The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-09-09

the mines, shutting up the gambling
halls and great saloons. mailing up the
doors, even Of the Sampler. for years
to come
He turned TO the furnace and took
out the pottery dish In which the
sample had been smelling white-hot
now. He cooled it and tinkered with
his chemicals. He fused with his
scales, he adjusted his glasses. he
coughed once or twice In an embar-
raised manner; finally to turn to
FairchiId.
Young man." he queried, 'tit amt
any Of my business, but where'd you
get this ore?"
"Out of my mine, the Blue Poppyi"
"Sure you amt been visiting?"
what do you meanT' Fairchild
was staring at him in wonderment.
Old Undertaken Chastine rubbed his
hands on his big apron and continued
tc look over his glasses.
''What'I you take for the Blue
Poppy mine. SOM"
"Why-it's not for sale'
Sure it amt going to be-soonT
Absolutely not" Then Fairchild
caught the queer look in the mans
eyes. What do you mean by all
these questions? Is that good ore
or isn't itT'
Son, just one more questiOn-and /
hope you won't get mad at me- I'm
a funny old fellow. and l do a lot
Of things that don't seem right at
the beginning. But I've saved a few
young bloods like you from trouble
more than once You amt been high
grading?"
"You mean"
"Just exactly what I said-wander-
ing around somebody else's property
and picking up few samples, as 1t
were, to mix in with your own prod
uct? Or planting them where they
can be found easily by a prospective
buyer?"
Fairchild's chin set, and his arms
moved slowly. Then he laughed. mo
I'll give you my word l haven't
been high-grading," he said. "My
partner and I drilled a hole in the
foot wall of the Slope where we were
working, hoping to find the rest Of
vein that was pinching out on us.
And we got this stuff. Is it any good?"
SIS 1t good?" Again Old Under
tBker Chastine looked over his glasses
That's just the trouble. It's too
good-it's so good that it seems there's
something funny about 1t. Son, that
stuff assays within a gram, almost,
Of the ore they're taking out Of the
Silver QueenI'
whats thatT' Fairchild had leaped
forward and grasped the other man
by the shoulders, his eyes agleam, his
whole being trembling with excite
ment. you're not kidding me about
It? You're sure-you're suref"
"BOy, you've got bonanza, If this
holds out. It's almost identical. never
saw two samples of ore that were
more alike. Let's see, the Blue
Poppy's right up Kentucky gulch, not
so very far away from the Silver
Queen, isn't it? Then there must be
a tremendous big vein concealed
around there somewhere that splits,
one half of it running through the
mountain in one direction and the
other cutting through on the opposite
side. It looks like peaches and cream
for you. Son. How thick is it?'
81 don't know. We just happened to
put a drill In there and this Is some
Of the scrapings."
You haven't cut into 1t at ALL
then?"
Not unless Harry, my partner, has
put in a shot since I've been gone"
"Well, Son, now you can hurry back
and begin cutting into a fortune. If
that veins only four inches wide,
you've got plenty to keep you for the
rest of your life. Run along"
And Fairchild ran" Whistling and
happy, he turned out Of the Office Of
the Sampler and into the street, his
coat open, his big cap high on his
head, regardless Of the sweep Of the
cold wind and the fine snow that it
carried on its icy breath. The wait
ing of months was over, and Fairchild
at last was beginning to see his
dreams come true.
So this was the reason that RO-
IL -