The St. Charles herald., 1922-11-11

we'll find it!
With that determination, he went to
bed, to awake in the morning filled
with a desire to reach the mine, to
claw at its vitals with the sharp
edged drills, to swing the heavy siedge
until his, shoulders and back ached,
to send the roaring charges OF dyna-
mite digging deeper and deeper into
that thinning vein. And Harry was
beside him every step Of the way.
A days work, the booming charges,
and they returned to the stope to find
that the vein had neither lessened nor
grown greater. Another day-and one
after that. The vein remained the
same. 49,
Sauint Rodaine had established his
Office in a small. vacant store building
on the main street, and Fairchild
could see, as he went to and from his
work, constant stream of townspeO-
pie as they made that their goal
there to give their money into the
keeping of the be-scarred man and to
trust to the future for wealth. 1t
CALLED Fairchild,s 1t smade his hate
stronger than ever. AS for the girl
who was. named as vice president
He saw her, day after day, riding
through town In the same automobile
that he had helped retire on the Den
yer road. But now she did not look
at him; now she pretended that she
did not see him. She had gone over
to the Rodaines, she was engaged to
marry the chalky-faced, hook-nOsed
son and she was vice president Of
their two-miIlion- dollar mining cor
poration. Fairchild did not even strive
| to find meaning for it all; women
are women, and men do well some
times If they diagnose themselves.
| The summer began to grow old, and
| Fairchild felt that he was aging with
it. The bank deposits were. thinning,
and the vein was thinning with it.
| Slowly but surely, as they fought, the
strip, of .pay ore in the rocks was
pinching out. Soon would come the
time when they could work it no
| longer. And then-but Fairchild did
| not like to think about that.
September came, and with 1t the
grand Jury. But here for once was
slight ray of hope. The body OF
twelve good men and true wore them
selves out with other matters and ad-
| iourned without even taking up the
mystery of the Blue Poppy mine. But
the 10Y of Fairchild and Harry was
short-lived. In the long. legal phrase
ology of the jury's report was the
recommendation that this important
+ subject be the first for inquiry by the
next grand inquisitorial body to be
convened - and the threat still re
mained.
But before the two men were now
realities which were worse even than
threats, and Harry turned frSm his
staging late one afternoon to voice
the most important.
"WeIl start single-jacking tomor'
row." he announced with a little sigh
'In the 'anging wall. The veins
pinche6 down until we amt even get
ting day laborer's wages out of it
| ana It's OclODer HOW.
October! October-and winter OF
the way. October--and only monti
until the time when Harry must fac'
Jury on four separate charges, an!
one OF which might send him to Canol
City for the rest of his days. Fair
child's hopes lay inert. He was onl!
working now because great, strong
big-shouldered man had come from
Cornwall to help him and was willini
| to fight II out to the end. October
and the announcement had said tina
, a certain girl would be married in tn
late fall, a girl who never looked il
his direction any more. who had al
lowed her name to become affiliate
with that of the Rodaines, now neal
ing the task of completing their tw
million. October! vak t6t
For a long moment, Fairchild sal
nothing, then as Harry came from tn
staging, he moved to the older man
side. 5 ~
I'll didn't quite catch the idea,
came at last. Harry pointed with hi
sledge.
"Pve been noticing the vein.
keeps turning to the left. 1t struc
me that It might ave branched o
from the main body and that there
a bigger vein over there some'ere
We'll just ave to make a try for !
It's our only chance"
And IL we fail to find 1t thereT
III It amt there-we're whipped
y II was the first time that Harry ha
| said the word seriously. Fairchil
] pretended not to hear. Instead, /
4 picked up drill, looked at its poin
then started toward the small fors
which they had erected just at Il
foot of the little raise leading to Il
stope. There Harry Joined him; t
gether they heated the long pieces
steel and pounded their biting fac
to the sharpness necessary to drillir
IN the hard rock of the hanging wa
tempering them in the bucket of W
ter near by, working silently, slowly.
hampered by the weight of defes
IThey were being whipped; they fe
It in every atom of their beings. B
they had not given up their fgf
Two blows were left in the strugg