The Dolores star., 1922-12-01
Falrchnd blinked in surprise at thi.

he laughed uneasily and pufYed again
on the dubious cigar.
I'D say" came finally. that there
Isn't any such animal"
But there is. She has" Then he
stopped. as though TO cover the slip.
Fairchild leaned forward.
"Shef"
Mr.. Barnham gave the appearance
OF very fiustered man.
MY tongue got away from me: I
shouldn't have said it. l really
shouldn't have said Il. II she ever
finds 1t out, 1t will mean trouble for
me. But truly" and he beamed, you
are such tough customer to deal with
and SO susplcious-no offense meant.
Of course-that / really was forced to
1t. feel sure she will forgive me"
whom do you mean by 'she'?"
Mr.. Barnham smiled In a knowing
manner.
You and both know" came his
cryptic answer. "She is your one great,
good friend. She thinks great deal
Of you. and you have done several
things to cause that admiration. Now.
Mr.. F'nirchIld. coming to the point.
suppose she should point way out
of your troubles7 In the first place,
you and your partner are In very
great difficulties"
Are wer" Fairchild said It sarcas-
tically.
Indeed you are. and there Is no
need of attempting to conceal the fact.
| Your friend, whose name must remain
II secret, does not love you-don't ever
think that-but-"
| Then he hesitated as though to
| watch the effect on Fairchild's face.
| There was none; Robert had masked
| 1t. In time the words went on: But
she does think enough of you to want
to make you happy. She has recently
done a thing which gives her a great
| deal of power In one direction. In an
other. she has connections who pos
sess vast money powers and who are
| looking for an opening here in the
! West. Now" he made a church
stecple out OF his fingers and leaned
back in his chair, staring vacuously at
the ceiling, "lf you will say the word
| and do n thing which will relieve her
of IA great deal of embarrassment, I
| am sure that she can so arrange
! things that life will be very easy for
you henceforth."
| I'm becoming Interested"
| ain the first place, she is engaged to
be married to a very fine young man.
You, of course, may say differently,
and 1 do not know-I am only taking
her word for 1t. Buff understand
/ 1t, your presence in Ohadi has caused
IA few disagreements between them
and-well, you know how willful and
headstrong girls will be. believe she
has committed a few-er-Indiscre-
tions with you"
That's a lie" Fairchild's temper
got away from him and his fist banged
on the table. That's lie and you
| know IT."
Pardon me-er-pardOn me! I
made use of word that can have
many meanings, and am sure that In
using It, l didn't place the same con-
struction that you did In hearing It..
But let that pass. l apologize. What
l should have said was that, If you
will pardon me, she used you, as
/
her tiance in time of petty quarrel
Ing between them. Is that painer?"
1t was too plain to Fairchild. il
hurt. But he nodded his head and
the other man went on.
Now the thing has progressed to a
place where you may be-well-what
one might call the thorn In the side
of their happiness. You are the
other man. as it were, to cause quar-
rels and that sort of thing. And she
feels that she has not done rightly by
you. and, through her friendship and
a desire to see peace all around, be-
heves she can arrange matters to
suit all concerned. To be plain and
blunt, Mr.. Fairchild. you are not In
an enviable position. l said that I
had information for you, and I'm 60
Ing to give it. You are trying to work
a mine. That demands capital. You
haven't got 1t and there Is no way for
you to procure 1t. Your partner now
is accused Of four crimes and will 90
to trial on them in the fall. It is al
most certain that he will be convicted
on at least one Of the charges. That
would mean that the deeds to the
mine must remain in Jurisdiction OF
the court In lieu of a cash bond while
the case goes to the Supreme court.
Otherwise, you must yield over your
partner to 90 to jail. In either event,
the result would not be satisfactory
For yourself, i dare say that q person
whose father Is supposed to have COM
mitted murder-nOt that I saw ho
did 1t, Internationally could es-
tablish sufficient standing to borrow
the money to proceed on an undertake
ing which requires capital. There
fore, l should say that you were in
somewhat Of predicament. Now"
long wait and then, "please take
this as only coming from spokes-
man: My client is in a position to
use her good Offices to change the
viewpoint of the man who Is the chief