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Show (i ; A, Story of Bonanza -Day In BY QKBAUJIH -BOOTTER. ' :'i , ; V Mevads and San Francisco. (Copyright by 'Bobbs-Merrlll Co.) V .-. brush in ber hand. "The seem to bo o different in different placea." "How.' dQ you meanT' ald ,'Juno absently. ab-sently. -"Who'a ditteri i.ir a dlflorent placer" ' ' ' i? - "Well, Barney Is. He'a all right and looks Just aa good as anybody up at the mines. And down here he's entirely different,: dif-ferent,: ho- looks so red, and his feet are so big, and his hands never seem to know where to gro unless he's talking about mining; things. His clothes never looked so queeruii at.Foleys. did they? They seemed Jast ,'like everybody r else's clothes up there." "Oh. Barney's all right." returned the other, - evidently taking scant interest in the problem. "I'm. glad bo and Mltty are going to be married." "But ftlon Gracey's not Hko that," continued con-tinued Rosamund, pursuing her own lino of thought. "He's Just the same everywhere. every-where. I-think bo looks better down here. He looks as if ho were somebody, somebody of Importance. He oven makes other people, that look all right when he's not by, seem sort of small and lnslgntn-canf lnslgntn-canf "Whom did' bo make look small and Insignificant?" In-significant?" said June suddenly In a key pf pugnacious Interest. " "Jerry Barclay.- I thought Jerry Barclay Bar-clay looked -quite-ordinary and as If he didn't amount to much beside Rion. The things he said seemed snappish and sometimes some-times silly. Ilk what a girl says when sho" cross Land -Tsvtrytng tojrtena she isn't.", -- .-.,. , ,,.?-. don't think it very polite,-Rosamond,'. said June in a coldly superior tone, "to criticise people and talk them over-when they've hardly got out of the house." ; "Well, perhaps It isn't," said, Rosamund contritely; returning' t6 her hearth-brush-li.g, "but like lots of other things that aren't Just right it'H awfully hard not" to do It sometimes." ' - The girls went up stairs and Juno was silent. -Rosamund thought she was still annoyed by the crltiolsm of her friend, and so ho was. For deep in her own heart she thought that Rosamund had given voice to had entered, paint" and shocking her br its disloyalty, and making mak-ing her feel a sense of resentment against Rion Gracey.',. . BOOH II CHAPTER V. " ' (-..: . ' . The Great God Pan, . , ' In the spring in San Francisco the trad winds come and all wise CaJifornlans move inland. . In the early seventies the exodus to the country was not noticeably large. Rural hotels were still small and primitive. primi-tive. To be able to evade the fog-laden breath of the trades was the luxury of the well-to-do, and the well-to-do evaded them by retiring to country houses which dotted the teeming reaches of the Banta Clara valley, or sought the shelter of the live oaks where the golden floor of the valley slopes up' Into the undulations of the hills. The Aliens moved down early la April. Their father, after aa afternoon's excursion excur-sion in a buggy with a real estate agent, came back one evening and told them bo had rented- the De Soto house, 'back of San Mateo, for three years, and they must be ready to move Into It in a week. He was full of business and hurry in these daya, and said he could not help them much. Neither would he be with them a groat deal, aa he would spend most of bis summer in town with occasional occa-sional trips to Virginia City. Crown Point was steadily rising and the rumors of a new bonanza war on every tongue. Rion Gracey had not returned, and Black Dan had ridden over, the mountains into the Nevada camp .on his own - horse, a dislike for modern modes' of locomotion being one of his peculiarities. Allen had bought heavily or the rising stock and seen himself on -h road evea roore dasallng fortune. -' He had rented the EXT Soto place for the highest price any real estate agent had yet dared to ask. . People Peo-ple who knew of the rate of his expenditure expendi-ture talked of a beggar on horseback. But the Barranca was paying well and the twenty-stamp mill was up and going. - , The De Soto estate was ' part of the princely grant .that the Senorrta Esper-ansa Esper-ansa de Soto brought as a marriage portion por-tion to her husband, Peter Kelley, a sailor sail-or from a New England - clipper which' touched at Yerba Buena In thirty-eight. At the time the Aliens rented It, part of the great tract had beekiparceled out and sold to householders. The central portion, por-tion, where Peter and the Senora Kelley I" :,' '.BOOK H CHAPTSU IV. ? i ." - (Continued.) , U v j ' . ' . 4 '''' With glasses held J aloft, the party pledged ilittr nd her lover. The en- i comiums of his fiancee which followed ! , made Barney even redder than the cham-.; cham-.; pagna aid... . i OU. there's nothln the v matter with ;-' - Mitt," he said with a lover's modesty, "I ain't gone it blind choosin' her." ' r -i -"Mltty Bruce!" the Colonel -exclaimed, ju . i j'MMty " Bruce ' is the .'finest girl in .the .California, foothills i" -- -- - ''I. guess, Barney thinks -Just about that way." -Rion answered,; forbearing to. stare at the blushing face of .Ws.sttpertntend-.-ani , -.'-! ' , .- ; "Oh. llltt's aU tberei". Barney, repeated. ' allowing himself a slight-access of enthu-fltsm. enthu-fltsm. "She's Just' about on top of the , v ' beip." ' - - - - - Greatly to bis relief the conversation , - soon left his Immediate ' aifalrs and " , . branched out to the other member of the ' little Foleys group.' Black Dan was still at the -Buckeye Belle. 'His daughter was . , at school in New York where she -had teen sent In the autumn-at her own re-qutst. re-qutst. The few glimpses they had had of . th apolled beauty had inflamed their lm-! lm-! Jf -egrlnatlon. . It seemed part of the elegant ; .-r, vnusualness which appertained - to her . u - -tS8t she should be sent- to New York to finish her education..-with beyond that a . J r-oliWng roar or two of European travel.' an "How . wonderful.' she'll be when she-: she-: comes back,? Rosamund had-said with an' unenvlous sigh,- "Perfectly beautiful and -.knowing everything like the heroine of .a , novel." v . - . jA -slight trace of bitterness was notlce-awe notlce-awe In Rlon'a answer: ; . "I think she'd have been a - good deal " . irt'pra wonderful if she'd stayed here. She's j. 4tithe apple of her father's eye. the thing he lives for. .And now, unless he , ,. ; ge Fast, and that's almost Impossible dfh things waking up this way in Mr-.t; Mr-.t; ginla. he may. not see her for, a year 'or .!.' two." - . . , . - N The mention of Virginia broke the spell ,; of gossip and small talk and the-conver-satfon settled down to the discussion of -.the business, which.' In different degrees, , 4 absorbed the four men. -It was ourious to potice the change wrought In them by this 7 congenial theme. Sullivan's uncouthness and embarrassment fell from him with the first words. His whole bearing was transformed; It became infused with alertness alert-ness and gained In poise and weight. The . heaviness of bis visage gave place toa look of sharpened concentration. His very voice took on different tones, quick, sure and decisive. ; "v But it was to Rion Gracey that - the others deferred. June, sitting silent In her chair, noticed that when he spoke they listened. Sullivan with foxlike keenness keen-ness of face, the Colonel with narrowed eyes, ponderingly attentive over his cigar, her father with . a motionless interest showing in knit brows and debating glance. - Leaning back In an attitude of r careless ease, Rion spoke simply but with ua :-. st natural dominance, for here he was - ' master. A thrill of surprised admiration Jn y passed through the glrL He was a man among men, a-leader by weight of au- U-ority, to whom the others unconsciously rf-.'5 yielded the foremost place; The room was dim with smoke when -1 . tber finally rose from the . table. The mining discussion was still In progress, ... c but Rion dropped out of it to turn to his . . s hostess and draw back her chair. As he did so be leaned over her shoulder and jv , said in a lowered voice: - . i - vit's too bad I've got. to go tomorrow. I wanted to sea you again. I wanted to talk to you." . , -The words were simple enough. The J ' young girl, however, looking uneasy, w t turned to glance at him. She met his eyes, keen, deepset. quiet, the eyes of the ' . outdoor man accustomed to range over -airy distancea. In them aha saw a look which caused her to drop ber own. Mur-' Mur-' muring" a word or two of reply she turned snd passed through the doorway Into the fitting-room Just behind Rosamund. That young woman suddenly - felt ber arm - pressed by a small, cold hand, and In her -' ear heard a whisper: - "Don't leave me alone this evening with ' i Rion Gracey. . Please don't." -Rosamund turned and shot an inquiring ride glance at her sister's perturbed face. She strolled toward the sitting-room bay-t bay-t window and began to arrange the cur- - tains. J cue at her heels. -1 " - - "Why not?" she said In a whisper, fluJI-. fluJI-. . "tiis the tieary folds together. , . "I'm afraid of what he'a going to say. Oh. please" with as much' urgency as the low tone employed permitted '.If he sug- f rests that we go Into the drawing-room to ook at photographs or albums or anything, any-thing, you coma along, too." . , - "But why?" . VRosle, don't be -a fool!" In an angry whisper. - - . j - Rosamund was about to retort with some spirit -when - the cHck of the Iron ' gate caught her ear. Sho drew back the - curtains and peeped out.' A step sounded on the flagged walk and a tall, masculine figure took shape -through- the density of the fog-thickened -. atmosphere. She closed the curtains and looked at June .o with an unsmiling eye. "You needn't be afraid or - being left alone with anybody,' she said. "Here's " Jerry Barclay. . - ... v "RoMmund," -called Allen from the table, "Where's an ash receiver? Gracey's got nothing to put his ashes in but the -' i blue satin candy box one ef June's young men gave ber for Christmas." , The entrance of Jerry Barclay a moment mo-ment later had a marked effect upon the company. He was known to the four men J7'!' and not especially liked by any one of ' them. The Colonel had begun to 'feel for , him a aharp, disquieted repugnance. The '4;-'x one person in the room to whom his entrance en-trance afforded pleasure was June, and this she' made an effort to hide under, a - manner of cold politeness. . ( " i Aa Immediate constraint fell on the party which the passage of the evening did not dispel. Gracey was angry that the' "advent of this man whom he mentally men-tally characterised aa -"a damned Euro-r,ean Euro-r,ean dandy" has deprived blm of a tete sMete with June. He had not' intended, '""'.as the young girl feared, to ask her to - marry him. He had the humility of a '' true lover and he felt that he, dared not broach the subject yet. But he had hoped for an 'hour's converse with her to take with him on his Journey as a sweet, com-".r com-".r fbrting memory. Sullivan detested Jerry, whose manner he- found condescending, tamed from him. and began talking with sn i aggressive indifference to his host. But the Colonel was the- most disturbed of all. What worried him was the differ-enee; differ-enee; between June's manner to Jerry to-y to-y . djy. when other were present, and June's ' vTuanner to Jerry yesterdav. when they - had been walking alone on Van Ness ave-. ave-. nue. ' Bv U o'clock they had gone and Allen : having stolen to bed, the sisters were left . . together In the sitting-room. They were silent for-e space. Rosamund moving about to put . out lights, give depressed cushions ' a restoring- pat, and sweep the - ashes "of tho' fire into a careful heap' be-neath be-neath tho grate, while June -Idly watched , lier from, the depths of an armchair. i'Aren't people funny?" said the young. , J er sister suddenly., turning-- from her kneeling position on the rug, the hearth-d: hearth-d: '. between the small, - delicately leaved branches, dots of sun dancing along her dress, her eyes, shy and full of delight, peeping through the leaves for him. He answered his mother's questions at random ran-dom and ate but little. The picture of the white-clad girl grew in Intensity, striking him Into motionless reverie,- so that, his eyes fixed, he seemed scarcely to breathe. - . . - - (To Be Continued.) had built a stately home, was practically as it had been when the Yankee seaman first ranged over it and realised the riches rich-es of his bride. Now both sailor and senora were dead, and their only son, Tiburito Kelley, preferred a life in Paris on the large fortune Accumulated by his thrifty father, to the dolce far ntente of emoty, golden days in the Santa Clara valley.. - This central strip of the tract, which ran from the valley up Into the first spurs of the hills, was still a virgin wilderness. Huge live oaks, silvered with a hoar of lichen, stretched their boughs in fantastlo frenzies. Gray fringes of moss hung from them, and tangled screens of clematis cle-matis and wild grape caught the sunlight In their flickering meshes or lay over mounds of foliage like a torn green veil. The silence of an undesecrated nature dreamed over all - Woodland life seldom stirred the dry undergrowth, the rfistle of nesting bird 5 was rare In the secret leafy depths of the oaks. Here and there the murmurous dome of the stone pine soared aloft, the clouded dusk of its foliage almost al-most black against the sky. . For nearly .two miles. the carriage drive wound upward through - this sylvan solitude. sol-itude. As it approached the house a background back-ground of emerald lawns shone through the interlacing of branches, and brilliant bits of flower beds were set likepteces of mosaic between gray trunks. The drive 1 took a -sweep around a circular parterre planted In geraniums a billowing bank of color under a tent of oak boughs and ended In a wide, graveled space at the balcony steps. - . , . The house -was a spreading, two-story building of wood, each floor , surrounded by a deep balcony upon which lines of ' French 'windows opened. Flowering vines overhung, climbed and elung about the balcony pillars and balustrades. - Roses drooped in heavy-headed cascades from second-story railings; the wide purple I flowers of. the clematis climbed aloft. On one wall a heliotrope broke-In lavender foam and the creamy froth of the bank- I shur rose dabbled railings and pillars and ' dripped over -on to the ground. It was a big, cool, "friendly looking hous with a front door -that In summer was always open, glving'the approaching visitor anos-pitable anos-pitable glimpse ft an airy, unencumbered hall. ' - The move completed, June and Rosamund Rosa-mund began to taste the charm of the Californian's summer life. There were no hotels near them. No country club had yet risen to bring the atmosphere of the city into the suave silence of the hills. It was a purely rural existence: driving and riding In the morning, reading In the hammock under, the trees, receiving callers call-ers on the balcony In the warm, scented end of the afternoon, going out to dinner through the dry. .dewless twilight and coming home under the light of large, pale stars In a night which looked as irananarently darkas-the heart of a black property In' South Park, and the real estate es-tate agents were beginning to shake their heads at the mention of South Park property. prop-erty. It surprised him to realise that for the first time In years he was short of ready money. He sold two buildings far out among the sand dunes on upper Market Mar-ket street, and with the rest of his kind bought Virginia mining stock with Crown Point and Belcher at the bead. Under the live oaks back of San Mateo the girls only faintly heard the rising rush of the excitement. The current circled away from their peaceful corner, lapped i,ow and then by a belated ripple. The ccuntry life they both lived filled them with contentment and health. Rosamund took to gardening again. Her face shaded by a large Mexican hat. she might be seen of a morning In confab with the Irish gardener, astonishing him by her practical knowledge.- In. the evening she surreptitiously surrep-titiously "hosed" the borders, wishing that her visitors would go back to town and leave her to the peaceful pursuit of the work she delighted in and understood. under-stood. June was not so energetic. She did not garden or do much of anything, save now and then go for a walk In the wild parts of the grounds. ' As might be expected, Mrs. Barclay always al-ways moved down to San Mateo in April. She was not rich enough to own a large country place, but she did the best that was in her and rented a pretty cottage outside the village. Here Jerry came from town every Saturday and stayed till Monday Mon-day morning, and to her surprise not infrequently in-frequently appeared unannounced on veek-day afternoons, saying that business was dull, and there was no necessity waiting about In town. The year before she had complained greatly that her son's visits to San Mateo1 were rare. This summer sum-mer she had no such grievance. He kept a horse In her small stable, and as soon as he arrived had It saddled and went out for a ride. Sometimes on Sunday he rode over and called on the Aliens, but there were other people to visit Jn the neighborhood neigh-borhood and he did not go to the Aliens' so he told his mother as often as he would have liked. . The direction he took on the week-day afternoons was always the same. No rain falls-during the California summer, there are no. dark hours of thunder and cloud: It la a long procession of blue and gold days, steeped in ardent sunshine, cooled by vagrant airs, drowsy - with aromatic scents a summer made for lovers' trysts. Halt way up the winding drive to the De Soto house Jerry' had learned there was a path through the underbrush which led to an opening, deep In the sylvan wilderness, wilder-ness, under the thick-leaved roof of an oak. ' It had been a favorite spot of the late- Senora KeHey's, and all the poison oak had beer, uprooted. With the canopy of the tree above a celling of green mosaic mo-saic In which the twisted limb were Imbeddedand Im-beddedand the screen of lightly hung, flickering leafage encircling It, it was like a woodland room, the bower of some be lated dryad. - Sometimes Jerry had to wait for her, and lying prone on the ground, bis horse tethered to a tree trunk near by, lay looking look-ing up, his senses on the alert to catch her step. - Sometimes she was there first, and as ne brushed through the covert, he saw' her dress gleaming between - the leaves in a spattering of white. His heart was beginning to. beat hard at the sound of her advancing footfall. While he waited for her he thought of nothing, his whole being held in a bush of exnectancy. When she cam he found It difficult for the first moment to speak easily. On an afternoon early June be aat thus waiting. AU the morning the thought of this meeting had filled his mind, coming between him, and hi business. On the train coming down the anticipation of It held him in a traneellke quietude. He talked little to his mother at lunch,' He kept seeing Jon as sho cam lata sight ... '. . .. . - ...:,.. j.. diamond. ' They were sometimes alone, but, as a rule, the bouse contained guests. The Colonel at first came down constantly, always al-ways from Saturday to Monday and now and then for a week-day evening. But In May the sudden leap of Crown Point to one hundred and eighty upset the tranquillity, tran-quillity, of even cooler natures than Jim Farrish's, and the stock exchange became the center of men's Uvea The long expected ex-pected bonanza had been struck.- The San Franciscans, - once more restored to confidence confi-dence In the' gread lode, were seised with their old rest of speculation, and all the world bought Crown, Point. Allen saw himself on th road to a second fortune, snd threw ' his rtcney about In Virginia' with an additional gusto, as It had been the scene of some of his poorest days. Even the Colonel was attacked by the fever .end invested. His financial condition condi-tion had given him ground for uneasiness lately, and here was the chance to repair It. A mine in Shasta, -In which he had been a large owner, shot down, He owned ' .' - . |