The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1921-02-11

never seed q one brore" crieo
the oldest s'claminer" present "but /
knowed hit were Blue Moon tn min
ute amped til she'll"
The pearl. passing from hand to
hand, hGd come round to the Boss.
again, who, STOPPING close to the fire
light. examined it through small
hand lens such as most pearl fishers
carry. ''Pearlhunter." he said, turning
to the young man, "you shorely air
lucky! You've found y'ur pearl-an'
fortune 1t werel"
'Then it's you that's lucky" was
the slow answer. '1t's not nine."
Had the others not been too excited.
they might have noticed that his lips
were drawn; his voice strained
The grizzled. old river Boss gripped
his calloused hand shut upon the
pearl; his seamy old face hardened,
and there sprang up In his deep-set
eyes an expression not unlike the ex-
preston In the eyes Of a hawk when
title to the prey in his claws is dis
puted. But the expression passed. lie
thrust the pearl back into the Young
mans hand as though half afraid of
it.
"Say." he growled, "what do you
think ! am?"
''It was taken from your boat, In
waters you expected to fish tomorrow.
You'd have found 1t anyway"
The hawkish glover left the blue
eyes of the older man, leaving him
the frank-faced old Boss again. He
studied his young friend curiousIy.
well, I'll be damn'd!" he chuckled
good-naturedly to himself, still study
ing the other from under the edges Of
his eyes Say" he continued. look
ing up frankly. 81 hain't got dern
bit more claim to it than ! got to the
Bank Of Ingland. If you fancy have
got claims. hereby gives an conveys
'em L you-an' If that hain't good
law, it's square dealin' b'twixt man
an man: an that's better'n law any
day"
"You mean it,"
The younger man fingered the pearl
as II 1t had suddenly assumed a new
value.
IF you wan + insult me. jist let ON
ike yu tntnk uOu I.
Hero-worshipers all. after the man
ner of their kind, the other pearl fish
crs, as If by common impulse. turned
their attention from the pearl to the
man that found 1t. He had become an
object OF wonder and curious admira-
|. ton. No other achievement In the
world could possibly have so distin-
guished him in their eyes. Suddenly
one OF their number snatched of his
battered hat and yelled:
'"Hooray fer tn Pearlhunter!"
The bluffs caught up the cheer that
followed and flung it back in multi
piled echoes. clear and far up and
down the night-bound shore. The
Boss, stiil hungry for the feel OF the
jewel, reached forth grimy finger
and meditativeiy stirred the pearl
where 1t lay In the finders palm.
"This ones rounder than them
other two. An It's got a SIMMER
sheen. Course cayn't say p'intedly,
but I putt it at not less'n five thou
SAM"
The Pearlhunfer was restless.
There was frai woman back In the
cabin at Fallen Rock to whom the find
ing Of the pearl would mean more
I than to anybody else in the world. II
would mean-the mans heart warmed
with the thought, as his mind revert
ed to the story of the afternoon
back to the house on a hill that over
looked the river-and gooi-by to the
cough forever.
But 1t was some time before the
first flush of excitement died down. II
is not one camp in thousand that
ever sees Blue Moon. The value of
1t was still under discussion when the
Boss happened to remember the fish
still lying in the boat
saTb' fjshi" he exclaimed. TN
fiies'n be at EN-"
"And ! must be getting home" The
pearlhunter was quick to seize the
chance.
Followed by the others. the Boss
went down to the boat-not. however.
until the Pearlhunter had torn cor
ner out Of the cloth spread down by
the fire, wrapped the pearl up In It.,
and put it carefully AWAY In his
pocket.
Insisting on relieving the Boss from
rowing on the way back. he took his
place at the oars and waited for the
boa: to be pushed off into the stream.
But the Boss. with his hand upon the
bow, stood hesitatingly before giving
the final shove.
Shorty" he called to the man who
had danced the hornpipe. and who
was now gone back to the fire. "bring
me my OIL shotgun an coat. reckon
I'll camp at Fallen Rock might
The Pearlhunter protested against
his going to such trouble; but the
Boss had his way.