The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-12-29
THAT was the figure"

mean al investment Of at least two
hundred and fifty thousand all a-gOin'
put and nothin' a-cOmin' in. Let's see
where that's fetchin' US to. / don't
know what your gran'paw paid for the
mine, but 1t was less'n half a million,
and l 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 a mil
lion gives her a capital Of three-quar-
tiers of a million sunk in her, first and
last. Question is: Is she worth itT"
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 a million could stand
the investment of a quarter Of a mil
lion additional and still hope to be
a paying proposition.
You mean that Fullerton Is figur-
ing upon spending a quarter Of a mil
lion more on it?" l queried.
"Nope: 1 reckon l can't. There's too
niger In the wOodpile, somewheres,
S~tannle, as sure s you're born"
"Can you carry 1t any furtherY
"Nope; l reckon l can't. There's too
many darned things a-puzzlin' zoe.
One Of 'em Is where In Sam Hill did
Charley Fullerton get all the money
that he's flashin' around so peacocky?"
II don't know where he got it, but
he has 1t. all right; carries it with
him." l said sourly.
"Yes; but see here, Stannie, son,
I'll bet a fee dog worth a hundred dol
lars that it amt his money"
What makes you say thatT'
"Well, for n thing, because know
Charley Fullerton; been KNOWN him
since Adam was a little boy in knee
breaches. He can't keep any money
Of his own; just naturally amt built
hathaway"
CANDLES it?" l suggested.
big CANDLES, yes; stocks and that
sort O. truck. No stree; these yeller-
backs he's a-flashin' around amt his'n,
not by a long chalk, and I'd bet on it.
pOiliVboug CioS 40 SSttlh gill upt anu
If that's so, Stannie, there's q reason
for it."
Sure" / conceded. Then: could
you make a long, high, running jump
and guess at the reason, DaddyT
mot so s it'd hold together, 1
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 / am-been
here longer. The old Cinnabar never
was what you'd call a bonanza Plen-
ty of ore, to be sure, but mostly low
grade, 'cepting them rich little pockets
now and then"
"Those rich pockets" l put in. "a
strike of n of them would be about
the right time to sell, wouldn't it?"
He nodded.
you're shoutin', now. l reckon
that's about how they caught your
gran'paw. But Buddy Fuller-he's the
'Tropia telegraph operator and a sort
O. halfway nephew O. mine-says
there's more to 1t than that. Long
back couple o. years r so there was
a copper strike made in Little Cinnabar
gulch, about four mile west O. here,
and follerin' it there was a heap O.
talk about the railroad runnin' a
branch to it. That there branch, If II
was built-'r when it's built, for it's
gOin' to be, some day, to open them
copper mines-that there branch I'll &c
right along u bench within a hun.
dred yards Of the old Cinnabar; &c
close you could mighty near dunn
from the ore sheds into the cars"
l began to see more c~roOkings ir
the sacrificial road over which Grand
father Jasper had been led; many
more and more devious ones.
I'm that case. even the low-grad,
Cinnabar would come a bit nearer be
ing a bonanza, wouldn't it?" I asked
"She sure would, Stannie. Tha
long, hard wagon haul to 'Tropia wa
what was putin the cuss in the cos
O handlin'."
"And with the railroad right at tn,
door, SO to speak, 1t might even pay t.
recapitalize at th%ree-quarters of a mil
lion and drive that long drainage tun
uel we have been figuring ONT"
"SOmethin' like that yes. Can 70,
see any furder into the milestone? II
say I've got about to the end of m.
squintin'."
l reflled my pipe and did a bit O
cogitating. Surprising l had been TIT
boss figurer in the bunch that dit
Grandfather Jasper the honor to bill
him; as constituencies as that pirate
whoever he was, and in the secret O
the conditions as Daddy had just out
lined them, what would l have done 2
The answer came as pat as yol
please. With a railroad in prOspec
which would turn a small profit int
a big one, l should quite prObabl!
have shut the mine down to wait unit
I could hear the whistle Of the locomo
tive.
This conclusion led promptly ant
logically to another. Supposing, at tn.
moment when I had decided upon the
shutdown, some doddering old gentle
man had come along and offered tC