread hii
wings for the North. There would b
no more staying him than the flight