The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-05-24

had completely lost two hours. An
amazing loss, truly. There was no
lack of youthful vigor in CALVIN
Gray's movements at any timeSbut
now there was an unusual llghtncss
to his tread and his lips puckered
into a joyous whistle. 1t had been Il
great day. day Of the widest c%-
tremcs, day of adventure and ro-
nance. And that is what every day
should be.
CHAPTER XII
Four Against One
If Gray cherished any lingering
doubts as to the loyalty of Nal
low. crstwhilc victim Of his ruth
lcssness, or of McWadc and Stoncr,
the wildcat promoters, those doubts
vanished during the next day or
two. As Il matter Of fact, the rcadi-
ness, nay, the enthusiasm with
which they fell in with his schemes
convinced him that he had acted
wisely in yielding to an impulse to
trust them.
At their first council of war Gray
gave each of them number of def
mite things to do, or to have done,
the while he sought certain facts;
when they assembled for second
time, it was to- compare, to tabulate,
and to consider an amount OF IN
formation concerning the activities
of Henry Nelson that would have
greatly surprised that gentleman
had he been present to hear it.
For some time longer the conspira-
tors busted themselves over the de-
tails of their plans, and Gray was
beginning to feel some satisfaction
at his rate of progress when an in
terruption took the form of a~call
from group of highly excited and
indignant purchasers of stock in the
Desert Scorpion Company that pro-
motion in which Professor Mallow
has assisted on the morning of
Gray's arrivaE
They had bccn sold, victimizcd,
flmflammcd, skinned; the scorpion
had stung them and the poison was
boiling in their veins. Briefly, the
swindle was this; investigation had
shown that the land owned by the
Desert Scorpion was not where it
had been represented to be, but
more than a mile distant thcrcfrom.
Chance alone had brought forth the
truth; the hour Of vengeance had
struck
Calvin Gray withdrew quietly from
the hubbub and asked Mallow," "Can
that be truc?'
The eminent scientist shrugged;
out of the corner of his mouth he
murmurcd; "Why not? 1t all locks
alike"
McWade and Stoner were not in
the least dismaycd by this amazing
intelligence, as matter of fact the
former assumed an air of even
greater geniality than usual and
nodded careless agreement to every
accusation hurled against him.
Right you are, men! Absolutely
A'Shh' We "CIS NlCIlUllLeu, EuC
we're tickled to death to rcctify the
error. Mighty fortunate mistake, as
matter of fact. Brick, out with
the old check book and give these
birds back their money" With alac-
rity Mr.. Stoner cleared off his desk
and seated himself, pen in hand
"Step up and get a dollar a share
just what you paid. Fair enough, |
calls it. The banks. are open ann the
checks are good"
Immediately the repurchasc of
stock began, but anger and suspc-
ion still smouldered ;thcrc were dis
satisfied muttcrings. One investor
a field man in greasy overalls, spoke
out:
We'll get ours all right. Don't
worry. But how about the dher
suckers? There's fifty thousand
shares out. What are you going to
do about that?"
"Wc1l pay Il dollar and half a
share for all you can get, tomor-
row."
There was stir among the in
dignant spectators; the man for
whom Stoner was writing check
inquired: "What's the idea? Why
not dollar and a CALF now?"
Stoner and McWade exchanged 4
meaning glance-it was not loS'
upon their attentive audience but
the latter shrugged and smiled pro-
vocatively. Chats our business
he declared, lightly. "You ghost
dancers want your money back and
we're giving it to you. You're let.
ting up a holler that you were
robbed, so come and get it. The
faster you come the better it'll sui,
us. Scorpion stock will close at d
dollar and half VI better tomorrow
night"
bluff" somebody glowed.
Stoner finished his signature with
Il flourish, blotted it, then he hest
tatcd. He flung down his pen and
turned defiantly upon his partecl
crying:
"This amt fail to these men, Mac
They're customers of ours and we
owe EN- the chance to make Kill
ing. It's up to us to tell 'em the
truth"
McWade was angry. His indi aua
ton famed. Vigorously he denied
the charge of unfairncss. A spirited
argument ensued.
| Continued in Our Next Issuc)