Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, July 15, 1922, Page 2

ILLUS’I’RATIONS oz g QRBVmee lVNOPlI. —4 irchild’s 'Aot ‘Thornton Fal i H Tty bert learns there ¢ father's life Ciunn X! .—Beamish tells Robert his vlhlln 3 dlvor mine, is at Ohadi, thirty- from' Denver. He alto warns b lanlt a certain man, “Squint” Ro- lflflw. e, - oftlhar'l enemy. Robert decides R II1.—On the road to Ohadl nver r’llrehlldffllll:: . ":)lm::; o 3 h:r rtnl! WM:‘ she h'll ;:frb a T, in_pur- mb::dl: ’lqilnhlld bewildered, to the direction the v "rnufl by “Mother” Howa: Mflln‘- use keeper, for his father's ke, C, R V.—From Mother Howard, "learns mmothl.nl of the m; l.!'.‘t.y h the disappearance o - :,'.‘-m‘.‘ his fltho 's_co-worker in Bt e donies her 10 "!u’;‘y“’s'm'; t_she nies her iden o Mll:“ Rlchrn:nd. Judge Richmond's - \ ‘VI.—Visiting his claim, Fllr- SRR A ns as - Back in Ohadi, his fatler’s old , Harry Harkins, a Cornishman, ‘sunimoned. from England by Beamish to hhlp Falrchild, halls him with joy. 5 mn VIL—The pair find the mine -flooded" and have not suficient funds to have it pumped dry. Later in the day pint’* ine announces that he tically ‘saw- Harkins fall' into the ed mine, and lvldently ll flmwned ~—~— (Continued. from Iast isue) Tlhey turned for.the mouth: of the tunpel, sliding along in the greasy muck, the torch extingulshed now. A moment of watchfulness from - the ,cover of' the darkness, then Harry polnted. On the opposite hill.. the fig- iure.of a man had been outlined for .Just. & second. Then he had faded. And with the disappearance of the | watellel'. Harry. nudged his partner in the. ribs - and, went . forth into the ;brighter, light. ~An hour more and they were back In town. Harry reachied for his mustache again, +-“Go’ on down to Mother 'Oward's” he commanded. ‘“I've got'to wander Aaround -and say ‘owdy to what's left of. the fellows that was 'ere when I was. It's been twenty years since I've ‘been away, you know,” he added, “and the shaft can walt.” . Fairchild obeyed the instructions, looking back over his shoulder as he walked along toward the boarding house, to see the hig figure of his com- .panion loitering up the street, on the beginning of his home-coming tour. The blocks passed. Falrchild turned through the, gate ot Mother Howard's boarding house and went to his room to awalt the call for dinner. The world did - not look exceptionally Rood to him; his brilliant dreams had not counted upon the decay of more than a quarter of a century, the slow, but sure drippiog of water which had_ weeped through the hills and made the mine one vast well, instead of the free open gateway to riches which he 1108 planned upon. An hour of thought and Fairchild ceased trylng to look into the future, obeying, instead, the insistent clanging of the dinner bell from .downstairs. Slowly he opened the door of his room, trudged down the staircase—then stopped In bewil- | derment, Harry stood before him, in' all. the splendor that a miner can know. He had bought a new suit, brilliant blae, almost electric in its flashiness, nor had he been careful ns to style. ‘The cut of the trousers was somewhat nlong the lines of fifteen years be- fore, with their peg tops and heavy cuffs.” Beneath the vest. a glowing, ‘watermelon-pink shirt. glared forth from the protection of a purple tle, A wonderful creation was on his head, dented In four places, each separated with ‘almost mathematieal precision, Below the cuffs of the trousers were bright, tan, bump-toed shoes. Harry was a complete pleture of sartorial «#legance, according to his own dreams, lwxm was more, to complete it all, | upen' the thiird finger of his right hand was' & ‘dldmond, bulbous and yellow and throwing off a dull radiance like the glow of a burnt-out arc light; full " ot flaws; it is true; off color to a great {degree, but a diamond nevertheless. And Harry evidently realized it. 1 “Aln’t I the cuckoo?” he boomed, as ‘Fairchild stared at him. “Ain't 1? L ‘ad to 'ave a outfit, and— #It might as well be now!” he par- japhrased,’ to the tune of the age- whitened sextette from “Floradora.” “And loek at the . sparkler! Look atit)” !, “But—but how did you do it?" came 'gaspingly. “I thought—" . “Installments!” the Cornishman iburst out. “Ten per cent down and the rest when they catch me, Install- en! He: jabbed forth a heavy Ew'mnchgg Fairchild in_the ri Where's Mother 'Oward? Won't 1 knock 'er eyes out?” Fairchild laughed—he couldn’t help it—in spite of the fact that five hun- “Ain't | the Cuckoo?” dred dollars might have gone 2 long way toward unwatering that shaft. Harry was Harry—he had done enough in crossing the seas to help him, And already, In the eyes of Fairehild, Harry was swiftly approaching that place where he could do no wrong. “You're wonderful, Harry,” came at last.. The Cornishman puffed with pride, “I'm ~a ° cuckoo!” he admitted. “Where's ' Mother: 'Oward? \Where's 'Oward.. Won't I knock ‘er eyes out, now?”’ ! And he boomed forward toward the dining room,- to find there men he had known in other-days, to shake hands with ‘them and to bang them on the back, to sight Blindeye Bozeman and Taylor Bill sitting hunched over their meal in the corner and to go effusively toward them. “’Arry” was "playing no favorites in his *’ome-coming.” Jovially he leaned over the table of Bozeman and Bill, after he had dis- played himself before Mother Howard and received her sanction of his selec- tions In dress. Happily he boomed forth the information that Fairchild and he were buck to work the Blue Poppy mine and that they already had made a trip of inspection. Falrchild finished his meal and waited, "But Harry talked on. Boze- mun and BIN Jeft the dining room again to make a report to the narrow- fuced Squint Rodaine. Harry did not cven notice them. And as long as a man stnyed to answer his querles, just %o long did Harry remain, at last to | rise, brush a few crumbs from his lightning-like suit, press his new hat gently upon his head with both hands and start forth once more on his rounds of saying hello. And there | was nothing for Fairchild to do but ! to wait as patlently as possible for his return. The afternoon grew old. Harry did not come back. The sun set and din- ner was served. But Harry was not ‘there to eat it. Dusk came, and then, mervous over the continued absence of Tis eccentric partner, Fairchild start- ed uptown. The usual groups were in front of the. stores, and before the largest of themn Falrchild stopped. “Do any of you happen to know a fellow. named Harry Harking?’ he ‘nsked somewhat anxitously. The an- swer was In the affirmative. A miner stretched out a foot-and sueveyed it studiously. “Aln't scen him since about nvel o'clock,” he said at last, “He was just starting up to the.mine then.” “To the mine? ‘That late? Are you sure?” “Well—I dunno. May have been go- ing to Center City. Can't say. All 1 know {8 he said somethin’ ubowt goin' to th' mine earlier in th’ afternoon, un’ long nbout five I seen him starting up Kentucky, guleh.”. “Who's. that?’ “The interruption had come in a sharp, yet: gruffvolve: Talrehild turned to see before him a man he recognized, a. tall, thin, wiry figure, with narrowed, slanting eyes, and-a scar that went straight mp his forehund. He evidently had just rounded the corner in time to hear the conversation, “T was merely asking about my rpart- ner in the Blue Poppy mine.” “The Bluc Poppy?” the squint eyes narrowed rniore than ever. “You're Fairchild, ain't you? ' Well, I guess youre going to have. to get along without u partner from now on.” “Get along without—2" A crodked smile canve to theyother's lipe_ . T “Tnat iy, unlesk you want to work with a ¢ead mun, Marry Harking got ‘drowned, about an hour' ago, In the Blue Poppy staft!” CHAPTER Vil The news caused Fairchild to recoil and stand gasping. And before he cpuld speak, a mew voice had cut in, one full of excitement, tremulous, anxious, {“Drowned? Where's his body?” {“How do I know?” Squint Rodaine torhed upon his questioner.’ “Guess it’s at the foot of the shaft. Al I saw was his hat. W!m're you 80 In- terested for?” {The questioner, lmnll, Boggle-eyed and given to rubbing his hands, stared a, moment speechlessly. “He—he bought a diamond from me this morning—on the ‘installment plan!” Rodaine smiled again in his crooked fashion, “That’s your own fault, Sam,” he announced curtly, “If he's at the bot- tom of the shaft, your diamond’s there too. All I know about it is that I was. coming down from the Silver Queen when I saw this fellow go into the tunnel of the Blue Poppy. He was all ‘dressed up, else I don't guess I would have paid much attention to him. But as it was, I kind of stopped to look, and seen it was Harry Har- kins, who used to work the mine with this"—he pointed to Fairchild—"this fellow's father. About a minute Ipter, I heard a yell, like somebody was in trouble, then a big splash. Naturally T ran in the tunnel and struck a match. About twenty feet down, I could see the water was all riled up, and a new hat wis floating around on top of it. That's all I know. You can do as you please about your diamond. TI'm just giving you the information.” He turned sharply and went on then, while Sam the jeweler, the rest of the loiterers clustered around him, looked appealingly toward Fairchild. “What'll we do?” he wailed. Fairchild turned. “I don’t Faow about you—but I’m going to the m'ne.” “It won't do amy good—bodies ¢on't float. It may never float—if it gets caught down in the timbers some- | wheres.” . “Have to organize a bucket bri- gade.” It was a sugges(lon from one of the crowd. “Why not borry the Argonaut punmp? They ain't using it.” - “Go get it! Go get it!” This time it was the wall of the little jeweler. “Tell 'em. Sam Herbenfelder sent you. They'll let you have it.” Another suggestion, still another. Soon men began to radiate, ench on a mission. The word passed down the street. More loiterers—a silver miner spends a great part of his leisure time in simply watching the crowd go by— hurried to join the . excited throng %| Groups, en route to’ the plcture’ show, declded - otherwisé and’ stopped to learn of the excitement, The crowd thickened, Suddenly Fairchild looked up sharply at the sound of a temlnlne voice. “What's the mutler"" “Harry Harkins'got drowned.” .. All too willingly the.news was: dispérsed. Fairchild’s eyes were searching.now in the half-light from the faint strect bulbs. Then they centered. It was Anita Richmond, standing at:the edge of the crowd, - questioning a miner, while beside her was a thin, youthful counterpart of a hard-faced father, Maurice Rodalne, Just a moment of querles, then the miner’s hand pointed to Fairchild as he turned toward her. “It's' his partner.” She moved forward then and Fair- child went to meet her, “I'm sorry,” she said, and extended her hand. Falrchild gripped it ea- gerly. “Thank you. But it muy not be as bad as the rumors.” “I hope not.” Then quickly she withdrew her hand, and somewhat flustered, turned as her companion edged closer. “Maurlce, this is Mr. Fairchild,” she announced, and Fair- child could do nothing but stare. She knew his name! A second more and It was explained: “My father knew his father very well.” “T think my own father was ac- quainted- too,” was the rejoinder, and the eves of the tyo men met for an instant in conflict. The girl did not seem to-notice, “I sold him a ticket this morning to the dance, not knowing who he was. Then father happened to see him pass the house and pointed him out to me as the son of a former friend of his. Funny how those things happen, izt it? “Decidedly funny!” was the caustic rejoinder of the younger Rodaine. Falrchild laughed, to cover-the air of intensity. He knew instinctively that Anita Richmond was not talking to him simply because she had sold him a ticket to a dance and because her father might have polnted him out. He felt sure that there was something else behind it—the feeling of a debt which she owed him, a feeling of com- panionship engendered upon a sunlit road, during the moments: of stress, and the continuance of that meeting in those few moments in the drug store, when he had handed her back her ten-dollar bill. She had' called herself a cad then, and the feeling that she perhaps had been abrupt toward & man who had helped her out of a disagreeable predicament was prompting her action now; Fairchild felt sure of that. And he was: glad of the fact, very glad. Again he laughed, while Rodaine eyed him narrowly. Fairchild shrugged his shoulders. “I'm not going to belleve this story until it's proven to me,” came calmly. “Who brought the news? Fairchild deliberately chose. his tan words: thin, ugly old man, with PR {HE BEMIDJI DAILY FiIOREER ‘mean ¥Gulnt éyes und i scar straight up his forehead.” A flush appeared on the other man's face. Falrchild saw his hands con- tract, then loosen. “You're trying to insult my father!” “Your father?” Fal®hild looked at him blankly. ' “Wouldn't that be a rather difficult job—especially when I don’t know him?” “You described’ him.” “And you recognlzed the dnc'rln- tion.” “Maurice! Stop it!” The girl was tugging at Rodaine’s sleeve. “Don’t say anything more. - I'm sorry—" anG she looked at Fairchild with a glance he could not interpret—*that anything like this could have come up.” “I am equally so—if ‘it hns cansed you embarrassment.” “You'll get' n little emhamssment out of it yourselt—before you get “You're Trying to Insult My Father!” through!* Rodaine was scowling at him. Agt'n Anita Richmond caught his arm. “Mauries! Stop it! How could the tldng have been premeditated when he didn’t even know your father? Come— let's go on. The crowd’s getting thizker.” The narrow-faced man obeyed her command, anfl together they turned out Into the street to avold the con- stantly - growing - throng, and to veer toward the pictiire show. Carbide’ lightd 'had begun to appear along the street, as miners, summoned by hurrying gossip mongers, came for- ward to assist in the search for the nissing man. High above the gen- eral conglomeration of voice could be heard the cries'of the :instigator of activities, Sam-Herbenfelder, bemoan- ing the loss of his diamond, ninety per cent of the cost of which remained to be paid. . Hastlly he shot through the crowd, organizing the bucket bri- gade ‘and ‘searching for news of the Argonaut pump,’ which had not yet arrived.: Half-disgusted, Fairchild turned and started ‘up the hill, a few miners, their carbide lamps swinging beside them, following him, Fairchild turned at the entrance of the mine and waited for the first of the minefs and the accompanying gleam of his carbide. Then they went within and to the shaft, the light shining downward upon the oily, black water below. Two_-objects floated there, a broken plecé of timber, torn from the side of the shaft, where someone evidently had grasped hastily at it.in an effort to-stop a fall, and a new, four-dented hat, gradually be- coming: water-sonked and sinking slowly beneath the surface. And then, for the first time, fear clutched at Fairchild’s heart—fear which hope could not ignore. “There’s his hat.” staring downward. Fairchild had seen it, but he strove to put aside the thought. “True,” he answered, “but anyone could lose a liat, simply by looking over the edge of the shaft. Harry's a strong man. Certainly he would know how to swim. "And in any event he should have been able to have kept afloat for at least a few minutes. Ro- daine says that he heard a shout and ran right in here; but all that he could see was ruffled water and a float- ing hat. I—" Then he paused sud- denly. It had come to him that Ro- daine might have helped In'the demise of Harry! Shouts sounded from outside, .and the roaring of a motor truck as it made its slow, tortuous way up the boulder-strewn read with its gullies and innumerable ruts. Voices came, rumbling and varfed. - Lights. Gain- ing the mouth of the tunnel, Fairchild could see n mass of shadows outlined by the carbides, all following the lead- ership of a small, excitel man, Sam Herbenfelder, still seeking his dia- mond. The big pump from the Argonaut tunnel was aboard the truck, which was followed by two otler auto ve- hicles,” each loaded with gusoiine en- gines and smaller pumps. "A hundred men were. in the.crowd, all equipped with ropes and buckets. Sam Herben- felder's pleas had been heard. The search was<about to begin for the body of Harry and the diamond that circled one finger. And Falrchild has- tened to:-do his part. Until far'into the night they worked and- strained to put the big pump into position; while crews of men, four and five in a group, bailed water as fast It was a miner as possible, that the aggregate might ; be lessened to the greatest possible extent before the pumps, with their | hoses, were attached. Then the gaso- line_engines_began to_smort, great fengths o1 Tublig were et down Tato the shaft, and spurting water started down the mountain side as the task of unwatering the shaft began. But it was a slow job. Morning found the distance to the:water length- ened by twenty to thirty feet, and the bucket brigades nearly at the end of their ropes. Men trudged down the hills to breakfast, sending others in their places. Fairchild stayed on to meet Mother Howard" and assuage her’ nervousness as best he could, dividing his time between her and the task be: fore "him;' Noon 'found more water than ever' tumbling’ down the hills— the smaller pumps were working now in unison with' the larger one. 'After- noon—and most of 'Ohadi was there.’ Fairchild could distinguish the form of Anita Richmond in the hundreds of women and men clustered about the opening of the tunnel, and for once’ she was not in the company of Mau- rice Rodaine. He hurried to her and | she smiled at his approach. “Have they found anything yet?” . othing—so far. Except that there Is plenty of water in the shaft. I'm trying not to believe it.” “I hope it isn’t true.” Her voice was low and serious. “Father was talking to me—about you. And we hoped you two would succeed—this time.” Evidently her father had told her more than she cared to relate. Fair- child caught the lnflectlon in her voice but disregarded it. “I. owe you an apology,” he said bluntly. “For what?” “Last night. ' I couldn't resist ft—I forgot for a moment that you were there. But I—I hope that youll he- lieve me to be a gentleman, in spite of it.” She smiled up at him quickly. “I already have had proof of that. J—I am only hoping that you will be- lleve me—well, that you'll forget some- thing.” “You mean—" “Yes,” she countered quickly, as though to cut off his explanation. “It seemed llke a great deal. nothing at all. I would feel much hap- pier if 1 were sure you had disre- garded it.” Fairchild locked at her for a long time, studying her with his serious blue eyes, wondeflng about many things, wishing' that he knew more of women and their ways. At last he sald the thing that he felt, the straight- forward outburst of a straightforward man: “You're not going to be offended if I tell you something?" “Certainly not.” “The sheriff came along just after you had made the turn. He was look- ing for an auto bandit.” “A what?” She stared at him with wide-open, almost laughing eyes., “But you' don’t believe—" Y “He was looking for a man,” sald Fairchild quietly. “I—I told him that I hadn’t seen anytbing but—a boy. I was willing to do that' then—because T couldn’t believe that a girl like you ‘would—" Then he stumbled and halt- ed. A moment he sought speech while | she smiled up at him, Then out it came: “I—I don’t care what it was. I—I like you. Honest, I do. I liked you so much when I was’ changing that tire that I dldn't even notice it when you put the money in my hand. I—well, you're not the kind of a girl who would do anything really wrong, It might be a prank—or something like that—but it wouldn't be wrong So—so there’s an end to it.” Agnin. she laughed softly, in a way tantalizing to Robert Fairchild, as though she were making game of him. “What do you know dbout women?” she asked finally, and Fairchild told the truth, “Nothing.” “Then—" the laugh grew heartier, finally, however, to die away. The girl put forth her hand. “But I won't say what 1 was going to. It wouldn’t sound right. I hope that I--I live up to your estimation of me. At least— I'm thankful to-you-for being the jan you are. And I won't forget!” And once more her hand had rested in his—a small, warm, caressing thing in spite of the purely casual grasp of an impersonal action. Again Rob- ert Fairchild felt a thrill that was new to him, and he stood watching her un- til she had reached the motor car which had brought her to the big curve, and had faded down the hill. Then he went back to assist the sweat- ing workmen and the anxlous-faced Sam Herbenfelder. The water was down seventy feet. That night Robert Fairchild sought a few hours’ sleep. Two days after the town still divided its attention be- tween preparations for the Old Times dance and the progress in the dewater- ing of the Blue Poppy shaft. Now and then the long hose was withdrawn, and dynamite lowered on floats to the surface of the water, far below, a cop- per wire trailing it. A push of the plunger, a detonation, and a wait of long inoments; it accomplished noth- ing, and the puniping went on. If the earthly remains of Harry Harkins were below, they steadfastly refused to come to the surface. The water had fallen to the level of the drift, two hundred feet dow the pumps now were working of main flood ‘which still lay below. A day more and a day after that. The water was now only ‘a feet" high in the shaft; it meant that the whole great opening, together with the drift tunnel, soon would be dewatered to an extent sufficlent to permit of exploration. Agaln the motor cars ground up the narrow roadway. Out- side the tunnel the crowds gathered. Fairchild saw Anita Richmond and gritted his teeth at the fact that young Rodaine accompanied her. Farther in the background, narrow eyes watch- ing closely, was Squint Rodaine. Ang still farther— Continued in next issue Yet it was | { the.|' SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 18, 1922 “No, Officer, that pe- per was made in America, it is Bemidji Book & Stationery Store OPPOSITE PEOPLES OIL STATION ANNOUNCEMENT WE ARE NOW PREPARED TO FILL YOUR NEEDS RED CROWN GASOLINE ; s N At Regular Service Statidn Prices ‘: WE ALSO SPECIALIZE IN 'GENERAL REPAIR WORK AND IGNITION WORIF . " All Work Guaranteed—Prices That Satisfy Give Us a Chance at Your Next Job Nymore Garage JOHNSON, :McCULLOCH & CASTO ——:" PHONE 262 B. W. 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