The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-04-03
CHAPTER XII
Sans Dance.

OGil . DdflCCs
The mopth passed, and the find o.
stones was negligible. This did moi
necessarily augur i'll for the future Of
the claim. Only the surface of the
blue ground had been investigated, and
it required an exposure of the blue
rock to sun and air for weeks in order
10 permit of proper disintegration,
The crushing of the excavated material
had been a makeshift, inspired by
urgency. But stones should have been
found, and only a few small pebbles
had come to light.
Three days before the month ex-
pired Winton received a letter from
Judge Davis, in his capacity as a
shareholder, requesting him to call a
meeting in order to discuss certain
subjects of Importance. Winton adj
vertised the meeting in the Chronicle,
set his teeth, and prepared for the in
evitable.
The day arrived. He found himself
at the table with Davis, De Witt, Han
son, and the four small shareholders.
The transfer had been made irrevo-
cable. He held forty-seven shares, and
the syndicate with Hanson, the same
number. The local men, with their six
shares, thus controlled the situation,
and their decision was not in doubt.
Winton went to the meeting in the
full expectation of being ousted and
of seeing De Witt r~einstalled as purser.
He had steeled himself to bear the
humiliation, but the severance of his
relations with the claim, the end of the
enterprise so far as he was concerned,
was difficult to face, And there would
be Ned out of employment-Ned, still
in the hospital, though physically well,
in the hope that something could be
done for him Ned, greeting Winton
with his mysterious mods and smiles
and Bible passages, and believing that
his references were understood.
The hostile atmosphere of the meet
ing, De Wits expression of triumph.
and Hanson's vindictive glances con-
WINGED Winton that this move was
about to be made. But Davis never
did the obvious thing, and he had other
ends in view.
"Mr. Purser," he said, "the PROPOSE
ton to be placed before this meeting
is as follows: that we go into volun-
tury liquidation for the purpose of an
reorganization, In order to
fresh capital to develop our water
"You have made frequent complaints
that the flow of the company's water is
not adequate to the working of the
l can bear you out in this, for
have investigated the matter, and,
being interested both in the claim and
n the water company, / have naturally
lone all that was possible to increase
he flow.
1.-The Big Malopo promises to be-
.ome the most profitable claim upon
he fields. The prosperity of all Ma
opo is closely bound up with the water
supply. BY improving our water re
we shall not only promote fra
ernity and concord'-here the judges
roice assumed it's q%uavering intona-
ion, which in turn gave way to the
harp business tone-"but shall enter
.to a very profitable business enter
rise.
"Our water supply is at present
Wholly dependent upon the under
round storage accumulated during the
receding rainy season. A succession
f two dry years would mean the total
cessation of all labor for months. OBJ
iously we cannot remain at the mercy
f the elements When"-he looked
bout him for the anticipated approba-
Lon-"it is possible to tap the Groot-
pruit river and secure an unfailing
upply throughout the year"
A storm of applause greeted him as
e sat down. Winton sprang to his
"The G%rootspruit Is fifty miles
way I" he cried. "What is your esti-
Iate of the cost of installing a plant
nd laying pipes across the desert?" :
II have submitted the question to +,
vo competent engineers, Mr.. Garrett" |
the judge. ''Their estimates !
-e practically the same. They place 6
le cost at, roughly, ninety thousand I
FUNDS. This will provide a sufficient '
NV for the entire mining field" (
Winton sat down, stunned more at
hat lay behind the proposition than
the suggestion itself. If the syndi-
tie was willing to invest as heavily b
that, it meant that they were aware, i
ways unknown to himself, that the
Ig Malopo was not merely a promis- s
g claim, but one of the biggest out Il
de the famous Kimberley fields. k
For it was hardly likely that the syn n
cate was planning to cut the throat S
its own water company. which could il
pply 1t with an ample quantity. in p
Ger to bring water for fifty miles S
ross the desert. And the scheme IL
cant, of course, that Winton would b
frozen out completely, together with
e little men, who had doubtless been c,
into the secret and had agreed to 81
Il. He would own only an insignif- IL
ri number Of shares in the reorgan-
d concern. %
IN-or ;f tIo <~sJoJ +ho eve, Y