Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-05-31
turned their attention from tn near,

turned their attention from tho pearl
to the man that found it. He had
become an object of wonder and Curl
Gus admiration. No other achieve
ment in the world could possibly
have SO distinguished him in their
eyes. Yet, to the large unselfshness
of them. and such as them. be it said.
looks they bent upon him. Suddenly
one of their number snatched off his
battered hat n yelled:
."Hooray fer Ia Pearlhunter!"
The bluffs caught up the cheer that
followed and flung it back in multi
Iphed echoes. >clear and far up and
down the n~ight-bound shore. One of
the men, a small, wiry fellow, kicked
a shower Of sparks out Of the fire and
other ran to the tent and brought out
Ia jug. 1t was empty. A curse went
round the fire. Empty!-the one cir
~cumstance that could have kept the
camp from celebrating right.
/; The Boss, still hungry for the feel
Of the jewel, reached forth a grimy
finger and m~editatively stirred the
pearl where it lay in the finders
This ones roupder than them 10Th
er two. An it's got a SIMMER sheen.
Course l cayn't say p'intedly, bit I
putt it at not less'n five thousan'."
Five thousan'!" snorted the man
who had danced the hornpipe. Huh!
Louie Solomon will give six an never
grunt."
II dunno" muttered another. give
thousan'! That's a heap O. money!
But I'm mortal certain hit could be
cashed anywheres fer FOUR
And so the contention went on,
each stubbornly defending his own
estimate; the consensus of opinion
expert opinion at that, be it remem-
bered-placing tho value of the Jewel
but little. if any,, under the five thou
sand mark.
The Pearlhunter was restless,
There was a frail woman back in the
cabin at Fallen Rock to whom the
finding of the pearl would mean
more than to anybody else in the
world. 1t would mean-the mans
heart warmed with the thought, as
his mind reverted to the story of the
iafternoon-back to the house on a
hill that overlooked the river: and
'goodby to the cough forever.
But it was some time before the
first flush Of excitement died down. 1t
iAs lot one camp in a thousand that
ever seen a Blue Moon. The value OF
1T vas still under discussion when the
Boss happened to remember the f3sh
oIlll lying Ill CNc OOaJ.
9TH fish," he exclaimed. 9TH
fies'll' be at EN-" -.
And 1 must be getting home" The
Pearlhunter was quick to seize the
,chance.
Followed by the others, the Boss
went down to the boat-not, however,
until the Pearlhunter had torn a cor.
ner out Of the cloth spread down by
the fire, wrapped the pearl up in it,
and rNf II 0orof,,1lr l. -.
pocket.
The. fish were divided short
matter, since the Pearlhunter kept
only the pne bass he had first spear
ed. Insisting on relieving the Boss
from rowing on the way back, he
took his place at the oars and waited
for the boat to be pushed off into the
stream: But the Boss, with his hand
upon the bow, stood hesitating before
giving the final shove.
Shorty, he called to the man
who had danced the hornpipe, and
who was now gone back to the fire,
bring me my OIL shotgun" an coat,
I reckon I'll camp at Fallen Rock
t'-night."
The Pearlhunter protested against
his going to such trouble; but the
Boss had his way.
THAT pearls intirely too valuable
20 take chances on" he muttered,
laying his coat in the bow, with the
shotgun. across it, giving the final
shove to- the boat and leaping in! Il
reckon I'll jist stick around till y'u
git it in tn bank tomorrow. chat
~hell-hound. TIL Red Mask, stuck up
tn Milford Stage down tn river last
week. Your Blue Moon would be
nuts t. him; an we did make a right
smart fuss when y'u found it."
He shifted the six-shooter in his
pocket from between the edge OF the
seat and his hip, picked up the shot
gun n examined the caps on the
tubes.
"You en- all talk about these new
tangled six-guns that wan t., but
they cayn't nothin' come up with a
good oil scatter-lock when things git
tight"
The young man at the oars made
no reply to these remarks. He was
thinking of that bit of flaming cloth
behind the chink at the cabin. For a
moment the impulse came on him to
TNho Daorlh,1% roiool 11- le-a-