Gunnison news-champion., 1922-02-24

hiked out 10 make my breakfast in
the open.
The sandwiches disposed OF. ! began
to quarter the bench woodland back
and forth. searching for some indica-
lions Of the railroad survey. In due
time found one % the location stakes
and from it, facing and the markings
On II. got the direction Of the proposed
line and vas able 20 trace Il for some
distance along the bench A. Dad
dy had said. IL ran within Il few hun
dred yards of the CInnabar claim. and
a short sld.track would make his sus-
gesiiuu perfectly feasible; our ore
could be shot into the cars with but
single handling.
Prom tracing the railroad survey. 1
.fsei around 10 take another lOcn at
the possibilities Of the drainage tunnel
DADDY and ! had figured on. Going
over the ground this ssCUud time. and
with some better knowledge of the DIFF
fcuItles. Il APPEARED that se must have
ridicgl0usly under.s;lmat.d the prob
able cost Pacing the distances care
fully. and guessing AZ the differences
In altitude by the heights 0f the trees.
! saw that II wouldn't be safe TO count
upon less than = mile OF tunDeIlns.
and this, In m. solid pOrphyry Of Old
Cinnabar, and In a situation remote
from the nearest base OF supplies,
would run-no. u wouldn't run; IL
would fairly gallop into money.
Was this What Fullerton meant to do
II he could oust met That he was ut.
terly conhdent OF his ability TO drain
the Ciuuabar was evident But how
vas II to be don.l Would he, or his
hackers. be willing to spend a quar-.
ter O q million or more. and the better
part Of a years time, driving that
mlle-lOuE tunncll
The longer thought about II. the
larger the conviction grew that no
such expensive eNpedient was TO b.
resorted To. Fullerton. or his hackers.
or both, knew some other aud far
cheaper and more expeditions way of
getting rid Of the water. sitting on a
big rock that had In some former earth
cunyulsion tUmbied from the broken
cliffs above the mine, I gave the me.
NftAA'a' ~ 81 'AA'll vi NY lI am VII NHs
small fraction and sadly under-de-
veIoped) free rein.
Two possibilities suggested them
selves. A slph0T,, a big pipe. starting
At the bottom OF the shaft aud leading
out over the top and down the noun.
tain to a point lower than the shaft
bottom. would. after II WAS once
started, automatically discharge
stream Of It's own bIgness. whatever
that shoIld be But the COS, OF over
a mLe Of such pipe was beyond my
means, and v two sir-lnch pumps
driven night and day had failed to
make any impressions upon the food.
what could be expected OF a siphop
which. In the nature Of thlngs. couldn't
ue much bigger than an ordinary
street water malni
The other possibility ~>s even less
hopeful. 1t was the driving OF short
tunnel. which Daddy a~s I might un-
dertake without additie-I help. from
the level Of the high bench straight In
10 an intersection with the mine shaft
This. ! estimated, nigh; tap the water
AT point possibly twenty feet below
Its present level in the shaft Its sue
cess. as ] saw nj once. would depend
entirely upon the location and volume
OF the underground Like which was
supposed TO be supplying the flood. II
this reservoir were shallow and high
In the mountain. the short tunnel
might drain IT, II II were deep and
low, nothing would be accomplished
The question was stu hanging hope
lessly up in the air when l made my
way around to the mine buildings by
the left-hand eulch path. sneaked In
and began to shuck myself into Dad
dy's extra pair Of overalis: jua for
what, hadn't the least idea: only
needed to be dong something to keep
me from going completely dotty In the
guessing contest.
By this time. as knew, they would
be getting up from breakfast IN the
cabin across the dump head, which
would most likely be Builerton's cue
to come over and ride me some more
When looked out In sour anticipa-
tion, here he came, smoking one OF his
hlgh-priced cigars and staggering
bit. as he always did In walking.
This Is your dollar
day. Broughton." he tossed at me as
soon as he stepped over the threshold
OF the shaft house door: but fancied
could notice that, some way, he
didn't seem quite so clipper and care
less as he hnd the day before.
"See here" I ripped out: "what's
the use7 You can't buy this mine at
any price! It's not In the market and
II isn't going TO be. Not in thousand
years.
But see here: what's the use OF
butting your head against stone wall,
You're stuck. world without end. and
you know 1t. This flooded hole in the
ground is Of no more use to you than
a pair Of spectacles to a blind man ="