FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56  
57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   >>   >|  
When I tell you that the vandals were slowly backed away from the Cliffs and were, eventually, driven to the gully back of the Devil's Causeway where those two men were engulfed in the slide, the day they came to cajole your father into signing papers for the Cliffs, you can picture their horror when the edge of the great cliff began to crumble in. They could not turn to right or left, as they were hemmed in by the pursuers, and they dared not remain where they were for fear of being swallowed in the quicksand that was already sliding downwards. So they gave up to the sheriff and surrendered their guns. "That was a bad case, as one of the sheriff's men had been dangerously wounded and it was feared he would die. All our valuable machinery was ruined and all orders for the delivery of the lava jewels had to be cancelled, or postponed for a year. So the culprits each got twenty years and Oak Creek is quieter, by far, because more than a score of its worst citizens are safely housed in jail." As Tom ended his story, Polly unclasped her hands which she had nervously clenched during the recital of the raids on her precious property. "Oh, Tom! I never dreamed of all the trouble everyone would have because of those precious mines, the day Nolla and I filed our papers at Oak Creek," gasped Polly. "No one does dream of these things--they only see the future in rosy hues," retorted Tom. "And to think of the work and worry John and you have had in establishing this great undertaking, while I was in Europe taking life easy, and spending money without a thought of how it was being produced at home!" sighed Polly. "That is as it should be, Polly. You were not squandering the money, but using it in ways to profit yourself for the future. John and I knew, when we started in on this mining venture, that the line would not lay in flower-strewn paths, but that it might force us over all sorts of snags, before we reached success." "Well, it is fine of you to talk like this, Tom," admitted Polly, gratefully. "If it were not for you boys taking an interest in the work, I might as well say 'good-by' to the gold." Tom laughed. "Polly, this is so insignificant a work to do for you--just taking an interest in your mine. Some day I hope to prove in some greater way, just what I want to, and can, do for you." Tom's manner and looks again alarmed Polly and she changed the subject adroitly. "Tom, do you like the home in Pebbly Pit
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56  
57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

taking

 

precious

 

future

 

sheriff

 

Cliffs

 

papers

 

interest

 

establishing

 
thought
 
manner

undertaking

 
greater
 

Europe

 

spending

 

retorted

 
adroitly
 

subject

 
gasped
 

Pebbly

 

things


alarmed

 
changed
 

laughed

 
reached
 

success

 

admitted

 
gratefully
 

strewn

 

squandering

 

sighed


profit
 

venture

 
flower
 

mining

 

insignificant

 

started

 

produced

 

housed

 

hemmed

 

pursuers


remain

 

crumble

 
swallowed
 
surrendered
 

quicksand

 

sliding

 

eventually

 

driven

 

backed

 

vandals