Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1920-04-15

For a moment, Hilliard thought that
he hadn't heard Alright.
"What was that you said?" he man.
aged.
Harmon reiterated 1t.
"Too much Silverbow. Only they
pumped the water out of it sooner
than we will. That was five years
ago"
At first, billiard was untouched by
the shock; the force Of it seemed to
pass over him entirely; then all at
once, as he was caught by the drift of
1t, his hands began to tremble Violent
ly; and his palms were clammy with
sweat His stomach seemed to drop
out Of him, and he was nauseated by
the tremendous purport of his employ
erS cynicism.
''Mr. Harmonw he painted, under
his breath, "Mr. Harmon"
The New Yorker looked at him in
genuine surprise.
whats the matter, Hillard? You
look sick! Or d-n it, man,
If that's another one of your bluffs,
you're wasting your time. You haven't
worked up such holy disposition you
believe in this mine, have your" He
moved uneasily. 81 wish you'd wipe
that pious expression off your face-or
is 1t glued on?"
billiards voice shook uncontrolla-
bly,.
p,;r0 bo c4oro
mered. "YOu told me-"
"I'll stand by everything I've ever
told you, Hilliard. I'll prove it. It's
an area Of mineralized schist with dis
seminated copper values. And we've
got over a hundred acres of it. And
part of the shaft, too" He laughed
noiselessly. "Of course, altogether
there's about five hundred square
miles of that same sort of land in the
same state, but what's the odds as
longs you're happy? Tell me you
aren't wise? Rot! Why, you knew
all about it when we were OF the
| boat !"
billiards. muscles were working in
hysterical jumps, and his face wSs dis
! torted
"1-you y-youre saying
y-you're saying I've been selling
s-selling to my friends a piece
of d-n worthless property1 Are
your"
"Shut up!" The big man was domi-
nant, ugly. Understand me? You
keep your mouth shut If you know
what's good for you'll Didn't you come
! up here to get square with your
'friends| Your friends" His accent
was superlatively contemptuous. "You
knew it wasn't a producing mine,
didn't your"
you told me it was q wonderful
| prospect! l knew it was a long shot,
but l thought there was some value
| there lot of it and
| you said the shaft you always
said the shaft was"
Harmon reached for another ciga-
rette; there was undisguised perplex-
ity on his face. Ns
"Son if you aren't mighty good
|
claim you didn't know what this mine
is? After all that whining and squeal-
ing Of yours about your getting even?
Then what In thunder did you want to
come back here for"
ITO make some money-to get some
fun out of 1t. l wanted to make fools
of people; l didn't want to swindle
anybody! I thought was giving 'em
something for their money! I"
Harmon lighted his cigarette, none
too complaceptly.
"The funny part about It," he said
slowly "is that I don't honestly be-
lieve you're bluffing But you
knew it was only prospect"
"But I thought it was good pros
pect! Never mind" He made as
though to rise. you've said enough.
I'm through with you"
The big mans Jaw thrust out bel
ligerently, and he caught Hilliard by
the arm.
"Now, stop right there! Sit down!
Sit down! Maybe you thought it was
a good prospect and maybe you didn't,
but you're not through with me yet
not until I say so. Don't you make
any mistakes like that, my boy. Don't
you go off half-shot-nOt yet Re
member our contract? Ever heard of
promoters liability? I'd certainly hate
to see you get into trouble, but if
you've made any wild statements
about material facts"
billiard was straining half across
the table.
you told me the ore was there
And l thought the worst that could
happen would be to tie up this money
for few years-that's why a pros
poets so hard to sell I knew darned
well it wasn't any whirlwind right
now, but l did think they'd =.
they'd at least make something good
out of it eventually =.
even If it :"
"Ah!" said Harmon, sneering "but
you had every opportunity to learn the
facts-eV-e-ry opportunity. It's not