At the Time Appointed | Page 4

the mean time
I'll take you people out to Camp Bird, as we call it, and show you the
Bird Mine; that's our mine, you know, and I tell you she is a 'bird,' and
no mistake. You'll be interested in looking her over, though I'll tell you
beforehand she's not for sale."
"Do I understand that you have an interest in this remarkable mine, Mr.
Whitcomb?" Parkinson inquired, a tinge of amusement in his tone.
"Not in the way you mean; that is, not yet, though there's no telling

how soon I may have if things turn out as I hope," and the boyish cheek
flushed slightly. "But I know what I'm talking about all the same. My
uncle, D. K. Underwood, is a practical mining man of nearly thirty
years' experience, and what he doesn't know about mines and mining
isn't worth knowing. He's interested in a dozen or so of the best mines
in the State, but I don't think he would exchange his half-interest in the
Bird Mine for all his other holdings put together. She's a comparatively
new mine yet, but taking into consideration her depth and the amount
of development, she's the best-paying mine in the State. Here, let me
show you something." And hastily pulling a note-book from his pocket,
he took therefrom a narrow slip of paper which he handed to the expert.
"There's a statement," he continued, "made out by the United States
Assay Office, back here at Galena, that will show you the returns from
a sixty days' run at the Bird mill; what do you think of that?"
Parkinson's face was still invisible to Darrell, but the latter heard a long,
low whistle of surprise. Young Whitcomb looked jubilant.
"They say figures won't lie," he added, in tones of boyish enthusiasm,
"but if you don't believe those figures, I've got the cash right here to
show for it," accompanying the words with a significant gesture.
Parkinson handed the slip to Hunter, then leaned back in his seat,
giving Darrell a view of his profile.
"Sixty days!" he said, musingly. "Seventy-five thousand dollars! I think
I would like to take a look at the Bird Mine! I think I would like to
make Mr. Underwood's acquaintance!"
Whitcomb laughed exultingly. "I'll give you an opportunity to do both
if you'll stop over," he said; "and don't you forget that my uncle can
give you some pointers on the Ajax, for he knows every mine in the
State."
Mr. Hunter here handed the slip of paper to Whitcomb. "Young man,"
he said, with some severity, gazing fixedly at Whitcomb through his
eye-glasses, "do you mean to say that you are travelling with

seventy-five thousand dollars on your person?"
"Certainly, sir," Whitcomb replied, evidently enjoying the situation.
Mr. Hunter shook his head. "Very imprudent!" he commented. "You
are running a tremendous risk. I wonder that your uncle would permit
it!"
"Oh, that's all right," said Whitcomb, confidently. "Uncle usually
comes down himself with the shipments of bullion, and he generally
banks the most of his money there at Galena, but he couldn't very well
leave this time, so he sent me, and as he was going to use considerable
money paying for a lot of improvements we've put in and paying off
the men, he told me to bring back the cash. There's not much danger
anyway; the West isn't as wild nowadays as it used to be."
Handing a second bit of paper to Parkinson, he added: "There's
something else that will interest you; the results of some assays made
by the United States Assay Office on some samples taken at random
from a new strike we made last week. I'll show you some of the
samples, too."
"Great Scott!" ejaculated Parkinson, running his eye over the returns.
"You seem to have a mine there, all right!"
"Sure thing! You'll think so when you see it," Whitcomb answered,
fumbling in a grip at his feet.
At sight of the specimens of ore which he produced a moment later, his
two companions became nearly as enthusiastic as himself. Leaning
eagerly forward, they began an inspection of the samples, commenting
on their respective values, while Whitcomb, unfolding a tracing of the
workings of the mine, explained the locality from which each piece was
taken, its depth from the surface, the width and dip of the vein, and
other items of interest.
Darrell, who was carefully refraining from betraying any special
interest in the party across the aisle, soon became aware that he was not

the only interested listener to the conversation. In the section directly in
front of the one occupied by Whitcomb and his companions a man was
seated, apparently engrossed in a newspaper, but Darrell, who had a
three-quarter view of his face, soon observed