furtherance of his own
objects, he treated every one with punctilious politeness. To some his
manner might have been pleasing, but to one with any degree of
penetration, the crafty, scheming nature under the thin veneer was
very apparent.

Meanwhile, Rutherford had rather reluctantly accepted an invitation
from Mr. Blaisdell to go through the mills and visit one or two of the
less important mines. The young easterner was soon much interested,
as, after having explored one of the smaller mines, the Peep
o'Day,--which he thought very appropriately named as he glanced upward
from a depth of a few hundred feet,--he was taken to the mills, and
there saw the various stages through which the ores pass in the
process of reduction. He almost forgot his dislike of Mr. Blaisdell
as he listened to his explanation of the different classes of ore, and
the various kinds of treatment which they required, and met some of
his old college acquaintances,--the sulphates, nitrates, carbonates,
and other members of that numerous family,--in new and startling
array; for Mr. Blaisdell was thoroughly at home in chemistry and
mineralogy, and enjoyed nothing so much as airing the knowledge he
possessed in that one direction. Of other branches of science, and
even on subjects of general information, he was profoundly ignorant,
although blissfully unconscious of the fact.

Rutherford was next shown the method by which the ore ready for
shipment was conveyed down the mountain to the cars on the spur
tracks, hundreds of feet below, by means of a rail tramway on trestle
work, some three thousand feet in length, having a grade of nine feet
per each hundred feet, over which cars of ore were passing, operated
by gravity, the weight and velocity of the descending, loaded car,
carrying the empty car upward. He thoroughly enjoyed these novel
scenes, and congratulated himself upon the many picturesque mining
views which he would add to his collection.

As they were passing through one of the sorting rooms, they came upon
Mr. Haight seated before a large table covered with specimens of ore,
which he was examining with a powerful microscope, while beside him
were various chemical and mechanical appliances for testing the
different ores. Rutherford was enthusiastic in his admiration of the
specimens, particularly those from the copper mines, with their
beautiful coloring,--the blending tints of green and purple and
blue,--and he created considerable amusemen