The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1920-08-27
CHAPTER Vi-Continued.

am afraid do, my DEAR" the
Colonel admitted with his best air of
hearty eXpanslveness. "Im afraid
do. However. Mr.. Cardigan, now that
you have-at least, have been so in
formed-taken over your fathers bust
ness, | am hoping we will be enabled
to get together on many little details
and work them out on common basis
to our mutual advantage. We lumber
men should stand together and not
make 1t hard for each other. How
ever" he concluded, "lets not talk
shop. l imagine we have enough of
that during the day. Besides, here
are the cocktails"
With the disposal of the cocktails,
the conversation drlfted into discus
sion of Shirley's adventures with a
salmon In Big lagoon. The Colonel
discoursed learnedly on the superior
sport of muske!Iunge-fishing. which
prompted Bryce to enter into descrip-
ton Of going after swordfish among
the islands of the Santa Barbara chan
mel. "Once 1 was fishing at San"
The butler appeared in the doorway
and bowed to Shirley. announcing that
dinner was served. The girl rose and
gave her arm to Bryce; with her other
arm linked through her uncle's she
turned toward the dining room.
Just inside the entrance Bryce
paused. The soft glow of the candles
In the old-fashioned silver candle
sticks upon the table was reflected in
the polished walls of the room-walls
formed of panels of the, most ey-
quisitely patterned redwood burl Bryce
Cardigan had ever seen. Also the
panels were unusually large.
Shirley Summers alert glance fol-
lowed Bryce's as it swept around the
room. "This dining room is Uncle
Seths particular delight, Mr.. Cardi-
gam" she explained.
at is verS beautiful, Miss Sumner.
And your uncle has worked wonders
In the matter of having 1t polished
Those panels are positively the largest
and most beautiful specimens Of red
wood burl ever turned out in this
country. The grain is not merely
wayy; 1t is not merely curly; it is
actually so contrary that you have
here. Colonel Pennington, room abb
solutely unique. In that it is formed
OF bird's-eye burl. Mark the deep
shadows in 1t. And how 1t does reflect
those candles I"
at is beautiful" the Colonel de-
ciared. 'And / must confess to
pardonabIe pride in it, although the
task of keeping these walls from be-
ing married by the furniture knocking
against them requires the utmost
care"
Bryce turned and his brown eyes
blazed into the Colonel's. where did
you succeed in finding such q marvel
GUS tree?" he queried pointedly. 81
know of but one tree in Humboldt
county that could have produced such
beautiful burl."
For about a second Colonel Penning-
ton met Bryces glance unwaveringly;
then he read something in his guests
eyes, and his glance shifted, while
over his benign countenance a flush
spread quickly. Bryce noted it, and
his quickly reused suspicious were as
quickly kindled into certainty. where
did you find that tree?" he repeated
Innocently.
"Rondeau, my woods-bOSs, knew l
was on the lookout for something
special-something nobody else could
get; so he kept his eyes Open"
"IndeedT' There was just trace
Of irony in Eryce's tones as he drew
Shirley's chair and held it for her.
"You are fortunate to have such q
woods-boSs in your employ. Such
loyal fellows are usually too good TO
be true, and quite frequently they put
their blankets on their backs and get
out of the country when you least ex-
pect It, | dare say it would be a
shock to you if Rondeau did that"
There was no mistaking the yelled
threat behind that apparently Innocent
observation and the Colonel. being
a man of more than ordinary astute-
ness, realized that at last he must
place his cards on the table. Yes"
he said. 81 would be rather disappoint-
ed. However. | pay Rondeau rather
more than il is customary to pay
woods bosses; so Iimagine he'll stay
unless. of course, somebody takes a
potion 10 run him out of the country.
And when that happens. want to be
on hand TO view the spectacle"
Bryce Srrinkled n modicum of salt
In his soup. I'm going up into Town
ship nine. tomorrow afternoon" he
remarked casually. i think ! shall