The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1919-10-24

gineers will go up to the sawmill.
where the machinery is stored. and
overhaul 1t. Davis, you bring Ethel
up to the mine after breakfast. We
will leave about sunup, while she Is
having her beauty Sleep" He left the
room and passed into the darkness,
where the Spider was awaiting him.
ANY orders for tonight?" inquired
the latter. The Hawk negatived.
Nothing doing. There are too many
In the cabin. But Wen have another
try tomorrow. AS Bellas disappeared,
Morgan re-entered the house.
1t was decided that the engineers
should take Ethel's old room and that
the girl should use the spare bed In
the chamber of Bridget. The other
men were to occupy the lean-to and
harness room, with the exception of
Morgan and John, who decided to bed
themselves down in front of the fire.
place. This settled. they bade each
other goodnight and retired.
Lying awake before the fireplace,
Morgan glared evilly at his sleeping
companion, one hand upon his knife.
1.-THE credulous foolw he sneered.
How easy 1t would be-" He un-
sheathed the blade and ran his thumb
along its keen edge, then deciding
that 1t would be wiser to await an
other day, he thrust the weapon back
into place, and rolling upon his side,
composed himself to sleep.
They were upon their feet with the
first break of day, and having finished
breakfast, Morgan, the Spider, the
mine boss, Blackie, the assayer
and the rest of the men mounted their
horses. John, standing In the doorway,
waved them an adieu.
Miss Ethel and l will Join you
presently" he called. Morgan, shout
ing back that there was no necessity
for their hurrying. turned aside to the
Spider.
81 believe If we go straight up the
mountain this way, we will save a mile
or two on our way to the mine," said
he. and, as the other man nodded his
acquiescence, they turned aside from
the trail and followed by the rest went
clambering on. A mile farther up they
reached shack which was built on
the mountainside over a forty-five de-
gree slope, which ended in a cliff, the
latter falling into a deep valley. The
Hawk drew rein.
"Never saw that shack BEFORE" he
said. The Spider laughed
| Neither did /, for the simple rea.
son that never came this way before
Together they passed the hut, but
later encountering small mountain
| once urged their mounts into it up
to their bellies. The horses stopped
and began to drink.
| AS Morgan's animal lowered Its head
the man, feeling a. mite thirsty also,
removed his hat and bent forward to
scoop up a brimful. This brought his
face nearly to level with the clear
| mountain, stream, and as he looked
down through the transparent water
he caught sight of something glitter
| ing and glowing on the pebbles below.
With yell, he arose In his stirrups,
one finger pointing downward.
"Wade in there, one of you men, and
| a moment later a miner stood waist
/ deep in the stream. Reaching down at
the point indicated by his superior, the
mans fingers came In contact with the
object sought, and throwing it over his
shoulder he waded to the bank. At
their feet he tossed q torn gunny sack
partially filed with ingots of gold
one of the sacks borne from the room
of the girl by the hermit as she slept.
For a moment the men gathered
about the bars of virgin metal, star
ing at it as though transfixed. Fol-
lowed wild scramble into the
creek in search of more. As they
emerged, dripping, Morgan turned upon
them with laugh.
"Boys, this isn't a circumstance to
what the mine will give us if we can
only get rid Of" Suddenly he
stopped, aware that the eyes of the as
sayer, the only honest man in the out
fit, were fixed upon him in wonder
ment.
IF we can only get rid of the bad
luck which has pursued u.s." he fln-
ished lamely. Meanwhile, we had
better take this find back to that shack
we just passed and store it there"
AS Ethel and John were making
their preparations to leave for the
mine, the girl took John by the hand
and looked earnestly into his face.
"All my fears and suspicious of Nor
gan have returned with redoubled
force You are unwilling to think
evil of him, but for my sake, watch
him. Don't trust him hereafter, beg
of you. 1 feel it here" Her hand
stole over her heart. Somewhat wor-
ried, the man drew her to him.
"Your persistence weakens my con-
fidence somewhat. If he was a traitor
it would explain-but 1 cannot believe
it. Yet, for your sake, I will be on
my guard and watch him. Good-byr"
"You are not going to the mine with
out me?" she asked quickly. He shook
his head.
"No, only to show the engineers to