The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1920-06-12
CHAPTER VI.-Continued.
=

"Tll have to admit" said Hilliar(
lightly, shat the odds are on the side
of the experts. But as for the 70
nance" He smiled at Angela ant
wondered IL he dared begin so soon tC
build up the framework Of his mission
"rve been telling Angela that It's
mostly hard work. Once In while
you do run into something lurid, OF
course-romantic, If you want to call
It SO. I remember one bit out of my
own experience" Angela had dropped
the papers, and was listening as close
ly as her father. "a few years ago
some friends Of mine bought up an old
abandoned property out In the Butte
region; bought 1t for a song, and 1t
was very quiet peaceful little song
at that, because metals had been dull,
and to continue the metaphor-my
friends weren't In particularly good
voice just then. But after they'd TAX
en- title, they realized that they'd only
Sung the first verse Of the song, and
there were lot more verses and a
pretty strenuous chorus. There was
a shaft to he unwatered and lot of
timber-work to be done; they were. In
for big expense, md their credit had
tucks IN IT, and the outlook wasn't any
TOO rosy. But thirty yards from the
main workings there was fairish
sort ct tunnel. with the start OF a
,,,t, tIaf .t,,1
down cbiquely from horizontal tun-
nel--and It pointed straight toward
the main shaft, and 1t occurred to
them that they could continue that
Wine another few feet, strike their
main shaft about the hundred and
fifty foot level, and save a lot Of labor
and expense that way by getting a
clean approach to the shaft instead
Of taking lot of bother with II in It's
decrepit condition. Well, they began
to 60 down that Wine. and inside of
ten feet they struck q brand new and
unsupported vein-there hadn't been
any outcrop showing; 1t was sheer,
unaduterated luck. Then they had
credit-they certainly did To make
a long story short. they pawned their
futures. and begged and borrowed ev-
cry penny they could lay their hands
on, and they developed that property
to the last cent, and when they had
perhaps two hundred thousand or so
tons Of four per cent copper in sight,
end there were indicated ore reserves
OF another half million tons, they
sold that property to group OF New
Workers. for an utterly phenomenal
price. without ever having so much
as touched the original shaft for which
they'd bought the property
Ouch" said Cullen, and Good
ness" said Angela.
And said Hilliard, smiling remi
niscently "lf the original owners had
pushed that winze for couple Of days
more than they did, or II my friends
hadn't decided to go at the problem
u, exactly that way :. well. as / say,
WHAT'S one mans romance Is another
mans tragedy. My friends got their
investment back in something less than
tour months. end after that it was vel
sef And the selling price was In the
nelghborhood of two hundred times
what they'd paid for 1t. That's min
ng history. Mr.. Cullen" And indeed
was-and the only fabrication about
y was billiards claim Of friendship
Tor the lucky owners. This, as he as
sured himself. was salesman's license
every successful operator is a
Trend" of any salesman.
Cullen nodded thoughtfully; his
eyes were bright. Angela was alter
naiely regarding him with indulgent
pity and sending I-told-you-so mes
Nges 10 billiard.
where was this-in Montana?"
oiverbow county. Near Butte.
Us there Is romance In that country,
hr- Cullen Is's in every tree and ev-
sry rock. and in every hill and valley
anu under the ground. And I'm afraid
III Just enough Of realist to find
'"s' OF my own under the surface"
~ save my life," said Cullen, II
'an nelp thinking of that region as
marx Twain sort of country-som-
''r'os and six-shooters and vigilantes
s"u wage coach hold-ups and gold dust
4 4 medium Of exchange. ! know it's
s1Nisi. but Eve never been out there. Z
~ ~ us hard to get over what we
a'neo at school," He surveyed his
.s1n'ed garden less arrogantly: the 9
sss u'ain' which in his moments Of !
: 'i"acence had all the attributes Of .
a.. sssser for him, was suddenly a I
q faucet, and the tidy lawn was .
more seductive than a window-box. !
a,r, Is up-to-date schoolbooks," said s
sAs.u' laughing "have a good many Z
~.ss IN them. The West of the r
u eighties is all gone, the atmos- :
q all gone, the old-style miners I
q gone; You used to see some pic \
% 'e sights even ten years ago, but l
ays you best realize how the In :
nss changed when you Sc :
pe's hunting for work Il m .