The Hope pioneer., 1922-11-30
CHAPTER xvl-contlnued.

Gays or waiting had not been In vain ;
all the cutting hopelessness Of seeing
her, only to have her turn away her
head and fail to recognize him, had
been for their purpose after all. And
yet Fairchild remembered that she
was engaged to Maurice Rodaine, and
that the time Of the wedding must he
fast approaching. Perhaps there had
been quarrel, perhaps Then he
smiled. There was no perhaps about
1t! Anita Richmond was his friend;
she had been forced into the promise
of marriage to Maurice Rodaine, but
she had not been forced into relln-
quishment Of her desire to reward him
somehow, some way, for the attention
that he had shown her and the liking
that she knew existed In his heart.
Hastily Fairchild folded the paper
and stuffed it into an inside pocket.
Then, seeking out one Of the workmen,
he appointed him foreman of the gang,
to take charge in his absence. Fol-
lowing which, he made his way out. Of
the mine and into town, there to hire
men of Mother Howard's suggestion
and send them to the Blue Poppy, to
take their stations every few feet
along the tunnel, to appear mere spec.
tators. but in reality to be guards who
were constantly on the watch for any,
thing untoward that might occur.
Fairchild was taking no chances now.
An hour more found him at the Sam
pier, watching the ore as it ran through
the great crusher hoppers, to come
forth finely crumbled powder and be
sampled, ton by ton, for the assays by
old Undertaken Chastine and three
other men Of his type, without which
no sampler pays for ore. Bittson ap.
preached. grtnning.
"You guessed just about right" he
announced. "That stuff's running
around two hundred dollars q ton.
Need any money now?"
"All you can let me have!"
-Four or five hundred? We've gotten
IN eight tons of that stuff already:
don't guess I'd be taking any risk on
that!' he chuckled. Fairchild reached
Tor the currency eagerly. All but q
hundred dollars of it would go to
Mother Howard-for that debt must
be paid off first. And, that accom-
plished, denying himself the invitation
OF rest that his bed held forth for him.
he started out into town, apparently
to loiter about the streets and receive
the congratulations Of the townspeo-
pie, but in reality to watch for one
person and one alone-Squint Ro-
daine!
He saw him late in the afternoon.
shambling along, his eyes glaring, his
lips moving wordlessly, and he took
up the trail. But it led only to the Of
flee Of the Silver Queen Development
company, where the scar-faced man
doubled at his desk and, stufing q
cigar into his mouth, chewed on it
angrily. 1nstinctively Fairchild knew
that the greatest part of his mean
temper was due to the strike in the
Blue Poppy; instinctively also he felt
that Squint Rodaine had known of the
value all along, that now he was ours.
ing himself for. the failure of his
schemes to obtain possession Of what
had appeared until only day before
to be nothing more than a disappoint-
ing, unlucky, ill-omened hole in the
ground. Fairchild resumed his loiter-
ing, but evening found him near the
Silver Queen office.
Anita's note had told him little. vet
had implied much. Something was
fermenting in the seething brain of
Squint Rodaine, and If the past count
ed for anything, it was something that
concerned him.
An hour more, then Fairchild sud-
denly skunk into the shadows of
doorway. Squint had snapped out the
light and was locking the door. Fifty
feet, then Fairchild stepped from the
doorway and took up the trail.
: 1t was not hard one to follow.
squint Rodaine passed the street lead
Ing to his house without even looking
up. Two blocks more, and they
reached the city limits.
A mile, and they were in the open
country, crossing and recrossing the
.ice-dotted Clear creek. A furlong
more, then Squint Rodaine turned up
che lane which led to great, sham
bling, old, white building that, in the
rosy days of the mining game, had
been a roadhouse. but which now,
barely furnished in only few of it's
rooms, inhabited by mountain rats and
duttering bats and general decay for
the most part, formed the uncomfort-
able abode Of Crazy Laura!
And Fairchild followed. It could
mean only one thing when Rodaine
sought the white-haired. mumbllng old
hag whom once he had called his wife.
It could mean but one outcome, and
that Of disaster for some one. Mother
Howard had said that Crazy Laura
would kill for Squint. And now that
Squint Rodaine was seeking her, Fair.
child meant to follow, and to hear-if
such thing were within the range of
human possibility-the evil drippings
of his crooked lips.
He crossed to the side Of the road
where ran the inevitable gully and.