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~. Tom, fiercely. a e pill,
hy, he helps himself to money out of his | usual.
“YT HAPPY
DAYS oe
“You did, hey? Well, you didn’t know
who set your store on fire, did you, time of
the party? That was Cutt Jordan-and
‘tom Brown, You didn't know who busted
in my paw’s place, do you?"
“ not.”
O,
«They said you done it, but you didn't.
That was Cutt Jordan, too, and I showed
him how to work the drawer, He made
e do it, ‘cause I was sweet on him, and
be wanted to hurt you.” -
“You mustn't tell me these things, Sue,”
said Charlie. ‘‘ You only make it worse
for yourself.”
“J don't care about that,” said Sue, vehe-
mently, ‘Cutt’sa mean skunk, and I’m
oing to tell all I know about him. He's
: Fast en making me think he cared a lot
about me, and getting me to doeverything
sneaky against you so’s to make you leave
town, and all the time he was shining up
to Ciss Crompton, and she-don’t care a
copper for him, ‘cause she likes you best of
all,
“Susie, you mustn’t talk like that |”
“Well, it’s the truth,” said Sue, sharply,
“and if you wasn't a blind fool you'd see
- it. Mebby you do and are trying to make
out you don’t. Well, if you want’to arrest
Cutt Jordan any time, just you come and | o:
see me, and I'll tell you all you want to
ow,”
n
The irate girl then hurried away, and
Charlie went inside, shaking his head, and
muttering: .
“She's got a frightful temper, but I'm
afraid shes told the truth about Cutt.
What I know about him would make me
believe that he is capable’of all this.”
The next day the office of the Brackett-
Crompton Copper Mining Company was
opened in the little law office occupied by
Dexter,
hind the little grating as chief bookkeep-
er, at a salary which meant much to the
editor.
Leaving the office, whither he had gone
to give some directions to Jennie, Charlie
saw Tom Brown and Cutt Jordan go into
the tavern opposite, and somewhat later
be met Tom on the street, red-faced, un-
steady of step, and laughing boisterously,
“Co ere a’ minute, Tom, I want to
speak to you,” he said, taking the boy's
arm and leading him into Sycamore street,
where was quiet and they were not
likely to be disturbed,
“e ‘What do you want?" asked Tom, un-
easily. . .
“ You're keeping bad company, Tom, and
getting into worse habits, ou’ye been
- drinking.” .
“Well, spose I_have.. Lots o’ good fel-
lers drink, Cutt Jordan does and Deter
“You know he doesn’t. See here, Tom,
suppose I should tell your father that you
tried to break into my store, to ruin my
stock,
* How'd you know that?” gasped Tom,
“T was there and overheard you. Hiram
also overheard you and Cutt talking it
over in our alley, hat was not so bad,
but suppose it was known that you set fire
“Did Cutt Jordan tell that?” interrupted
“}Ie’s a nice pill, he is
2
old man’s cash drawer whenever he wants
any, and cooks up the books so’s he won't
“Tom,” said Charlie, firmly but quietly,
“you will not help your own case be-
,traying Cutt. Besides, it only confirms
what I said when I told you that you were
keeping bad company. Where do you ex-
pect toend if you go on like this
“Tf youget me arrested,” blustered Tom,
“Tl peach on Cutt, Ile's worse than me,
ap.”
a heap.
“y am not going to have you arrested,
but I warn you that unless you pull up,
some one else will, Turn straight about,
‘om, You're going the wrong way en-
You waste both y--r money and
your time, One belongs to zou" father
and the other to Wrentham, Come, I am
not going to say anything, but I am not
the only one who knows these things, and
if you are not careful you will get into
trouble.”
“IT don’t see why you want to take an
interest in me,” Said Tom, brokenly. “
‘our face that time and
orm and get sacked. I
pulled the press bed out, too, so’s it'd be
worse,- I wanted you fired, ‘cause you was
gettin’ on so nice, and then Cutt told me
to doit, too.” . »
“T don't hold things up against people,
said Charlie, ‘and it won't help you tolay
the blame of your misdeeds on others,
You're the one that’s responsible, not
tt.
* And you won't give me away ?”
“No, but you must take a fresh start.”
“ Well, I'll try.”
CHAPTER XVII.
_ 4 CRUEL BLOW.
THosE were times of constant surprises
in Coldwater, and one unexpected event
followed another in quick succession, the
and Jennie Wrentham was be- | that.
discussion over one being not yet ended
when another occurred,
First of all, Jordan’s store was broken
into some time between Saturday evening
and Sunday morning, Constable Iolster
making the discovery at about seven
o'clock, when he was making his rounds,
Unlike the previous robbery, this was
genuine, the money drawer being broken
open and all the loose cash taken, the safe
eing entered and a considerable sum of
money abstracted, and goods to the value
of two or three hundred dollars carried off,
the work being apparently that of more or
less experienced thieves.
n entrance. had been effected at one
side, in the rear, fresh horse and wagon
tracks being found at the side entrance,
but at least one ofthe nocturnal visitors
had left by the main entrance, as the front
coor was found open and a number of
small articles were scattered on the steps
and near the door,
A light had been left burning all night
in the store, and Silas Holster said he saw
this at midnight and at three o'clock, and
at neither time was there anything sus-
picious to be noticed,
Hiram Ilireabout said that he went by
n the opposite side of the street at four
o'clock, just before daybreak, and saw noth-
ing to excite alarm or even notice, but the
door might have been open even then and
inthe uncertain light he had not noticed
a
it.
Charlie heard of the affair quite early
and hurried to his own store to see if that
had been visited, finding everything as it
had been left the night before,
e@ was coming out Tom Brown ap-
proached and said excitedly :
“Cutt didn’t have anything to do with
He wasn't in town atall, He went
down to Black River on a tare and only,
just Bot back, Iwas afraid you might sus-
pect him,”
“No, I had not thought of it, but it
would be natural enough. I am glad to
hear you defend him, but I would not say
anything about jt either way.”
Oh, I wouldn't only to you,” said Tom,
eagerly. ‘I knowed you'd understand.”
“SoIdo, Tom, and I’m glad to see you
are making the fresh start I advised.”
“Ttold Cutt notto gothere. He wanted
me to go there. I'm glad he did in one
way, ‘cause folks can’t suspect him of do-
ing this now,”
he next event to set the town talking
was the arrival of a hundred workmen,
and the beginning of actual operations on
harlie’s claim and on Dexter's, which was
next to it.
Before long claims were staked out on
all the government Jand in the neighbor-
hood of the first discovery claim, and the
ys
Cabins went up on all sides, and the
road to Sky Mountain was at all times
s
ging on his land and put up a shaft house
and got in some machinery, following
Charlie’s Jead in this, however, the young
merchant having got ahead of his rivals as
Then, Tom Brown left the Record and
went into the oflice of the Brackett-Cromp-
ton Company as assistant bookkeeper, the
business having i
he short time it had been In operation.
Then Charlie bought out Jeremiah Cut-
ter, and added the latter's hardware stock
to his own, the good will being what he
cared most for, how ‘.
en Mr, Wrentham bought an engine
and a new press, moved into another and
more convenient office, and enlarged his
aper, all of which caused surprise, as it
faa not been supposed that the Record
even gave him a living.
Then a number of small but convenient
dwellings for one family each were put up
at the end of Main street, nearest to the
Sky Mountain road,-and occupied by the
foremen, sub-contractors and bosses at
work for the Brackett-Crompton Com-
pany. - .
It was at first supposed that Dexter
was Charlie's partner, but it gradually be-
came known that Cissie held that position,
her brother being her representative only,
and working bis own claim independently
of the other company.
So many surprising things had hap-
pened, however, that it caused no great
astonishment when the announcement ap-
eared in the Record, that Charlie had
Bought out not only Dexter, but the two
claims next to his, and that the original
company would run the whole, Dexter
giving all his attention to his law busi-
ness, which had greatly increased during
the last few months,
i e new year the
town had more than doubled in size, Main
street extended half a mile furtherat each
end than it had done a year before, Many
new streets had been opened and evidences
of prosperity were seen on all sides. .
uring the winter Cutt Jordan went
away, to Chicago it was said, but none of
mountain became a scene of great activ- | an
lined with wagons going to and from the |r
ines.
Then Jordan set a gang of men to dig-|y
and then ever chanced to meet him, and it
was whispered that he had gone elsewhere
and was not anxious that his exact location
principal one being that he o
deal of money-and that even his own father
was one of his creditors,
Charlie still lived with his mother and
sister in the little house in Sycamore street,
for he had formed an attachment forit and
did not care to move into a larger one just
then, although many persons expressed
surprise that with his changed means he
should wantto remain there. |
One night in January as Charlie was go-
ing home from the store, bundled to the
chin and wearing warm gloves, for it was
cold and blustering, he was about to turn
into the little street where he lived, when
on the corner, under a street lamp, he saw
a man, who stepped suddenly forward and
said:
“Can you tell me where Charlie Brackett
lives ¢” :
“T am Charlie Brackett, What do you
nt?” .
4
“T'd like to speak to youa few minutes,”
“What is your business? It is rather
strange that you should wait for me in the
street on a wild night like this when you
” a
could have seen me in the store.
“T have only just arrived by train from
Chicago, and they told me at the station
that you lived down this way somewhere,”
“Weill, what is your business?
“ Yon are interested in copper mines?”
“I'd like a share in your business,”
“It is not for sale.” |
“But I might prove to you that I havea
claim,”
“T don’t understand,” said Charlie,
“Unless you can talk sense I must go,
This is no time and place to waste words,”
and the boy started forward,
“Here, don’t go so fast,” said the man,
catching Charlie by the sleeve. ‘1
claim is one that you will have to acknoy
edge. Iam your father.”
“ My father is dead,” said Charlie, quiet-
ly, after a moment's surprise.
“Oh, no, he is very much alive, and I
am the gentleman, 0 you live down this
street? I'll go with you,”
“You will do nothing of the sort,” said
“My father died ten years
ago, and you arean impostor. If you at-
tempt to annoy my mother in any way
shall throw you out in the street.
“*Not so fast, my bumptious young gen-
tleman,” said the man. ‘“ You may have
thought I was dead, fast enough, but I
am alive all the same, and your mother
will recognize me I have no doubt.”
“7 have been alive all these years,
why have you left my mother to struggle
contrive to make a living with two
children to bring up? If you are not an
impostor, you are worse, a heartless brute,”
* Be careful what you say to me, young
ed
ears, It might not be the best sort of ad-
vertisement for your business.”
Thave no time to talk with’ you,” said
Charlie, ‘‘If you attempt to follow me, it
will be the worse for "
“ You're a dutifulson, you are [” Jaughed
the other, “And have pictured, in my
solitude, the joyful reunion between father
and son, How is Bessie? She will be glad
to see her papa, Iam sure, and she won'
care if I have been ina prison all these
ears.” .
“Ina prison!” gasped Charlie, feeling
nt.
o
himself turning suddenly fai
“Yes, [have lived at Joliet for some
years, buta kind friend told me where you
were, and I hastened to throw myself in
your arms, Aren't you glad? and the
man laughed in an evil manner which
made the high-spirited boy fairly furious,
“If you dare to follow,” be said, turning
upon the man, his strength and resolution
having returned, “I will not answer for
the consequences. We have slaved and
struggled all these years without you, and
now you shall not share the fruits of our
industry, Ifyou had written, if you had
expressed contrition, I would have wel-
comed you, even from a prison, but now
have nothing to do with you. Gol”
He hurried on, and did not look back un-
til at the door of the little house, when he
saw the stranger standing under a street
lamp, with one hand raised threateningly.
Ile stood thus for an instant, and then re-
treated, being presently lost in the storm
and the darkness.
“Twill not tell her,” murmured Charlie,
“She has spared me all these years, and
will spare her now,”
CHAPTER XVII.
DEFIANCE,
“Yrs, Miss Sophia, I always did say
that there was something mysterious
about them Bracketts, not that it’s any-
thing to their discredit, but I said there
was ome true,” said
and my words has ¢
Miss Huldah Clarke to Miss Sophia Cromp-
n, -
on. .
“They’ve always held themselves so re-
the residents who visited that city now
served, and has shown such a superior
bearing to people in a reduced state gen-
erally, that I said at once that they must
have known better days, and that there
was some mystery about ‘em and so there
is.
“Tam nota person to gossip and gad,
Miss Sophia, but when things come right
under my eyes, I can't very well help
noticin’ ’em, and I only repeat what might
have happened to anyone,
“Yes, I'm comin’ to my story, ‘cause I
know you're as much interested as I am,
Charlie is quite likely to marry Cecilia, I
suppose? Seemed kind o” queer, his tak-
ing her into partnership afore they*were
married, but I pose it’s all right, andI
don’t spect this thing will interfere with
the match none, though, dear me, I'd sort
o’ wish that his father hadn’t—ob, but
that’s later on, -
““You see, Miss Sophia, it was last even-
ng, kind o’ late, but Thad work to finish,
and sence Mis’ Brackett has stopped helpin’
me on account 0’ Charlie’s being better off,
it ain't always easy to get help, and I had
to work extra myself, so’s to get through
in time,
“Yes, I was sittin’ here workin’ when
k at the door and I
knowin’ who it might be nor whether it
was quite safe I goes to the window and
“who's there? says I, and some one says;
‘Is this where the Widow Brackett lives?
**T could see it wasa man, but what with
the windand the snow and the dark, I
couldn't see whether he was sandy com~
plected or black, big or little, tall or short,
ut just that he was a man,
"No, says I, ‘she don’t. Shelives on
Sycamore street in a queer little house and
so well, L can’t see,’ and
then I p’inted out the way, and says he:
*I hope she'll be glad to see me, ma’am, for
e
Brackett could hold up his head, much less
pretend to fall in love with your niece.”
. saved Cissie’s " said Miss
Sophia, getting up, “and it doesn’t matter
if his father has been in i
has not been, and that’s all we need care
about. [hope you won't repeat this story
to others,”
“You always did have different notions
to other folks, Miss Sophia,” said the
dressmaker, “and so I suppose it’s natural
for you to think all right of Charlie
Brackett, but it strikes me that a youn
man whose father has just come out 0:
prison isn’t just the right sort of person to
marry Miss Cecilia, It may not be my
business, of course, but——”"
‘* No, it is not, Miss Clarke, and you will
oblige me by saying no more about it,” and
Miss Crompton swept out of the dress-
maker's establishment in the most digni-
fled manner,
Sue Cutter was doing some work for
Miss Clarke, and her ears were as sharp as
her nose, so that what was meant as a
confidential communication to Miss
Crompton only, was overheard by her, and
cherished asa rare bit of gossip. -
She told Jennie Wrentham and Katy
Brown, she told it t e other sewing
irls, she told it to her father and George
Varren in strict confidence, she told it to
everyone she met, in fact,and did more
mischief than. Miss Clarke had ev
dreamed of causing, even in her most gos-
sipy moods.
uring the forenoon, Charlie left the
store to go to the office of the mining com-
pany, and as he was hurrying along the
street he encountered a large, heavily-
built man, who said:
“‘Good-morning, my son, Glad to see
me, aren't yout Ready to talk to me now?
Not too busy, are you? You were very
ungracious to me last night,”
“Sir,” said Charlie, coldly, “I have no
more to say to you now than I had last
night, and I warn you not to annoy me,”
“Then you don’t mind my telling every-
one that I am your father and have been
ten gears in prison %” laughed the man,
““You can do as you like about that,”
said the boy, ‘but if you annoy me or my
mother by your attentions, I shall take
means to have them stopped at once,”
le went on, Jeaving the man standing.
in the street, looking after him with any-
thing but a pleasant expression,
le saw Dexter, asked his advice, and re~
solved to say nothing to his mother, but.
upon going home to dinner, the latter said
to him at once: :
“*Myson, Lhave something to tell you
which distresses me,”
“Has that scoundrel been heref” cried
the boy, angrily, “Oh, the villain!”
“No, he has not been here. Have you
seen him?” .
“Yes; he stopped me in the street last
night and this morning. I would not tell
eaceremnees