The Dolores star., 1922-11-24
by Courtney Ryley Cooper
Copyright By Little, Brown q Co

they don't even take the trouble
nine That Is, unless they run 'Irb in
silver" he picked up a chunk Of tbe
ore from the muck pile where II had
oeen deposited and studied It intentIv
-out don't see any pure silver
sucking out in this STUFF"
But II must be here somewhoro
aoht know anything about mining
nut don't veins sometimes pinch or
and then show up later on?"
Sure they do-sometimes Ru, ~,
a gamble" - .
that's all we've had from the be-
ginning. Harry"
And It's about all we're going to
ave any time unless something hobs
up sudden like"
iheh, by common consent, they laid
away their working clothes and LOFT
the mine, to wander down the gulch
and to the boarding house. After din.
ner they chatted a moment with Moth.
er Howard, then went upstairs. eacb
TO his room. An hour later Harry
knocked at Fnirchild's door. and en-
tered, the evening paper In his hand.
Ere's something more That's nice"
he announced, pointing to an Item on
the front page. 1t was the announce
ment that general grand jury was
to be convened late In the summer and
that one Of Its tasks would be to seek
to unravel the mystery of the murder
Of Sissle LARSEN
Falrchild read 1t with morbidIty.
Trouble seemed to have become more
than occasional. and further than that
1t appeared to descend upon him Mt
just the times when he could least re-
sist 1t. He made no comment; there
was little that he could say. Again
he read the item and again. finally to
turn the page and breathe sharply.
BEFORE him was a six-column adver-
tisement, announcing the strike in the
Silver Queen mine and also spreading
the word that two-nlllion-dOllar
company would be formed, one mil
Hon In stock to represent the mine it
self, the other to be subscribed to ex-
plot this new find rs 1t should be ex-
plotted. Glowing words told of the
possibilities Of the Silver Queen. Of
ftces had been opened; everything had
been planned In advance and the ad-
vnrtisement written before the town
was aware of the big discovery up
Kentucky gulch. All of 1t Fairchild
read with feeling he could not down
IA feeling that Fate, somehow, was
dealing the cards from the bottom,
and that trickery and treachery and
venomous nature were the necessary
ingredients, after all, to success. He
finished the last line, looked at the list
of officers, and gasped.
For there, following one another.
were three names, two Of which Fair
child had expected. But the other
They were, president and general
manager, r. B. (Squint) Rodaine /;
secretary-treasurer, Maurice Rodaine /;
and first vice presldent-Mlss Anita
Natalie Richmond!
After that, Fairchild heard little
that Harry said as he rnmbled on
dDOul pluus lOE tnt lululc- nc Sdl uuu
stared, until finally his partner said
goodnight and left the room.
That name could mean only one
thing: that she had consented to be-
come a partner with them. that they
had won her over. after all. Now,
even a different light came upon the
meeting with Barnham In Denver and
a different view to Fairchild. What
II she had been playing their game all
along7 What II she had been merely
tool for them: what II she had sent
Farrell at their direction, to learn
everything he and Harry knew7 Had
not another lawyer played the friend
ship racket, In an effort to buy the
Blue Poppy mine7
And here Fairchild smiled grimly.
From the present prospects. 1t would
seem that the gain would have been
all on his side, for certainly there was