Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 773 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

of the alleged discovery of the mine by these new Claimants. ‘* You'll have to fight ’em,” was his declar- ation. ‘‘ They’ll never give up anything ’cept- in’ it’s by force. You can count on me to back eC. He had some money, and this be pressed on Philip when the latter felt strong enough to begin the battle, which he proposed to make for bis own, The inine was his, Of that there could nut be the shadow of a doubt. Yet he could not establish it, nor prove his title in any court, The work of the usurpers had been clev- erly done. His notice had been removed, and theirs placed in its stead, and there were no witnesses to testify in his favor. Certainly, his upsupported word would go fur naugbt. If be regained the mine,it must be in an indirect manner, and by stratagem, ratber than by force or legal means, He did not wish to take the money; but when it was urged on bim he resolved to make the best possible use of it, A portion of it had gone toward the erection of the shopin which the two young men now were, and as a purchase price of av assayer’s outfit, At Philip’s advice, and in accordance with the line of conduct be had mapped out, his brother did not show himself in the town for some days. His first appearance was at the masquerade in the guise of the shepherd maid The Mephistopheles of the same night was Philip himself, ‘* Yes, the wrong might have been righted, then,” Philip agreed. ‘ But, you did what seemed best. You couldn’t know anything about my di-covery.” This was a point they had touched on man times, Tom always bewailing his ill-luck, If he had but known of the mine, and of the changed notices, he could have set up another notice for Philip, and remained there to guard and enforce bis brother’s title. But, be bad not known, and so bad gone away, leaving Red Fee and Thomas to consummate theirscheme, And since then he had not been able to do any thing. The subject was fraught with bitter memories. ‘*The button shows that the thing is worth working for,” and Philip again read the notice he had taken from the wallet, ‘‘ I wonder what I can do with this thing? I can’t make it serve as evidence, for it would be very easy toclaim that I wrote it as an afterthought,” ‘* And I wonder what they will do if they find Rose Latham?” ‘*Hang her!” relaxing the rigid lines of face and looking smilingly at the questioner, ‘lt might be, though, that Fee might want to marry her, A thief loves a thief,” He was becoming thoughtful again. ‘* That suggests an idea:—It will be just the thing to help me out when | start this opposition boom, I have been thinking of some other lines for you, but this is by far the best. Red Fee wants a type-writer operator, I saw his ad, in the Sunset City papers of yesterday. Apply for the position. That will let you into his secrets, more or less, and be the biggest thing in the uni- verse for me when the tug comes,” , He smiled again, looking into his brother’s ace, ** You don’t comprehend ? Miss Rose Latham applies for will get it!” ** You don’t really mean it?” drawing back in a startled way, ‘*My dear Tom, nothing less, It’s the great- est idea, yet. As his private secretary, you will know the ins and outs of his whole business; and if I don’t knock the boom out of Lucky Ledge, Til be ready to believe that bear scra away some of my brains when he swiped me,” ‘* But this charge of stealing?” Philip Craigen looked at the paper again, slowly folded it up, and stowed it away in one of his pockets, “I don t know how you’re to work that, I sup- poset he old foolreally thinks you tookit, You'll have to rely on your wit—and your beauty. A handsome woman, my dear Tom, is a power—in amining-camp. If you’d say the wori1—I mean if Rose Latham would say the word—half the men in Lucky Ledge would be ready to chaw Red Fee up for suggesting suchathing, Why, it’s been so Jong since they’ve seen anything bet- ter than a greasy squaw, that even a Rose Latham could set them wild!” Tom Craigen was flusning like a school-girl under his brother’s words, a thing extremely pleasing to Philip. “Just blush that way, Tom, and simper a lit- tle, and trail your perfumed skirts as daintily as you know how over the floor of his office, and the old sinner will be ready to fall down and ny word for it, if the position, she The Rustler of Rolling Stone. worship you. He’ll forget that he ever losta wallet, or ever thought of you as the thief, Will you do it?” Tom twisted his heel contemplatively into the soft pine of the floor, screwing out a little trace of sawdust. He was silent for fully a minute, Then he said very deliberately and very em- phatically: “Tl will!” CHAPTER IV. AN UNEXPECTED CALLER. Rep FEE sat in his room—a little office he had had fitted up at bis residence—and scowled un- easily at the floor and out through the window that commanded a view of the town. He was ill at ease, and had been stewing and fuming all morning. Intrutbh, he bad given himself little rest sivce the hour he had discovered the loss of his wallet, The loss of the money it had held was a comparatively small matter; though, just then, when his expenses were heavy to the break- ing point, he needed every cent he could get. It was not of the money he was thinkiog, how- ever, but of the slip of paper which the wallet had cuntained, ‘*T need a guardeen!” he growled, rising and striding restlessly up and down the room, with his hands thrust deep into bis trowsers pockets. ‘*’T was the biggest fool trick 1 ever done, An idiot ought to ’a’ knowd better than to hang onto a thing like that! Why didn’t I stick it into the blaze of the torch?’ He had been making a quiet search for the missing paper, and had had Curt Thomas en- gaged in like manner, He feared to mention his loss toany one, No good could come of it, and it might arouse dangerous distrust, W bat puzzled and worried bim most was that the mysterious shepherd maid could nowbere be found. So far as was known, not a person in Lucky Ledge had ever set eyes on her since her disappearance from the Moss Agate. This was a strange and, to Red Fee, an ominous circum- stance. Could it be possible, he asked himself, that she had known of the contents of the wallet and extracted it from his pocket for a pur; ose? But what could she do with it? Claim notices were not uncommon things, Philip Craigen was not known in Lucky Ledge, and the description of the metes and bounds of the mineral veias in the cave were not specific enough to be dangerous. Still, a feeling of vague uneasiness haunted Red Fee. The shadow of impending peril seem- ed to hang above him, and this feeling he could not shake off. In his search for Rose Latham, he had time and again asked himself what he would do should he find her. The memory of her femi- nine graces and witchery lay yet fresh on his mind and beart. He was a susceptible man; and he had been striving to nerve himself for the necessary sternness, ‘*Confound the women, anyhow! They al- ways gita feller into trouble. Inever knowed it to fail. There’s my wallet gone, my mopey one, anithat paper gone, The idee of her a- kin as rosy and temptin’ as ripe persimmons, and a-talkin’ as sweet as custard-pie, and at the same time a-liftin’ of my pocket-book! 1t jist goes ahead of anytbing! Dll know not to be so precious trustful anuther time!” He started and chatged color. In his pre- occupation of mind he had been apes. aloud: and a knock on the door warned him that some one stood on the threshold cf the office, That some ono might have overheard him, He did not wish to be disturbed, and his face showed bis annoyance, as he turned the knob to ascertain who the caller might be. His hat came off with marvelous celerity and he endeavored to coax a smile to his face, when he saw that his visitor was a female, The smile gave way to a look of surprise, Before him stood the object of his thoughts, Rose Latham, She was not habited as the shepherd maid, but was becomingly attired in clothing of some dark material, ‘* Come in, come in,” he said, retreating quick- ly and placing a cbuir for her. Her sudden appearance gave him an un- wonted flutter, and he could not conceal his astonishment, ; She accepted his invitation, and as soon as seated produced a copy of the Sunset City Sirocco, and pointed to his advertisement there- in. ‘I notice here that you want a private secretary, some one to take charge of your correspondence and. books, and I have come to apply for the position.” She went straight to the point with business- like accuracy, though smiling sweetly and speak- ing in low toues, ‘*Yes! Ab! Ahem!” rubbing his hands to- gether to hide his confusion, The proposition was more astounding than even the visit. ‘* Yes; I put that ad. in the paper; but I was a—er—a-thinkin’ about a gentleman in that connection,” He hesitated, at a loss for words, ** You have—er—had some experience, Miss-— Miss Latham? The ad, mentions a typewriter, you see! I want my correspondence done up in ship-shape—-A No, 1 style—you understand, It has a big effect on business, These hyer money- ed galoots back East will pay a good deal more attention to a letter if it’s got up jist right with a typewriter, It looks more like busi- ness, I aim to havea lot of letter-heads print- ed, with ‘Lucky Ledge’ and the date line in some kind of scroll work er other; and Ill put my letters onthat, It’lifetch’em! They won’t know but that Lucky Ledge is a second Lead- ville fer boom,” Having got his ‘‘ wind,” be was rattling on, trying to gain time to study tbe situation, size up his visitor, and determine what to do. Doubts of the oorrectness of his previous sur- mises began totroublebim, Surely, this charm- ing creature was not a thief. Butif not, who took the wallet?” ‘‘T ihink I can satisfy you,” she averred, as soon as given a chance to reply. ‘lam famil- iar with business forms, and know how to oper- ate a typewriter.” ‘* Tt would take the jack-pot!” Red Fee thought, looking earnestly at her. ‘‘To have a hand- some creater like that »-sashayin’ around in this byer old office! Gee whillikins!” He did not venture to put these thoughts into words, Instead, he asked: ‘* When could you go to work, miss?” ‘To-day, if you wish,” Red Fee ran his fingers through his hair, He was delighted and bewildered, though unde- cided. He could not drive from bis mind all thought of the theft, If this young woman was inclined to steal, would it be safe to give ber the run of the office? She would necessarily be in- trusted witb more or less mney. ‘*] ain’t got the machine yit from Sunset City,” talking again for delay. ‘‘ Ner I ain’t got them ginger-bread letter-heads I was a-speak- in’ of, ‘*) am very anxious for the place,” she said, with an appealing glance that quite melted Red Fee’s beart and hustled his doubts into the back- ground, ‘*T migbt find some work fer ye right away,” looking at her admiringly and earnestl7. ‘‘ Where might ye be a-stayin’, Miss Latham?” She cast down her eyes. “Tf you please—” hesitatingly, ‘‘I should rather not answer that question, If I can get work, I shall stop at the hotel over there. If not, I must leave the town,” He mentally resolved that she should not leave the town. ‘‘ Needn’t answer, if you don’t like,” shifting uneasily. ‘‘I bad no business a-askin’ you. You can git work right in this shop, and as fer the hotel, the hotel bo hanged! If you’re a-mind to, and can put up with sich as we've got, you can stop in this house. My daughter’ll only too glad of your company.” Rose Latham murmured her thanks, sinking her voice so low that Red Fee had to guess at part of the words, He was rapidly becoming enraptured with her charms, though he realized he was making a most egregious fool of bimself. But for the life of him he could nctat that time have done other- wise. ‘*May I go to work to-morrow?” she question- ed, not giving him a chance to retreat. ‘* Iam very anxious to begin as soon as possible.” ‘* To-morrow it is,” he said, ‘ I’m agreeable, I’ll send for the machine and the other things to- night, an’, until they come [ "low I can find plenty fer you todo,” He was about to request the privilege of sum- moning bis daughter that he might introduce her to this new employe, but Miss Latham pre- vented him by rising and retreating toward the door. ‘‘T prefer to go to the hotel for to-day. To- morrow I will be ready for work, And, Mr, Redmond, you can’t know how I thank you, and what a weight you have taken from my heart,” With these words, and a rare smile, she was one, . She had scarcely vanished, when Curt Thomas pushed the door open and peered in. He folk COIrr ae ee oe eo tem DOOKS:-CO