GOOD NEWS.
For a week after Julian and Jack went to their new boarding-house they
had much to occupy their attention--so much, indeed, they did not
think of going down to the telegraph office and "swapping a few lies"
with the chief operator. Their new home charmed them in every
particular. Mr. Fay had not forgotten that _he_ had been a boy in the
not so very long ago, and the boarding-house he had chosen for them
was such as he would have chosen for himself. The boarders were young
men who, like themselves, had come out West to seek their fortunes,
and they were all employed in various avocations in the city. Jack
noticed one thing, and that was they did not run around of evenings to
any extent; or, if they did, they went down to the library, where they
spent their time in reading.
"Do you know that that is something that strikes me," said Jack one
night when they went upstairs to their room. "We ought to join the
Young Men's Christian Association."
"Have you forgotten our mine?" asked Julian.
"No, I have not; but I don't believe in going up there in winter. A
thermometer that can change so many times within twenty-four hours is
something that I want to keep clear of."
"Well, where is the money to come from?"
"Humph!" said Jack, who had not thought of that before; "that's so.
Where is it?"
The first thing the boys thought of, when they got up the next
morning, was to take a trip to the mountains. Jack was in favor of
walking. It was only twelve miles, and the amount they would have to
pay out for a horse would keep one of them a week at their
boarding-house. But Julian could not see it in that light.
"I tell you, you have never walked twenty-four miles in a day,"
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 pushing 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," asserted 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 assist 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?"
"Of course I do," replied Julian. "This is a photograph of me, and
that is my signature on the back; the other one is Jack's."
"I have been to St. Louis since you were here," Mr. Gibson went on. "I
called upon the men whose addresses you gave me, and found out all
about you. I tried my best to find Mr. Haberstro, but could not do it,
and so I have concluded that the money is yours."
"Everything?" exclaimed Julian. "The gold-mine and all?"
"Everything belongs to you," answered Mr. Gibson; and one would have
thought, from the way in which he announced the fact, that somebody
had left the fortune all to Julian. "Of course, if Mr. Haberstro ever
turns up you will have to surrender the money; but I don't take any
stock in his turning up. Julian, you now have very nearly twenty
thousand dollars coming to you."
"But Jack must have half," said Julian, earnestly. "He has stuck to me
like a good fellow, and I don't know what I should have done without
him."
"Well, then, that makes you worth ten thousand dollars apiece."
Julian drew a long breath and looked at Jack. The latter leaned his
elbows on his knees, whirled his cap in his hand, and looked at the
floor.