The Argosy, Vol. 76, No. 3 — page 35: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

GOLD GRABBERS. “The miners are getting every cent they are entitled to. I guess you know this mine is barely paying expenses, and if the pay is raised all around I shall have to call on Deane to cover a shortage.” ' “That’s Deane’s lookout, not ours.” ; “It’s my lookout, not Deane’s. Make no mistake on that score. You are a man of influence, Collins. I can see that. If you tell these miners they’re getting the limit, they'll believe you. In your case I’m willing to make an exception. If you can get them back to work and keep them at work, from now on your wages will be five dollars a day. You need not say any- thing about that if you don’t want to. This is the only concession I will make. If those men don’t begin -get- ting out ore this afternoon, they can eome for their time this evening.” Greed showed in Collins’s narrow- ing ‘eyes. “I’m to have five a day, am I?” he demanded. “Yes, so long as you keep the gang at work.”’ “You’re on, Bremerton, but keep it quiet. Till see that they go to work.” Without paying any _ further attention to the strikers, the superin- tendent walked on to the office. Chombo was moving off along the road, tying up his arm with a red cotton handkerchief as he went. King, his face pale under its tan, stood in the office door. “Letting Chombo go,” said he, “will raise the deuce among the Mexicans. They’re a clannish ‘lot, Bremerton. I wish I’d explained that to you before.” Bremerton laughed softly as he pushed past the little cyanid man and dropped into the chair in front of the roll-top desk. “Would you put up with Chombo, after what happened, if you had been in my place?” he asked. “Whatever ['d have done would probably have been the wrong thing,” was the answer. “ But it’s the devil’s 505 own job, here at the Mariquita, to know what’s best to do in the pinches.” “Tt strikes me that the first step is to get rid of the trouble-makers. I’ve fired one and bribed another, all in the interests of peace. The ore will begin to come, King.” “The men are going back to work?” 6é Yes.”’ “Well, by gracious!’ King was looking out of the door. ‘ Collins seems to be arguing with the men, and they’re moving toward the shaft- house. How did you do it, Bremer- ton?”’ ‘““T made it worth while for Collins to line up on our side. The work must go on here. After [ve got better acquainted with the situation it may not be necessary to handle Collins with gloves. We'll see about that later. Start the cyanid gang at once. If you have any further trouble with them, call me.” King, taking fresh heart, left the headquarters adobe and _ started toward the tanks. He found his own workers in a most receptive frame of mind. Not one of them had any fault to find over the treatment of Chombo. Later in the afternoon the teamsters were hauling ore to the platform at the head of the mill. The stamps were pounding, and a batteryman was temporarily looking after Big Steve’s part of the work. Only a few hours had passed since the new superintendent had arrived at the demoralized camp, and already the work of mining and milling had been resumed, and the big vats were being loaded with tailings for another “ run.” “If Bremerton-can only last,” King was saying to himself, “we'll do something here yet.” The night shift took hold of the work in mine and mill, when the day crews left off, and Bremerton slept that night with the roar of the stamps filling the valley—ten 850-pound hammers, each falling at the rate of ninety-eight times to the minute, COMicdoo S CO@