The Dolores star., 1918-05-03

surmise. There would be NO need 10
Try any deception upon them.
Mail from Seattle reached camp once
q month. Holt sat down before his
stove to read one Of the newspapers he
had brought from the ONCE. II was
the P.I. On the NTH page was o
little story that gave him his clue.
11c6oHAID IL 'ss1st:IxH eoAI cIxiHs
to the Macdonald claims. which had
been clear-listed for patent By Harold
p. Winton. the Commissioned Of the
General Land Office. takes on smother
phaso with the appointment OF Gordon
Elliot a special neld agent TO examine
the validity Of the holdings. The new
ne1d agent won Q reputation BY Ms
work In unsarthing the Oklahoma
Gold Brick land frauds.
Elliot leaves Seattle in the Queen
City Thursday for the North. where
no viii make Q thorough investigation
Of the whole situation with view to
clearing up the matter definitely. II
mis- report 10 favorable to the claimants
the patents win b granted without
further delay.
This was too good to keep. Holt
pulled ON his boots and went out to
twit such Of the enemy as he might
meet. 1t CHANGED that the first Of them
was Selfridge. whom he had not seen
since his arrival, though he knew the
little man was In camp.
"How goes It, Holt7 Fine and
dandy, chr" inquired Wally with the
professional geniality he affected.
The old miner shook his head dole
fully. II done bust my laig, Mr.. Sell
fish," he groaned. 1t was one Of his
pleasant why's to affect difficulty Of
hearing and o dullness Of understand
ing. SO that he could legitimately call
people by distorted versions Of their
names. "The old man don't amount to
much nowadays"
Nothing to that, Gid. You're young
er than you ever were, Judging by your
looks"
'Then my looks lie to beat the devil,
Mr.. Selfish" ~ -..
my name is selfridge." explained
Wally. trifie irritated.
Holt put a cupped hand to his ear
anxiously. "Shellfsh. did you sayf
Tha' 3 right. How come to forgetf
The old mans going pretty fast, Mr..
ShelInsh. No more memory than a
jackrabbit. Say, Mr.. Shellfish, what's
the idee Of all this here back-to-the-
people movement, as the old sayin' is7"
II don't know what you mean. And
my name is Selfridge. tell you"
snapped the owner of that name.
"'Course / ain't got no more sense
than the lnw allows. I'm o buzzard
haid, but me I kinder got to millin' 1t
over and In respect to these here local
improvements, as you might say, Tn
doggoned II sabe the whyfor."
"Just some business changes"
Holt showed his tobacco stained
teeth In grin splenetie. "Oh. That's
all. didn't know but what you
might be expecting q visitor"
Selfidge flashed sharp sidelong
glance at him. "What do you mean-a
visitorr'
II Just got notion mebbe you might
be looking for one, Mr.. Pelfrich. Like
as not you amt fixing up for this Cor
don Elliot a-tall." sEl.
Wally had no comeback, unless 1t
was one to retort in ironic admiration.
"You're wonder, Holt. Pity you don't
start detective bureau"
The old man went away cackling.
II Selfridge had held any doubts be-
fore, he discarded them now. Holt
would wreck the whole enterprise,
were he given a chance. It would never
do to let Elliot meet and talk with him.
He knew too much, and he was eager
to tell all he knew.
Macdonald's lieutenant got busy at
once with plans to abduct Holt. "We'Il
send the old man of on prospecting
trip with some of the boys" explained
Selfridge to Rowland. "That way we'll
kill two birds. He's back on his as
sessment work. The time limit will be
up before he returns and well start a
contest for the claim"
Rowland made no comment. He was
an engineer and not politician. In
his position 1t was impossible for him
not to know that a good deal about
the legal status Of the Macdonald
claims was irregular. But he was
a firm believer In a wide-open Alaska,
in the use Of the territory by those
who had settled IT.
"Better arrange 1t with Big Bill,
then. but don't tell me anything about
It. ! don't want to know the details" :"
he told selfridge.
Big Bill Macy accepted the job with
a grin. He had never liked old Holt,
anyhow. Besides. they were not going
to do him any harm.
Holt was baking a match Of sour
dough bread that evening when there
came knock at the cabin door. At
sight Of Big Bill and his two compan-
ions the prospector closed the oven
and straightened with alert suspicion.
He was not on visiting terms with any
Of these men. Why had they comU to
see hint
'we're going prospecting up Wild
Goose creek, and we want You to go
u kgU