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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1935-05-30, Page 2THURSDAY, MAY 30th, 11)35 THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE ffi. BY AUBREY BOYD £YNOPSIS: Young Ed. Maitland, son while waiting for one o'clock,” Gar­ ni a New England seafaring fam- net suggested. “You need some re­ Dy, and the hardened gambler, laxation.” (Speed Malone, met on a trip north! “You can spit it,” Speed declined, to the Yukon gold fields in ’97,'“If I had the jack it wouldn't relax when word of the rich ores that I me none to give it to a shell rigger.” first came down the Pacific Coast,; The sunlight that pierced the Maitland was determined to win j canyon mist fell on a noisy crowd back -hits lost fortune before he re- around the dealer’s pitch table, many turned home. The two men became of them simply bearding there to partners, Speed promising not to’wait for the backtrail to clear. A get tangled with the law if he: player had just placed a bet. From could help it, and to clear out’the higher ground at the bridge from the partnership if he did. ■ head they saw it to be the man with whose* the sheepskin coat—pete’s partner “ . Noticeably drunk, Bill was Fallon and near, wateh- from the partnership if iFrenchy, the fisherman wuuw.mv smack took the two men north; Bill. Lucky Rose, the beautiful girl who swaying on his heels, had given a ring to Maitland as a keepsake; Fallen, came leader, re­ sentful of Rose’s attention to Mait­ land; Steiner, the money lender; young Pete and his drunken part­ ner Bill Owens; Brent, old-time prospector; Garnet, well-to-do tra­ veler, who hired Maitland and ■Speed to take his things over the ■mountains—these are the principal! figures in the story. Malone,1 Maitland and Garnet hauled part of his stuff from the canvas camp on the Skagway beach over the trial to the camp in the hills call­ ed Liarsville. The trial was in bad condition. Speed wanted to close it and mend it. Fallon wanted push on. NOW GO THE STORY “Just what I told nodded. “Who’s against it?” “Fallon’s outfit. He can’t reach Bennett freeze-up i f we stop to It’s tough on the boys of .horses, their hard luck. A stampede stampede, says the trail boss.” “Fallon’s got guts but I seem to like ’em, someway,” Speed. “A bunch of us,” said Brent, with a smoulder in his tired eyes, “aim to call a camp meetin’ at one o'clock— when the crowd’s in and before the backtrailin’ starts, so we can get a full vote. That’s why I spoke to ye. Can we figure on you boys to stand in?” Bpeed looked at his partner. It was their one remaining chance of keeping Garnet on the trail. “You can count on us to vote,” he said, “but that’s all.” Brent signified that he asked for nothing more, and leaving them, went up the trail to collect more voters. When the returned to Liatville' the camp was crowded. Here and there the dispirited faces of mud- draggled men showed that Fallon’s decision meant the end of the trail for eome of them, but they accepted one of his outfit stood ing him play. “I guess we’ll pass Garnet prudently. Speed did not answer. His atten­ tion had been arrested by the pallid, narrow-eyed face of the dealer, on which the sunlight fell squarely, bird ON 'em,” to WITH Brent claims we before the make a trail, who’re short The way he sees it, it’s is a don’t said “Seems like I’ve seen that somewhere,” he muttered. While Bill stood shifting wealth between his hands, the ) lew head of his young partner i peared beside him. ,7__ ling to pull him out of the game. Ig-, nored by Bill, the boy said some-’ I thing to Fallon—not audible from the bridge. Fallon brushed him out of the way with an impatient, backward fling of his hand. The blow might have been unintentional, j but the hand was heavy and ringed. It cut the bey’s cheek and sent him stumbling. “Damned shame,” said Garnet. Speed swore to himself. Pete broke away and went up the canyon while Bill was oblivious to every­ thing but the stakes he was vaguely counting. The dealer hastened to cover the indicent. “ . . . Not a game of chance, miners. The quickness of the hand—” Here the dealer’s voice hung trailing, his cold eyes, roving over the crowd, suddenly encounter- de and locked with Speed’s. A look of incredulous wonder pierced his mask. “A thousand,” maundered Bill. “Shoot it, Bill,” said Fallon, “I’ll copper you some in case you lose.” He laid a small stock of gold pieces on the table, as Bill lurched for­ ward and placed his double handful of money. 'The dealer’s eyes, which had re­ turned to the game, quivered up­ ward as a clear drawl suddenly spoke over the heads of the crowd , “I'll bet a thousand on Bill to win!” The discovery that it was Speed who had spoken astonished no one quite as much as Maitland, who knew the limits of his resources. his yel- ap- Pete" was try- e the a slight twist on his lips, “the play ain’t through yet, on’y it’s the stampede. “No,” said Speed, 7 it as the harsh law of Brent’s chance, even of a hearing, was more than doubtful. The trail of the partners had reached a crit­ ical impasse. Before they reached the cache, they met Garnet coming towards them, looking refreshed and clean as he stepped carefully along the river path. He listened in silence to Speed’s tactful account of the trail, and agreed to attend the mass meeting. But he was visibly more interest­ ed in some sounds that came to (them from the vicinity of the bridge A metallic “come-on” chant rang stridently through the hollow, above a babel of voices and the river’s brawl. “Not a game of chance, friends. A simpul test of skill. The quickness of the hand deceives the eye . . “Suppose we give the game a spin a new game.” The offer had been made to the dealer, but Fallon wheeled around •with ar scowl that darkened when he recognized the speaker. Cocking his cigar, he drew a large roll from his pocket and slapped down a counted sum on the table. “There’e a thousand says you’re a cheap four- flusher,” he said. “Look out!” The words fell from the dealer’s lips in an involuntary murmur. “Oh, he won’t shoot',” said Fal­ lon easily. “He’s one of them would-be-gunmen. Chews a lot but ain’t got no fangs. Ain’t got no mon­ ey either.” (Speed, in fact, had not moved ex­ cept to reach into his pocket for money that was not there. He had not looked for this exact result, and was still framing his next move. None the less, his composure re­ mained perfect—even when, to his Look After Your Kidneys If You Value Your Health Tho duty of the kidneys is to act as filters to purify tho blood of its impurities* That is the great work the kidneys do. They filter the blood. Do you think, theii, it is possible to be healthy unless the kidneys do their work thoroughly. Doanes Kidney Pills help the kidneys flush off the poisonous impurities/ cleansing out the kidneys, bladder and urinary passages, and make their.action natural and regular. surprise, his fingers closed over a wad of bills. Fortune sometimes fa­ vors the absolute gambler. This time the means of her miracle was Garnet, who had quietly slipped the roll into his pocket. “I mean money,” .growled Fallon, at the first hint of delay, “You can’t run a whisperin' bluff in this game.” Doubt struggled with fear in the dealer’s face when the insult was ignored. Speed walked up to table stripping a sheaf of clean one- hundred dollar bills from Garnet’s roll, and laid it alongside Fallon’s. Then his eyes pinned the dealer. “You can deal this any way you figure healthy,” he said. “On’y re­ member I’m backin’ Bill to win.” The dealer’s pale visage turned paler; he lowered his head to con­ ceal twitching of his mouth. There was a craning moment of silence. A hum ran through the crowd as the dealer lifted the shells. Fallon ripped out an oath of chag­ rin aqd unbelief. Bill had won. Speed picked up his own and the other’s stake, and was turning away when Fallon called him back. , “What I took ye for,” snarled the camp boss. “A brag-and-run gamb­ ler. Pull up there, fellow. The play ain’t through yet.” A slight twist in the corner lot Speed’s mouth showed that this was not unexpected. “No,” he said, “the play ain’t through yet, on’y it’s a new game. They’s a stretch of trail between here and the bridge up the line that needs fixin’ almighty bad. Horses and outfits has been lost on it. You’re the boss of this camp, and you’ve blocked the move to fix it because you’ve a big string of mules and can take a chance of lightin’ through in one haul. You don’t give a damn for the small min­ er who has to relay his pack over that slew with one horse or none. Well, some of us figure different. Four day’s work with the camp drafted will put the trail in shape. It’s the on’y chance ifor a lob of the boys who’ve sunk their last red to get here. You can’t run a white miner’s camp without takin’ count of the common prospector. That’s rock bottom—stampede or none. If you about it, Fallon, and want to gamble, I’ll bet you this yer thou­ sand the camp ain’t with you.” The stillness in the canyon complete, save for the gush of the river. Quietly as the words been spoken, they had touched every instinct of the crowd at once. Shrewd malice eyes. “These men know what would mean, halt ’em, the idea will cost you a thousand and somethin’ more." Now that it had an outlet, the re­ sponse of the crowd broke loose. “I’m with you, brother,” a man call­ ed out to .Speed. “That’s talkin’ . .” and similiar endorsements mounted over the voices of dissent’. “Hold on,” barked Fallon, above the tumult, “and swivel,.your muz­ zle-loadin’ brains on what fhis cro.ok is playin for. Who is he? Where's he from? Blowed into camp two days ago a busted drifted; now he’s flash­ ing money. Ever meet a ‘fixer’ on the gold trails? IWell, the inside crowd in the Yukon is workin’ hard to plaster ever’ good location before the stampede arrives, and here’s a slip frame to freeze you out.” The argument was far-drawn, but cunningly gauged to an audience of credulous, impatient, gold-devered men. Speed parried it promptly. “That won’t hold gravel,” he declared. ‘“The river don’t freeze till the first week in October. F’our days won’t hurt that margin, and most of the camp will gain time on, a good trail.’ “What you ain’t primed to ans­ wer,” returned Fallon, “is who you are and what you’r doin’ here with that bunch of money and no outfit.” The outlaw creased a cigarette paper. “You're switchin’ the bet,” he said evenly. “The question is whether the boys want' to make a trail. But if you want to talk per­ sonal—how does it come that a man who’s so all-fired anxious to see ever’ one get to Dawson, spends his time makin’ this miner drunk and persuadin’ him to bust hisself at a skin game. Another is that coward’s lick you took at the kid a while back.” The cool temerity of the challenge held the crowd in a spell. “You ask where I came ifrom,” Speed continued, “I come from a Btate where a man low enough to do a thing like that would be booted out Of camp of horse thieves.” Fallon’s hands flashed to his guns and stopped there, a puzzled seam deepening between the eyes. He could not imagine anyone taking such a chance unless he were sure of an advantage. On Speed’s part it was sheer gambling—one of those reckless yet clear-headed gettures of which instances are not unkriown in the annuals of the West, where gunmen have sometimes been chal­ lenged and held without the touch­ ing of a weapon. The hush was suddenly broken by Brent, who had arrived with his backers, and judged it time to cut this fuse. “Who’s if er fixin’ tho trail? Make it a showdown, boys!” The uproar forced Fallon to sus­ pend dealings with Speed while he met a different threat. Heads were counted in a confused din. A ma­ jority showed for Brent’s proposition but many had not declared, them­ selves either way. “That’s no showdown!” yelledjter, ___ ■Fallon, “To fix the trail you’ve got| wants~what I craves is repairs,” BROWN LABEL ORANGE PEKOE - 40< % lb. I was had curled Fallon’s “I’ll take that bet,” he said, a delay It you think you can to bar it. Try that and you’ll damn; Matthew Parkinson, veteran pub­soon find how much of the camp’s' lie school inspector who passed away behind me. You can’t do it.” suddenly at his home in Toronto on “We’ll go to bedrock on that point May 21st in his 77th year was well­ right now,” Brent shot back. “We’ve'known in this district, by a number got the man who’ll see the job done, J of the older residents. He was born and the miners’ committee needs a new chairman. Get this, men.” There was a tangled bust raged and jubilant shouts, confusion it was a moment Speed could make himself This was more than he had ed on. “I ain’t the man for the job,” he said. 'Tim a stranger and I ain't patient enough to argue with suspicions. Put up one of your own men,” "Patience be damned,” growled a •un-browned Arizona miner, “Who all’s askin’ you to be patient?”. Fallon, sure of himself, let1 a fresh cigar and flicked the match meditatively' in .Speed’s direction. “The man don’t live,” he said com­ placently, “who can bar a trail when my outfit gets ready to go through. As for this meddler, he don’t amount to a puff of smoke, and I’ll show you he don’t—” and the camp boss put his hand on this guns. “I called him yesterday for a liar afid a horse thief, whichever was his fightin’ word. But that was too .mild, I say now that he’s a sneakin’ liar and a yellow coyote, both.” (Continued next week) sure l behind I ■of en- In the before heard, count- i in Usborne and was educated in the St. Marys Collegiate. F.or some time he taught at (Sylvan and Ailsa 'Craig public schools. He was a member of Craig Lodge A.iF. & A.M., Ailsa Craig. JOHN RANSFORD, 87, DEES AT CLINTON At One Time he Controlled Ninety Percent of the Salt Wellsl in West­ ern Ontario. An outstanding figure in the in­ dustrial history of Western Ontario passed away at his home in the Stapleton suburb of Clinton in the person of John Ransford in his 87th year. Confined to the house thro’ failing health for upward of two years, and to his bed since June last, death come as a release to suffering. There survives his wife who was formerly Kate Pugh Bache, whom he married in July, 187 4, and two sons, Henry in Vancouver and Mel­ ville in Clinton. Born in Chelsea, London, England, Oct. 22, 1848, he was a son of the late (Henry Rans­ ford. He came to Canada as a young man and was associated with his father in the salt industry, he having drilled the first salt well in Canada at Stapleton in 1867. This well with saw mill and stave fac­ tory was operated until 1918. Later he was in business with his brother Richard, in the firm name of R. and J. Ransford and later as sole owner. At tone period he controlled ninety pes cent of the salt manufactured in Canada and owned wells at Stapleton Goderich, Kincardine, Brussels, Sea­ forth, Courtright, and Sarnia, being then the largest employer iof labor In the district. His son Melville at one time owned the salt .block at Exeter. John Ransford was a public spir­ ited citizens. Outstanding in church affairs he represented St. iPaul’s Anglican Church for thirty-five con­ secutive years as lay delegate to the Synod and was church warden for a number of years. A keen sportsman, he was presi­ dent of Clinton Lawn Bowling Club and was instrumental in the pur­ chase of the present bowling green and erection of* the commodious club house. In politics he was Conserv­ ative and was active in the interests of the party, often being in demand as a platform speaker. In clerical work he was efficient an_fl for twenty years was secretary treasurer of the Collegiate Board. His home and in­ dustry at Stapleton was located cen­ trally in a laded estate of six hun­ dred acres, Repairs Only Hester had been in a railroad ac­ cident. The lawyer had been called. "What you-all want?” she asked. “Eve dome,” said the lawyer, “to assist you in gettin damages.” “Damages, my eye!” shouted Hes- “I done got' all the damages I WxIEN that hungry feeling comes, late in the evening, ssrve yourself a big bowl of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in milk or cream. These appe­ tizing golden flakes will sat­ isfy your hunger. And they’ll let you sleep soundly, because they digest so easily. You can be certain that Kellogg’s are always crisp and oven-fresh because they’re heat-sealed in the patented WAXTITE bag. At grocers everywhere* Quality guaranteed. Made by Kel­ logg in London, Ontario. AT BEDTIME OVEN-FRESH FLAVOR PERFECT _____ . V Established 1873 and 1887 Published every Thursday morning at Exeter, Ontario SUBSCRIPTION-—?2.OH per year in advance RATES—Farm or Real Estate for sale 50c. each insertion for first four insertions. 25c. each subse­ quent insertion. Miscellaneous ar­ ticles, To Rent, Wanted, Lost, or Found 10c. per line of six words. Reading notices 10c. per line. Card of Thanks 50c. Legal ad­ vertising 12 and 8c. per line. In Memoiiam, with one verse 50c. extra verses 25io. each. Member of Tho Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Professional Cards GLADMAN & STANBURY BARRISTERS, SOLICITORS, Ac- Money to Loan, Investment's Made Insurance Safe-deposit Vaults for use of our Clients without charge EXETER and HE NS ALL CARLING & MORLEY BARRISTERS, SOLICITORS, Ac- LOANS, INVESTMENT'S, INSURANCE Office: Carling Block, Mfcin Streep EXETER. ONT. Dr, G. S. Atkinson, L.D.S.,D*D.S. DENTAL SURGEON Office opposite the New Post Office Main Street, Exeter Telephones Office 34w House 34 J Office closed Wednesday afternoons until further notice Dr. G. F. Roulston, L.D.S.,D.D,S. DENTIST Office: Carling Block EXETER, ONT. Closed Wednesday Afternoons JOHN WARD CHIROPRACTIC, OSTEOPATHY, ELECTRO-THERAPY & ULTRA­ VIOLET TREATMENTS PHONE 70 MAIN ST. EXETER ARTHUR WEBER LICENSED AUCTIONEER For Huron and Middlesex FARM SALES A SPECIALTY PRICE'S REASONABLE SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Phone 57-13 Dashwood B. R. No. 1, DASHWOOD FRANK TAYLOR LICENSED AUCTIONEER For Huron and Middlesex FARM SALES A SPECIALTY Prices Reasonable and Satisfaction Guaranteed EXETER P. O. or RING 138 USBORNE & HIBBERT MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY Head Office, Farquhar, Ont. W. H. COATES President SAMUEL NORRIS Vice-President DIRECTORS F. McCONNEILL, JOHN T. ALLISON ANGUS SINCLAIR, JOHN HACKNEY AGENTS JOHN ESSERY, Centralia, Agent for Usborne and Biddulph ALVIN L. HARRIS, Munro, Agent for Fullarton and Logan THOMAS SCOTT, Cromarty, Agent for Hibbert B. W. F. BEAVERS Secretary-Treasurer Exeter, Ontario * GLADMAN & STANBURY Solicitors,. Exeter Shingles! British Columbia xxxx x Best grade at $3.60 per square A. J. CLATWORTHY Fhone No* 12, GRANTON “Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any mater­ ial force, that thoughts rule th© world.”—-Emerson.