Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1919-01-09

A week or so later he became sud-
denly and unexpectedly active. He
left the house as soon as his break
fast vas eaten, and he did not come
home to luncheon-a circumstance
which irritated Hazel, since it was n
Of those rare days when she herself
lunched at home. Late in the after
noon he tclephoned briefly that he
would dine downtown. And when he
did return. at nine or thereabouts in
the evening. he clamped a cigar be-
tween his teeth, and fell to work GOV.
ering a sheet Of paper with intcrnin'
able ows of figures.
"What is all the clerical work
about?" she inquired. Reckoning
your assets and liabilitiesY
Bill smiled and pushed aside the
paper.
I'm going to promote a mining com.
pany," he told ner, quite casually. 1T
hay been put up to me as q business
propositioE-and I've got to the stage
where [ have to do something, or I'll
sure have the Willies."
She overlooked the latter statement;
IL 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 a mining company" she
repeated. "That sounds extremely
businesslike. How-when-where?"
a"Now-here In Granville" he re-
Piled. you see" he continued, warm
Ing up a bit to the subject, "when 1
was prospecting that creek where we
made the cleanup last summer, /
ran across a well-deined quartz lead.
l packed out a few samples in my
pockets, and 1 happened to show them
as well as one or two of the mug
gets to some of these fellows at the
club a while back. Lorimer took q
piece OF the quartz and had it assayed.
1t looms up as something pretty big.
SO he and Brooks and a couple of
other fellows want me to go ahead
and organize and locate a group Of
claims in there. Twenty or thirty
thousand dollars capital might make
'em all rich. Of course, the placer
L 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 q 'dif1iculty--''you
can't sell stock in a business that has
no real foundation-yet. Don't you
have to locate those claims first! z"
"Wisc old head; You have the idea,
all right" He smiled. "But this is
not a s1ock-jobbing proposition. I
wouldn't he in on it if it were, believe
me. It's to be a corporation, where
not to exceed six men will own all the
stock that's issued. And so far as
the claims are concerned, I've got
Whitley Lewis located in Fort George,
and I've been burning the wires and
spending a bundle of real money get
ting him grub-staked. He has got four
men besides himself all ready to hit
the trail as soon US I give the word"
"You won't have to go?" she put in
quickly.
"No." he murmured. sit isn't neces-
sary, at this particular stage of the
game. But I wouldn't mind popping
just the same"
"B-r-r-r.' she shivered involuntar-
lily. -Four hundred miles across that
deep snow, through that steady, flesh
soaring cold. I don't envy them the
journey"
She came over and stood by him.
playfully rumpling his brown hair with
her fingers.
I'm glad you've found something
to loose that pent-up energy of yours
on, B%illy-boy," she said. you'll make
a success Of it, l know. l don't see
why you shouldn't make a success Of
any kind Of business. But l 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. But 1
can exploit the resources of nature.
And that is my plan. If we make
money it won't be filched by a COM
pick process from the other fellows
pockets it won't be wealth created by
shearIng lambs in the market, by
sweatshop labor, or adulteruted food,
or exorbitant rental Of filthy dealing
with. I'm not overly anxious to get
into it with them. But it promises
action Of some sort-and l have to
do something till spring."
In the spring.! That brief phrase
set Hazel ~ sober thinking. With
April or May Bill would spread his
wings for the North. There would be
no more staying him than the flight
of the wild goose to the reedy nesting
grounds could be stayed. Well, a sum
mer in the North would not be SO bad,
she reflected. But she hated to think
Of the isolation. 1t grieved her to
contemplate exchanging her beautiful
~ furnished apartment for a log cabin
in the. woods.