The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-02-10

the ladder.
In the living room I found a mighty
sober-faced old Daddy putting break.
fast on the table.
Its just you and. me for 1t, this
mornin', Stannie," he muttered, laying
plates for two; and his mild old eyes
looked as If they were about to take
q bath.
what" / exclaimed. HAS Butler.
ton gomez"
"Uh-huh; bright and early-fore
day, l reckon; leastwise, / didn't hear
him when he went"
But where's Jeanie2 She isn't sick,
Is shef"
He shook his head ~dolefully.
"No; she-she's gone, too :
Not with Bullerton?" l gasped.
at sure does look hathaway, Stan.
ME. She left a liz note on the table
for me, a~tellin' me not to worry none,
and sayin' | needn't look for her till
l saw her ag'in."
At first | could hardly believe my
W ears. 1t was so incredibly out %
keeping with Jeanne as l had been
idealizing her.
"Are you going after them?" 1 de-
manded.
"What for?' was the respondent
query. "'Tain't q morsel o. use, any
way you look at 1t. Jeanie's a wOm-
an growed. and she don't have to have
the old daddy say she can, r she
rnttcfnft nnciInC thau xroc nrchahtw
pitchin' out to catch one O. the early
trains-there's one each way, east and
west-and them trains We been gona
a couple o hours"
Daddy had done his best with the
breakfast, but l don't recall any meal
Of my life that ever came so near
choking me. / told Daddy about tho
smashing of the machinery, and the
proof | had that it had been a piece
of sabotage.
Reckon maybe he allowed you'd find
out he done 1t and try Il dogfall r
somethin' with him to pay him backs'
Daddy queried.
Il don't know" | confessed.
| went on eating in silence, or rath-
err trying to eat, and turning over the
puz2ling and bad-tasting q~uestionlngs
in my mind. How could Jeanne 80 of
with Fullerton, knowing him to be the
scamp he was? And why, IL she had
been meaning all along to do this thing,
had she blocked his game by telling
me that l wasn't to sell him the Gin
nabar?
1t was in the midst Of these reffec-
tons that | Glanced to feel In the coat
pocket where | had been carrying II
deed turned over to me by Daddy
Hiram; and for the second time that
morning | nearly choked. The pocket
was empty!
whats hit you now, son?' Daddy
inquired; seeing my jaw drop, / sup
pose.
''The last thing there was In the box
that could fall out and hit me-" l CUR
gied. Fullerton mas stolen my deed
to the Cinnabar!"
1.-The mischief he has! Plum sure
you hain't lost 1t out o your pocketT"
We made sure, without the loss OF
a moment looking In my loft sleeping
place and in the mine buildings. The
deed was gone, safely enough, and we
both agreed that Fullerton had had
plenty of chances to steal 1t. Wearing
overclothes while / was working about
the machinery, l had often left my
coat hanging In the cabin. AS a mat.
ter of fact, / hadn't worn it at all on
the previous day.
well, Daddy" said I, after the pro-
longed search had proved futile.
where Ices this leave me?"
Threshing the facts out, we O o
found where II left me. Grandfather
Jasper, as you may remember, had
made no mention Of the mine, or, in
deed, of any legacy TO me In his VIII
as it had been probated there was no
need of Ii because he had already
decided the Cinnabar TO me-, and at the
time Of his death 1t was nc longer
among his assets. Moreover, his law
yers had told Fullerton according to
Bullerton's story told me In the Pull.
man smokeroom) that there was no
record OF any mining transaction
WbdtCNCi III HIo DdINios 49,
the absence OF the memorandum which
my grandfather had given Cousin
Percy-and which Percy had doubt.
less carried with him to China-thers
was nothing but the deed to show for
my ownership; absolutely nothing.
At that, the loss of the deed wouldn't
have been fatal if the document had
been properly recorded. 1t hadn't
been. And now, with the unrecOrded
deed gone, there was nothing to prove
that j had ever owned the C%innabar.
The loss was total-with no insur.
ance.
Daddy Hiram IA shaking his head
sorrowfully after we had run this last
bunch Of straw through the threshinR
machine.
With things looking as blue as the
bluest milestone that even clicked