The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-11-08
swinging a walking cane like he wa,

Sam and /. as was our custom. went
walking dawn to meet him
tie took OF his har 10 me. ana said
To Sam. Il wish To see the owner of
this ranch"
Nobody ever mistook me TOR a
fairy before" Sam said "Buf go
ahead. Your first wish is granted.
What are the other two?"
Hubert Hand got Out his card then.
Besides mis- name il had ''Clover-blos-
som Creamery" and the San Fran
cisco address printed on it,
Hubert Hand explained that he had
an up-and coming creamery business
| in San Francisco, buf thai his physi
clan mad told him thar he nad To live
in a high dry climate with plenty of
sunshine and no fog. tie had, after
inquiries and Investigations decided
| that the Desert Moon ranch. altitude
seven thousand feet. sunshine three
| hundred and sixty-tive days in the
year, TO say nothing OF the marvellous
! view OF the Garnet mountains. the
hunting, the fishing, and the pure snow
water. would fill all bis requirements.
! His proposition was thar he start a
creamery, on the Desert Moon ranch,
and supply the valley with ice cream.
butter, anil other dairy products Sam
| had the ranch. the cows. the big ice
| plant. Mr. Hubert Hand had the
knowledge and the equipment They
| could divide the prntiis
Next To sleep men. I guess there
| is nothing that cow men hold in
lower contempt than they mold dairy
! farms Sam was TOO much disguised
| to swear very long.
| Listen, stranger" he said. Il
wouldn't turn the Desert Moon into a
place to sIop milk around in if the
entire valley had TO depend on Hong
kong, China. for its ice cream cones.
| Forget il, and come in now and have
| some supper
| To my knowledge, Hubert Hand.
from that day to this. has never again
/ mentioned. on the Desert Moon. any
| thing thar had TO do with creameries
! Neither, from that day 10 this. has
he been off the ranch for more than
couple of weeks al a time.
| by the way" he began, trying co
make il sound unimportant. when we
had finished supper. 81 heard. in Tel
kO, that you were something Of a
chess player"
81 am, when | can get a game"
| Sam sai0 But chess players, in
these parts. are as scarce as hens
| teeth"
Il play a little" Hubert Hand pro-
ducad. right modestly.
Sam jumped up and got out his
chess table.
Hubert Hand beat him the first game
in about half an hour. they set up
their men again. Ii took Hubert Hand
over IN hour that time to beat Sam.
bur he did it.
Heck :" Sam said, at the end of
that games You're hired"
"Hired for whatT
| "For whatever you want TO call Il.
except the stopping of milk around.
Send for your trunk and name your
| pay. Why didn't you say. in the first
| place. that you were blankety blank
| crack chess pIayer?"
Hubert Hand accepted Sans offer,
! then and there. The next day he
| titled himself assistant ranch man.
/ ager. and named his salary at two
hundred and fifty dollars a month.
Sam paid it without blinking: and
kept right on managing the ranch.
and everything on it. except perhaps.
myself. without any assistance. the
same as he had always done.
| Chadwick Caufield. the other MEM
Der Of our household. who was present
on the Desert Moon ranch ar the time
Of the first murder, came only two
years ago last October
de was wearing white. corduroy
trousers. long yellow rubber rain
coat, and a straw hat tethered to its
buttonhole with q string. He was
carrying ukulele under his arm and
camera ia his hand He took of
his hat displaying head full of
| pretty yellow curls he smiled. dis
playing sweet, gentle disposition
Of there is any better index TO char
acter than the way person smiles, |
have never found IT'D
"How do you dor be said. Il have
come to visit you"
/ By the time Sam got his pipe picked
up, John had got down the forty-feet
| length of living room and had Chad
by both hands, end was introducing
| him as the friend he had told Us
about, the friend he had made at
Mathers field. during the war.
The way of that was, John had
saved his life for him down there,
and had never since been able TO get
out from under the responsibility of
| it. John had found a job for him.
/ after the armistice. and when Chad
lost it, John had loaned him money to
start out in a vaudeville act He did
fine with that for three years. and was
making good money, when he got into
an automobile accident in Kansas
City and was laid up for months in
the hospital there. John had wired
money TO him, and had asked him TO
come for a visit to the Desert Moon.
But. since he had had standing invi-
tation for years, and since be had
sent no word that he was coming,
John was as much surprised as any
| of US that evening.
| Chad was q little, pindling fellow.
Around Sam and John and Hubert
Hand he looked about as 1ainty and
trifiing as the garnish around the plat
ter of the Thanksgiving turkey. He
seemed kind of like rhat. too; like the
/ axtra hit of parnishing that makes