Phoenix tribune., 1923-04-14
THE CROss-CUT
CONTINUED from page p


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 1t and tinkered with
his chemicals He fused with his
scales, he adjusted his glasses, he
coughed once or twice in an embar-
rassed manner: finally to turn to
Fairchild.
"Young man." he queried, SIT amt
any of my business, but where'd you
get this ore?"
"Out Of my mine, the Blue Poppyl"
".Sure you amt been visitingf'
"What do you mean7" 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'l you take for the Blue
Poppy mine, Son7'
"Why-it's not for sale"
"Sure 1t amt going to be-soon?"
Absolutely not" Then Fairchild
caught the queer look In the mans
eyes. What do you mean by all
these questions7 Is that good ore
or isn't it7'
'Son, just one more Questlon-and l
hope you won't get mad at me. Pm
funny old fellow, and 1 do a lot
of things that don't seem right at
the beginning. But I've saved few
young bloods like you from trouble
more than once You amt been high
gradingT
"You mean"
"Just exactly what 1 said-wander-
ing around somebody else's property
and picking up few samples, as it
were, to mix in with your own prod
uct? Or planting them where they
can be found easily by a prospective
buyer?"
Fairchilds chin set, and his arms
moved slowly. Then he laughed mo
III give you my word haven't
been high-grading," he said my
partner and I drilled a hole in the
foot wall Of the stope where we were
working, hoping to find the rest of a
vein that was pinching out on us.
And we got this stuff Is 1t any good?"
''Is 1t goodT Again Old Under
taker 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 it. Son, that
stuff assays within a gram, almost,
Of the ore they're taking out Of the
Silver Queen" |"
whats that?" FairchiId 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
1t? You're sure-you're sure?"
"Boy, you've got a 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
tremendous big vein concealed
around there somewhere that splits.
one half Of 1t 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?"
II don't know. We just happened to
put drill in there and this is some.
of the scrapings."
"YOu haven't cut into 1t at all,
then2"
"Not unless Harry, my partner, has
put in shot since I've been gone"
"Well Son, now you can hurry back
and begin cutting into 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 1t
carried on It's icy breath The wait
ing Of months was over, and Fairchild
~ Aoot was OC6tAAhiAS W SCC liS
dreams come true
So this was the reason that Ro-
daine had acknowledged the value of
the mine that day in COURT This
was the reason for the mysterious
offer of fifty thousand dollars and for
the later one of nearly quarter of a
million! Rodaine had known; Ro-
dame had information, and Rodaine
had been willing to pay to gain pos
session of what now appeared to be
bonanza. But Rodaine had failed
And Fairchild had wonl
Wonl But suddenly he realized that
there was a blankness about it all
He had won money, it is true. But
all the money in the world could not
free him from the taint that had
been left upon him by coroner's
investigation, from the hint that still
remained In the recommendation of
the grand jury that the murder of
Sissie Larsen be looked into further
Nor could it remove the stigma of the