River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1923-07-19

plumb lie. Plimsoll's got nOthin TO
prove his end. From now on he won't
try to. The claims belong to Molly
Casey, the same bein' my legal ward"
"Ah" Wilson Keith's eyes grew
keen and cold .Ha,e you any interest
| In them yourself, Mr.. Bourke?'
ME an my two partners Of the
Three Star ranch own one-half inter-
est, equal with Molly" said Sandy cas-
| lily. His eyes matched those OF the pro-
| moter and held them for second or
! two.
/ The thought passed through Keith's
mind that Sandy's interest, and that of
his partners, might have been OBJ
| tanned from the girl under false pre-
lenses, but he was very far from fool
and, among the things he saw in San
| dy's eyes, it was clearly written That
| here was a man who was both abso-
lutely fearless and absolutely honest.
He had not seen many such.
"I'll be glad to talk with you later"
he said "Just now I'm ravenous. Any
place to eat? And does the camp get
up early or just go to bed later"
The remark raised laugh in the
crowd now milling good-naturedly
about the machine
Sandy recomm ended Simpsons and
pointed 1t out. Keith, the man with
| got out and walked stiff-legged to their
/ coffee.
Sandy introduced Sam as his part
ner, Westlake as mining engineer
| and assayer Keith gave Westlake a
shrewd apnraising glance, and nod.
I'm too sleepy myself to talk busi-
ness" said Sandy. "My two PARTNERS
are in the same boat. So, if you-all
want to look oven the camp ag'in, Mr..
Keith, an talk business with any one
| you find awake an wilin' I'll prob 'bly
see you befo' nightfall. You know
where the claims are"
Keith stood for moment in the door
of Simpsons, looking after Sandy.
"A fairly slick article, the man with
the two guns, Blake" he said to his
secretary. "But he's straight"
"And mighty hard to bend" added
Blake with a yawn.
There were only few old-timers In
the crowd, Blake" said Keith. "a heap
of people hear of gold rush and
think it's always a Tom Tiddler's
ground, like washing out the rich sands
of Nome. They'll be glad to sell and
take shares for cash."
Sought to change the name Of the
camp" suggested Blake. Dynamite
is known as an exploded prospect"
Thought Of that" said Keith. "How
about Casey Town, after the original
discoverer, who always believed in the
place, but lacked the money for devel.
epment and wouldn't take In part.
ner? Picturesque and good stuff f0l
| the prospectuses. You might send of
some stuff about that, Blake, work IN
this Sandy Bourke and Plimsoll affair
Good, lively publicity stuff, we can use
again later on. Romance of Casey's
daughter. Wonder where she Isl"
He lapsed into silence, swallowing
his coffee In gulps.
Sandy and his companions found
Mormon asleep on the Bailey claims
II
her the news Of Plimsoll and the ar
rival of Keith.
"It's too bad you didn't run Plimsoll
out Of the county, or the state" re-
marked the spinster. IF that man
Keith wants to buy my claims I'm
willin' to sell. Milkin' is more in my
line than mimi, I've decided"
Lets hold a pow-wow before We
turn in" said Sandy "Westlake, what
do you know about Keith? Anythfngg'
.Tye heard of him. / imagine he
started out as promoter rather than
a developer. He has made some
lucky strikes. There is no doubt but
that he can float this proposition on
large scale, induce others to put
money into 1t. He'll put the camp on
working basis. If the COLDS here
that will be sound one. There is
no doubt In my mind that Patrick
Casey picked the best side of the
gulch. The indications are In sight
there. I would say sell these for cash,
holding out on price until Keith re-
fuses to offer more. He'll come back
for a final bid. But let him organize
with your claims. Those claims are
the big bet of this camp, and he
knows It,"
"Fifty-one per cent, an the names
Molly Casey, then." said Sandy.
"What's more, you're to be consult
ing engineer or whatever they call
the fat job, Westlake I'm dawg
tired. Sam, let's shack over to our
claims"
j
Il Sandy, Sam and Mormon returned
to the Three Star with the papers
drawn and signed and the shares of
stock issued that gave 20 per cent of
the Molly property to her and % to
the three partners. Keith returned
to New York with his 40 per cent TO
weave his plans for the full develop
ment of the claims he had acquired.
He had the capital and was willing