Graham guardian., 1921-12-23


Ieould think of nothing hut a mine of
some kind unless il might be cattle
ranch, or a growth of standing timber /;
and in the area laid out for me, minet
would outyote cattle or timber about a
hundred to one, thought.
Then there was that other phrase !:
ut lies In perfectly safe repository,
-"Repository" implied recep-
tacle or cOntalner of some sort; brick
wall, or a barbed-wlre fence, or any-in-
closing thing you like to imagine. Could
a mine be said TO be n "repository"l
As YOU see, | kept coming back to
the mine idea, In spite OF all | could
do; and at last, without word OF
warning, and right out Of clear sky,
as you may say. smack thing hit
me squarely between the shoulder.
blades .Brown.bear1 and his eccentric
old gentleman!
After got cooled OF bit / had to
admit that there was something less
than one chance IN thousand that. at
the price of a couple Of cigars given to
n fellow traveller In distress, had pur-
chased any real clue to my own puzzle.
Yet couldn't get away from the
notion that was on the verge of q dis
covery. Oddly enough. the miraculous
part of 1.-THE one chance in a million
that | should run across the one per-
son in hundred lpillion who could tell
me that particular story--didn't Inn
press me at the time. I was too busily
engaged In trying to fit the puzzle
pieces together tO think of anything
else at the moment.
Come to sum them up, they ftted as
toundingly well. Grandfather Jasper
had always been exceedingly close
momthcd when speaking OF his invest
mcnts. Added to that, he would be
the last man In the world to have con-
fessed that he had been bitten, even in
directly. by "gold.brick" game. Then,
too, the course he had pursued with
the mining engineer (nlways granting
the truth of Brown-beard's story was
just like him; he would have wanted a
year in which to think IL over-or may
be longer. Also, 1t was like him to
keep all the identifying marks as
carefully hidden as nut meat In Its
shell.
At this point began to think about
getting action. One word from Bull
ton. or Bulletin, or whatever his name
was. would settle the identities beyond
question, and that word was his 'old
gentleman's'' name. He hadn't men
toned II once in telling his yarn
which might have been by design, or
just happeu-so. But, by heavens, I'd
make him mention 1t
| happened TO think Of the Mining
exchange, and to wonder If somebody
connected with 1t might not have a list
of engineers and mining experts. A
hike through the streets brought me to
the exchange and the secretary not
only had such list, but was willing
to show IL to me. In Its proper place
found the name, "Charles Bullerton."
4 query shot at tue man behind the
desk elected the Information that Mr.
Charles Bullerton was in South Amer
lea. At this, could have shouted for
Joy, because it proved conclusively
that Charles Bullerton was my man,
and that the tale to which | had lis
tened wasn't altogether made up out
Of whole cloth, as so many Pullman
smOke-room rOmances are.
Bullerton's usual address, when he
was In Colorado and not in Denver,
was In care of certain bank in Grip
pie Creek; or at least, that was the
way II had been before he went to
South America.
A telegraph office was the next thing
on the program. and when found one
II seemed to he about a hundred-to-
one shot that I'd never touch bottom,
since | had no hint that Fullerton had
been headed for Cripple Creek. My
message. prepaidNand answer prepaid,
contained only a single question:
"What was the naIne of the old gen.
tleman who bought the watered mine
and then died?" An answer to that
would tell the story.