Licking Valley courier., 1921-12-08

y, r>.icl III nUt EL.ellU.Io ..->...I
Iundum agreement with my grandfa-
ther would be binding upon me as
Grandfather Jasper's heir, was ques-
ion for the. courts to decide. But one
thing was certain--that Is, granting all
The assumptions If he should find the
mine and go to work on his unwater-
ing scheme, he would have grip on
things that might be handsomely trou-
hlesome to shake loose.
After l had argued 1t out thus far
the next step suggested itself In
jiffy. l must have heart-to-heart
talk with the cautious Mr.. Bullerton,
telling him who I was, and perhaps
giving him a chance to join forces
with me In the search, II II should
prove to be my grandfather's mine that
he was looking for. Grabbing this Inn
pulse by the neck, 20 to speak, l took
the first train for Cripple Creek. The
next morning, when made inquiry, !
found that Bullerton had left town,
though where he had gone the bank
folks couldn't say.
I had gone into the chase more than
half for the sheer fun Of 1t; pretty
much as the dog runs after the stick
you've flung into the bushes, and
which he hasn't much hope of finding.
But now 1t was appealing to me as
more Of mans job. There was
legacy; and however valueless 1t might
be In Its present condition, 1t had once
been worth nearly half milliOn-and
might be again. And half-million Is
whole lot Of money, when you come
to consider 1t.
From what little the bank folks told
me 1t appeared that BullertOn was
fairly we'll known In Cripple Creek
and the region roundabout. Therefore,
somebody In the near vicinity must
know more than I had as yet been
able to learn about the manner of his
disappearance and his probable desti-
nation. My Job was to find the some
body.
About the time I thought had ex-
hausted all the combinations, found
the one particular Bullerton friend /
was hunting for. His name, as / re-
call 1t, was Hilton, or something like
that, and he was the superintendent of
big drainage-tunnel undertaking de-
signed to unwater lot Of flooded
mines on the hills above the tunnel
site.
II can give you little information
but not much," was his answer to my
inquiry. "BullertOn Is bughouse or
the subject of lost mine--not an un
usual disease In any mining country
and he has gone to hunt for 1t. HI
has a sketch map Of the location, but
nothing to tie 1t to. didn't ask hin
where the location was-or rather
where he thought 1t was"
"Then, of course, you have no ldef
where his hunt was to beginl" threw
In.
"Only a guess. In our talk, he asked
| me If I knew anything about plac,
called Placerville, In the Red desert
| what sort of town 1t was, and II {
man could outfit there for prospect
} ing trip. took 1t from this that h,
might be heading for Placervllle
: though he didn't say that he was"
r AS you'd imagine, this was enOugl
y for me. The next morning was bacl
, in Denver, figuring out the .quickes
: way to get to Placervllle In the Ret
/ desert. I hoped Bullerton was on tn,
q true scent, but was nightly afraid h
wasn't-ln which case l, too, would e
q beautifully astray. But II he shoul,
= happen to be on the right track, the
9 I must beat him to the goal. True, b
0 had map to guide him, and was tht
much better off than l was. But, o
g the other hand, had the girl, hors
e and dog.