The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1922-01-03

opened behind us and he jumped up |
with another "Well, WELL look who's |
herel" and when l turned, he was
holding Jeanie's two hands in. his and
braying over her like wild ass of the |
plains. And, If you'll believe me, that
girl had gone and changed her dress
That is what she went to do when she
slipped out and left me to stare at her
empty chair, after she had heard her
father say, swell, hello Charley Bull
lerton !"
1t was all off with me from that
time on. For what was left of the
evening, Fullerton played a solo. /
got full-up on the performance about
nine o'clock, and climbed my ladder
and went to bed, muff1ing my head in
the blankets so that l wouldn't have
to lie there and listen to the bagpipe
drone of Bullerton's voice in the room
below.
hOped-withOut the least shadow OF
reason for the hope, of cOurse-that
the next morning would show me q
hole i'm the atmosphere in the space
that Fullerton had occupied. But
there was no such luck. He was pres
ent at the breakfast table, as large
as life and twice as talkative.
/ made my escape from the cabin
as soon as l could and tramped over
to the mine A glance into the shaft
showed the black pool in its depths as
placid and untrOubled as if we hadn't
Just lifted a million or so cubic feet
of water out of it by hard labor.
In mOrose Encouragement recalled
the few things l had learned about
drowned mines while ] was knocking
about in the Cripple Greek district
TRYING to trace Fullerton. Particular.
~ L rememDereu my talk with Hilton,
the man who had finally put me upon
what had proved to be the right track
in the tracing job. He had talked
quite freely. Sometimes the flood was
only the tapping of an underground
stream, as when one digs a well; in
other cases-and these were most COM
mon in the Cripple Greek region
the source of the flood would be found
in buried lake or reservoir, large or
not so large, as the luck might have
it, If the source were lake-sO Hill
ton had said-there was little use in
trying to pump the mine dry.
Mulling over these discouraging bits
of information, / was naturally led
back to the Pullman smOking-rOOm talk
with Fullerton. remembered, with a
charm lifflo 0f xx,hir
that he had given an expert opinion,
which, as it seemed, he had backed up
year earlier with a thousand dol
lars of real mOney-the deposit in the
Omaha bank made to cover my grand
fathers bargain binder. What he had
said was, -'Tm reasonably certain that
| discovered a way in which that mine
can be drained at comparatively small
expense"
Had he really discovered q way?-
and with no better data than a study
of the maps? Staring down at the
black pool which Daddy and hadn't
been able to lower by so much as a
fraction of an inch in a weeks pump
ing, | doubted it.
1 was stumbling out toward the en-
CINE room with my head down and
my hands in my pockets when heard
footsteps coming from the direction of
the cabin beyond the dump. Looking
| out, l saw Fullerton Sauntering over
toward the shaft-hOuse. Though
knew that some sort of wrangle with
him was inevitable, / was perfectly
| willing to postpone it, so l edged in
10 the blacksmith shop and sat down
! on the anvil, hoping he might miss me
| and go away. But there was nothing
coming to me on that bet.
81 saw your lead when you left the
house." he began, after he had found
| me and had busted off an empty dyna.
mite box for a seat. Don't you think
you've played it rather low down on
me?"
How SOP"
by taking in my story of this mine
when told it 30 you without giving
me hint that you were the person
most deeply interested-since my ole
gentleman was your grandfather"
1t didn't strike me that way, and il
doesn't yet" | shot back. Il notice
you were mighty careful not to tel
me the name of your old gentleman
or rather, l should say, you lied about
it when l wired YOU"
AN ordinary business precautiOn,
he chuckled. But we needn't waste
our time pickering over what Nigh
have been-and wasn't. l have con
tract with your grandfather which il
legally binding upon you as his hei
to this particular piece of property
always provided you can prove tina
you are his heir. What I'm here t.
say is that I'm ready to carry out m,
part of the contract; to unwater thi
mine. What do you say?"
How are you going to do it?''
THAT. my young friend is particu
larly my own affair."
felt pretty scrappy that morning
there is no use in denying it.
You're not the only pebble on tn
i III. laf