The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1921-12-09
By
FRANCIS
LYNDE
Copyright By Charles scrisnsrs Sons

chin upheld by an extra firm little jaw.
AS she had admitted, her eyes were
blue-the blue that shades into violet
and they were well-set; wide apart
and perfectly fearless; the kind of
eyes fit to match the straIght-lined
brows that usually go with them.
sat before the cheerful blaze,
chuckling quietly to myself over the
mad adventures OF the day and their
highly romantic, not to say miraculous,
outcome. Beyond all manner OF doubt
| had stumbled upon the three tails
mans OF Cousin Percy's cryptic letter.
BY the most marvellous of accidents
l had discovered the girl, the horse
and the dog; and. If the remainder of
Percy's letter were to be taken at
its face value. l should now be In
touch with my legacy.
AS to the character Of that legacy,
there could be no further question.
| Grandfather Jasper had left me a
mine; and l was fully prepared to
find 1t the drowned mine of Bullerton's
story. What l might be able to make
of II was a matter which could well
be postponed to another day. Just as
l reached this postponlng conclusion,
the girls father came in. drew up a
chair on the opposite side of the
hearth, and began to make me well
come In a mild-mannered way, saying
that they didn't have much company,
and were always master" glad to see
a new face. He did not ask me any
| troublesome questions; and beyond
| telling me his name, which was Hiram
| Twombly, did not volunteer any in
formation about himself or his daugh-
ter, nor did he explain how they came
to be living in so much comparative
comfort In such an out-of-the-way
place.
set the table, and presently we had
supper. 1t was an amazingly good
meal; crisp bacon, fried potatoes, hot
biscuits and honey. and coffee that
was most delicious In spite OF the
condensed milk which was made to
serve as cream.
After we left the table the blue
eyed maiden got housewifely busy, and
the old man and sat before the fire
and smoked. | don't remember just
how 1t was that we finally drifted
around to automobiles and motor boats
and such things we did, and may
be l may hi .ged bit about
having driver tinkered pretty
nearly all the breeds Of go-cart on land
and water-as really had.
Know about machinery, do your.
said my hearth-mate; and then, with
humorous CLINT In his mild eyes:
shouldn't wonder II you could be
sort of Godsend to me, If you want
ed to. To-morruh, If you amt in too
big hurry to be leavin' us, I'll get
you to show me few things that /
don't know. long them lines, maybe"
OF course, l acquiesced, cheerfully.
BY and by the girl came in and sat
down to knit, just as her grandmother
might have done, and at that her faith
er got up, and, lighting a lantern,
went out. / was fairly perishing by
this time to know a vast number of
things, but hardly knew how to begin
asking about them. So, as the old man
clapped on his hat and left the cabin,
l blew out the first foolish remark
that came uppermost.
"All dressed up, and nowhere to go;
isn't that about the way of it for you
two up on this mountain?"
Meaning Daddy, and now, particu-
larly?" she said smiling across at me.
HE has gone to make his regular
round of the mine buildings and cab
ins. Not that there is the slightest use
Of 1t; only he likes to feel that he is
at least pretending to earn his pay"
1.-The miner" l queried.
'Yes; this is the old Cinnabar, you
know; and Daddy Is the-well, / sup
pose you might call us the caretakers,
though there isn't much to take care
of. The mine has been shut down
for year and more"
rs 1t a gold miner"
at was"
why the past tenseY
water" she said, briefly. "Its
drowned mine. That is why II was
shut down."
OF course, this was exactly what |
was expecting to hear, and yet this
plain unvarnished confirmation of
things gave me damp and soggy feel
Ing of dependency. Percy had wired. |
you remember, that his letter was no |
joke; but 1t seemed that 1t really was |
one, and that the joke-which was
a mighty grim one-was on me.
Cant the water be pumped out?"
asked.
sit seems not. understand the
company spent thousands of dollars
.rying to pump it out. lists rather
)itiful."
you mean the company's lossT
"No; the company didn't lose any
hing. 1t was just one old man."
Now we were coming to the real
neat of the thing and | looked my
land of cards over carefully to the
nd that | should not everyday 1t.
"Pm fond of Stories" l ventured
mining Stories" and there
pom she told me the story of the Gin
abar. 1t was a fair repetition of