NEW RICHES PROMISED.
When a week had passed Frank and his friends began to feel that all
their troubles were over, for the time being, at least. Old Joe
Crowfoot, who had been scouting in the vicinity, reported that he found
no signs of probable marauders and himself settled down contentedly to
smoke and loaf in the warm sunshine of the valley. With Dick and Felicia
near, where he could watch them occasionally or hear their voices, the
peaceful happiness of the old fellow seemed complete.
Cap'n Wiley likewise loafed to his heart's content And if ever a person
could make a whole-souled and hearty success of loafing it was the
cap'n. He became so friendly with Crowfoot that old Joe even permitted
him sometimes to smoke his pipe.
One beautiful morning the entire party was gathered in front of
Merriwell's cabin talking things over.
"There seems nothing now, Frank, to prevent us from securing miners and
opening up this new claim," said Hodge. "Macklyn Morgan seems to have
disappeared off the face of the earth."
"Perhaps he has learned that it is dangerous for a man like him to
attempt dealing with the ruffians of this part of the country," put in
Dick. "It seems certain now that he was actually carried into captivity
by the very gang he employed to seize these mines."
"But he will get free all right," declared Frank. "He will turn up again
sometime."
"If they don't kill him any," said Buckhart.
"They won't do that," asserted Merriwell. "They can make nothing out of
him in that fashion; but they might make a good thing by forcing him to
pay a large sum for his liberty."
"Well, now that everything seems all right here, Frank," said Dick, "I
suppose Brad and I will have to light out for the East and old Fardale."
"Waugh! That certain is right!" exclaimed the Texan. "We must be on
hand, pard, when Fardale gets into gear for baseball this spring."
"Baseball!" cried Wiley, giving a great start. "Why, that word thrills
my palpitating bosom. Baseball! Why, I will be in great shape for the
game this season! My arm is like iron. Never had such a fine arm on me
before. Speed! Why, I will put 'um over the plate like peas! Curves!
Why, my curves will paralyze 'um this year!"
"Ugh!" grunted old Joe. "Wind-in-the-head blow a heap. Him talk a lot
with him jaw. Mebbe him jaw git tired sometime."
"Look here, Joseph," expostulated Wiley, "I don't like sarcasm. If I
didn't love you as a brother, I might resent it."
"Great horn spoon!" cried Buckhart, scratching vigorously. "These fleas
are the biggest and worst I ever saw. You hear me murmur!"
"What, these?" squealed Wiley, in derision. "Why, these little creatures
are nothing at all--nothing at all. They just tickle a fellow up a bit.
Fleas! Say, mates, you should have seen the fleas I have beheld in my
tempestuous career. You should have seen the fleas I met up with in the
heart of darkest Africa. Those were the real thing. Don't 'spose I ever
told you about those fleas?"
And he told them a long and wonderful story about African fleas.
"Ugh!" grunted the old Indian, when Wiley had finished.
"Wind-in-the-head biggest blame liar old Joe ebber see."
Some days later, with the exception of Hodge and Crowfoot, Frank and the
rest of his party arrived in Prescott. Hodge and the aged redskin were
left, together with one of Pete Curry's men, to guard the valley after a
fashion. Besides going to Prescott for the purpose of seeing his brother
and Buckhart off, Frank had several other objects in view. With him he
brought considerable ore, taken from the quartz vein they had located in
the valley, and also a small leather pouch that was nearly filled with
dull yellow grains and particles washed from the placer mine. With these
specimens Frank proceeded direct to an assayer, who was instructed to
make an assay and give a report.
Following this, Frank set about picking up some genuine miners who knew
their business and who could be relied on. It was his purpose to keep a
few men at work on the claims while he completed the plans talked over
by himself and Hodge and arrange for the transportation to the valley of
such machinery as they needed to work the mines. As far as the placer
was concerned, this was not such a difficult problem. With the quartz
mine, however, it was quite a serious matter, as the valley was far from
any railroad and extremely difficult of access.
Frank knew very well that it would cost a big sum of money to begin
practical operations on the quartz claim, and already, for a young man
of his years, he had his hands pretty full. Hodge, however, had been
enthusiastic, and Merry felt that Bart would, with the greatest
readiness and satisfaction, remain where he could oversee everything and
carry all plans out successfully.
Merry felt that he was greatly indebted to Wiley, and he saw that the
sailor had one of the best rooms in the best hotel of Prescott and was
provided with every comfort the house could afford. This was not the
only way in which Frank intended to reward the captain.
Wiley himself was somewhat "sore" because he had declined to accompany
Frank and Bart at the time they had returned to the valley and
successfully located Benson Clark's lost mines.
"'Tis ever thus," he sighed wearily, when the matter was spoken of. "I
will bet eleventeen thousand dollars that I have lost more than a barrel
of good opportunities to become rotten with wealth during my sinuous
career. Not that I haven't felt the salubrious touch of real money to an
extensive extent, for sometimes I have been so loaded down with it that
it rattled out of my clothes every step I took. When I sauntered
carelessly along the street in days past I have shed doubloons, and
picaroons, and silver shekels at every step, and I have often been
followed by a tumultuous throng, who fought among themselves over the
coin that rained from my radiant person. Still to-day here I am broke,
busted, while the world jogs on just the same, and nobody seems to care
a ripityrap. Excuse these few lamentations and wails of woe. By and by I
will take a little medicine for my nerves and feel a great deal better."
"Don't worry over it, Wiley," said Frank, laughing. "It will all come
out in the wash. I don't think you will die in the poorhouse."
"Not on your tintype!" cried the sailor. "I propose to shuffle off this
mortal coil in a palace."
"Wiley," cried Frank, "I believe you would joke in the face of old Death
himself!"
"Why not? I regard life as a joke, and I don't propose to show the white
feather when my time comes. I will have no mourning at my funeral. I
propose to have my funeral the gayest one on record. Everybody shall
dress in their best, and the band shall play quicksteps and ragtime on
the way to the silent tomb. And then I shall warn them in advance to be
careful, if they want to finish the job, not to pass a baseball ground
where a game is going on, for just as sure as such a thing happened I'll
kick off the lid, rise up, and prance out onto the diamond and git into
the game."
"Don't you worry about what will become of you, cap'n," advised Merry.
"For all that you failed to stick by us in relocating those claims, I
fancy we shall be able to make some provisions for you."
"That's charity!" shouted Wiley. "I will have none of it! I want you to
understand that little Walter is well able to hustle for himself and
reap his daily bread. Not even my best friend can make me a pauper by
giving me alms."
"Oh, all right, my obstinate young tar," smiled Merry. "Have your own
way. Go your own course."
"Of course, of course," nodded Wiley. "I always have, and I always will.
Now leave me to my brooding thoughts, and I will evolve some sort of a
scheme to make a few million dollars before sundown."
Wiley's schemes, however, did not seem to pan out, although his brain
was full of them, and he had a new one every day, and sometimes a new
one every hour of the day. Knowing they were soon to be separated again,
Dick and Felicia spent much of their time together. It was Merriwell's
plan, of which he had spoken, to take Felicia to Denver and find her a
home there where she could attend school.
The assay of the quartz Merry had brought to Prescott showed that the
mine was marvelously rich. Beyond question it would prove a good thing,
for all of the great expense that must be entailed in working it. On the
day following the report of the assayer, Merry was writing letters in
the little room of the hotel provided for such use when a man entered,
approached him, and addressed him.
"Excuse me," said this man, who was middle-aged and looked like a
business man from the ground up. "I suppose you are Mr. Frank
Merriwell?"
"That's my name."
"Well, my name is Kensington--Thomas Kensington. Perhaps you have not
heard of me?"
"On the contrary, I have heard of you, Mr. Kensington. I believe you
have a mine in this vicinity?"
"Yes, and another in Colorado. I hear that you have lately located a
promising quartz claim. I understand that the assay indicates it is a
valuable find."
"Perhaps that's right," admitted Merry; "but I am at a loss just how you
acquired the information."
"My eyes and ears are open for such things. I am in Prescott to have a
little assaying done myself, and I happened, by the merest chance, to
hear Mr. Given, the assayist, speaking with an assistant about the
result of his investigation of your specimens. You understand that it
was barely a chance."
"I presume so," said Merry. "I don't suppose that Given would talk of
such matters publicly."
"And he did not, sir--he did not. I assure you of that. I have also
learned, Mr. Merriwell, that you have other mines?"
"Yes, sir."
"And this new claim of yours is inconveniently located at a distance
from any railway town?"
"That is correct."
"Now, I am a man of business, Mr. Merriwell, and if you care to have me
do so, I would like to investigate your property with the possibility of
purchasing this new mine of yours."
Frank was somewhat surprised.
"I am not at all certain, Mr. Kensington, that I wish to sell. Besides
that, I have a partner who would have to be consulted in the matter."
"But we might talk it over, sir--we might talk it over. Are you willing
to do so?"
"I have no objections to that."
Kensington then drew up a chair and sat down close by the desk at which
Merry had been writing.
"If I were to make you an offer for your property, on being satisfied
with it as something I want," he said, "would you consider it?"
"It's not impossible. But you must remember that my partner is to be
consulted in the matter."
"Of course, of course."
"He might not care to sell. In that case I can do nothing."
"You might use your influence."
Frank shook his head.
"I wouldn't think of that, sir. I would leave the question entirely to
Hodge, and he could do as he pleased."
"Do you fancy that there is a possibility that he might be induced to
sell in case the offer seemed an advantageous one?"
"Yes, I think it possible."
"Good!" nodded Kensington. "That being the case, we can discuss the
matter further. Do you mind showing me the report of the assayer?"
"Not at all. Here it is."
Merry took the paper from his pocket and handed it to Kensington, who
glanced over the figures and statements, lifted his eyebrows slightly,
puckered his lips, and whistled softly.
"Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Merriwell, that this assay was made from an
average lot of quartz from your mine, or was it from specially chosen
specimens?"
"Mr. Kensington, I had this assay made for myself, and not for the
public. I had it made in order that I might find out just how valuable
the mine is. That being the case, you can understand that I would not be
foolish enough to pick what appeared to be the richest ore. On the
contrary, sir, I took it as it came."
Again Kensington whistled softly, his eyes once more surveying the
figures.
"How far is this mine from the nearest railroad point?"
"Just about one hundred miles."
"And in a difficult country as to access?"
"Decidedly so," was Merry's frank answer.
"It will cost a huge sum to open this mine and operate it."
"There is no question on that point."
"Still, this report shows it will be worth it, if the vein pans out to
be one-half as promising as this assay of your specimens."
Merry laughed.
"Mr. Kensington," he said, "it is my belief that we have not fully
uncovered the vein. It is my conviction that it will prove twice as
valuable as it now seems when we get into it in earnest."
For some moments Kensington continued to whistle softly to himself. It
seemed to be a habit of his when thinking.
"Are your other mines valuable, Mr. Merriwell?"
"Yes, sir."
"As valuable as this one?"
"I believe they are."
"And you have them in operation?"
"I have one of them in operation."
"That is the Queen Mystery, I believe?"
"Then you have heard of it, sir?"
"There is not much going on in mining matters in Arizona that I have not
heard of. It's my business to keep posted. You have never thought of
selling the Queen Mystery?"
"Mr. Kensington, the Mystery is opened and is in operation. I have not
contemplated selling it, and I do not think I shall do so. If you wish
to talk of this new mine, all right. I can listen. Nothing whatever may
come of it, but I see no harm in hearing whatever you have to say."
"Now we're getting at an understanding, Mr. Merriwell. Of course, I
wouldn't think of making you any sort of an offer for your mine unless
thoroughly satisfied as to its value. I should insist on having it
inspected by men of my own choice, who are experts. Their report I can
rely on, and from that I would figure."
"That would be business-like," Merry nodded.
"And you would have no objections to that, of course?"
"Certainly not, sir. Still, you must not forget that I have a partner
who might object. It will be necessary to consult him before anything of
the sort is done."
"All right, all right. Where is he?"
"He is at the mine."
Kensington seemed somewhat disappointed.
"I was in hopes he might be in Prescott."
"He is not."
"Another point, Mr. Merriwell. Are you certain your title to this
property is clear?"
"Absolutely certain, sir."
"I am glad to hear that. Of course, I should look into that matter
likewise. Unless the title was clear, I wouldn't care to become
involved."
"In that case," said a voice behind them, which caused them both to
start slightly, "I advise you, Mr. Kensington, to let that property
alone."
Merriwell turned quickly and found himself face to face with Macklyn
Morgan!
"Morgan!" exclaimed Frank.
To the ministerial face of the money king there came a smile of grim
satisfaction, for he knew he had startled Frank.
"Yes, Mr. Kensington," he said, "you had better be careful about this
piece of business. There are some doubts as to the validity of this
young man's claim to that mine."
Kensington did not seem pleased, and immediately he demanded:
"How do you happen to know so much about it, sir?"
"Because I am interested. My name is Macklyn Morgan. It is barely
possible you have heard of me?"
"Macklyn Morgan!" exclaimed Thomas Kensington. "Why, not--why, not----"
"Exactly," nodded Morgan. "I belong to the Consolidated Mining
Association of America. You may know something of that association; it's
quite probable that you do."
"I should say so!" exclaimed Kensington, rather warmly. "I know that
it's a trust and that it has been gobbling up some of the best mines in
the country."
"Very well. You know, then, that the C. M. A. of A. makes few mistakes.
As a member of that association I warn you now that you may involve
yourself in difficulty if you negotiate with this young man for this
mine which he claims."
Frank rose to his feet, his eyes flashing with indignation.
"That will about do for you, Morgan!" he exclaimed. "I think I have
stood about as much from you as I am in the mood to stand. Mr.
Kensington, this man does belong to the Consolidated Mining Association.
That association attempted to get possession of my Queen Mystery and San
Pablo mines. I fought the whole bunch of them to a standstill and made
them back water. They have given up the fight. But after they did so
this Mr. Morgan, in conjunction with another one of the trust, did his
level best to wring the Queen Mystery from me.
"The matter was finally settled right here in the courts. They were
beaten. It was shown that their claims to my property were not worth a
pinch of snuff. Since then Sukes, this man's partner, met his just
deserts, being shot by one of his tools, a half-crazed fellow whom he
led into an infamous piece of business. This Morgan is persistent and
vengeful. He has trumped up some silly charge against me and tried to
frighten me into giving up to him my Queen Mystery or my new mine. It is
a pure case of bluff on his part, and it has no further effect on me
than to annoy me."
Both Kensington and Morgan had listened while Frank was speaking, the
latter with a hard smile on his face.
"You can judge, Mr. Kensington," said Morgan, "whether a man of my
reputation would be the sort to take part in anything of that kind. When
it comes to bluff, this young fellow here is the limit. I tell you once
more that you will make a serious mistake if you have any dealings with
him. Any day he is likely to be arrested on the charge of murder, for
there is evidence that he conspired in the assassination of my partner.
It even seems possible that he fired the fatal shot. That's the kind of
a chap he is."
"Mr. Kensington," said Frank, with grim calmness, "this man, Morgan, has
done his level best in trying to blackmail me out of one of my mines.
This murder charge he talks about he has trumped up in hopes to frighten
me; but I fancy he has found by this time that I am not so easily
frightened. I can prove that he employed ruffians to jump my claim--to
seize these new mines. We were forced to defend it with firearms. Morgan
himself tried to have me treacherously shot, but he was not the kind of
a man to deal with the ruffians he had employed, and he fell into a
trap, from which he has now somehow escaped. He was captured and carried
off by those same ruffians of his, whose object it was to hold him until
he should pay a handsome sum for his liberty. Either he has managed to
escape or he has paid the money demanded by those rascals."
Morgan laughed.
"It is not possible, Mr. Kensington, that you will believe such a
ridiculous story. I give you my word--the word of a gentleman and a man
of business and honor--that the whole thing is a fabrication."
"Morgan," said Frank, "I propose to make this statement public just as
you have heard it from my lips. If it is not true, you can have me
arrested immediately for criminal libel. I dare you to have me arrested!
If you do, I shall prove every word of what I have just said and show
you up as the black-hearted rascal you really are. Instead of having me
arrested, it is more than likely that you will employ some ruffian to
shoot at my back. I'll guarantee you will never try it yourself. If I
were to step out here now and make a similar charge against Mr.
Kensington, what would be the result?"
"By thunder!" burst from Kensington, "I'd shoot you on sight!"
"Exactly," nodded Frank. "And so would Macklyn Morgan if the statement
were false and if he dared."
Morgan snapped his fingers.
"I consider you of too little consequence to resort to any such method.
I am not a man who shoots; I'm a man who crushes. Frank Merriwell, you
may fancy you have the best of me, but I tell you now that I will crush
you like an eggshell."
As he said this his usually mild and benevolent face was transformed
until it took on a fierce and vengeful look, which fully betrayed his
true character. Quickly lifting his hand, Merry pointed an accusing
finger straight at Morgan's face.
"Look at him, Mr. Kensington!" he directed. "Now you see him as he is
beneath the surface. This is the real Macklyn Morgan. Ordinarily he is a
wolf in sheep's clothing, and it is only the clothing he reveals to
those with whom he has dealings."
Instantly the look vanished from Morgan's face, and in its place there
returned the mild, hypocritical smile he sometimes wore.
"I acknowledge that my indignation was aroused," he said. "And I know it
was foolish of me. I have said all I care to. I think Mr. Kensington
will have a care about making any negotiations with you, Merriwell. Good
day, Mr. Kensington."
Bowing to Frank's companion, Morgan coolly walked away and left the
room.