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Show 5 : P . I : AT THE SNAKE-ROCK MINE' 8: ! 13Y FRANK H. SWEET. (CopTl5lit. ISM. by Frank H. Sweet.) Joyce KUUaii was only two weeks ! m n select boarding school In the East- where the younpr ladies were zeal-.j! zeal-.j! puardoil from all contact with the rHjgh outside world. Yet this morning ji,.. was tearing: down Snake-Rock pjoyon P11 a mustang not three months from a bronoo buster, -with nudv, cumbersome horse trappings flat lind been brought up from Mexico reore Js a curiosity than for use But tlicro was no fear nor self-con-.ioU5nes3 In her face, nnd instead of tryin" to check the mustang her hand ttntoat from time to time to stroke ;wl pat its neck encouragingly, as her wlce urged It on, When she left the canyon sho struck a more lei el country, and here the mustang mus-tang wflS lpt ollt 10 its fllH sPe1- Be(1 !! roct va-' stl11 tcn mi,es away, and she just reach it and be back to the mine wforc night- It was already well on o'ward noon Bedrock wan a one-slrcet town which flfflmenced and ended In tents, with a 9rt unpalnted frame buildings in the niter. It wan an hour after noon when jyce slipped from her horse in front of ic office of Gregg & Graw, mine brok-s brok-s and operators. Both of the providers pro-viders were in, and both rose at her tnir.ncc. Young ladies of Joyce's type rere not yet common at Bedrock. -I wish to see you about the Snake-look Snake-look mine lease," Joyce began gra-ioasly. gra-ioasly. GreBtf bowed, but not before the vlsl-r vlsl-r iDiagliied she saw a swift glance is5h betwpen the partners. 'I understand It expires In ten. days," iid Gregg blandly. "You are Mlss :iUlan?" 'Yes TVe Mr. Temple wishes to rosy ro-sy the lease on the terms you pro-'lslting pro-'lslting at Snake-Rock camp with our aunt,'' cnt on Gregg. "You see re're all heard or guessed. When r-is the interesting event to come off, f you don't mind?" "K you are alluding to my marriage 1th Mr Temple, It has not yet been . .anounccd," answered Joyce coldly. ; -But about the lease. "Will you kindly nake it out as soon as possible. I have ' time shopping to do in town, and it is ; a long ride back to camp. Mr. Temple 1 Till slpi the papers and return them at ' . There are only ten days, and he ; Lhes to have the matter arranged ' Trithout delay." i "Why didn't he come down himself?" -! demanded Graw bluntly. 1 "He Is very busy at the mine, and 1 v renrlnced him that I coitld attend to It ; Jyt as well." Joyce answered. "He ? Hid It was to be made out at twenty- fve thousand and your own offer." " Graw laughed aloud, j "That offpr was made four weeks fga." he said, "and Temple declined It." J "You mean vou will not renew it for ) tUU" ''Exactly." . - . . . ' Joyce lost some of her color. "What j little monoj she and her aunt had' was ' lovested in the mine, as well as Hugh Temples, and the lease ran out In ten djyf. i 'Well," shf said slowly. "I am authorized, au-thorized, in case you should decline to liK-ognlze our offer, to raise the amount to what was paid last year fifty thousand." thou-sand." "Which wo must decline," said Gregg suavely; "with real regret, you understand. under-stand. And 1 will add that we would decline a hundred thousand just as promptly." "You mean that you will not re-lease the Snake-Rock mine on any terms?" the girl's white lips asked. "Exactly. We ercpect to resume operations oper-ations there ourselves." "I understand you have heard. And 1 suppose you call this business. You made a fortune out of the mine, and then when you lost the vein you leased It to Mr. Temple through mlsrepresen- ' '! When Temple looked over the crodit slips the weariness left his face. tatlons. ITc paid you fifty thousand, nnd bus sunk more than fifty thousand in searching for that vein. Until day before yesterday, from nearly a year's work, he took out less than $1000. He told me that you were up there yourselves your-selves only a short time ago trying to Induce him to re-lease the mine for twenty-five thousand, believing it to bo exhausted. Now " "As Temple has rediscovered the vein, richer than ever." finished Graw coolly, "we propose to operate It ourselves. But you may tell him that If ho will turn the mine over to us at daylight tomorrow, tomor-row, we will pay him back one-half the year's lease twenty-flvo thousand." "And let him lose the other seventj-llve seventj-llve thousand." flashed back Joyce. "No, thank you. We will hold the mine until un-til the very last moment of the lease." m ci w t& m But once outside she- wondered If she had dorie thc best she could. He was down In the mine working fiercely with his men at thc almost pure vein, which the explosives had uncovered, nnd believing be-lieving that she would return with tho new lease. Only tcn more davs. and he did not know It. What could she do? Before she hnd gone a hundred yards she knew, and Instead of keeping on toward the stores, she hurried to the only printing office Bedrock contained. An hour later the town was conspicuously conspicu-ously posted with: "Men wanted at the Snake-Rock mino for ten days. Wages 515 a day, pack mules. $10." Ordinary wages for good laborers was four or five. Boshcs and superintendents superintend-ents did not average fifteen, in nn hour men were leaving regular Jobs of work and ruthlessly breaking contracts. When Joyce finished her shopping and started for home she found stragglers and groups with picks and shovels scattered along thc trail for two miles or more. But she reached the mouth of the mine first and sent an Imperative Impera-tive summons for Temple to coma to the surface. When he Joined her half an hour later, twenty men were waiting wait-ing for jobs, with fifty hurrying up the slope, and between thc fifty and Bedrock Bed-rock came half a thousand more. The regular force of the mine was less than a hundred men; but the next morning a thousand names were on the payroll, divided into day and night shifts. A great stream of ore rolled up out of the mine to thc backs of pack mules, and on to thc smelter at Bedrock, Bed-rock, from whence came certificates of credit that would have staggered a mine-owner of moderate Ideas. But Temple did not even see them. He was down In the mine, working and watching watch-ing day and night to see that the great stream should not slacken for even an instant. Joyce Insisted on a share in the work, and remained at the mouth of thc mine with book and pencil, keeping a record of the stream as it flowed past; and It was she who took charge of thc credit slips as they came In. So a week went by, eight days, nine days and the tenth was Hearing its close when Temple came up from The mine and staggered weakly to where Joyce was standing with her book and pencil. And behind Temple came tho half thousand men of thc day shift, slipping through the mouth of the mine like the colls of a mighty serpent. Thc vein had again disappeared, and four hours of the lease remained. When Temple looked over the credit slips the weariness left his face. "I knew It would be something stupendous," stupend-ous," he said to Joyce with a long breath, "but.nothing like this. We will divide two hundred thousand of it -auo ucin sso uounfjOAi oqi 3uotuu quarter and then for the East." |
