Evening star., 1921-10-23
By Clarence Buddington Kelland

!
stay till we git clean off Kind o
like to tell somebody the joke"
I'm doggone interested" said Scat
laughed loudly. Mays we'll tel
you" he said. raucously. me and
the boys was in town yestiddyI
calc'latin' to ship some ferns by ex
press Went into the ONCE. Agen
want there. Safe was. Open. Ya-as
chunks inside and nobody around
watchin'. Looked full better'n ferns
so we Jest took notion to carry
'em out to the wagin and drive
If know what to do with 1t. Hea
tell it's wuth $4,000"
Mr.. Bowman spoke. You'll fnd 1
mighty hard to dispose Of"
Don't need to worry you"
Suppose you could sell it for
the money!"
That's our aim"
Mr.. Baines." said Mr.. Bowman
there's money in this If you aren
"Hain't pticlar a-tar. How yot
what would you say to buying
this gold-at reasonable price,
am acquainted with. You can pu
in the money We were going for and
I'll put in some more. Ought I'd
show a handsome profit"
Might nigh double my money
twiet as much to buy stock with"
| Yes. indeed"
| Lets dicker.''
what viii you men take to walk
away and leave that gold?"
Forty thousand"
you're clear Of the whole mess"
There was a wrangle. For half an
hour the dicker went on. and finally
a price of $4,000 was agreed uponI
Mr.. Bowman was to pay over thu
money. and scattergood was to con
tribute his $4,000 as soon as then
got it-for one-third of the proftsI
The money was paid over; tho
three robbers disappeared with alac
man with the stolen gold.
I'VE can take it along in the buggy
covered with ferns" said Bowmanl
"Nobody'll suspect you"
| BE safe as a church." said Scat
tergood. boldly. Lug her out"
So they carried the gold to the
I buggy. covered it snugly with ferns
and drove toward the next town
scattergood talking excitedly o1
stock he could purchase with the
money received. and. of ample wealth
from the transaction. Mr.. Bownlan
| smiled with the faint, quiet smile on
one whose soul is at peace: Just
before they got to town Scattergood
suggested that they stop to make
sure the gold was completely con 1
cealed.
They drove into the woods few
rods and uncovered ,oa,es ar the :. treasure
| I've heard tell you kin cut real
gold like cheese" he said. and opened
his jackknife. With it he hacked OF
a shaving and held ii up to the
light
lis all gold this here way?" he
asked. Don't look to me to be the
same color all the way through;
Looks like silver or suthin' inside.
Mr. Bowman snatched the shaving,
scrutinized it and uttered language
.. in a loud voice. He Snatched Scat
tergood's knife and tested all thrss
; lead he said. savagely. Moth
ing but lead! We've been swindied, .,
IT'S lead. / tell you"
"I yum, Them fellers stole lead
. And they got off with all your money
Gosh. I'm glad 1 didn't have none
along" His eyes were mirthless and
his face vacuous. Beats all. Never
) heard tell Of nothin' similar"
THEY got into the buggy and drove
silently into town. Mr.. Bowman
tried to recover his spirits. but they
were at low ebb. He did manage to
hint that Scattergood should stand
his share Of the loss, but in his heart
he knew that to be vain. Still. he
could get that ave thousand dollars
for the mining stock. 1t would be
five thousand dollars.
J Anyhow" he said. you're fortu'
nate. You still can buy the stock anG
make your pile"
This here DEAL" said Scattergood
has kind of made me figger. 'Tafn'
. i safe to buy gold chunks till you know
. they're gold. Likewise 'tain't safe
, to buy mine stock till you know
there's a mine. Calc'late I'll do
. mite of investigator fore 1 punglt
over that five thousand. Where kin
leave you. Mr. Bowman I'm calc iatin
to drive home from here. Maybe IN see
you later. But / got 10 investigate,
Mr. Bowman made himself unpleas.
ant for a brief time. but Scattergood
was vacuously stubborn. Present.!
he drove away, leaving Mr.. Bowman
on the veranda OF the hotel. scowi'
, ing and uttering words OF strengtf
and meaning. MIR. Bowman was very
!, unhappy.
Scattergood drove as rapidly as his
horse could travel, arriving at Cold
J river just after the supper hour. Ht
went directly to his store. which hat
been left in charge OF Mr. Spackites ta'
, him. They handed him leather bat
and he satisfied himself that 1t con
tanned $4,000.
Much 'bleeged. boys he said
DO as much fr you some me-, Gay: :,,,', G-oy; Go,
: fetch Grandmother Penny over here
right now?"
"calclate / kim" said Mr.. spack'
les. and he proved himself able tt
"Grandmother Penny" said Scatter
good, when she arrived. you and Mr.
Spackles UP and made a investment.
. been a-lookin' after that investment
: you-and fr these other 6um fools II
town. Best could do fr them other,
was to git their money back-every cen
of it. But took keer to do mite more
,rr you and Mr.. Spackles. / got YOU
500 FIR you-and then I seen a wa.
. to git 10000 more. Here she be
Count it. don't guess there's an,
better use."
!. "Fr us? Ten thousand-
"1'll handle IL f'r you. Give yo'
; ,int'rest Of 500 a year. You kin MARY
like you planned, and il your chill
.. dren objects you kin tell 'em to go t
blazes. You'll want a place to live
: wa-al, / got twenty acre back o
: town and a leetle house and furniture
Took 1t on a deal. You kin mor'
!. lin and work 1t on shares. Ought u
be able to live blamed we'll"
Grandmother Penn was crying.
You done all this f'r us. fr james
land me? There hain't no reason r
LIT. 'Tain't b'lievable. There hain'
: no way to say thankee."