Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1916 — Page 7

GOLD

By STEWART EDWARD WHITE

SYNOPSIS Talbot Ward’s challenge to Frank Munroe to a personal encounter to determine •whether Munroe is fit to make a trip to California in searc/i of gold is accepted. Munroe gets a hammerlock on Ward and wljtt the bout. ■ffiey choose the Panama route. Ward, it develops, is an old campaigner. On board ship they meet Johnny Fairfax and Tank Rogers. The four become partners. Arriving at Chagres, Talbot Ward’s knowledge of Spanish and his firm treatment of the native boatmen help wonderfully. The party enters a tropical forest. They reach Gatun, and, after passing through several villages where Ward always diplomatically handles the natives, they arrive in Panama., Ward forces steamship agent to refund passage money because ship isn’t available. Yank has provided accommodations for all on board a sailing ship. They arrive in San Francisco.

CHAPTER X. Talbot Deserts. TALBOT leaned forward, and all the animation of the dinner table returned to his manner and to his face. “Boys,” said he earnestly, “this is tire most wonderful town that has ever been! There has been nothing like it in the past, and there will never be anything like it again. After I had sold out my papers I went wandering across the Plaza with my hands in my pockets. Next the El Dorado there is a hole in the ground. It isn’t much of a hole, and the edges are all caving in because it is sandy. »While I was looking at it two men came along. One was the owner of the hole, and the other said he was a lawyer. The owner offered to rent the hole to the lawyer for $250 a month, and the lawyer was Inclined to take him up. After they had gone on I paced off the hole just for fun. It was twelve feet square by about six feet deep. Then I walked on down toward the water front and talked with all the storekeepers. They do a queer business. All these goods we see around came out here on consignment. The local storekeepers have a greater or lesser share and sell mainly on commission. Since they haven’t any adequate storehouses and can’t get any put up again, they sell the stuff mainly at auction and get rid of it as quickly as possible. That’s why some things are so cheap they can make pavements of them when a ship happens to come in loaded with one article. I talked with some of them and told them they ought to warehouse a lot of this stuff so as to keep it over until the market steadied. They agreed with that, but pointed out that they were putting up warehouses as fast as they could, which wasn’t, very fast, and in the meantime the rains and dust were destroying their goods. It was cheaper to sell at auction.” “And a heap more exciting,” put in Johnny. “I went to one of them.” “Well, I wandered dow n to the shore and looked out over the bay. It was full of shipping, riding high at anchor. I had an idea. I hired a boat for $5 and rowed out to some of the ships. Believe me or not, most of them were empty, not even a watchman aboard. I found some of the captains, however, and talked with each of them. They all told the same story.” “Crew skipped to the mines, I suppose,” said Yank. “Exactly. And they couldn’t get any more. So I offered to hire a few of them.” “The captains?” I inquired. "No; the ships.” ■‘The what?" we yelled in chorus. “The ships.” •‘But if the captains can’t get crews”— “Ah, I don’t want to—<ail them,” went on Talbot impatiently. “It was hard work getting them to agree. They all cherished notions they could get crews and go sailing some more—good old salts! But I hired four at last. Had to take them for only a month, however, and had to pay them in advance five hundred apiece.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Johnny j softly, “for interrupting your pleasing tale, but the last item interested me. I do not know whether I quite heard it right.” “Oh, shut up. Johnny!” said Yank. “Let the nan toll his story. Of course he aian t have ;.ie money in his pocket. How did you get it, Tai?” Ward shot him a grateful glance. “Itold them I'd pay them at 4 o’clock which gave*me plenty of time.” “Two thousand dollars oh, of course!” murmured Johnny. “So then,” continued Talbot, “I hustled ashore and went to see some of my merchant friends. In two hours I had contracts with twelve of them that totaled $3,000.” “Why didn’t some of them go out and hire ships on their own account?” asked Yank shrewdly. “Because I didn’t mention the word ‘ship’ until I had their business,” said Talbot. “I just guaranteed them storage, waterproof, practically fireproof, dustproof and within twenty-four hours. I guess most of them thought I Was crazy, but as it didn’t cost them

anything they were willing to take a chance.” “Then you didn’t raise your SIO,OOO from them in advance payments!” I marveled. . “Certainly not. That would have scared off the whole lot of them. But I got their agreements. I told you it took me two hours. Then I walked up the street figuring where I’d get the money. Of course I saw I’d have to uiviae me pronts. i didn't know anybody, but after awhile I decided that the best chance was to get some advice from an honest and disinterested man. So I asked the first man I met who ran the biggest gambling place in town. He told me Jim Becket” “Jim Becket?” I echoed. “He’s the man I was to leave change for my gold slug with.” “Becket keeps the El Dorado, next door in the tent. He Impressed me as a very quiet, direct, square sort of a fellow. The best type of professional gambler in matters of this sort generally is. “‘I am looking for a man,’ said I, ‘who has a little idle money, some time, no gold mining fever, plenty of nerve and a broad mind. Can you tell me who he is?’ “He thought a minute and then answered direct, as I knew he would. “ ‘Sam Brannan,’ he said. “ ‘Tell me about him.’ “ ‘To take up your points,’ said Becket, checking off his fingers, ‘he came out with a shipload of Mormons as their head, and he collected tithes from them for over a year. That’s your Idle money. , He has all the time thl Lord stuck into one day at a clip. That’s your “some time.” He has been here in the city since ’4B, which would seem to show he doesn’t care much for mining. He collected the tithes from those Mormons and sent word to Brigham Young that if he wanted the money to come and get it That’s for your nerve. As for being broad mindedwell, when a delegation of the Mormons, all ready for a scrap, came to him solemnly to say that they were going to refuse to pay him the tithes any more, even if he was the California head of the church, he laughed them off the place for having been so green as to pay them as long as they had.’

“I found Sam Brannan finally at the bar in Dennison’s Exchange.” “What was he like?” asked Johnny eagerly. “I’ll bet I heard his name fifty times today.” “He is a thickset, jolly looking, curly headed fellow, with a thick neck, a bulldog jaw and a big voice,” replied Talbot. “Of course he tried to bully me, but when that didn’t work he came down to business. We entered, into an agreement. “Brannan was to furnish the money and take hall? the profits, provided he liked, the idea. When we had settled it all I told him my scheme. He thought it over awhile and came in. Then we rowed off and paid the captains of the ships. It ■was necessary now to get them warped in at high tide, of course, but Sam Brannan said he’d see to that. He has some sort of a pull with the natives, enough to get a day’s labor, anyway.” “Warp them in?” I echoed.

“Certainly. You couldn’t expect the merchants to lighter their stuff off in boats always. We’ll beach these ships at high tide and then run some sort of light causeway out to them. There’s no surf, and the bottom is soft. It’ll cost us something, of course, but Sam and I figure we ought to divide three thousand clear.” “I’d like to ask a question or so,” said I. “What’s to prevent the merchants doing this same hiring of ships for themselves?” “Nothing,” said Talbot, “after the first month.” “And what prevented Brannan, after he had heard your scheme, from going out on his own hook and pocketing all the proceeds?” “You don’t understand, Frank,” said Talbot impatiently. “Men of our stamp don’t do those things.” “Oh!” said I. « “This,” said Johnny, “made it about 2 o’clock, as I figure your story. Did you then take a needed rest?” “Quarter of 2," corrected Talbot. “I was going back to the hotel when I passed that brick building—you know, on • Montgomery street. I remembered then that lawyer and his $250 for a hole in the ground. It seemed to me there was a terrible waste somewhere. Here was a big brick building filled up with nothing but goods. It might much better be filled with people. Thete is plenty of room for goods in those ships, but you can’t very well put people on the ships. So I Just dropped in to see them about it 1 offered to hire the entire tipper part of the building and pointed out that the lower part was all they could possibly use as a store. They said they needed the upper part as storehouse. I offered to store the goods in an accessible safe place. Of course they wanted to see the place, but 1 wouldn’t let on, naturally, but left it subject to their tpnroval after the lease was signee The joke of it is they were way overstocked anyway. Finally I made my grand offer. “ ‘Look here,’ said I, ’you rent me that upper story for a decent length of time—say a year—and I'll buy out the surplus stock you’ve got up there at a decent/ valuation.’ They jumped at that. Of course they pretended not to, but just the same they Jumped. I’ll either sell the stuff by auction, even at a slight loss, or else I’ll stick it aboard a ship. Depends a good deal on what Is there, of course. It’s mostly bale and box goods of some sort or another. I've got an Inventory in my pocket Haven’t looked at it yet. Then I’ll partition off that wareroom and rent it out for offices attd so forth. There are a lot of lawyers and things In thia town Just honing for something

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dignlfleiT and stable. I only pay three thousand a month for it” Johnny groaned deeply. “Well,” persisted Talbot, “I figure on getting at least eight thousand a month out of It That’ll take care of a little loss on the goods, if necessary. I’m not sure a loss is necessary.” “And how much, about are the goods?” I inquired softly. “Oh. I don’t know! Somewhere be:

"In two hours I had contracts with twelve of them.”

tween ten and twenty thousand, I suppose.” “Paid for how and when?” “One-third cash and the rest in notes. The interest out here is rather high,” said Talbot regretfully.

“Where do you expect to get tne money?” I insisted. “Oh, money, money!” cried Talbot, throwing out his arms with a gesture of impatience. “The place is full of money. It’s pouring in from the mines, from the world outside. Money’s no trouble!” He fell into an Intent reverie, biting at his short mustache. I arose softly to my feet. “Johnny,” said I in a strangled little voice, “I’ve got to give back McGlynn’s change. Want to go with me?” We tiptoed around the comer of the building and fell into each other’s arms with shrieks of Joy. “Oh,” cried Johnny at last, wiping the tears from his eyes, “money’s no trouble!” After we had to some extent relieved our feelifigs we changed my gold slug into dust—l purchased a buckskin bag —and went to find McGlynn. Our way to his quarters Jed past the postoffice, where a long cue of men still waited patiently and quietly in line. We stood for a few moments watching the demeanor of those who had received their mall or who had been told there was nothing for them. Some of the latter were pathetic and looked fairly dazed with grief and disappointment We found Yank and Talbot still at the edge of the hotel veranda. “Look here, Tai,” said Johnny at onoe, “how are you going tb finish all this business you’ve scared up and get off to the mines within a reasonable time? We ought to start pretty soon.” “Mines?” echoed Talbot “I’m not going to the mines! I wouldn’t leave all. this for a million.mines. No; Yank

and I have been talking It over. You boys will have to attend to the mining end of this business. I’ll pay Frank’s share and take a quarter of the profits, and Frank can pay me In addition half his profits. In return for the work I don’t do I’ll put aside $220 and use It In my business here, and all of us will share in the profits I make from that amount. How does that strike you?" "I don’t like to lose you out of this,’’ said Johnny disappointedly. “Nor I,” said I. “And I hate to lose the adventure, boys,’’ agreed Talbot earnestly. “But, honestly, I can’t leave this place now even If I want to, and I certainly don’t want to.” I turned In that night with the feeling that I had passed a very Interesting day. (To be continued.)

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