The Haunted Mine Part 21

remarked the latter. "I have done it many a time, but I am not going to do it now, when there is no need of it."

"You act as though you had that money in your hands already," retorted Jack. "Now, I'll tell you what's a fact: I am going to have the same trouble with you that I had in St. Louis. There won't be any 'old horse' for you to spend your money on, but you will squander it in some other way."

"You will see," said Julian, with a laugh. "Come on, now; I am going to get a saddle-horse--one that can take me out there in an hour."

Jack reluctantly yielded to his companion, who made his way toward a livery-stable which he had seen when they came to their boarding-house. There they engaged a couple of saddle-horses which seemed to know what they were expected to do, for when allowed the rein they put off toward the mountains, and went along at a brisk pace. Jack could not get over grumbling about hiring horses to do what they could do themselves, but Julian did not pay the least attention to it. When they had gone a long distance on the road they met a teamster, and of him Jack inquired how many miles they had yet to travel to reach their destination.

"Them mountains?" asked the man, facing about in his seat. "They are a matter of six miles from here."

"If I had a good start for a run I believe I could jump that far,"

said Jack.

"Yes, it does look that way," said the man; "but it would be a mighty lengthy jump for you. I guess you are a tenderfoot--ain't you?"

"I never was so far West as this in my life."

The man had evidently heard all that he wanted to hear, for he started his team, smiling and nodding his head as if to say that Jack would learn more about distances on the prairie before he had been there long.

The distance was fully as great as the boys expected to find it; and, when they drew up in front of a little hotel in the foothills, the mountains seemed to be as far off as ever. The proprietor came to the door, bid them good-morning in his cheery way, and asked if there was anything that he could do for them.

"How far off are those peaks from here?" questioned Jack.

"Twenty miles," said the man. "You are not going out there to-day, are you?"

"Why, the folks in Denver told us that the mountains were twelve miles away," said Jack, greatly surprised.

"Well, you are twelve miles from Denver now. These little hills here are the beginning of the mountains."

"I guess you may feed our horses and give us some dinner, and then we will go back," said Julian. "Well, Jack, we've seen the mountains."

"Yes, and laid out six dollars for the horses besides," replied Jack, in disgust. "The next time you want anything to carry you, we will go on foot."

The man laughed heartily as he took charge of their horses, and the boys went into the hotel, where they found a fire on the hearth, and were glad to draw up close to it.

"I declare, I did not know it was so cold," said Julian. "I suppose it is warm enough in St. Louis. How high is that city above the sea-level?"

"I don't know," answered Jack, who could not get over the feeling that those people in Denver had played too much on his credulity. "Twenty miles! I guess we won't go up to the top of those mountains, yet a while, and look for California. I wish those horses were back in the stable where they belong."

"We will have them back there in three hours," answered Julian, "and if you don't want me to hire any more horses, I won't do it."

The boys got back to Denver without any mishap, and after that they were eager to see the city. Jack did not have anything to grumble about during the week that followed, for they went on foot, and there were no horses hired. Finally, after viewing all the fine buildings that were to be seen, they thought of the telegraph operator, and decided to take him in the next day; so on Monday they presented themselves at his office. Mr. Fay was there; and, unlike Mr. Wiggins, he did not seem to have much to do, for he was sitting in an easy-chair, with his feet perched upon the desk in front of him, playing with a paper-cutter. The boy who came forward to attend to their wants seemed to have made up his mind that Mr. Fay was the man they wanted to see, and so he conducted them into his private office.

"Halloo! boys," he cried, taking down his feet and pus.h.i.+ng chairs toward them; "you are here yet, are you? Have you been out to look at your gold-mine?"

"No, sir," replied Julian; "we could hardly go out there and come back in a week--could we?"

"No, I don't believe you could. I have been thinking about you,"

continued Mr. Fay, depositing his feet on the desk once more, "and if you know when you are well off you won't go out there this fall. I was talking with a man who has come in from Dutch Flat, and he says it is getting most too cold up there to suit him. He has made a heap of money, and has come here to spend it. I suppose that is what you will be doing when you get to work out there--make all you want in summer, and come here in winter and spend it."

"No, sir," a.s.serted Julian, emphatically; "we have worked hard for what little money we have, and we know how to take care of it. I thought it would not make any difference to us how cold it was if we were working under the ground; I thought you said something like that."

"Certainly, I said so," affirmed Mr. Fay; "but you will have to take provisions with you to last you six months. If you don't, you will get snowed up in the mountains; the drifts will get so deep that you can't get through them."

"I did not think of that," said Julian.

"Well, you had better think of it, for if you get up there, and get blocked by drifts, my goodness!--you will starve to death!"

"Did you say anything to the man about our claim up there?"

"No, I did not, for I did not know where it was located. I will tell you what you can do, though. He is going back in the spring, and he can a.s.sist you in getting everything you need."

"We are very much obliged to you for saying that," responded Jack, who felt that a big load had been removed from his and Julian's shoulders.

"I am only speaking of what I know of the man," remarked Mr. Fay.

"Miners are always ready to help one another, and I know he will do that much for you. I will tell you where you can see him. Do you know where Salisbury's hotel is?"

The boys replied that they did not. They had been all over the city, but did not remember having seen any sign of that hostelry.

"Well, I will go with you," said Mr. Fay "Come around about two o'clock and we'll start. By the way, that lawyer has got back."

"What lawyer, and where has he been?"

"I mean Gibson--the lawyer that you employed to do your business for you. He has been to St. Louis."

"Good enough!" exclaimed Jack. "He has found out by this time more than we could tell him."

"I saw him last night just as he got off the train, and he desired me to tell you, if I happened to see you before he did, that he would be glad to see you around at his office as soon as you could get there,"

said Mr. Fay. "So you can run down there as soon as you please. You know where he hangs out--don't you?"

Yes, the boys were certain they could find his office without any help, and arose and put on their caps. They told Mr. Fay they would be sure to come around at two o'clock, to go with him to call upon the miner who had recently come from Dutch Flat, bade him good-bye, and left the office.

"What do you think of the situation now?" asked Julian, as they hurried along toward the place where the lawyer "hung out." "Are you still sorry that I bid on that 'old horse?'"

"I only hope there will be no hitch in the business," said Jack. "If he should ask us some questions that we could not answer--then what?"

"We will tell him the truth," said Julian. "He can't ask us any questions that we can't answer. Claus and Casper could go in on telling lies, but that way would not suit us."

As the boys had taken particular note of the location of Mr. Gibson's office, they went there as straight as though they had been in Denver all their lives, ran up the stairs to the first floor, and opened the lawyer's door. Mr. Gibson was there, as well as two men whom he was advising on some law-point they had brought to him to clear up. When the boys came in he stopped what he was saying, jumped up, and extended a hand to each of them.

"I was coming around in search of you fellows as soon as I got through with these men," said he. "How have you boys been, out here, so far away from home? Please excuse me for fifteen minutes or so."

The boys took the chairs he offered them, and for a few minutes kept track of what he was saying; but that did not last long. It was about a fence that a neighbor of the two men had built, but which their cattle had broken down, and they were anxious to get out of a lawsuit for the field of wheat their cattle had ruined. They heard the lawyer advise them, honestly, that they must either compromise the matter or get into a lawsuit, in which case they would have to pay full damages; and while he was talking to them he proved that he was a man who could do two things at once. He opened a drawer and took out two photographs, which he compared with the boys, one after the other. It did not take him long to decide upon this business, and then he devoted himself to the question of fences again.

"It is as plain as daylight to me," said he, as he arose to his feet.

"Your cattle broke the fence down, went in, and ate up the man's wheat. It was a good, strong, staked-and-ridered fence, too. There are only two ways out of it: Yon can either settle the matter with him, or you can go to law; and if you do that, you will get beaten."

One of the men then asked him how much he charged for his advice, and when he said "Five dollars," the boys cast anxious glances at each other. If he charged that way for advising a man to keep out of law, what price would he demand for taking care of one hundred thousand dollars? Mr. Gibson showed them to the door, bowed them out, and then turned to the boys.

"I ought to have charged that man ten dollars," he declared, with an air of disgust. "He is always in a row; he never comes here to seek advice but that he wants to beat somebody. Do you recognize these pictures?"