| Show BIRD CAPE HORN BORN aw 11 e im copyright 1899 1999 by the pub rub co all reserved there Is a little taxidermists shop on fourth avenue which Is a curious place it la Is very dusty and very full of strange fowl tucked in one behind the other on shelves that cover all of one side of the room and on the other a wizened little old man sits all day long beside a pile ot of most evil smelling kins skins and dispenses words f of wisdom to whoever cares to listen one day when harriott marriott ran into the shop before dinner be ile found the old wan man in over a new bird skin that has just been brought in it was large and dirty and exceedingly ugly and it had a particularly evil smell but it was rare and aud marriott Marr lott looked it over respectfully where did you say this bird came from he asked the old man stopped washing the birds legs and began to recount its lil history story the slin had been brought to him by a ca coa captain he said cap tain To urlee of the mary ann salters from south Aw america Auie rica erica yes he wits sure he was still in town would mr air marriott Marr lott like his address mr mar it appeared would like it very bulb bi eod he ile took it down care 11 lilly wrapped rapped the lump of dirt in his chief and walked swiftly away uway down the street leaving the little tax Ider mist staring after him with won doring eye eyes s reginald ernest mv marryott Marr lott not long since graduated as a mining engineer from the college of applied science had his own way to make in the world and nothing to make it with but brains it Is true that he be came of an ancient family whose name had bad survived its prosperity and that this connection let him into as much new york society as was good for him but abut nobody felt called upon to assist him in any more practical way than by inviting him to dinner and this I as it happened was a very serious matter tor for there was a woman in 4 the case it was edith the only daughter of mr air G C who lived on madison avenue and had n office on broadway Dro adway and was report led d to be a multi millionaire though n no one seemed to know exactly the source of his income his style of liv ling boc bore out the assertion and en CIA athe the of it mra alm wal wa I 1 making an attack upon the portals of society naturally when it lecamu tap apparent parent to bo he maternal eye that bier ther daughter was allowing her affections to drift in that unprofitable dl df trec traction tion she looked with extreme disapprobation upon young marriott Marr lott and her husband huband had bad for him the profound ifo U nd contempt of tho practical mat jor far the man of schools and theories I 1 J matters were viero in this state when the ithe young man paid his visit to the taxidermists shop and saw the bird with the muddy foot feel that night he be rl i where did you eay say this bird came from worked hard in the small laboratory he be had fitted up in hie his room wrote a letter letter to edith packed hie his possessions and nd paid his bills and tho the next morning at daybreak he sailed out of new now york harbor in a southbound steam teamer with hope in his heart a wisp ot of blondo blonde hair in his watch case and a lump of black mud la iti his coat pocket it was a year after this and tho the crass grass was green again on madison square before news was leard eard of him then one april morning he presented presentad himself at mr Wh yards office on broadway marriott Marr lott asked after mrs N ciu s 4 in his ma swivel chair and look ed the young man in the face and miss bliss edith he be said eagerly yoi yot demember em ember mr that I 1 love her that I 1 hope to marry her some day last year I 1 was poor but now I 1 can support her as you would desire I 1 have property worth eight hundred thousand dollars he added modestly and I 1 have a practical certainty of more than ten times as much wayard wheeled his swivel chair and looked the young man in the face with very evident amazement ten times eight hundred thousand dollars dollar sl he cried incredulously what Is to this property nerty pr of yours T platinum said sald harriott marriott you see air he went on quietly 1 I ran across a sample of dust from south america last winter nobody else knew about it so I 1 went down at once and discovered the place I 1 only brought up a few thousand dollars north orth but I 1 have halt a ton in du dust st and nuggets all ready down there an and d tho the rivers are full of it but the matter air 17 had bad turned pale pate and sank tank back in his chair he ile roused himself however and questioned the young man quietly enough in part of south america Is thata that saia sain be he southern patagonia not far from magellan straits and near the coall but will it be all al about edith sir air well I 1 guess I 1 might as well give in mr air marriott Marr lott he said As you say things have ch changed angel call on an edith if you line like M A oon roon as you show your mine Is as rich a as its you say it Is 11 she can do as abe likes about marrying you but not before iio ile held hold out his hand and marriott Marr lott grasped it gratefully the three week weeks he waa wab obliged to spend turning bis his pounds of platinum into ready money moner and negotiating for a coasting steamer for tho the return to its lis treasure raised passed like a pleasant dream he ile spent part of every day with w ith the Wh yards and although be he saw no more of the father who he was told had been suddenly aled called away from town toan he be always saw edith and he be was more than content when after the thre weeks were over he ile sailed away again in the tramp team steam cr or montevideo which he had bal chartered and manned for the voyage he was already counting the day days before he could for her ho ito carried a picked crew of twenty men and it view of the wild region to which they were bound and the valuable return carro a shipped a few win A chester rifles and plenty of 0 amount tion As tho the inner bay came in sight there waa was a cry of surprise tor for there anchored close inshore lay a email small gray painted steamer et eamer marriott Marr lott examined her carefully through FL powerful binocular her ifer decks a ed de alerted but natives could be seen sN swarming arming around the vessel canvas tents pitched on the beach and men moving about among tho the rocky hillocks where the platinum was wa concealed it not already discovered it was in great danger marriott Marr lott stood on the bridge anxious but determined there was as evidently a good deal of hurry and bustle on shore but the strangers deck remained empty and tho the acute remained unanswered apparently she had been left at anchor and her crew disembarked for work on an shore marriott Marr lott thought be he bad had best inquire first on board for some one in authority and bo he bad had a boat lowered and manned As it approached the strange steamer a face appeared at a forward port hole throw us a final cried marriott Marr lott and a rope was presently thrown from the deck by means of which the j young oung man scrambled aboard leaving the sailors in the boa boat with ready rides rifles there was no one visible isible but the man who had thrown the line and to an inquiry for the captain he replied by jerking his thumb toward the after deck house marriott Marr lott knocked on the closed door and then pushed it open two men were seated at the catin table one was evidently the captain the other was mr alt 0 C of at new york I 1 what does this mean young man boarding a peaceable ship in an armed boat its an act of piracy I 1 roared the captain then stopped him this all richt captain it if you dont mind id like to talk with him a few minutes and the ship shipmaster mastor sulkily retired well my boy he resumed at length in as parental a manner as he could command 1 I look for you quite so soon perhaps I 1 ought to have told you at once in new now york that I 1 am the american representative of a combination that practically controls the worlds supply of platinum the ton of it you talked or putting on the market would ruin the price you see thanks for the hint replied mar hatt dryly it really hadn haan t occurred to me I 1 think you need not tear fear that your own stock will that Is not very much but I 1 shall have to trouble you to see that your men do not load my property into the wrong vessel when wen marriott Marr lott was married to edith some three months later he was president of the Ala magellan gallan platinum mining company and the bride as her father beamed upon them wondered that his dislike tor for the groom had been so quickly overcome but she v ill ai never kaow anything of the little drama so intimately concerning her played in that lonely patagonian onlan bay |
