Show FRANCIS LYND BY so SYNOPSIS I 1 bunder his grandfathers will stanford st aford broughton society mier rinds finda his hia abar liure of 0 tile hie estate val valued u ed lit at bornet bing like footo lies in a bate re posit latitude I 1 tie and nd longitude de crl bed and that la Is all it may be ia identa ti ned fled by t the h e presence nearby of it b brown ro wn rob haired I 1 la y b blue uee eyed glence ed girl a piebald holse and a dog with a split face oie halt block binck and halt half white stanford at first regard reg arr t tit bequest bea u eat its ita a jolie joke but after tion con met aeta e out to find him hie legacy II 11 on like hb way to denver the city nearest the meridian described describe a in his grandfathers grandea t li e rs will stanford Stan foid hears tar from arom a fellow allow traveler a story lor having to do w with a arto hooded ded mine t taic story had left nip n bit foggy I 1 BR an to the present t tate state and of the thing antl ant I 1 sald so 10 well it 11 stacks up about this way ay suld brown n beard bem d there UK re Is it per pel featly ft atly good somewhere west cst of I 1 us that la Is worth anywhere an here from a quarter to a hulf half million nill llon and ant tit lit the present moment it Is kicking mound without tin nn so fur far its 1 I can see rm im the only man on oil top of earth who ho has haa it ft clarill on oil hii atty part of it and I 1 hove no more idea than the man lit tit aliu here it Is at a no im afraid rity my hand handsbure soure fortuno fortune Is a lost loat dug dog so tar far us as rin im concerned ills 1118 mention of it lost log dog lilt me right in the enter of the solar plexus and I 1 liate a foot fool what struck your aurim bone lio lie demanded sort of dublois dub loii I 1 fand cled td nothing I 1 I 1 gurgled ging led nothing worth mentioning only ini im hunting for a lost dog do too bilut I 1 tell hlin film w any more after wed smoked a while longer and nov for mak 19 sex 10 listen to fin lil rather longloh langl li title clr tra oe we v took the porters etim tha t gt II 11 e to have the smoking oldrig loom for 0 j lightly shoeshine shoe shine find turned in Is i ina art CHAPTER III cladi in wallis and strays ent hen I 1 crawled out ont of my heith tit at rel porters call the in act ext my ixon borelan 1 ans in ili tho the deaver ill WI walle aie I 1 MIS shaving lit in tile lie MIS broom I 1 naked tile the cil cilfred ered boy it if vill room elium of the alie night sho rho 1 ore was up lip yet ito llo yris sah gall he done been up ip tin an gone but the cour course this was wag mere tile idle ques que col nang jt n my part tile the mining engineer who anve moil I 1 used roe me ns as a convenient dumping j und for ahli hl s astory wits the beatt of ia 1 intention nt at the moment for cof con ater since we hailing hai lint liol is ily und allot I 1 camit even sure huru that id lepard ird tits ills nume straight 1 I 1 nt 1111 ve ne traced blin if I 1 had wanted to D a aj tile story in tile the garish marjot ar lit of another day it bieniek a bit it ig credible than it lind imd while I 1 was j N benting to it arid and I 1 began to yonder wonder pa fit the teller of it might inight not lie ile to u mem flefil ing x r of the deathless guild of smoke I 1 I 1 I orn om romancers I 1 burled tile alie story the things to be smiled rat I 1 ed at ami allot re rhotten rg otten when I 1 tool took a taxi tal fur the eipl after an excellent breakfast I 1 of aliade i ude a few inquiries about the merl I 1 dob I 1 if aan the that the maps showed I 1 of the lie city the i west tall yu I 1 a passing just 11 laps were right the meridian 1 aich Is the one from which alch mount we nie to IB reckoned ran a little west of 1 ii ie e city proper and by consequence pst st of the two other principal cities 1811 if f tile the state colorado springs arid and 1 beblo he J I 1 found that the merl meridian dInn t it north from denver stops stop pa a liott holt regal rt the parallel of 1 antl 11 it 1114 amt south rf fit a little town railed called ent rip traced south it tracks the flip D ales it II G railroad rail road for about twenty y ilos and then takes takei to tile lie dionn tola fent arely shutting out Man manitou itou nind and pass jua i iff g of course well veil to tile the west v at irl fird of pueblo this simplified mat all rs a little luola yet tills this business of wandering alm aim lit 11 asly from post to pillar combing the he ce or of nature tot for blue eyed maidens I 1 d piebald bald borsis bors hors is ii and faced mill go s was waa already beginning to strike were as about the most fantastic liang thing a linear aly y could conc conceive elve of doing to tit nt me apt apt it without a plan of some kind oil e ors useless so BO forbell for per haps naps the tho first time in a pretty rattle braland life 1 I sat bat down to do soune some gromad and lotty head work with cousin gercys letter for a sort of nexus the third paragraph contained the meat of the matter your portion of nf grandfather jaspers Jn spera property was as woith at its latest valuation some thing icke what single ploce piece or of property outside of a irl city could hi worth any such sum ao that I 1 could think of but a mine of some home kind unless it might be a cattle can r li ihor b or 9 0 growth of standing tit timber tiber an ani alitae 1 V r f the tAe area laid out for we me mines bowd louia J outvote catt leor lelor timber about a hundred to one I 1 thought en there was wn diat other rt nase allt ilis in a perfectly afe repository implied a n re recent ancle ew ion talner of sonah some sort ft a brick VOL lul or k t vapid I 1 W I 1 rt le ct ar y na i closing thing you like to imagine coulta L t mine lie be said to bo be a repository aw As you yon see I 1 kept coming coining back to tile the mine iden idea in spite of all I 1 could to do and at last without a word of 0 warning and right out of a clear maky ra as you may fly amack 1 a tiling thing lilt hit me squarely insely between tile the shoulder blades brown beard and his fits eccentric old gentleman g ent leman I 1 aate aftel I 1 got cooled oft a bit I 1 had to admit that there was something loss less than of one to chance in it a tho thousand lisand chrit at the price of n couple of cigars gai rhen en to it fellow traveler in ill distress bistre ss I 1 had purchased rny any real clue to luy illy own puzzle yet I 1 get awny away from the notion that hat I 1 was on the vergt bergt of a discovery oddly enough the miraculous part of it the lie one chance in ill it a million that I 1 should run across the lie one person lit in a hundred who could tell me particular story I 1 impress nie me fit at ohp tittle time I 1 was too busily engaged lit in trying to fit it the puzzle pieces together to think of anything lly thing else at the moment conn collie to them up lip they fitted astoundingly toun well Grand grandfather futher r jasper had always been exceedingly closemouthed when speaking of his investments added to that he would be tile the last int antin in the world to luno hane confessed that lie he had been bitten even indirectly by a goldbrick gold brick game then 1 I ile too the course lie he had pursued with the hie mining engineer always granting the truth of brown beards story was just like him lie would lifave wall wanted tell it a year ear in which to think it over or 01 may le ile louger also it was like him to keep jopp nil ail the flip identifying marks as car rare ai fulfill fulfil irly ly hidden as a nut meat lit in its shell t vi A I 1 KA Is point I 1 began beean to think alini about getting nolon aft ion one word ward from null mill ton or bulletin or whatever ills his fla name illI was vaa 1 vj l aili il settle the betrond 11 1 till I that at word ord was as ills his old if bif hadi t mentioned gent gentl liel ci 1 tiuis rinnie tinned t it once in ili tel llin his ili arn hleb jell i inight have been by design eslin rt or just a t kippin so ao hut flirt by li cavens id make I 1 ila fill mention itt I 1 lui lilt opened to think of the Alli mining ting ge und to wonder if somebody conner lee ted ath it might not have it a list of eui clig incurs and alitt mining experts A alike tl rough the streets brought nit to tt the I 1 it le ee blange cl anao and the secretary not only li 1 ad such if list but was willing to slit sho I 1 Y v it tu to tile me lit in its proper place pidy I 1 found tile the name charles Buller Ihil lerton tork A tile fie y shot at tile the man illan behind tl tlc alc dacek d cc s 11 cc fc belted I 1 th information that mr air a Bul fullerton lerton was in ILI south amert ameri tills this I 1 could have lae d for jy joy I 1 it proved conclusively that harles was my nian man und allot I 1 tl lit at the tale lale tu to which I 1 lind had listened was ant altogether made ill up out of wl lip le cloth as so many pullman binok room romances tire are hull ila I 1 tons usual address when he wits I 1 in colorado arid and not in ili denver was ili core care of n certain bank banic in cripple creek os or tit lit least that was the i way it had before he went to south america AI A raph office wins was lie next tiling thing i on th program and when I 1 found one it see seemed i led to be about a hundred toone shot that id tip rimer ver touch bottom since I 1 had no hint tint that fullerton Bul Bui lerton had been headed for cripple creer creek I 1 ay I 1 iy prepaid and answer prepaid pre paid contained only a single question ant aliat was the name of the old ken aleman who bought the watered mine lilt und then an answer to thal would tell the story for two to whole days an interval which I 1 spent in elther and yon ion chas ing ings of piebald ponies end and faced logs dogs about the streets of denver and ami found no blue eyed girls at inched to tiny of them I 1 thought 1 I lind merely shot allot up lip into the air with my te legrain unit missed the flip whole face of the earth carth then one morn ing the answer c time came in just two words like this 10 to lo stanford Miu iford Il roughton 1110 sway denver deiner sob n S in I 1 I 1 CHARLES etui annton that settled it with a vengeance loud say arid and yet it it merely proved that mr charles buller ton had acquired a hudden of caution and was probably pro bohly engine him self plentifully for having beon been too loose with alth a perfect in ili a smoker ile lind had un nit jweied my wire with it a name eliut meant jut ju t its as much or as little ua as it lie hed said bald alexander the great and that was as precisely pred sely the amount nf if information lie hat and intended to convey whether or not Bull ertons memorandum agreement with iny grandea grand fa ther would he hd binding ul upon on tile me as aj grandfather jaspers heir I 1 was in 0 question for tire the courts bourth to decide hut one oile thing was certain that la Is granting grunt lm I 1 alt tha u it if lie ho should find tile min n find jid go to work on his tilt irl it bellie ho he V iff litti tibie e a grip on billat illat lull I 1 in trouin jill then one morning the A answer came cam a ble jnue to shake loose after I 1 find argued it out thus fur fill tile text next step suggested itself in a jiffy I 1 must have n 1 ilea henrt rt 11 to o lienert 1 1 talk wilh tile the cautious mr Hullert telling ilia who 1 I was und giving 11 chance to join forces with tile me in tile the search if it should prove to be my lily grandfathers mine quit hull lie was looking for brabbl rig als impulse I 1 iy ay y the neck fleck tio so tu to sp speak ellic I 1 took the first train tor for cripple cret creth creek h thu the next morning ahou I 1 ninde hindu inquiry I 1 found lint hat Bul fullerton lerton had left town fowl though where lie had gone the bill bank lic folks say I 1 eliud hit gone into the chase moro more thim linn half for flit sheer fun of it pretty much as the dog runs after tile stick youve ilung hung into tile bushes and which lie he much hope of fin allig but now it wes appealing to we me us ns more of it anions job there was 11 legacy IL J acy find however valueless cluss it might e lit in its ii present sant condition it had once wen worth lui bourly irly linof if litell tight be xa adalu ali and a half million Is a whole lut lot of limicy ngien you collie ir it 11 ironi from i hat little the honk bank folks told nie flit it that Duller tork was wan r lirly well v ill known in cripple creeh crecli lind flit region roundabout There therefore fora in fit the near vicinity ina a t MIN IKI more MON I 1 lind hild us its yet anin bf oll i irn ghoul tilt milliner manner or of ld lile rr awl lils ills desti i n 1 joli job avils to 1110 the some bud alnut tile the tittle time I 1 thought I 1 hall had exall amii bcd tho combinations I 1 found tit the one particular fullerton nul lerton friend I 1 hunting for cor ilia name as is I 1 ro re it 11 it wits 1111 lillton tork or something like 1110 lii lani lie ho wits vis the superintendent of it hig hiie di tunnel undertaking de to a lot of hooded mines on it tit alie fillis above tile the site I 1 1 I 1 can give you a little information but not nan was ills his ianswer to my lily indu inquiry try fullerton Dul lerton Is bug bughouse houie on the subject of a lost mille not fly ari un usual usuna dispose sea se in any mining country ond lie he tin hn gone to hunt for it lie has tt ft cli trial of the locution location hut bitt nol liln to tie it to I 1 risk ask litin where the loo lation was or ra rather tj ter where lie thol glit lit it was then illen of course you have no idea hien where tits hunt was to begin I 1 threw in fik only n guess in our talk lie he asked me if I 1 knew anything about a pl pincu lee called placerville erville in ill tile the iti desert what sort of it a town it was and it if A man could outfit there for a prospecting tr trip lp I 1 took it front from till this R that lint hf he might he be lor for though he ry that lie ho f As imagine was anju il for me the next morning I 1 wn was back in denver out the quickest qt way to t 0 net get to placerville erville in n the red desert I 1 hoped fullerton nul Bul lerton was on the true scent but was mightily afraid ho he in which calp 1 I too would rn go astray but it lie should ti happen to be on tile right then I 1 must bent beat win to it the goal true lie he had n map to guide hlin him find was thul that much better off thou I 1 was hut but on oil tile the other hand I 1 had the girl a hurse livorse arid and a dog CHAPTER IV at the back of beyond to my lily chagrin the railroad ticket offices in deliver didat know any such midi place as placerville erville in the rhe lied desert region which was then as now traversed only by one railroad the single they had listed was IMIS a not far from telluride in 11 q quite use another part of the state nor the mining exchange gentle gentleman ninn hell celii me floe flo wever vcr he suggested that if I 1 could find so boino I 1 n e 0 old I 1 d r resident den 1 4 old 1 timer will was the word he h used whose memory reached back a any 4 there might he be something doing lolin steer life ine I 1 begged im a halt orphan land and a total stranger lit in denver ile he laughed lau glied anti and then thong thought i nt for ri minute and said the du pont powder people have been doing business here for fop a good many years arid and they know the alie powder buyers nit all over tha state its iti just possible that they could tell you suppose yoi ask at off lico I 1 went forthwith and the jile gentleman to choin I 1 presented my illy cord nt at the lie cai cashiers window lind had the dope the alie red desert placers placerville erville llla lie told tit me was strictly a has lin tin tile 1 placers I 1 tit ce firs find exhaust eol and the place find aff X u t II if biml tlc int f mollp till or III mines les ill on tile lie desert slop or of tilt the filst aril rn lie hu mils not bukis ver d ID but liu lit thought the julino |