The Argosy, Vol. 76, No. 3 — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

GOLD GRABBERS. ‘“‘ Ah, the sorry way luck turned for us!’’.she whispered. ‘“ With more than enough gold in sight to pay Car- ruthers a thousand times over, we had to go to Deane for a paltry twenty thousand dollars. He put us off, played fast and loose with us, until finally he had the mine, and we were worse off than nothing.” Her eyes snapped fire, and her hands fell at her sides and clenched fiercely. “A blacker-hearted scoundrel never lived than Silas Deane! ”’ Bremerton had been given time to calm himself. He studied the flame of the candle for a moment, then fixed the candle on a ledge in drippings of its own grease. “You are to tell me all about that now,” said he. “ Why not sit down and be comfortable? ’’ ; “It’s not a comfortable subject— for me,” she answered, standing in front of him as he dropped on a boul- der by the hanging wall. ahead of my story, too, and starting at the middle, where I should have gone back to the beginning. “Tt was not always the Mariquita Mine, Mr. Bremerton. When Carru- thers found it, and consolidated the several claims, it was known as the Apache. Carruthers built the mill and laid the pipe-line, and opened up the vein you are now working on. You have already discovered that the vein is very ordinary, and leaves no more than a small margin of profit. It looked pretty good to father and me, though. “An uncle in the East had died and left me two thousand dollars. One Christmas Day father took over the property at twenty-five thousand dol- lars. Carruthers was to have my two thousand dollars down and three thou- sand dollars more the first year. Then, on the next Christmas Day—it was at noon the time expired—if the remain- ing twenty thousand dollars was not paid the mine was to revert at once to Carruthers. You’re’a mining man and you know how such deals go. “T’m getting” O36 ‘““We paid expenses, and by careful planning got out of the old vein cnough more to give Carruthers his five thou- sand and complete the first payment. Then, in midsummer, I discovered the new lead. “T’ve told you about that. Father and I were afraid that Carruthers,, if he knew what we had found, would discover some way to void his contract. If we had been less suspicious, and had kept some of the men to help run in the tunnel, we could have taken out and milled ten times more than we needed to pay Carruthers. But we were afraid of him. For that reason we did the work ourselves and kept our golden secret locked up in our own hearts. Early December came and we had nothing for Carruthers. Then, in an unlucky moment, father thought of ‘Deane.”’ Mariquita paused,- fought down her rising emotion, and presently con- tinued. “Father had a passing acquaintance with this—this ‘ mining king,’ as they call him. He believed that we could go to Denver, show Deane our bullion certificates, and get from him as much money as we needed in exchange for a tenth interest in the property. So we went to Denver. “Deane was more than friendly— that is always his way, I’m told, when he’s planning deviltry. He listened to father, took his bullion certificates, verified them in course of a week, and then asked how we could make such a good showing with a ten-stamp mill on ten-dollar rock. “Father did not let him into our secret, but told him pointblank that after the Mallory’s got the claim hard and fast and he was in for a tenth in- terest he would be given further light, ‘T’ll take care of you, Mallory,’ said Deane. Those were his very words, Mr. Bremerton. ‘I'll take care of you, Mallory, and don’t you lose any sleep.’ Day after day he put us off, reassur- ing us, luring us on with false hopes, until the 25th of December came. COMicdoo S CO@