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Show , ,.v 3H nXU8TfflONS body knew the difference." "But Larscn 7" "You know as mucn as i no, son.' "You never saw Larson again?" "I never saw any of them. That was the end." "But Rodalne 7" "He's still here. You'll hear from him plenty soon. I could see that, the minute Rllndeye Rozcman and Taylor Bill began taking your measure. meas-ure. You noticed they left the table before the menl was over7 It was to tell Rodalne." "Then he'll fight me. too" Mother Howard laughed and her voice was harsh'. "Rodalne's n rattlesnake. His son's n rattlesnake. Ills wife's crnsy Old Croty Laura. He drove lit-r thnt way. She lives by herself, In an old house on the Georgerllle road. And she'd kill for him, cen If he does beat her when she goes to his houso and begs Mid to take her back. That's the kind ofa crowd It is. just to put a gooa finish on It all, the young 'un mores In the best society in town and spends most of his time trying to argue the former district Judge's daughter Into marrying him. So there you are. That's all Mother Howard knows, 8on." She turned to the door and then, turning, pntted Fatrchlld on the shoulder. shoul-der. "Boy," enme quietly, "you've got a broad back and a good head. Rodalne bent your father don't let him beat you. And always remember one thing; Old Mother Howard's played the game before, and she'll play It with you dark streets aren't exactly the place for you." Robert Falrchlld obeyed the Instructions, In-structions, a victim of many a conjecture, conjec-ture, many an attempt nt reasoning as he sought sleep that was far away. Again and again there rose before him the vision of two men in an open buggy, with a person between them whom Ohndl believed to be an. effeminate-voiced Swede; In reality, only a woman. And why had they adopted the expedient? Why had not Larscn been with them In renllty? It was hours before Fulrchlld found sleep, and even then It was a thing of troubled visions. Streaming nun awukened hlni, and he hurried to the dlnlne room to And himself the last lodger at the- tables. He ate a rather hasty meal, made more so by nn Impatient waitress, then with the necessary papers In his pocket, Falrchlld started toward the courthouse nnd the legal procedure which must he undergone before he made his f)rtt trip to the mine. A block or fwri, nnd then Falrchlld suddenly halted. Crossing the street at an angle Just lieforn him was a young woman whose features, whose mannerisms he recognized. The whipcord whip-cord riding habit had given place now to u tailored suit which deprived her of the loylshneHS that had been so apparent on their first meeting. The mp had disappeared before a close-fitting, close-fitting, varicolored turban. But the straying brown hnlr still was there, the brown ejes, the plqunnt little nose nnd' the prettily formed lips, Fnlr-child's Fnlr-child's heart thumped nor did he stop to consider why. A quickening of his I pure, and ho met her just as she stepped to Iho curbing. "I'm so glad of this opportunity," he exclaimed happily. "I wan I to return re-turn that money to you. I I was so fussed yesterday I didn't realize " "Aren't you mistaken?" She looked at him with a slight smile. Falrchlld did not catch the Inflection. j "Oh. no, I'm tho man, you know, who helped you change that tire on the Dener'rond yesterday." "I'ardon inc." This time one brown eye had wavered over so slightly, In-dlcatlng In-dlcatlng someone behind Falrchlld. "But I wasn't on the Denver road yesterday, and if you'll excuse me for saying so, I don't remember ever hnv-Ing hnv-Ing seen you before." There was u little light In her eyes which took away the sting of the denial, de-nial, a light which seemed to urge caution, cau-tion, and at the same time to tell Falrchlld Falr-chlld that she trusted him to do his part ns a gentleman In a thing she wished forgotten. More fussed than ever, he drew back and bent low In apology, while she passed on. Half a block away, a young man rounded a corner and, seeing her, hastened to Join her. She extended her hand; they chatted a moment, then strolled up the street together. Falrchlld watched blankly, then turned at a rhuckle Just behind him emanntlng from the bearded lips of an old miner, lonnng on tna stone cuping in ttobi of a small afore. "Pick the wrong Ally, pardnerT" came the query, Falrchlld managed to smile. "Guess so." Then he lied quickly. "I thought she was a girl from Den-ver." Den-ver." "Her? The old miner stretched. "Nopo. That's Anita Richmond, old Judge Richmond's daughter. Guess she must bev been expecting that young fellow or she wouldn't hava cut you off so short. She ain't usually that way." "Her fiancer- Falrchlld asked tha question with misgiving. The miner finished hls-stretch and added u yawn to It. Then he looked apprnlslngly up the street toward the retreating; figures. fig-ures. "Well, some say he is nnd some spy he ain't. Guess It mostly depends on the girl, nnd she, ain't teUIng yet" "And the man who is he?" "Him? Oh, he's Maurice Rodnlna. Son of a pretty famous character "Oh, He's Maurice Rodalne." around here, old Squint Rodalne. Owns the Silver Queen property up the hill. Ever hear ot him?" The eyes of Robert Falrchlld narrowed, nar-rowed, and a desire toJ)ght-a long- " Ing to grapple with Squint 'Rodalne nnd all thnt belonged to him surged Into his heart. But his voice, when he spoke, wns slow and suppressed. "Squint Itodulue? Yes, I think I have. Tho name sounds rather familiar." fa-miliar." Then; deliberately, he started up the street, following at u distance the man nnd the girl who walked before him. CHAPTER VI There was no specific reason why Robert Falrchlld should follow Maurice Mau-rice nodalne and the young woman who had been described to him as the daughter of Judge Richmond, whoever who-ever he might be. Resentment wns In his Jicart resentment that the family m nfidnlne should be connected in some way with the. piquant, mysterious mysteri-ous little person he had helped out of a predlcahicnt on the Denver roud the duy before. And, to his chagrin, the very fact that there wns a connection added a more sinister note to the os-capade os-capade of the exploded tire and the oursulne sheriff: as ho walked along his gaze far ahead, Falrcnua rounu himself wondering whether there could ho morn tlmn mere coincidence In It. oil, whether she was a part ot the' Rodalne schemes and the Rodalne trickery, whether But he ceased his wondering to turn sharply Into n nearby drug store, there absently to, give nn order at the soda fountain and stand watching the pair who had stopped Just In front of ilm on the corner. She was tho mime girl ; there could he no doubt ot that, nnd he raged Inwardly ns she chatted and chaffed with the man who looked down upon her with a smiling air of proprietorship which Instilled Instant rebellion In Fnlrchlld's heart. Nor did he know the reason for that, either. After a moment they parted, and Falrchlld gulped at his fountain drink. She had hesitated, then with a quick decision turned straight Into the drug store. "Buy a ticket, Mr. McCuuley?" she usked of themnn behind the counter. "I've sold twenty already, this morning. morn-ing. Only fire more, and my work's liver. Please take the five, won't you? Then I'll be through." "I'll be darned If I will, 'Nlta I" Mc-C'auley Mc-C'auley backed against a shelf ense In mock self-defense. "Every time you've got anything you wnnt to get rid of, you come In here nnd shove it off on me. There's only four In my family and four's all I'm going to take." He tossed four silver dollars on tho show-rase show-rase und took the 'tickets. The girl demurred. "But how about the fifth one? I've got to sell that too" "Well, sell It to him I" And Fair-child, Fair-child, looking Into the sodn-fountuln mirror, saw himself Indicated as the druggist started toward tho prescription prescrip-tion rase. Thero was u moment of awkwurd silence si-lence as Falrchlld gazed Intently Into MHHfQSaBHHsjjytfjjj his sodu glass, then with a feeling of queer excitement, set It on tho marble counter and turned. Anltn Richmond was approaching In n stranger-like manner a ticket of some sort held before her. "Pardon me," she began, "but would yon care fo buy a ticket to the Old Times dance? It's a sort of municipal, munici-pal, thing, gotten up by the bureau of mines to celebrate the return of silver sil-ver mining." "But I'm afraid I'm not much on dancing." "Yon don't have to be. Nobody'll dance much except the old-fashioned affsira. You see, everybody's supposed to represent people of the days when things were booming around here. There'll be a fiddle orchestra, and a dance caller and everything like that, and 'n bar but of course there'll only ( In Imitation liquor. But," she added with quick emphasis, "there'll be M of things really real real keno and roulette nnd everything like that, und everybody In the costume of thirty or forty years ago. Don't you want to bay a ticket? It's the last one I've got!" she ndded prettily. "When's It to her "A week from tomorrow night. Are yon going to he here that long?" She realized the slip of her tongue and colored slightly. Falrchlld, recovered recov-ered now, reached Into a pocket and carefully lingered the bills there. Then, with a quick motion, ns .he -ii forth, he covered a iai-dollar iai-dollar bill with n one-dollar note and thnwt them forward.- Yes. I'll take tno ticket." She handed It to him, thnnl.cd him, and reached for the money. As it passed Into her hand, a corner ot the ten-dolmr hill reealcd Itself, and she haBtlly. thrust It toward him as though to return money. pnld by mistake. mis-take. Just as quickly, she renllzed his purpose and withdrew her hand. "Ohl" she exclaimed, almost In a whisper, "1' understand." She flushed and stood a second hesitant, flustered, her big ees utmost childish as they looked up Into his. "You you must think I'm a cadi" Then she whirled and left the store, nnd a slight smile came to the lips of Robert Falrchlld us ha watched her hurrying across tha street. lie had won a tiny victory, at least. With a new enthusiasm, a greater desire than ever to win out In the fight which had brought him to Ohadl, he harried to the courthouse and tha varies technicalities which must be coped with before he could really call the Bine Poppy mine his own. It wns easier than he thought. A few signatures, and he was free to wander through town to where Idlers had pointed out Kentucky gulch and to begin the steep ascent up the narrow nar-row road on a tour of prospecting that would precede the more legal and'j mora safe system of a surveyor. Th ascent wns almost sheer in 'places, ""for In Kentucky gulch tha hills huddled close to the little town and rose In precipitous Inclines almost al-most before the city limits had been reached. He stepped aside to allow ' the passage of ore-laden automobile trucks, loaded until the springs had flattened and until the engines howled with their' compression as they sought to hold back their burdens on the steep grade. And It was as ho stood there, watching the big vehicles travel down tha mountain side, that Fair- child caught a glimpse of a human flguro which suddenly darted behind a ' dump of scrub pine and skirted far j to one side, tnklng advantage of every covering. A new beat came Into . Fall-child's heart. Ho took to the road again, plodding upward, seemingly n man entirely bereft of, suspicion. A i quarter, pf it tulle he went, a halt, j Once, bn the road turned beside a great rock, ho sought Its shelter and looked back, The flguro still was fol- J lowing, running carefully now along i the hank of' the stream In an effort to gain as much ground ns possible before the return of the roud to open territory should bring the necessity of i caution again. A mile more; then, again In the, shelter shel-ter of rocks, he swerved and sought a hiding place, watching anxiously from his concenlment for evidences of discovery. dis-covery. There were none. The shad-ower shad-ower came on, dlsplnjlng more nnd more caution us he approached the rocks, glancing hurriedly about him as he moved swiftly from cover to cover. Closer closer then Falrchlld repressed a gasp. The man was old, almost white-haired, with hard, knotted knot-ted hands which Boemcd to stand out from his wrists; thin nnd wiry with the resiliency that outdoor, hardened muscles often give to ugc, and with a face that held Falrchlld almost hyp-l notlred. it was like a hawk's; hook-.bonked, hook-.bonked, colorless, toneless In all expressions ex-pressions save that of a malicious tenacity; the eyes were slanted until they .resembled those ot some fantastic fantas-tic Chinese imnge, while Just above the curving nose a blue-white scar ran straight up the forehead. Squint Hodqiiiel So he wus on the troll already 1 Falrchlld watched him puss, sneak around the comer of the rocks, and stand a moment In apparent bewilderment bewilder-ment as he surveyed the ground bo-fore bo-fore him. A mumbling curse nnd he went on, his cautious gait discarded, walking briskly along the rutty, boulder-strewn road toward n gaping hole In the hill, hnrdly a furlong away. There ho surveyed the ground cure-fully, cure-fully, bent nnd stured hard at the earth, apparently for a trace of footprints, foot-prints, and finding none, turned slowly and looked Intently all about htm. Carefully he approached the' mouth of the tunnel nnd stared within. Then he straightened, and with another glnpco about him, hurried oft up a gulch lending nwny ffom the road, Into the hills. Fulrchlld luy and watched him until he was out of sight, und ho knew Instinctively that a sur- vejor would only cover beaten territory terri-tory now. Squint Rodalne. he felt sure, hud pointed out to him the Blue Poppy mine. Hurriedly he descended the rocka once more to turn toward town nnd toward Mother Howard's bourdlng house. He wanted to tell her whnt tie hnd seen nnd to obtain her help and counsel. Quickly he made the return trip, crossing the little bridge over the turbulent tur-bulent Clear creek and heading toward the boarding house. Half a block away he baited, as a woman on the verandu of the big, squarely built "hotel" pointed him out, and the great figure of a man shot through the gate, shouting, and hurried toward him. A tremendous creature he was, with red face nnd black hnlr which seemed to scramble In nil directions at once, and with a mustache which uppeared U scamper In even mora direction! than his hair. Falrchlld was n largo man; suddenly he felt himself puny and Inconsequential as the mustodonlc thfng before hlti swooped forwurd, spread wide the big arms and then caught him tight In them, cuuslng the breath to puff over his lips like the exhaust of a bellows, A release, then Falrchlld felt himself him-self lifted and set down again. He pulled hard ut his breath. "What's tho matter with you?" ho exclaimed testily. "You've mudo a mistake!" "I'm bllmcd If I 'avel" bellowed a tornado like voice. "Bllmol You look Just Illto Iml" "But you're mistaken, old man I" "Bllmed If I mill" cume ugnln. "You're your dad's own boy I You look Just like 'lm! Don't you know me?" He stepped buvk then nnd stood grinning, his long, heavily muscled arms bunging low ut his tildes, his mustache trying aluly to stick out In more directions than ever. Falrchlld rubbed a hand across his eyes. "You've got niel" camo at last. "You don't know me? 'Onest now, don't you? I'm 'Any I Don't you know now? 'Arry from Cornwall!" CHAPTER VII It enme to Falrchlld then the sentence sen-tence In his father's letter regarding soineono who would hurry to his aid when he needed him, the references or tteumlsh, and the allusion or Motfc3 er Howard to a falthf.nl friend. M Again the heavy volco boomed: H "You know, me now, eh?" H "You bet I You're Horry Harklnsl" H " 'Arklns It Is 1 I came Just aa soon M us I got the cablegram I" "The cablegram?" "Yen." Harry pawed at his' won- 'derfal mustache. "From Mr. Beamish. v you know, 'E sent It. Said you'd started out 'ere all aloat. And I couldn't atnnd by and let you do that- So 'ere I am fl "But the expense, the long trip bbbbbbI across tho ocean, the " H "Ere I am" sad Harry again. ' H . "Ain't that enough r tH They had readied the veranda saw, :)jjH to stand talking for a moment, than .-B to go within, where Mother 'Howard ' awnlted, eyes glowing, in the parlor. , ' Harry flung out both arms. "And I still love you!" he boomed, ns he caught the gray-haired, laugh- Ing woman In his arms. "Even If yon did run me off .and wouldn't go back to Cornwall H Red-faced, she pushed hint away H and slapped his cheek playfully; It H was like the tap of a light breesa ngalnst granite. Then Harry turned. "'Ave jou looked at th.e mine?" JBU The question brought hack to Fair- M child the happenings ot the morning M and the memory of the man who ha trailed him. Ho told his story, while Mother Howard listened, her arms fiBm crossed, her head bobbing, and while H Harry, his big grin still oq his lips, r'"fl )bbbb! took In the details with avidity. Then - 'H the grin faded. y I ,9M "Lc's go up there," he said qufetl" I Bfl This time the trip to KcntUM.. I ES gulch was made by skirting the, I SSJ soon they were on the rough-'' I ' "Bfl roadway leading Into the 0111 ' 'sal A long time they talked w stop In 'the shelter of th I jESj Falrchlld had shndnuf1 i M EJ and to glance cnrefdV, , , SB one was In sight. Unimmmmmmmmmmmi I, mEJ a big finger. I I EBJ ""That's It," e iiunmiiL I n'endl" i I H They went on, Fulrchlld with u gr4 a 'J ping at his throat that would nntv I ks down. Tills had been the hope of'hla -vsj aEfl father and hero his father had met v ! whut? lie swerved quickly and IiEb .stopped, facing the bigger man, , iSVJ "Harry," came shurply, "I know hSVJ that I may be violating an unspoken Ej promise to my father. But I simply t-H can't stnnd It any longer. What hap- I'fl pencil here? There wns some sort of V afl tragedy." SJ Hurry (buckled in concealment, ? SJ Falrchlld thought, of something he EJ did not want to tell him. f fl "I should think sol The timbers V rE gave way and the mine caved In I" EJ "Not (hat! My father ran away t'EJ from this town. Yon und Mother , :EJ Howard helped him, You didn't coroo 1 1 buck. Neither did my father, Even- i-Ej tually It killed him," J "So?" Harry looked seriously and twL studiously nt the young man. "'B 'Ej didn't write me ofen." , 4EJ "He didn't need to write you. Yob MM were here with him when It hap- "" Hw poned." Mm Continued Next Week Bj |