The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1922-03-31

light, old man. or l shall be obliged 10
put the CAD 10 you; the railroad CAD,
you know"
1t made me so boiling hot to have
him admit. thus badly, that he had
been spying upon jeanne and me the
previous evening that could scarcely
see straight.
THAT will be about enough - I
tarked. Il told you the other day
that there were limits, and you've
walked up and looked over the edge
two or three times You may think
you have as many lives as a cat, but
1 doubt it -
He laughed and threw back the la
pei of his coat TO show me a regula-
| ton six-gun slung by d shoulder strap
under his left arm.
You pulled a hammer on me vester-
/ day." he said. letting the laugh lapse
into grin that showed his fine mouth
full of teeth, land you probably didn't
know that you would have been a dead
man before you could swing it. oh.
| yes; l could do it, and any coroner's
| jury in the Red desert would acquit
me; dangerous lunatic-self-defen
you know. That's a word 10 the wise.
and it ought 10 be sufficient. But l
have better life-insurance policy than
any that the SiX-gun could write me
you're in love with Jeanie Twombly-
in spite of that girl back East: and be-
cause you are, you are not going to
make her a widow before the fact
You're not selling your mine for forty
thOusand-cold cash-this mOrning?"
Not this morning or any other
morning"
Good. 1 can afford to stick around
here a few days longer, I guess-at
the rate of ten thousand dollars a day.
of the clutter of the shop and went
across to the cabin-and Jeanne.
Later, along in this same day, while
I was standing at the shaft mouth and
staring down at the water that was
keeping me out of my heritage. Dad
dy Hiram came up.
Still a-puzzlin over it, Stannie?"
he asked, in the sympathetic tone that
he always used when he spoke of the
Great Disappointment.
There's nothing to it, Daddy"
gloomed. "Bullerton has me by the
neck, and he knows it."
He tiptoed to the door and peeped
out.
you've heard 'em say at curiosity
killed a cat" he said, out of the cor
ner of his mouth; wei, the cats a
comm. Skip out o. that other door.
Stannie, and hit for the timber I'll
ketch up with you in a little SPELL
l didn't know exactly what he was
driving at until after 1 got clear of
the mine buildings and was climbing
the slope of the mountain above Then
l looked back and saw Fullerton saun-
tering across the dump head. He was
evidently bent on another little job
of spying; either that, or else he didn't
want Daddy and me to get together
by ourselves.
Under cover of the forest sat down
and waited: and in a short time Daddy
joined me, making an excuse for the
dOdge-away that didn't mean anything
at all.
Il got a claim over yOnder in the /
right-hand gulch-the one at 1 was
workin' when your gran'paw came |
along" he said Thought maybe !
you q ike 10 LloS ONeA With me anu !
take a look at her"
Of course, 1 said I'd be delighted; /
so we made a detour around the Gin /
nabar keeping out of sight from the |
cabin and shaft-house, and pushing on |
around the western slope for maybe /
half a mile until we came to the gulch /
in which the abandoned claim lay.
Working entirely alone, Daddy had /
driven a tunnel possibly a hundred feet |
deep straight into the solid rock of the |
mountain side, following the thin vein
and hoping that it would widen into
a "pay-streak." After he had led me
a few yards into the tunnel, he waved
me TO a seat on a pile of broken rock,
and took one himself with his back
against the opposite wall.
I'm gettin' just naturally so l hate
a gosh-dummed crowd" he remarked.
switching suddenly from his talk Of the
abandoned claim. Feel sometimes as