St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1921-12-17


Then he said:
"Bout that there tunnel job; some
thin like two hundred thousand, we
fiugerd that'd cost, with no bad luck,
didn't we, Stannie?"
"That was the figure. .
"And, first off, Charley Fullerton
was willin' to give you fifty thousand
for your rights though now you say
he's shaved it down to forty. That'd
mean an Investment of at least two
hundred and fifty thousand; all a-goin
out and nothin' a-comin' in: Let's see
where that's fetchin' us to. ! don't
know what your gran'paw paid Tor the
mine, but it was less'n half a million,
and / reckon he paid ever dollar 1t
was worth, don't your
"Doubtless he did," admitted.
$50 there's where we land" he went
ON speculatively. 1.-TWO hundred and
fifty thousand tackled onto half d mil
lion gives her a capital Of three-quar-
tiers Of million sunk in her, first and
last. Question is:> Is she worth 1t
was beginning to get his idea at
last. He was wondering If a mine
that had once sold at a top-notch
| price of half million could stand
the investment Of a quarter OF q mil
lion additional and still hope to be
| a paying proposition.
"You mean that Fullerton is hgur-
ing upon spending a quarter OF a mil
| I r cd
"Nope: reckon can't. There's too
niger In the woodpile, somewheres,
| Stannie, as sure s you're born"
"Can you carry it any further?"
"Nope; reckon can't. There's too
| many darned things a-puzzlin' me.
One. of 'em is where In Sam Hill did
Charley Fullerton get all the money
that he's fashin' around so peacocky?"
II don't know where he got 1t, but
he has it, all right; carries it with
him." I said sourly.
Eyes; but see here, Stannie, son,
| I'll bet fee dog worth hundred dol
lars that it amt his money"
"What makes you say that?'
"Well, for one thing, because know
Charley Fullerton; been KNOWN him
since Adam was a little boy In knee
breeches. He can't keep any money
Of his own; just naturally amt built
hathaway"
"Gambles it?' suggested.
..Big CANDLES, yes; stocks and that
sort O. truck. No stree; these ye1ler-
backs he's a-flashin' around amt his'n,
not by long chalk, and I'd bet on It.
Somebody else Is settin' 'em up; and
II that's so, Stannie, there's reason
for it,
"Sure," conceded. Then: "Could
you make long, high, running jump
and guess at the reason, Daddy?"
/ mot SO IS it'd hold together,
reckon he replied obviously. But
there's a few little notions at I've
picked up from folks that's older In
this neck O. woods than I am-been
here longer The old Cinnabar never
was what you'd call bonanza Plen.
ty of ore, to be sure, but mostly low
grade, 'cepting them rich little pockets
now and then"
1 'Those rich pockets" put In.
strike of one Of them would be about
the right time to sell, wouldn't it,"
He nodded.
you're shoutin', now. reckon
that's about how they caught you
gran'paw. But Buddy Fuller-he's thu
'Tropia telegraph operator and a sor
| L11 ~ min So
there's more to 1t than that. 'Lont
back couple O. years r so there wa!
q copper strike made in Little Cinnaba
gulch, about four mile west O. here
and follerin' 1t there was heap q
talk about the railroad runnin'
branch to it. That there branch, II i
was built when it's built, for IT,
goin' to be, some day, to open then
copper mines-that there branch III e
right along our bench within hun
dred yards of the old Cinnabar; q
close you could mighty near dunn
/ began to see more crookings /
the sacrificiaI road over which Crane
j father Jasper had been led; man
more and more devious ones.
"In that case, even the low-grsde
Cinnabar would come bit nearer be
ing bonanza, wouldn't it," I asked
"She sure would, Stannie. That
long, hard wagon haul to 'Tropia wa,
what was putin the cuss in the cost
O. handlin'."
"And with the railroad right at the
door, SO to speak, it might even pay tt
recapitalize at three-quarters Of mil
lion and drive that long drainage tun
mel we have been figuring on?''
"Somethin' like that; yes. Can yor
see any furder into the milestone? II
Z say I've got about to the end Of my
squintin'.''
I refilled my pipe and did bit o.
cogitating. Surprising had been tht
boss fgurer in the bunch that did
Grandfather Jasper the honor to bill
him; as constituencies as that pirate
whoever he was, and in the secret Of
the conditions as Daddy had just out
lined them, what would have done 2
The answer came as pat as 70,
please. With railroad in prospec
which would turn small profit init
q big one, I should quite probabl,
have shut the mine down to wait unit
) could hear the whistle Of the locomo
tive.
e. ZH 4 ~