The Ordway new era., 1921-02-04

:.
m South. knew TO be satinwood.
he The young man stood, with 1t In n
at hand. afraid 10 raise the lid-afrai
Mt to put It TO the test SO far the trun
IS. had given up nothing. He was sti
so nameless. What II this, too, shout
at prove blank?
lie At last the Pearlhunter raised tn
ID lid-some baby clothes, clean ant
il neatly folded; plain gold rim
n wrapped in handkerchief OF th'
finest cambric: and, under ALL pic
h ture-what the Iron-Gray-Womar
n must have been in her girlhood. He
Il snatched it up carried 1t TO the light
e of the door and looked long uDon 1t.
After n time he came back to the
( trunk. The satinwood box was the
2 last article In IT, and 1t had told him
, nothing He laid the picture In IT, re-
placed the baby clothes and ring,
closed the box and put it back. He
even took sort of melancholy salts
faction in replacing, with studied
neatness, the glove the dress and
other articles, after which he closed
the lid, locked II, pocketed the key,
and turning TO the window, stood star
Ing out over the river.
He was still man without name.
The Boss stepped back from the
door
"The Blue Moon" he said. Hit
orta be putt away safe"
As II fine statement recalled
thoughts that had strayed far, the
young man reached In his pocket and
drew forth the pearl still rolled In the
bit of cloth.
The two days OF ripeninG and the
chafe OF the cloth had greatly en-
hanced It's brlllance. Quietly rolling
the pearl up in the cloth again. he left
the cabin and, followed by the Boss,
strobe down the slope through the
trees to the boat, and together they
rowed away toward the village.
The fame of the Pearlhunter had
preceded him. As he came up from
the wharf into the town, the Mud
Hen, the one saloon of the place. dis
gorged staggering, swearing popu-
latiOn that gathered round him. The
Boss crew. camped half a mile below
Fallen Rock, and the crew of Bull
Masterson. camped three miles above,
! We're 10th there. Besides these, the |
/ ohenchain, n small steamer plying be-
tween the ports of the Wabash. had
come in that morning, bringing other
river men.
CauGht in the swirl Of the crowd.
the Pearlhunter and his companion
were swept into the Mud Hen. \ hun
dred voices clamored TO have the pearl
laid upon the bar where all could file
by and see 1t. There fell few min
utes of comparative quiet while the
hungry eyes of the river men were de-
vouring it, Then followed drinks az
round-at the expense ot the finder;
and-what followed is not a pleasant
task to describe.
! The Pearlhunter. remembering that
r mound of fresh earth at Fallen Rock.
= kept his head and drank but little.
e The Boss. on the other hand "cut tn
dog loose" as the river men say. By
! noon he was singing snatches of half.
forgotten songs and fighting the In.
n dian wars all over again. Coming VI
: to where his young friend Leaned
+ against the bar, in easy reach of tht
4 pearl, still lying upon its bit of cloth
\ he threw an arm about his neck an,
Q lean: hard upon him. something h,
n couldn't have been hired to do whel
9 sober.
4 Come ere, you fellers. This'n's OF
i me, an it's to tn Pearlhunter, I'll
I whitest man along tn Wabash-ar
be ID / tn man what says =
:, amt"
r The rabble swarIned about the ba
:. all that were able. Bottle neck
d surgled; glasses clinked; red whtsk
. sizzIed down hot throats; n fe,
+ shouted; some swore; others merel
:. laughed foolishly
g That last drink was the Boss fiji
r. ish. He wilted down into the neare,
d chair; lurched heavily over upon Il t.
bic and lay there mumbling. or laugl
: ing in high, shrill key; occasional
shouting out n note or two of a boa
= ing song that had been old on the ri
er for a quarter of century.
1t was early afternoon before II
!" Pearlhunter dared 10 think serious
z of depositing the pearl-before riv,
d etiquette permitted him to remove
1t from the bar. He tried to rally IL
o Boss. All he got was n further /
stallment of the Indian wars.
e Half disguised with 1t all. he turn,
e back to the bar and stood leaning h
e chin upon his hand. A door open,
from another part of the building
II the Mud Hen being IN inn, the on
d one in the place. A man entere
Crossing the floor with as little ate
s ton to the crowd as II the place h.
s, been deserted, he staggered up to L
bar. Perhaps he secretly wished tn
Id somebody would get in his way. l
lie had just that air about him.
a The Pearlhunter heard the do
lie open; felt the hush that felt