CASPER IS DISGUSTED.
"Well, you have been to that old express office again and invested
some of your hard earnings in 'old horse,' haven't you?" repeated
Jack, placing his hands on his hips and looking sullenly at the box,
which Julian placed upon the table. "Is that any way for you to save
your money?"
"No, it is not; but, Jack, I've got something in this," said Julian.
"See how nicely this box is done up----"
"I don't care to know anything about it," said Jack, turning away and
going on with his preparations of getting supper. "That is the only
thing I have against you. What do you care what is in those bundles?
If they were worth anything don't you suppose that the people to whom
they were addressed would have come after them? How much money have
you got in bank, anyway?"
"About forty dollars, I guess, including tips and everything."
"Well, I've got a hundred," said Jack. "You will never be able to go
into business by doing this way."
"Lend me your knife and talk about it afterward. I want to get these
screws out."
"Take your own knife. I don't want to have mine broken."
"Well, I want you to remember one thing, Jack. If I get anything out
of this box, it is mine entirely. You will have no interest in it."
"All right--I will agree to that."
Seeing that he must depend entirely upon himself to get his box open,
Julian took his knife from his pocket and went to work upon the
screws; but they had been put there to stay, and he finally gave it up
in disgust. Then Jack relented and came to his assistance. The strong
blade of his knife presently worked the screws loose, and the inside
of the box was revealed to them. There was nothing but a mass of
papers, which looked so ancient that Jack declared they had been
through two or three wars. He took one look at them, and then went on
with his work of getting supper.
"What's the use of fooling away your time with that stuff?" said he.
"That's all your 'old horse' amounts to. If you are going to spend
money in that way, I wish you would get something that is of some
use."
Julian did not reply. He took his box to an out-of-the-way corner
where he would not be in Jack's way, and devoted himself to the
reading of the first paper he took up.
"Who's Haberstro?" said he.
"Don't know him," said Jack.
"Here's a letter addressed to him."
"What is in it?"
"Oh, you want to know something about it, now, don't you?"
"Of course I do. If we can find out who Haberstro is, we must take the
letter to him."
Julian began and read the letter, which was written in a very plain
hand, and before he had read a page of it he stopped and looked at
Jack, while an expression of astonishment came to his face.
"Go on with it," said Jack; "we might as well know it all."
Julian "went on with it," and when he got through he had read a very
good description of a gold-mine located somewhere out West, and inside
the letter was a map which would lead anyone straight to it. There was
one thing in it that did not look exactly right, and here is the
passage that referred to it:
"They have got the story around that the mine is haunted,
but don't you believe it. I worked for almost six months in
that mine alone after my partner took sick and died, going
down into it and shovelling the dirt in, coming up and
hoisting the bucket out, and went through the process of
washing, and I never found anything to scare me yet. I took
out, with every bucketful I washed, anywhere from ten to
fifty dollars; anyway, I got fifty thousand dollars out of
it. There is one thing about it: the mine is fully five
miles from anybody's place, and in all that region you won't
find a man who will prospect anywhere near you. It shows
that all the country about Dutch Flat is not played out
yet."
A little farther on the letter spoke of the manner in which the miner
came to turn his claim over to Haberstro:
"You know that very shortly after we got there my partner
died, and was buried near the mine. Perhaps that has
something to do with the story of the mine's being haunted.
I went to work and dug in the claim alone, not knowing
anything about mining, until I made the sum that I told you
of. Finally I received a letter from some lawyer in Europe,
who told me that my father had died and left me heir to all
his wealth. He urged me to come home and settle my claim at
once, and who should my mind revert to but to you, old
fellow, who stood by me when I was sick unto death. I know
that we did not have the stamps to buy a mule-halter, but
that did not make any sort of difference to you. You stayed
at my back until I got well; and as I can't pay you in any
other way I give you this mine, hoping it will make you as
rich as it did me. More than that, for fear that the mine
may play out on you, which I don't believe, I give you the
deeds of several little pieces of property located in Denver
and vicinity, which you will find will be more than enough
to run you, even if you don't choose to go mining. For me,
nothing would suit me. You know how you used to rail at me
because I wanted to go from one thing to another. After I
had accumulated that property in Denver, I had to go and
look for claims, and that is the way I come to have this
mine.
"I send all these things to you by express, for I am in New
York, now, and all ready to sail. By the time you get them
I shall be on the deep sea. I forgot to say that the
property which I have given to you for your kindness to me
is worth, in round numbers, one hundred thousand dollars.
Take it, and live happily with it. I don't know that I shall
ever see you again; but if I do not, remember that my
blessing always goes with you."
"Well, sir, what do you think of that?" said Julian, as he folded up
the letter.
Jack Sheldon did not know what to say. He sat with a case-knife in his
hand and with one leg thrown over the table, his mouth open, and
listening with all his ears to the contents of the letter.
"I tell you that auctioneer uttered a prophecy when he said that some
miser had hidden the secret of a gold-mine inside the lid of that
box," said Julian. "He told me that when I got home and opened this
thing I would bless my lucky stars that I had come to that office to
buy myself rich."
"But there is one thing that you don't think of, Julian," replied
Jack.
"What's that?"
"That we must make every effort to find this man Haberstro."
"Yes," said Julian, with a sigh, "I did think of that. But it seems
hard to have so much money in our grasp, and then to have it all slip
away."
"Of course it does. But that is the honest way of going at it."
"Here's the deeds for a block of buildings that cost this man
twenty-five thousand dollars," said Julian, continuing to examine the
papers in the box.
"Oh, put the box away," said Jack. "And he gives it all to this man
Haberstro. We must find him, Julian, the first thing we do. Who's that
coming upstairs, I wonder?"
The boys turned toward the door, which opened almost immediately,
admitting Casper Nevins, the boy who had met Julian at the express
office. There was something about the boy that Jack did not like. He
could not have told what it was, but there are those we meet in
every-day life who have certain traits of character that excite our
suspicions. Jack had often warned Julian to keep away from him, and
the latter did not cultivate his acquaintance any more that he could
help; but, being employed in the same office that Casper was, of
course he was thrown into his company oftener than he desired.
"Good-evening, boys," said Casper. "I was on my way home, and I
thought I would drop in and see what Julian bought to-day at the
express office. You promised to show me if I would come up," he added,
turning to Julian.
"I did, and there it is," said Julian, passing over the letter. "Sit
down in this chair. We are so poor just now that we have only one
chair apiece, but when we get out to our gold-mine we shall have two
chairs."
"Ah! You have a gold-mine, have you?" said Casper, with a smile. "When
do you start?"
"Read the letter, and you will think we ought to start right away,"
said Julian, while Jack got up and proceeded with his supper. "We
think of starting to-morrow morning."
"I would like to have my hand on your coat-tail about the time you get
out there," said Casper. "Now, the question is, does the mine pay
anything?"
"Read the letter, and you will understand as much as we do."
Casper began the letter, and he had not gone far with it before he
broke out with "Jerusalem!" and "This beats me!" and "Fifty thousand
dollars!" When he had got done with the letter, he folded it up and
passed it back to Julian without saying a word.
"And that is not all of it," said the latter. "Do you see the rest of
the papers there in that box? Well, they are deeds of property which
amount to one hundred thousand dollars."
"Whew!" whistled Casper. "By gracious! You're lucky--are you not? When
do you start?"
"Laying all jokes aside, we don't intend to start at all," said Jack.
"You don't?" exclaimed Casper. "Have you got something better on
hand?"
"No, I don't know that we have; but our first hard work must be to
find this man Haberstro. It would not be right for us to keep what is
in that box without turning the city upside down in order to locate
him."
"Why, the box was sold to you, was it not?" said Casper, turning to
Julian.
"Of course it was. Didn't I pay thirty cents of my hard earnings for
it?"
"Did you agree to hunt up this man Haberstro?"
"No, because the clerks did not know where he was."
"Then I say the box and everything in it belongs to you. Undoubtedly
the man does not live here any more. He has gone somewhere else. I
would not make a precious fool of myself, if I were you. Take the
money and say nothing to nobody."
"And go out there and take possession of that property while there is
another man waiting for it?" asked Jack, with some heat.
"Yes, sir; that's what I would do."
"Then, sir, you are not honest. I am glad you don't train in my
crowd."
"I don't call it dishonest in holding fast to what you have. A hundred
thousand dollars! You would not need to go mining at all."
"We are well aware of that; but we must find out where that man
lives, if we can. After having exhausted every means to find out, then
I would consider that the property belongs to us. Julian, we will have
to see a lawyer about that."
"That's what I was thinking," said Julian.
"Well, of all the plumb dunces that ever I saw, you are the beat!"
said Casper, getting up and putting on his hat. "I tell you that if
that property was mine I would never let anyone know that I had it. I
would throw up my position to-morrow, borrow money, go out there and
take possession; and you are fools if you don't do it."
And Casper went out, slamming the door behind him.