THE STORY-TELLER,

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 62, 10 September 1904, Page 10

THE STORY-TELLER,

fhe Tale 9f the Bluebird Mine* The white pooka were fading into the darkening east, and the mist which rises »t sunset rolled like oleum among the pinks, when Henry Jardino gat talking ■with Eva Tounnaino on a hillside of British Columbia, outside her father's ranch. Tourmiune owned land* and cattle as well as mining stock, and at first was not pieced when his only daughter, who might have made a brilliant match in ' Victoria, smiled upon Sardine. The ■ ]tattor hod studied engineering theoretically before ho left the old conn try, and •iter a very mixed experience in the "Canadian Dominion had purchased a ■mall holding on mortgage in that valley. Tourroaine hinted that it would lake him ten yearn to clear it sufficiently to make a poor living, but Jardine Jl&id he did not intend to uy. Be exp#cted there would be mineral doveloppMjnLs presently. The rancher slowly changed bis opinions when Jardine ere|lit4b»y executed contracts for building rude bridges and blowing rocks cloar off now wagon roads, and finally agreed that when Jardino could accumulate 4000 dol.lari and build a decent homo ho might claim Eva, who would not gp to him portionless. < "My daughter shall wot wear herself down trying to do a man's work in the .bush as her poor mother did. It's bettor Jto do without the good things than got them too late," he said with sigh. "So If you want ,her use ail the grit that's in you. You can t get much for nothing in \hiif world, Harry." Jardlne bad dono his best, and as he ' |eaut over the back of Eva's chair, hard »nd lean, and brown, but a handsome mau and vigorous from the clean ljfe of the woods withal, he looked back ou tho .ptruggle as wall a* out acroba the valley. One anew poak still flamed crimson in the last glow from the west, but' intensified by the song of the river the hush of ibe summer evening brooded heavily over tho darkened earth below. "What are you thinking of, Harry? You are very quiet," mid tho girl, looking up at him from under long, dark loehet, while Abe light from an .open win- _ dow touched her winsome face, ripened into wjw-m blood by mountain wjnd and •un. '-" - ' . ■ ' "I was thinking of tha 'first day I saw and remembering how you hired me ft the railway to pack in a box for you," Jardine, smiling ; and Eva •oloured." ■ - ' • ** "Don't. That isn't kind," eha said. ;^How vw 1 to know, Harry? And you feftlhr looked «o — -~" "Jyike a wandering hobo. Well, thai. -Vac what 1 was," interposed Jardine. And thia time, Eva laughed as ehe answered :— "No. I was going to say— hungry," "I was hungry often in those days," mid Jardine, a little grimly. "1 am fometimes tired now. Tilings havo gono dead agajnot me lately, but we have our legal improvements on the mine almost 'complete, * There is no doubt about the tichqeis of the ore, and the Vancouver folks will finance me as soon as I get the patent. Then— — " > Eva bliwhed prettily and turned away her head. But she had inherited her father's shrewdness, and said : "It is a pity you did not take my advice instead «f delaying the development work so long." "We hardly thought the claim 'worth exploiting until that Vancouver broker came along and offered us 500 dollars to «ieax out. That gave us a hint, fox we gue«*ed the old Kootenay miner who drilled for us knew him. Aa you know, It was shortly afterward we found — what we did. I hadn't a ohance to tell you (hat the broker fellow offered 2000 dollar* recently. It's a close race to get ' the legal improvements in, but nobody about here would jump us." ■ ■ "No," and Eva looked serious, "I don't think they would ; but I would be afraid of that city man, Harry." ' "I am afraid of waiting any longer for Eva Tourmaino," was Jardine's answer. "The mine will give me a fair start toward prosperity, and it would break my heart to lose it. We havo been working sight und day, and only need to put in tho timber ready to constitute sufficient improvement. In fact, I must stay with the work' until I get the Crown grant, •n'3 come back to olaim you—victorious." . , ' He straightened his tall frame wearily, n And then aa he stooped to kiss her, Eva ■aid : ' '"You look" worn, Harry. I shall cowft the hours until the work is done." _ ,„ Jardine tramped back down the wind- . ing valley, blundering over fir roots and jnto t&ckets, for he had toiled with crosscut saw all the preceding Sn\sit,"'£6& liia. ejea were heavy from * want of sleep. This, perhaps, explained why he did not , notice that a thicker vapour than the mist rolled up above the rajrjgfacs on th£ shoulder of a hill. The «r- wwl^Bo w lie&vy"wHrh the* smell 6f b*sning, but bush fires wore common at t&tfc season. At lost, however, he halted with iv shock of consternation, for tho grgat trunks' on -the rise before him were wijfcouetted hi ebony against a sea of Swine, and" then, forgetting his fatigue, hi beoke into a' breathless run. A bush fica of ttter fiercest' kind raged about the Bjtoebhii mrne. - - - -When ho reeled panting into the clear-" ing where his camp* hod be.on, tent and tool-shed had gone, while heap* of glowing embers fanned into flame marked where the great hewn-down trunks had lain in swaths. The timber bad been intended for use in the mino. The forest crackled all round, streamers of flamo hUDg' themselves from rcsinoua branch to branch, and red tongues of fire licked up to the topmoat spra^a of the giant cedars. The heat was that of a furnace, but Jardine pushed on through it until he found His_ grizzled partner standing blackened all "over, -snaking' his clenched fist At the blaze" arid choking out strange expletives. "Are the sawn props safe?" he asked, hoarsely. "Gone!" growled Miner Marston. "Bvery blame one of them. We're burnt out, ruined, busted. The very drills are melting, and there's a jtyn of 200-foot hemlocks right over the adit. I lit out to meet Freighter David bringing tho powder in, and when I came back the whole bush woe blazing." "It's all up/ Bftid Jardine, whose face turned a curious gray under the fitful glare M he »at down limply, mopping tHe sweat from his foreheaq» and ;f or several minutes there was only the roar of the fire. Then, because he was a Ban* guine- man, who had faced disaster before, he caught, aL a faint hope, adding: "It's cruel h»rd luck. Still, none of the folks round- here would bo mean enough to jump ii» before we've straightened things up. Accidents will happen, and '."Accidents be blamed !" growled Marston. "This isn't an accident. Some of them thieves who gave out they were hunting, timber rights have burnt us out, nnd the - company man in Vancouver etarted them in. Can't you smell kerosene on this? And see hero!" Mantton held out a half-burnt rag and

a couple of unused matohes before ho continued : "Storekeeper Pierro don't sell that kind. We use tsilcnt smellers here. Crown mining recorders stand liko cnatiron by the law, and says the law — If joq'vo not pat your legal improvements on your claim in timo, anybody can relocate .it', iiegrin to cnteh on, oh? Bush fire* are common, aren't they? And them scoundrels, knowing it, have burnt us out so we can't put through tho improvements before they jump us," Jardino said nothing for a space, only set his tooth and clonched his hard right hana, recognising that a very cunning enomy had outwitted him. He also knew that the poor man who fights an unscrupulous capitalist over a disputed claim generally goos under. But ho was a stubborn man, who, dealing justly wjtii others, clung grimly to his right*, and there wns nn ominous flash in his gray eyes whon he answered at last s-~ "Then thoy shall fight for it. I'm not going to lie down while any man robs mo, nnd If they want tho claim they must lake it — the best way thoy can. Start now ior Vancouver, borrow 600 dollars from our frionds thoro, and pay it into Crown officos as composition for work not dono. Then get hold of lawyer ISlmore and stand by to strike tho rascally urokor for conspiracy." \ "And what nro you figuring to do?" asked Maraton, and Jardine answorod quietly : — "Stay here and stand all jumpers off the claim." The elder man looked at tho speaker approvingly, but ho shook his head. "There s sand in you, but it won't work out that way, ana the law's too strong to buck agamst," he said. "It's forty miles to the railway, nnd by the timo I got there the Pacifio express would bo through. It's too lato for the composition already. You'ro young and innocent; Harry, or I guess you'd know how tho case would go if you started to bluff off with two matches mine riggers who could put down 10 dollars for every cent we show," "Thon," said Jardino hoarsely, "is thoro nothing we can do?" "Not much, 'cept to sleep over it. May bo we'll soo ught in tho morning; we're badly playod out now." It sounded absurd counsel, but Marston was right, for suspenso with hope is torture while a beneficent Providence decreos that definite disaster often brings with it mental numbness which blunts tho victim's sonses. Thoreforo, whon Jardine, who -had mocked at the thought of sleep, rolled the Uncle blanket round' him among a hemlock's roots ho found tho scent of -cedars 'even more soothing than tho boom of the river, which scorned drifting ' him away to a peaceful region wherein claim jumpers were un.known. when he awoke golden sunlight touched the cold white peaks, dew glinted like diamonds on every cedar spray, and the world scorned fresh and beautiful until he remembered what ho ha dto do; then all tho brightness faded, Jardine plodded moodily, towards Tourmaine's ranch, and found Eva undor tho yorandah. Tho sunlight kissed her faqe into brighter colour, Heightened tho shy ploasuro in her oyos and the sparkle in her hair, and the- man groaned inwardly. Then Eva started aq she saw his faco. "You have had a misfortune with the mino?" she said. "We havo lost it. Wo aro going to make a last stand, but all hope has gono!" said Jardine, huskily, . Then the girl listened .breathlessly to ,his'hurried words until she clenched ono hand as ho concluded : "I shall stay unlit tho curtain comes down, arid . (lion go. away to somo place whero a poor man has better chances than in this valloy. How could I stay horo to be a reproach to you?— and it may bo years before I have a home to otter you. Some day I shall win the dollars, porhaps too late, but, moantimo, after tho loss over Fuller's dam, I am a hopelessly ruined man. Heaven knows how this hurts me, but I must do the right thing, and, Eva, can't you sco?" "What would you do if you wonthoso dollars .'" asked tho 'girl with a wave of colour in her face. "Come back if it was from across the world, to Tourmaino's ranch," said tho man, in a voice that was strainod and hoarse. "And find me waiting," said Eva, with a catch in hor breath, "whothor you come soon or lato. It is perhaps well you should go, Harry, but whon you return, with or without tho dollars, it will make no difference. Two to make a bargain, sweethoart, and two to break it — and I hold you fast. There, you can let your exaggerated sense of honour rest. It is all uecided. But promise, even if those unprincipled men rob you, you will uso no violence. "Rob me!" sa!U Jardino, presently. "Are they not robbing you!" And Eva said softly : — "Hash ! Havo you not forced mo to speak plainly enough? You are rash and 'stubborn, Harry, Dut tho rrfoii behind them aro too strong for you. You musi promise" v "I promise, unless they use forco," said Jardine, reluctantly. "Hoavon bless you, Eva, for your faith in me !" And presently comfortod, he rode back to ramp on one of Tourmnine's best horsos he had a reason for borrowing. The partners held a counsel, and Jardine said : "Our time runs out at midnight, and Evans has promised to restako the claim for us. Ho would take his chances with tno jumpers, and when we haa fought the lawsuit step out again." "Mighty poor chances!" said Marston. "They'll havo all fixed \ready — .fast horso rolays, if wantod, a locomotivo, and so they'd boat our man to the recorder's easily. Lawsuit 1 They'll buy onough witnessos and bring them along,. to. rbr?^u«' before we'd?a}raost ' bettun." " * ' ' Jardine, answering nothing, starod across the valley. > A swift, snow-fed river came roaring down betwoen tho long ranks of . climbing pines, swung in a mad, whitestreaked whirling round a deep, rock-wotled pool, and then plunged with a muffled thunder intq n .'great rift between the ranges. Eight loagucs ovor tho high pass on the further side tho railway stretched back to civilisation, but ford thoro .was none, nnd the trail wound round several leagues furthor by a rude log briclgo, Tho claim is rocorded in your muno ; there is nothing to prevent me relocating it," he said; and Marslon nodded. ''No; the fnct that you found tho monoy don't count. But what's tho difference between you nnd tho other fellows we could trn«t to?" "Just this," said Jardine. "If I can record first the claim is mino, and I would tftko risks no money could tempt them" to. I could get a long start by swimmincr tho river," "Have you gone mad?" asked Marston. "It's a flood, not a river, and no living man has ever swum it.hero." "Thttt is probably because no man has ever tried to, Jardino answered quietly. "I'm tirod of failing, ' and I'm tired of being poor. Besides, you ought to know my prize is worth any man staking his hfo for." Further discussion followed, until Marston agreed that thero was method in his comrade's madness, and walked out to meet the scattered neighbours who had promised to attend as witnesses or allies in case of necessity. It was dusk when he returned with them, and found his partner carefully rubbing clown Tourmaine's horse, a big stauncn beast of pedigree. Then,- as the lingering darkness foil, Jardine lay down lo rest, but not to sleep, This time every nerve wns strung urt nnd the suspeneo intense. Tho neighbours nnd Mnrston Rat smoking about a firo, and the red light which flickered athwart the char-

rod trunks showed their faces were oxpactant until ifc paled as a broad, silver disc sailed up behind a shoulder of tha rango. Tho wholo misty vaUoy seomod to vibrato with tho roar of tbo river, for tho drainago of loagucs of snowfieMs was pouring that way in mad hurry to tho sea. Jardine, ns ho noticed the Bidelong glances towards him, folt ho could understand the feelings of n condemned felon the night boforo he plo-Vcd tho loading part in the spectacle of a public oxocution. At last a thud of horsehoofs trembled through the woods, and there was a sound of wheels crunching over .rooky outcrop, also wild language, apparently whon tnoy sank in the softer places. "Tlio jumpers are coming," said somebody. Two men rode into the moonlight presently, leaving shadowy figures about tho wagon behind them, and Marston stood up, leaning on his rifle. "Got off our claim boforo wo put you," he said. "Anything to oblige!" was the answer. "Don't want a fuss. It's yours for half nn hour or bo, and then wo purpose to rostako it for you. There are six of us, all certificated miners, and quite ready to maintain our rights." "Miners!" repeated Marston, with unutterable scorn. "A common thief's roust-aboats, you mean. Anyway, you'll wait until fcho time's up, or vvo'll hurt ono or two of yon." "We want to save you trouble," answored tho ofchoT, with a grin. "Tho first man to got this rocord in will win, and we've an express service ready laid on. Do you hold anything to beat it?" "Get off tho claim," said Marston, sullenly. Jardino rose as the others withdrew, carefully tightened tho saddle girth, then took up four square pegs and a ham,mor," ami stood quivering with busponso boside a man who held out a watch. Very shortly his . turn would come. The minutes passed very slowly ; tho others whispered hoaraoly about him until thero wero footsteps in tho bush, and a strained voice said — "Time I Pull the otakes up." There was a njiih for tho first boundary post, but ns Marston pulled ono peg out Jardino drove anothor, marked No. 1, Discovery," in. A scuffle took place at tho next, but he was first again, and tho remaining corners woro staked simultaneously. Then, amid a derisive howling, ho shouted— "Boar witness, I, Henry Jardine, froo minor, have legally relocated tho Bluebird claim." One man flung himself into tho saddle. Jardino did the same, two leaped into the wagon, and, as with a quickening beat of hoofs and whirr of wheels tho cavalcade swept reckloisly down tho trail, Marston'a roar broke through the mocking cries of the /est and the ranchors' choers, "Ride for your life, Harry. Good luck to you!" .For a apace friend and foe rodo level, rnuzzlo to muKisle, and tail to tail, dropping the jolting wagon behind ; then Jardine. driving his beast at a screen of bracken, vanished among tho pines, leaving his rivals bewildered. "I figured he'd have mado a better race for it," Baid one. It was a steep slopo to tho river, matted with salmon-berry, slippery with shale ; but he went down it At a gallop, swaying low in the saddle to clear odd branchos drooping between the great columnar trunks. He was out on the under tho moon with the flood roaring past him toward the pool, nnd the snorting beast went in with a plunge, as he drove the red spurs home. Jardino, who cleared his feet from tho stirrups, slipped from the saddle when iho battering hoofs lost their grip on stone, loosed the bridle, and twinea ono hand in the mane, shifted it to the saddle, and saw nothing but frothing ridges whilo he trusted the bruto's instinct to take it safo across. Whether tie swam or was merely towed he was never cortain, but nt least tho water supported him, and the horso, which was used to shallower rivers, managed tho steering, though now ana then when thoy swung togotner across a smoother eddy ho could sco the dark pines sliding vory quickly up stream, and he knew the big whirlpool lay ominously clone bolow. But most of the time froth and wator beat into his eyes, nnd the water was cold with the deathly chill of the glaciers ; so at last it was with a gasp of for vent thankfulness that ho heard sliding shinglo rattle boneath tho hoofs, and, dropping his own foet, ho gripped the bridle and floundered shorowards waist-deep in walor. He was in tho saddlo next moment, crashing at headlong gallop through the harsh swamp grosses towards tho forest, while, whon he swept into a narrow, tunnol-Hke trail, a half-scon man dragged two horsos clear of it, and a voice cnod : "Well done, well done! Don't sparo tho beast, Jnrdine." As he rushed past like a whirlwind a slender, white-robed figure waved a hand to him, and the rider's chilled blood stirrod within him, for it was Tourmaino's voice which encouraged him, and ho spared neither the beast nor himsolf. ' All trails are bad in that region, but the one in question led over a hog-backed spur, which no mounted man could pass in broad daylight, whilo overy minute was precious. Jardine hnd calculated that he could just catch tho Pacific express and reach Yale at least boforo his rivals made the long horseback journey to another mining recorder's station. They had taken it for granted no man could swim the river. At last he dismounted, and, so ho afterward said, pulled the horse up almost vertically a mile, and once, whon he tried to shove it, was badly kicked for his pains. Any one not used to them would find it difficult to negotiate most British Columbian passes without a ropo and alpenstock ; out thoy went up, over slippery outcrop .and under climbing pines, through stunted juniper, and across broad bolts of treacherous ahalo, until tho spectral peaks, now bare of timber, loomed out above thorn in unearthly majesty, and Jardino wondered in the pale light of dawn how he was ever to get down into the valley. Neither did ho remember how it was done, though once a branch flung him out of the saddlo heavily, and tho horso also rolled over, nearly crushing him, but at last, »mn.ihing through thickets and floundering amid giant brackon, thoy gainod a nnrrow trail, and tho boast responded gallantly to his last appeal. The sunlight was clear on tho valley, and low, shingled roofs rose up ahead, whon a trail of white- vapour that moved swiftly appeared round the shoulder of a hill, ana Jnrdino, who dare show no inorcy, drove the clotted spurs in again. Tho roofs rose higher ana higbor among tho sombre firs; twinkling metal and lines of glass showod benoath tho advancing plume of smoke, and the rattlo of Hying wheels quivorcd across tho pines, while the horae was blundering tn its stride and tho sweat stood, bended on tho rider's forehead. But just as tho great .mountain locomotive came snorting into tbo little station they reolcd, smoking, panting, whitened by lather, and flocked red by dust, through tho stroet of the woodon sottlomont, and Jardine. dropping from tha anddlo, flung thb bridlo into a startled lounger's hand. "Ten dollars if you food nnd take tho. boast back to Tourmaino of Red Cedar," he shouted. His knooa felt useless undor him, but just ns the cars lurched out he rhnrgod into the depot at a shambling run, nnd dulching at a handrail, swung himself on to the platform of tho last ono, where ho sat down, and for nuarly a tninuto fancied ho was choking, "Is it a wngor or a fortune you were riding fort" asked tho conductor, grinning. "Something worth more than a fortune," gasped Jnrdine. The big express stopped somo minutes nt Yale, and Jnrdico, who learnt that no niiuing olliciul wa3 present, had timo

to send a telegram to the Crown offices at Vancouver boforo ho Vrcni on there with the train. Ho hurried strniglrt to the Chiof Recorder's office whon ho reached the seaport city, and a soldiorlyJookmg genUeman stared with mild ,B\irpriso as the haggard, dislwivoHod, ami travol-sbaincd miner was ushorrd in, " Mt. Jnrdino, who wired us? A disputed claim, I presume?" ho said. "I ' am ready to consider any particulars yon can give me." Jardino told tho wholo story unreservedly, and the listener made a few notoa during tho narrative. It was a j fairly common story to him, for there is frequently litigation over a successful mine, and perhaps ns often over those i that fail. lie had also a long experience 1 of the miner's character, and, though he did not say so, fully beliovod Jardino. "Wo shall doubtless hear from your rivals through tho District- Recorder," he said, with a quiot smile. "You did well to come direct to mo. But tho application may requiro consideration, < for while one's sympathy may bo with tho discoverers tho law is stringent, and you wore carelessly negligent in postponing legal developments. I will advise you laier if wo can grant a record." For 1 several days Jardine wandered about Vancouver in anxious suspense before ho wns informed that the authorities hnd registered him as discoverer of the claim, after which he called upon a certain honourable mine financier, and a lawyor. There are honourable exploiters of mining vontures, though the opposite kind are perhaps more nuuiorous. The one agreed to send an oxport back with him, and tho lattor said : "You haven't proof enough against your rivals, and it might bo bolter to leavo the— or, gentleman you montion alone. His cntspa\Vß are hardly likely to ask an injunction against you now, and T could resist it successfully if they difl." Jardine roturned to his partner exultant, and the expert in due time to Vancouver satisfied, one result of which was that a few days later Jardine laid a lettor from the- latter city boforo Tourmaine. . " I . t> » ft , foir offer, and I intend accepting it, ho said. "Unless that surveyor is very far wrong, the stock they offer mo should provide a reasonable income, and there will be tho director's fee. So I venture to claim tho fulfilment of your promise." "Build your house and you shall have it, said Tourmaine, smiling. "Whon you took my horse through tho rivor I WBB ( willing to climb down. I figured you'd got the dollars somo day, and most things you sot your hourt upon. On, yes, you have won her fairly j and I see her in the orchard. Eva, come in ! ' « Eva canio in fresh and dainty, a cluslor of red rosos at tho waist of her white dress, and a smilo upon her face, until a flush of colour surpassing that of tho roses burnt in either cheek as she noticod tho letter and tho expression of tho two men. "Wo never back down on a bargain, and I suppose you haven't changed your mind since you assorted your right to choose fr>r yourself?" said Tourmaine, with a twinkle in hi* oyes. "Well, then, I wish you good Juck with him, nod I guess ho has shown himself fcho kind of man I can trust you to. You're starting fair, Eva, and it was only ram emboring what your poor mother went through made me try to do my best for you. Well, well, I'm gotting an old man ; hot I think, maybe, she is pleased, too. And may heaven make tho long trail you're beginning smooth for both « ?? m * ,""t, Har ,°J. cl Btodlow, in tho Spnngfiold Hopublican.