The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-02-07
The
Refractory
Ore Claim
e.
BY Oliver Harper
8: Il . - . - g - q n - - q y A. !.
Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union }

"What is to be done with that pre-
ciOus pair of fools up there is what 1
can't figure out" said Jim Barker,
stubby pipe.
eve just can't do anything" replied
Joe Tlmmins, sending a blue cloud over
to meet and minge with that of Jim.
"We've tried to tell them that they're
foolish, but you can't git anything into
that wOman's head, except that we are
all Il set of d-ScOundrelS, and try
ing to Chise} them out of Il rich mine.
am plumb Outdone with them, and yet
we can't let them go on thisaway. To-
morrow will be New Years, and there
they are up there working like he
roes at something that will never pay.
| wish to goodness some of them smart
Alexis in the big colleges would find
some way of dealing with refractory
ore Who in Halifax sent 'em up there,
anyhow"
"Oh, some one in Havilah. You see,
the chap, he's Il Hunger. Got sick in
some of them high skyscrapers in New
York, and they sent him and that slip
of a gal out here to rough it in the
mines, hoping that he'd get we'll"
"Well, he's in pretty fair health Just
now, as you'd know if you seen him
at work. But, they've sunk every dol
lar they had in that d old Key
stone. She thought the stones We're
so pretty, And, so they are, all green
rs emeralds, and full of gold, that you
could cut out with Il pocket knife,
but which will never pan out dollar
to the hundred tons"
Il told him and her, when they took
out the claim papers that it was bad
| ore, but they knew SO much better
| than l did that l finally let them go
| ahead. Well, they have their twenty
stamp mill up and the first cleanup
/ will be made tomorrow. They are a
| pair of fools. but they are such en-
gaging foc's-what will they do when
they find Out?" said the man who
kept the saloon.
At this moment man who worked
| IVA A%N4' III - am NlAt AOpi' Ntiilit hO'fh
the trail from the Keystone mine.
Say, is they a co:tor in this here
place? If they is, he is wanted up to
the Keystone mighty quick. And
where's Annette? Shes wanted, too"
who's hurt? What's the matter
nnyway?' asked Jim.
Matter? Matter enough, l should
say. Here is this gal away from home
and folks. She's been workin' herself
to death to help her fool husband spend
money on that rotten old refractory
ore mine. They clean up tomorrow
after the first nine weeks run. and
she's been bakin' all day to have a
New Years festival for the bOys-and
by Gosh, there won't be six ounces,
! and now, noW-weh."
"WeIl-what?" asked the twenty
men crowding around him.
"Well?' Knocked he, "what'd you ex-
pect? She's a-needin' her mother just
now-that's what"
Il be mud" said the old Indian
woman who had come and the three
FASTENED up the trail.
The men looked 1T each other blank
~. They knew that this young couple
had gone into the mountain hoping
that the husband would grow strong.
He did, but when Mary had di5coy-
cred the lead they forgot all but that.
Mary knew gold when she saw it and
/ here, it was, lying in the hard quart,
among the vivid green's of the arSenical
deposit, bright and pure. She had
found a rich mine, Together they
traced the Outcroppings, and saw that
the gold-bearing ledge was virtually
endless. and so placed that tunne.!ng
would not be necessary. They took
some of the richest specimens of their
rock and went down to Hayilah, to
record their claim. Just for form they
went to an assay office. The aSsayer
looked at the beautifully-color speci-
mems and then stGmmered and turned
red. Mary anG Ed were so young
and so enthusiastic it were ruthless
to destroy their JOY. Mary watched
him suspiciously. Why was he so agi-
tated?
"Ah-er-have you ever heard of
refractory ore?" he asked. There are
many kinds of gold-bearing quartz, but
some of it cannot be worked on ac-
count of the arsenic. And. | am afraid
this is that kind of rock 1t looks So
But look at the gold" said Mary
her eyes flashing, and her cheeks red
Il Know know, hut it would cost
much more than it would bring to try
TO work your claim. Where is youi
clamp
The two amateur miners looked a.
each other with quick suspicion, and
neither replied. The poor assayer
wanted to warn them, but they were
sure he wanted to find out where the
Slain was TO rob them. They gathered
ap their specimens and departed.
They met a man who had twenty
stamp mill to sell. 1t had been a bad
venture Ne set the young folks against
ali the PEOPLE at Havilah and Clear
Creek, and finally sold them the mill
The people who would have saved then
from disaster now let them alone, anC
waited for the catastrophe. It was
.Ound to come with the first clean IN