The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-01-26
CHAPTER VII,
Honorable Scars.

If | had been what I had invited
Jeanne TwOmbly to imagine me-: mere
ly an ordinary drifting tourist set
afoot in the wilds by circumstances
over which | had no control, my cue
to be on my way the following morning
ouldn have been delayed much be-
yond the appetiZing breakfast to which
l sat down a little after seven o'clock.
But once / had reached the end of
the rainbow, and had no intention of
moving on before | could have my
chance to dig for the pot of gold which
Is said to be the reward of successful
rainbow chasers, | was casting about
Tor an excuse to proIong my stay when
Iwombly, in accordance with the bit
of ak which | had overheard in the
loft chamber, took the matter out of
my hands.
When we was talkin' about auter-
mobiles and such, las night. you let
son to ME that you knowed something
about machinery" was the way he be-
gan. "If you amt in a tearin' hurry
10 be goin' sOmeWheres, maybe / could
get you to hang round for a spell and
show me how to take a steam engine
to pieces so I I could clean it I'D and
keep it from gOin' to rack and ruin"
with all the pleasure Imaginable"
fastened to say, before he could have
time to change his mind.
While the cer~ulean-eyed maiden was
carrying the dishes out Of the kitchen,
the old man donned Overalls and a
jumper, and a few minutes later I was
introduced to the mine-my mine, if
you pleaSe-or rather to SO much of it
~ was open TO any visitor other than
a submarine diver.
My heart went hot in sympathy for
good old Grandfather Jasper. The
scOundrels who had done him up had
~ been content with merely selling
Linn the gold brick they had let him
spend thousands more for the pump
ing machinery, after they, themselves.
were we'll assured that he was merely
throwing money away.
| asked Daddy what be wished TO
do with the machinery. He said he
was afraid it might be rusting inside
standing unused so long, and he want
ed to take it apart especially the
steam engine. So told him how to
begin, and he fell to work hut in inst
a few minutes his aWkWartIness with
the tools gave me a fit of the willies.
See here" l said; IF you've got
another pair of overalls and a Jumper
-"
"Sure pop, 1 have" he admitted .
n that was how | discovered nv first
real job of honest-to-goodness work.
- We stuck at it until noon, disas-
seInbiing, and seraping rust, and pol-
ishing and oiiing, and incidentally find
ing the machinery in a great deal bet
i ter condition than it had any right to
be after standing idle for SO long a
time. Of course, / bunged my soft
hands all up, and got as dirty as O
pig. and all that but that first fore
neon LII written down in my life as one
OF the most enjoyable I've ever known.
And when Daddy Hiram called the
neon halt. and we went across TO the
cabin TO wash up for dinner. | was
hungry. think that forenoon meas
ured about the only useful haIf-day,s
work I'd ever done; and the afternoon
made 1t a full day. Say, people-tt
was great For the first time In an
idle. happy-go-lucky life l had a lob
with d concrete object In view, and a
keen ambition to see 1t through. l was
thirstiIy eager to get that machinery
III shape and to start those old he.
pumps, end this In spite of Daddy Ill
rams repeated assurances that Il
wouldn't do no good a-tall."
During a Woodworking interval Oh
tur0 weeks d number OF things hat
happened. One was q visit from tht
MISUNDERSTANDING ANGLICAN wht
had impressed me with the fact thai
m belonged to the Ancient and Honor
sble Ortier Of the Silver Star. mi hay,
u tell about that vIsit, because /
prosed what i ~tresneuaougly luck
fnIne II Mas for ne that Ind faIleI
e1pO1ax friends.
& Nes flis way. ON the second Id,
7 nx Stay n tIe bosofa y the Twoud
6fs fesakv noticed thaf ! baftere.
Nc kssstne insfrunaent-~a fraasit NhIc,
Ieft-oveF from TN tim
- C1naahnr Mns 4 HOrkin
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