The Bottineau courant., 1922-02-02

! that he went back to the~cabin acres
the dump and left me warming tn
anvil. -,sm IL. G,r
Il / guess 1t will say itself that tn
next few days stacked up about a
wretehed an interval as / had eve
been called upon to put over.
Bulierten had masterful sort o
grip that seemed to give him a stran
gle-hold upon everything he tackled
AT table and I'm the evenings before
the fire he monopolized the talk ane
the rest of US sat around like slough
ton-bottles and let him do it.
1t didn't help matters out much
when Daddy Hiram, chasing me up or
one of the days when 1 was lodging
Bullerton, gave me the sealed enve
lope which my grandfather had left
with him. As will be remembered, II
was or the night of Bullerton's arrival
at the Cinnabar that had told Daddy
and his daughter who was, and the
subject hadn't been again referred to
| by any of us. But now Daddy. having
overtaken me on one of the trails
above the mine, sat beside me on a
fiat rock and we had it out together.
| You knew who / was from the first,
Daddy?" l asked.
mot right plumb at first. no." he
qualified. You see, didn't know who
| was looking for. Always reckoned
somebody'd be along, f course, but /
| hadn't had any idea who r when."
I'm afraid I've been a pretty sorry
| disappointment to you," I muttered. 81
have no money and l don't know
enough to be any good at the mining
game. y And that reminds me: my
grandfather paid you regular salary
for the caretaking, didn't he?"
"Uh-huh"
THAT has been discontinued since
his death?'
II reckon So
Il have little income of my own
not much, but enough for the way
were living here. 1t must be under
stood that l share it with you and
Jeanie, so long as stay with you"
"Aint no need O your doin' that
Stannie. I got little stake hid out
for pinch"
In all this, you will notice, there
was no word said about Bullerton. We
sat In silence for a while, Daddy chew
ing spear of grass. After a time he
called attention to the envelope which
| still held unopened In my hands.
Don't ye want to know what your
gran'paw says?" he asked mildly.
At this slit the end of the envelope.
Its contents were deed in fee simple
to the Cinnabar and a note to me,
written in Grandfather Jasper's
cramped, old-fashioned handwriting.
In the note he merely said that he was
leaving me property which had cost
him pretty we'll up to half a million
| and that he hoped I'd brace up and go
to work and make something out of it,
adding that If l hadn't been such a
hopeless idler all my life he might
have considered the propriety of add
ing an experimental fund to the gift.
As 1t was, must work out my own
salvation-if l were anxious to possess
| any of that commodity.
I think it was on the fourth day after
his arrival that Bullerton cornered me
again and again it was In the deserted
blacksmith shop.
| We'll, Broughton," he began abrupt.
| ", seating himself once more upon
the empty dynamite box, 1--WE given
Iyou plenty Of time to think it over
Where do you stand now?"
Right exactly where l did in the
beginning" snapped. Il don't wan
any erty-nine-tifty-one per cent part
nership with you; neither that nor an,
other kind"
T "All right he rejoined, brusaueiy
well call that phase of it a back mum
Der and 60 on to something else. II
4 buy your mine, just as it stands watei
and aii-and that's what nobody els.
! would do, you'd better believe"
i Fer how much?"
4 ''For fifty thousand dollars-cash."
NO." grated. II don't need q lit
ftle money that badly"
Fifty thousand isn't a little: at
/ good, safe, investment interest It will
| give you an income of three thousant
+ a year. And that's more than your,
getting now out of what your fathe
3left you."
i, .You seem to know a good bit abou
my private affairs I growled.
II you said mouthful, then. Tv,
made it my business to find out abou
them. There's nothing much to you
Broughton, when you come right dow
to brass tacks. You had a good educa
ton, but you haven't had get-up-and-ge
enough in You to make any use of It,
i 'The less. you dig in my private gar
den patch, the better we shall ge
along I told him.
/ He was silent for a moment. III
had picked up bit Of iron rod an.
|, was tracing hieroglyphic figures witt
1t in the dust of the shop floor. Pres
emily he looked up with sort of mock
ing leer.
"Been trying to carry sentimenta
water on both shoulders, haven't you
4 I'm telling you right now, Broughton
it's no use. I filed on the little Blue
eyes claim over yonder In Twombly'
cabin long, long time before you eve
saw or heard OF II. s.s.
| That remark Of his carried thing
| over the edge for me. : ~ -.
Il ."See here, Bu1Ierton," ] said, and
| suppose / stuck out my jaw at him a
i people say do when I'm beginning
. / TO feel ugly, there are limits, an.