Graham guardian., 1922-01-27

| Dauuy hau done his best with the
breakfast, but l don't recall any meal
| Of my life that ever came SO near
choking me. told Daddy about the
smashing of the machinery, and the
| proof ] had that 1t had been a piece
| Of sabotage.
Reckon maybe he allowed you'd find
out he done II and try dOgfall r
somethin' with him to pay him back?'
Daddy queried.
Il don't know" l confessed.
went on eating in silence, or rath-
er trying to eat, and turning over the
puzzllng and bad-tasting questionings
In my mind. How could Jeanie 60 of
with BullertOn, knowing him to be the
scamp he was? And why, II she had
been meaning all along to do this thing,
had she blocked his game by telling
me that / wasn't to sell him the Gin
nabar?
1t was In the midst of these reflec-
tlons that chanced TO feel in the coat
pocket where had been carrying the
deed turned over to me by Daddy
Hiram; and for the second time that
morning l nearly choked. The pocket
was empty
whats hit you now, son" Daddy
inquired; seeing my jaw drop, l sup
pose.
"The last thing there was In the box
that could fall out and hit me-" / CUR.
frlnI tn,,lIart,t, ufn finnl
to the Cinnabarp
"The mischief he has! Plum sure
you hain't lost it out o your pocket"
We made sure, without the loss OF
moment; locking in my loft sleeping
place and In the mine buildings. The
deed was gone, safely enough, and we
both agreed that Bullerton had had
plenty of chances TO steal it. Wearing
overclothes while was working about
the machinery, | had often left my
coat hanging In the cabin. As mat
ter OF fact, hadn't worn it ut all on
the previous day.
"Weil, Daddy" said !, after the pro
longed search had proved futile,
"where does this leave meT'
Threshing the facts out, we soon
found where ii left me. Grandfather
Jasper, as you may remember, had
made no mention of the mine, or, in
deed, OF any legacy TO me in his will
as il had been probated; there was no
need Of il because he had already
decided the Cinnabar to me, and at the
time of his death II was no longer
among his assets. Moreover, his law
ycrs had told Bullerton (GccOrding to
Bulerton's story told me In the Pull.
man Smokeroom) that there was no
record Of any mining transaction
whatever I'm his papers. Therefore, In
the absence of the memorandum which
my grandfather had given Cousin
Percy--and which Percy had doubt
less carried with him TO China-there
was nothing but the deed to show for
my ownership; absolutely nothing.
At that, the loss Of the deed wouldn't
have been fatal If the document had
been properly recorded. 1t hadn't
been. And now, with the unrecOrtled
deed gone, there was nothing TO prove
that | had ever owned the Clnnabar.
The loss was total-with no insur.
ance.
Daddy Hiram was shaking his head
sorrowfully after we had run this last
bunch OF straw through the threshing
machine.
With things looking as blue as the
bluest milestone that ever clicked
some line Of action. Copah was the
county seat, and the obvious first step
would have been for me 20 go there
for search In the county records for
evidence OF the sale of the mine TO my
grandfather. But the minute | should
show myself on the railroad, I'd be
nabbed for the theft of that Internal
inspection car. Daddy offered to 20
In my place, but that alternative didn't
appeal to me at all. knew perfectly
well how helpless he'd be in any such
lswyerlike search as would have to be
made In the county recorders office.
Being stopped on short in every
other direction, we finally gravitated
over to the shnft-house and went To
work In an aimless sort Of fashion
gathering up the wreckage OF the
smashed gear train and putting things
shIpshape again. With steam up, we
turned the machinery over few
times, just to see that everything was
In working order again, and threw In
the clutch of the centrifugals, merely
for the satisfaction Of hearing the
food rushing through the outlet. When
the pumps were going at full speed
went to look down the shaft, As be-
fore, when We had run the pumps for
Q week on end, there was q slight dis
turbance Of tho water, but nothing
more. My makeshift hoat-und.pulley
gauge showed no change In the level
Suddenly freak notion seized ne
that I'd like to know just what was
going on down IN those black depths
into which the suction pipes Of the
big pumps led.
Daddy, I'm going TO try TO find out