THE MYSTERY 02 
 BONANZA TRAIL 
 
The MYSTERY OF 
 BONANZA TRAIL 
 
"Do you see that man coming 
 doivn the trail?" See page 30. 
 
The MYSTERY OF 
 BONANZA TRAIL 
 
 By F R A N K A R K I N S 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 By J. RICHARD PARRY 
 
 DENVER 
 
 THE GENERAL PUBLISHING SYNDICATE 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
Copyright, J9JO, by 
 The General Publishing Syndicate 
 
 Press of 
 
 The Union Printing Company 
 Denver, Colo* 
 
)747<f 
 
 Library 
 
 Contents 
 
 or 
 
 CHAP. PAGE. 
 
 L The First Brush 21 
 
 IL Fighting Fire With Fire 32 
 
 III. Forced to the Wall 41 
 
 ^ IV. The Mexican Venture 49 
 
 V. The Delusion and the Dog Faced Man ... 64 
 
 VI. The Master Stroke 72 
 
 VII. An Underground Railroad 87 
 
 VIII. Jumping the Golden Moon 95 
 
 IX. The Man Eater 109 
 
 X. Sherman's Tragic Death 117 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 This story is the unvarnished 
 tale of some of the experiences 
 common to the average prospector 
 who strikes it rich in the hills. 
 He is the man who blazes the 
 way for civilization and to him 
 this book is dedicated. 
 
 F. J. ARKINS. 
 
Xtst of flllustratfons 
 
 "Do you see that man coming down the 
 
 trail ?" Frontispiece 
 
 Hennessey jumped one of the descending 
 tram buckets and was soon swinging 
 dizzily over the gulch Fronting page 84 
 
 "Never mind, little girl," Simpson said, 
 "they ain't nobody going to get this 
 here claim from you" Fronting page 106 
 
THE MYSTERY OF 
 BONANZA TRAIL 
 
preface 
 
 Bonanza Trail is a pathway over the mountain 
 leading from the north to the south side of a titanic 
 uplift that adjoins the main range. The gap through 
 which it passes reaches an altitude of 11,000 feet above 
 sea level. From that point to the creek bottom on the 
 south, the Trail drops abruptly to the deep gulch that 
 gradually widens from a pass to a beautiful valley, 
 and finally is lost in the desert miles and miles away. 
 
 The Trail, after leaving the saddle, hugs the side 
 of the Ascension range, on the left, following a great 
 dyke of volcanic rock, spewed up during a throe of 
 nature in the early making of the world. The side of 
 the mountain, as far as the line of vision extends, is a 
 monotonous sea of broken andesite, sharp and jagged. 
 There is not a tree on the side of this towering mass, 
 not a sign of vegetation. One must follow the dyke, 
 for to cross on the slide would mean death. Occasion 
 ally it slips and moves, when thousands of tons of 
 
Page 16 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 broken rock grind and tumble and roll downward, 
 and falls at an angle of almost seventy degrees to the 
 point where Contention Creek flows, a mile below. 
 
 The Consolidated Group was located along this 
 old trail, which the Indians used long before the 
 white man came. The mill below was separated from 
 the main territory by ground owned by Sherman's 
 enemies, else he could have driven in a tunnel, and 
 undercut the ore bodies. 
 
 Above the Consolidated Group, the top of Ascension 
 mountain was covered with a perpetual coat of snow. 
 Beneath yawned the deep chasm. On a small tract of 
 the ground behind the protecting wall of a dyke, the 
 mine buildings were located. The rail on the porch of 
 the Consolidated boarding house ran well over the edge 
 of the precipice, five thousand feet above the tumul 
 tuous little creek that wound its way almost to the shaft 
 house, and then turned through a dark gorge, and, 
 following a dyke, plunged outward, and fell, in spray 
 like millions of crystals. The fall and the creek were 
 not, however, on Sherman's portion of the ground, else 
 he could have utilized it for power. 
 
 Below was a little settlement, the terminus of the 
 railroad, and the point from which supplies were 
 
Preface Page 17 
 
 freighted up the steep trail on the backs of burros. 
 The winters, on this bleak hillside, were terrible. For 
 miles it is exposed to the attack of the elements, and 
 on it wind and rain and snow beat with unrelenting 
 fury. Snowslides were frequent, and claimed an annual 
 toll of human life. Such is the section known as the 
 Bonanza Trail, beneath which nature has hidden mil 
 lions in treasure, which Sherman was battling to 
 obtain. 
 
 Contention Creek tumbles down one of the roughest 
 mountains in the world, where it merges with another 
 turbulent, noisy stream. From the point where the 
 snow melts into little rivulets, and the water percolates 
 through the loose slide rock that sloughs down the 
 steep hillsides, to form the tiny course that grows in 
 volume as it descends the hill, it is a constant battle. 
 The water dashes with fury against an immense granite 
 boulder, as large as a city building, churns and foams, 
 and is tossed in great clouds of spray that are driven 
 by the wind against the mountain side. This stream 
 crosses the upper end of the Bonanza Trail, an old 
 roadway over which the gold-seekers passed in the 
 pioneer days in their quest for fortune. The creek 
 tumbles through a deep gorge, then runs over a wide 
 
Page 18 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 expanse of almost flat granite floor, which has been 
 polished by the constant passage of the water. Then 
 it roars over a bed of broken, gnarled volcanic rock, 
 where it boils and eddies in terrific combat, to emerge 
 into a steep channel, through which it swiftly flows, 
 gathering strength for a mighty leap over a cliff, down 
 which it plunges a full mile, spreading out like a 
 beautiful bridal veil. The water strikes the bottom 
 where a gigantic punch bowl has been worn by the 
 impact through thousands of years, overflows the sides, 
 and descends noisily, by a series of alternate rapids 
 and falls, to a serpentine course that it has worn 
 through the rocky chasm, now forcing itself against 
 one side, then the other, now advancing, and at points 
 receding, angrily, in its passage from the summit to 
 the sea. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ube jfftst JStusb 
 
 Sherman had been swindled. 
 
 Had he pursued the methods common in business 
 life, he could have avoided much of his trouble. But 
 he was not a common man. 
 
 He had been victimized by a gang of sharpers, who 
 sold him a vast tract of mining territory on which few 
 would care to risk a dollar. 
 
 These men owned ground they were afraid to ex 
 ploit and they had adopted underhand means to have 
 it developed, at the expense of Sherman. They sold it 
 on time, and so hampered the purchaser with condi 
 tions that, if he succeeded, they would stand nine 
 chances out of ten in taking the property away from 
 him. 
 
 The ground had been sold a dozen times in as many 
 years, and developed, partially, at the expense of others, 
 and several fortunes had been dissipated. 
 
Page 22 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 Sherman, a rough man, was the product of his en 
 vironment. He was proud, generous with his friends, 
 close in personal affairs, melancholy, and, presumably, 
 rich. He came into the Ascension Mountain district 
 several years before, from the East, and his seemed to 
 be the hand of Midas. His success was wonderful. 
 Like a great many uneducated men, he possessed an 
 intuitive knowledge of affairs. Because of his luck, his 
 opinion as to the value of a mine was highly rated. 
 But the group was a sink hole. Its owners had fleeced 
 many an unwary man. Every opening on the property 
 had its story of disappointment and penury. 
 
 They sold him a group of claims that lay diago 
 nally across the mountain, like the backbone of a 
 gigantic fish, the ribs representing the claims that con 
 nected with the main strip, or central bone. The spaces 
 between belonged to the people from whom he had 
 purchased. And therein was the danger. He was of 
 the impression that he had purchased a compact tract 
 of ground, for he had neglected to engage the services 
 of an examining engineer to verify the representations 
 of the owners. 
 
 It was a swindle, clear and simple. Everybody 
 knew it, except Sherman. As he was not seeking ad- 
 
The First Brush Page 23 
 
 vice, and resented interference, the community kept 
 silent and awaited development. The sale was heralded 
 far and wide. "Lucky" Sherman, who had made half 
 a dozen big stakes, and kept every one, had bought the 
 Consolidated Group, on the Bonanza Trail. He paid 
 $80,000 down, and agreed to pay $80,000 semi-annually 
 until a total of $800,000 had been paid. And while 
 doing this he agreed by contract to sink a shaft 1,000 
 feet, at the rate of 250 feet a year. 
 
 It was the expectation of the sharpers that at depth 
 a body of rich ore would be developed, and that by 
 that time Sherman would have so exhausted his means 
 that the property would revert to them. If he encount 
 ered bonanza ore close to the surface, they relied upon 
 the contiguous ground they held as vehicles to actions 
 at law, to wear him out in the courts. 
 
 Everybody understood it except Sherman. It was 
 a barefaced trick, and the fact that he was considered 
 the shrewdest trader and closest dealer in the district, 
 made the deal the more amazing. 
 
 This was the condition of affairs when I was in 
 vited to associate myself with the enterprise, in an 
 advisory capacity. 
 
 Sherman was the laughing stock of the country. 
 
Page 2b The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 It was rumored that he had expended nearly every 
 dollar he possessed in the work he had carried on, and 
 while everybody in the district knew he had been de 
 frauded, he seemed perfectly satisfied. 
 
 All this I learned the first day I arrived on the 
 Bonanza Trail. 
 
 I advised him to quit to write it all off as a bad 
 investment, but he would not heed the warning. 
 
 "You are here to give advice as to the development 
 of this property not with regard to my personal 
 affairs," he said. 
 
 This was the only wall between us for we grew to 
 be fast and trusted friends. 
 
 He was confident that great ore bodies existed at 
 depth. I thought so, too, but he was so hedged in by 
 conflicting property, and the chances of litigation were 
 so great, that, it seemed to me, he would be wiped out 
 on the very threshold of success. 
 
 He acquiesced, quietly and without murmur, in the 
 costly plan of work outlined, and after a few months, 
 at a depth of 400 feet, on the Treasure claim, we cut a 
 small stringer of ore that returned sensational values. 
 Sherman thought that we had encountered the Great 
 Bonanza vein I was of the opinion that it was merely 
 
The First Brush Page 25 
 
 a stringer leading to it, for it widened as we drifted on 
 it. We commenced to ship the ore down the mountain 
 on the backs of burros, which he called our "Inter- 
 ^urro Service." The streak widened, until we were 
 sending down a carload of ore daily; and until the 
 mine was paid for, a percentage of the net proceeds 
 had to go to the sellers. 
 
 The Bombshell shaft, owned by the men who had 
 sold the Consolidated Group to Sherman, adjoined the 
 main strip of land at this point, and connected with the 
 claim we were working. 
 
 As the bottom of our shaft was 150 feet lower than 
 the Bombshell, in pumping from the Treasure, we kept 
 the other hole dry, at no expense to the owners. So 
 they commenced work on their claims. I surmised that 
 they were drifting toward the ore in the Treasure, 
 which was rather closer to their shaft than to ours, and 
 was approached by a long drift. When they started to 
 ship, I was confident that they were mining it on our 
 side of the line. The only way to prove it was to break 
 into their workings, since M'Cracken, the superin 
 tendent, declined to let us inspect the property, while 
 he had a perfect right to enter ours, until the last dollar 
 
Page 26 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 of the bond had been paid. It was a cut-throat propo 
 sition, and they held the knife. 
 
 We commenced to drift toward them, with machine 
 drills, and one night, a few weeks later, we broke into 
 their second level. 
 
 I called on M'Cracken, and explained that he had 
 trespassed on our ground. He smiled knowingly but 
 remained silent. He was a good fellow, and we were 
 great friends but he was guarding the interests of his 
 employers as carefully as I was protecting Sherman. 
 
 "Personally," I said, "this is downright robbery, 
 Mac." 
 
 "Personally, old man, we had better not discuss that 
 phase of it." 
 
 I took the cue. 
 
 That night Sherman was served with an order of 
 court enjoining him from performing any further work 
 on the north side of the shaft, and a notice to the effect 
 that an underground survey by engineers selected by 
 the district judge would be made, to determine to whom 
 the ore belonged. Also there was a demand for an 
 accounting and a suit for damages. 
 
 They intended to smoke Sherman out in the courts, 
 and this was the first attack. 
 
The First Brush Page 27 
 
 That night Powers, Sherman's attorney, came up 
 from the county seat, and looked over the ground. 
 
 "They haven't a ghost of a show/' was his verdict. 
 "But you know these people have a vast amount of 
 money, they employ brilliant legal talent, they are un 
 scrupulous and they are as corrupt as they are wealthy. 
 They intend, now that you have opened rich ore, to steal 
 back the mine. They will wear you out in the courts, 
 for they are resourceful." 
 We looked at each other. 
 
 "The survey will show that the ore belongs to 
 Sherman," I said. 
 
 "It may. It doubtless will. They are fighting for 
 time piling up costs on Sherman, who relies on the 
 ore to meet his payments." 
 
 "I will attend to the financial end, Powers," said 
 Sherman, dryly. "Confine yourself to the legal aspect 
 of the case." 
 
 "They may claim an apex.* The case will drag 
 along for years." 
 
 *This is the law that governs extra-lateral rights, in that 
 it usually permits the discoverer at its highest point of out 
 crop to follow and mine the ore from the vein, providing he 
 does not pass beyond his endlines. 
 
Page 28 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "But if the shaft was filled with water," I com 
 menced and then caught myself. 
 
 "Out with it," commanded Powers. 
 
 "We are pumping 1,200 gallons of water a minute. 
 If we stopped the pumps, the shaft would be filled to 
 the collar by daylight, and can they make us pump ?'* 
 
 Powers threw back his head and laughed, and 
 slapped his leg. 
 
 "They can order the survey," he said, "and they 
 can make it but not with the mine full of water." 
 
 "Can they compel us to run our pumps ?" 
 
 "If we choose to save money, no court can compel 
 us to spend it. We don't propose to operate those 
 pumps. Let them make the survey." 
 
 I shouted to Larsen, the superintendent, and twen 
 ty-five minutes later we had stopped and were pulling 
 the big sinker pump from the hole, and the men had 
 been ordered out of the shaft, which was now rapidly 
 filling with water. 
 
 The next morning M'Cracken, with several sur 
 veyors and the owners of the Bombshell, appeared on 
 the Trail. Sherman gave Powers a rifle, and, pointing 
 up the gulch down which Contention Creek tumbled, 
 said: 
 
The First Brush Page 29 
 
 "You go up there and hunt whales." 
 
 "Whales?" 
 
 "Yes ; they are very annoying to the settlers. I'll 
 stay here and catch wolves." 
 
 Powers smiled, and started up the trail. 
 
 M'Cracken appeared. 
 
 "We have come to make a survey of your under 
 ground workings," he said. "May we proceed?" 
 
 ''You may," answered Sherman. 
 
 They went over to the shaft house, and after a few 
 moments M'Cracken returned, smiling. 
 
 "The fires under your boilers are out," he said, ad 
 dressing Sherman. 
 
 "They are," was the indifferent answer. 
 
 "The mine is full of water." 
 
 "It is." 
 
 "That, Sherman, is a very serious matter," said 
 M'Cracken, weighing every word. 
 
 "I agree with you," was the quiet rejoinder. 
 
 "What," asked M'Cracken, "do you intend to do 
 about it?" 
 
 "For reply, permit me to ask you the same ques 
 tion." 
 
 Then the owners came forward, and entered into a 
 
Page 30 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 conference with Sherman. They threatened, and, with 
 their lawyers, who were present, bullied, but Sherman 
 was undisturbed. There was no more expression to his 
 face than to a piece of brown paper. 
 
 They had set a trap for him, and had walked into it 
 themselves and they knew it. 
 
 After several hours of talk, one of them suggested 
 consolidation. Sherman declined flatly to listen to it. 
 Asked for a proposition, he answered : 
 
 "I offer you one of two alternatives. You may give 
 me a deed to the Bombshell, or, you may defend a suit 
 for trespass, damages, an accounting and, some more. 
 You may keep the ore you have stolen, and I shall make 
 no claim for that. I shall enjoin you from oper 
 ating any property intersecting the Great Bonanza 
 vein." 
 
 "But suppose " one of them commenced. 
 
 "Do you see that man coming down the trail?" 
 asked Sherman, pointing to Powers, who was stum 
 bling toward us. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "He is my attorney tell your troubles to him." 
 Saying which he entered the Consolidated office, and 
 closed the door. 
 
The First Brush Page 31 
 
 An hour later the papers had been drawn up and 
 signed. Sherman had won the first brush with the 
 enemy, but he started a conflict that was to burn a mil 
 lion dollars and that eventually cost him his life. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 jffre Witb fffre 
 
 "Well, I paid those vultures $80,000 yesterday, and 
 now I guess they will leave me alone for a time," said 
 Sherman one evening, after we had checked up the 
 day's work underground. 
 
 He had hardly ceased to speak when the telephone 
 rang, and he unhooked the receiver. 
 
 I heard him say "yes" several times, then "no," in a 
 quiet, decided way, and closed the conversation. 
 
 Turning to me, he said, evenly : 
 
 "Stop work east of the shaft, draw the fires and pull 
 the pumps." After which he walked unconcernedly 
 out into the open air. 
 
 I motioned through the door to Larsen and told 
 him, and, after glancing at Sherman a moment, he ven 
 tured : 
 
Fighting Fire With Fire Page 33 
 
 "I tank, Sherman, he bane troubled." 
 The news spread, and there was a buzz of excite 
 ment, but not in Sherman's presence. After gazing at 
 the snow-white tops of the Ascension range, he re 
 turned to the office, lighted a cigar, and after smoking 
 a while in silence, said: 
 
 ''Wolves have an insatiable appetite. Particularly 
 the human brand. Give them money, it fevers them, 
 and thereafter they trample down others to attain that 
 which does not belong to them. We beat those fellows 
 fair and square, in that Bombshell deal. We caught 
 them red-handed, and really allowed them to get away 
 with the plunder, taking only a barren piece of ground 
 in return. Now they have filed suit against me from 
 the Alligator, east of us, claiming an apex, and demand 
 an accounting, seek damages, and so on. That was 
 their lawyer talking over the 'phone. He wanted me to 
 accept service that way I declined. However, I have 
 stopped work, for the reason that, as they wish to obtain 
 an underground survey, and may make, by some hocus 
 pocus, an attempt to force me to keep the shaft dry, I 
 have decided to take no chances against the law, and 
 will let the hole fill up with water before they get here. 
 
Page 34 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 So I look for a society call on the part of a deputy 
 sheriff pretty pronto/' 
 
 This was bad news. We were preparing for a big 
 production. The Treasure shaft had been unwatered, 
 and heavier pumps installed to meet the increasing 
 flow. Sherman had paid another installment on the 
 mine, and, while he did not say as much, I fancied he 
 was close run for money, for there were a great many 
 'phone calls to the bank at the county seat, and an un 
 usual number of letters from outside financial houses. 
 We were preparing to enter an era of profitable pro 
 duction, when this new litigation fell. He called up 
 his attorney and the following morning Powers was on 
 the ground. After a conference, he said: 
 
 "We can win but it will be a terrible battle, old 
 man." 
 
 While we were discussing it, a deputy sheriff rode 
 up the Trail and served Sherman with papers which 
 enjoined him from all work of any kind whatsoever, on 
 all of the claims that intersected the Great Bonanza 
 vein, and an order forbidding him to cease pumping 
 water until an examination of the underground work 
 ings of the Treasure claim could be made. Of course, 
 they had not stated in the call over the wires that such 
 
Fighting Fire With Fire Page 35 
 
 was the order, but Sherman anticipated it by his shrewd 
 guess, and he could not be held accountable, for the 
 reason that he had not been served or even notified, for 
 that matter, that such was the case. This order 
 was granted ex-parte. Not even Powers had heard of 
 it when he left the county seat, for the case was pre 
 sented in chambers. In addition they claimed an apex 
 on every claim which crossed the Great Bonanza dike, 
 and this effectually tied him. In other words, they 
 claimed to have opened the same veins at points higher 
 up on the hill, and, under the law in such cases, they 
 were entitled to all the ore below them, if they proved 
 their contention. As a matter of fact, such was not the 
 case, but it was a method of sewing Sherman up, of 
 grinding him to poverty, as others have been ruined 
 before, until they could gain possession of the prop 
 erty, either through his failure to meet the payments, 
 or, in the event he did, by wearing him out in the 
 courts." 
 
 "We must hunt for ore along the Bonanza dike," 
 said Sherman. 
 
 "Well," replied Powers, "anything you find there 
 cannot be apexed that is some satisfaction." 
 
 The claims along the dike adjoined, parallel, three 
 
Page 36 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 wide, and the Bonanza vein traversed the central zone, 
 so that he was protected by his own property from out 
 side litigation. But the Bonanza vein was an immense 
 dike of low grade material, running almost north and 
 south, while the claims carrying the smelting ore 
 coursed northeast and southwest, and were rich at the 
 points of junction with the dike. 
 
 "We have the ore," I told Sherman, "but it is of 
 too low grade to send down hill by burro. If we had a 
 water right, and a mill site on the creek, we could build 
 an aerial tram, send the ore down by gravity, concen 
 trate it, ship it to the smelter and make a profit of a 
 dollar or two a ton. I believe I might get out a couple 
 of hundred tons daily " 
 
 "We'll do that," interrupted Sherman, with as much 
 confidence as though the mill could be ordered tonight 
 and be in place in the morning. 
 
 "But," I hastened to add, "it will take months to 
 develop the low grade ore body, build the mill and 
 tramway, and extend up the railway tracks, and we 
 have not even the scratch of a pen toward the drawing 
 for the mill, much less the preliminary metallurgical 
 work to determine the type required." 
 
 "That's all right," was the short answer. "Instruct 
 
Fighting Fire With Fire Page 37 
 
 Larsen on the way the work is to be done, make your 
 tests as you go along, and I'll furnish the money only, 
 rush the mill.' 5 
 
 I knew that Sherman was sailing close to the wind, 
 that he had nerve and lots of it, but this was the coolest 
 exhibition I had seen, for here he was actually planning 
 to spend $250,000, not knowing what new danger beset 
 him. 
 
 "About the water?" 
 
 "I own a water right bought it of a farmer." 
 
 "Is it valid?" 
 
 "I said I owned it, didn't I?" 
 
 There was no use arguing. If he was wrong, we 
 should find it out at the most embarrassing moment, 
 and he would foot the bill, if he was not a bankrupt by 
 that time. 
 
 The next morning we started a new shaft, on the 
 only portion of the ground that was or could be litiga 
 tion free, on a grade of ore so low that it would keep 
 us watching the corners to remain on the right side of 
 the ledger, and at the very moment when we were 
 running behind at an enormous rate yet $250,000 in 
 money and nearly a year of time would be consumed 
 before we could get a dollar back. 
 
Page 38 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 While we were carrying on this work, news came 
 of a sensational strike of ore in the Alligator shaft, 
 which flanked the Treasure claim on the east, for Sher 
 man, in the weeks that had passed since the filing of 
 these suits, had taken no action toward checkmating his 
 enemies. Powers advised it, but he said he had decided 
 upon a waiting policy. When he heard of the strike, 
 he called up the lawyer on the long distance, and 
 bidding him come up to the mine that night, hung up 
 the 'phone. 
 
 I met him on the Trail. 
 
 "What's up?" he asked. 
 
 "I don't know," I answered, and I did not. 
 
 Sherman took the lawyer into his private office, and 
 from the length of time that they were closeted his 
 instructions must have been very short. Sherman always 
 instructed he never sought or accepted advice. As 
 Powers was Sherman's attorney, not mine, he kept his 
 mouth shut. My instructions were to tell the lawyer 
 and no one else, all I knew about the mine, while his 
 instructions were to tell me nothing about Sherman's 
 litigation. Something was in the wind ; what it was, I 
 did not know. 
 
 The next morning Sherman went down to the 
 
Fighting Fire With Fire Page 39 
 
 county seat. That afternoon he called me up by 'phone, 
 and said: 
 
 "I am going away for a month or so. I have left 
 some cash here, subject to your check, to meet 
 expenses. Come down in the morning and leave your 
 signature at the bank Powers will identify you. In 
 the meantime, get out the plans for the mill, get every 
 thing ready, bids, and so forth. When I come back 
 you'll hear from me," and he hung up the 'phone. 
 
 I felt satisfied that he was going away to raise 
 more money, with which to carry on his battle in the 
 courts. 
 
 About an hour later one of the shift bosses came in 
 and said, excitedly: 
 
 "There's something the matter at the Alligator. 
 They have paid off their entire crew and shut down." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 Not only that, but all of the shafts belonging to 
 Sherman's enemies that were producing ore had ceased 
 operation. 
 
 He had filed counter-suits against them, asked for 
 an accounting of all ore mined, sought damages, and 
 obtained a temporary order restraining them from 
 doing any work. He had filed a bond of tremendous 
 
Page 40 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 amount, and when he had done that, he was pretty 
 close to bedrock. Then he quietly disappeared. 
 
 He was fighting a band of rogues, and was giving 
 them a dose of their own medicine. 
 
 His was the only property on the Bonanza Trail 
 that was operating; it was going full blast and at a 
 dead loss. 
 
 Thus we were plunged into a storm of litigation of 
 such a complicated character that the hand of paralysis 
 had been laid over the most promising mining section 
 of the county. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 jforceft to tbe Mall 
 
 After several months of delay, the mill was com 
 pleted. It only remained now to finish the tram line, in 
 order to commence grinding the ore we had blocked out 
 in the mine above. 
 
 Should this mill prove to be a success, it meant the 
 salvation of the district, for it would demonstrate that 
 certain classes of low grade ore could be handled at a 
 profit. But it was a rich man's game. On the success 
 of Sherman's venture a dozen others hung. The aerial 
 tram that conveyed the ore from the mine was a mile 
 long, and was suspended from steel towers. It crossed 
 deep gulches, vast stretches of volcanic slide rock, and 
 sometimes the ore buckets swung more than 3,000 feet 
 above an arroya. The buckets were loaded and emp 
 tied automatically, the descending loaded bringing 
 
Page 42 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 back the ascending empty buckets, in a parallel line. 
 The ore bins at the mine had been full for months, 
 and as soon as the wire cables had been tested, we 
 commenced to send the product down the hill to fill 
 the bins at the mill, for in a plant of this size it was 
 necessary to have enough ore behind the crushers to 
 run ninety days. Then, if anything happened to the 
 tram, the plant could continue to grind without inter 
 ruption, until the break was repaired. 
 
 When this work was completed, we commenced to 
 send ore to the breakers, then to the concentrators, in 
 which the rock was washed out of the pulverized mass, 
 on shaking tables, the heavier particles, containing 
 the mineral, remaining behind. Thus, the mineral 
 contents of fifteen tons were concentrated into one ton. 
 In this manner we saved the freight and smelting 
 charges on fourteen tons of ore. While one ton would 
 not pay expenses, if sent alone, by this method we 
 could effect a saving of about one dollar to the ton of 
 ore mined. In other words, the concentrated ton 
 would pay a profit. 
 
 The mill was operated by water, while the subsid 
 iary power was electric, and from it we supplied elec 
 tricity to the mine, doing away with steam on the hill, 
 
Forced to the Wall Page 43 
 
 and the enormous cost of freighting fuel up on the 
 backs of pack animals. 
 
 Just as we were preparing to extend the spur of 
 the railroad track to the mill, our enemies appeared, 
 and fought the right of way, for they had purchased 
 ground in our path, and we were delayed until it could 
 be condemned. 
 
 We had been running less than a week, when we 
 were served with an order of court to cease using the 
 water of the Farmers Co-Operative Water Company. 
 Powers came up to investigate. He read Sherman's 
 papers conveying the water right, after which he tore 
 his hair, and, pacing the floor like a madman, raved : 
 
 "Oh, Sherman, you are one vast damn fool." 
 
 Sherman said nothing. He had made a mistake 
 he knew that, or Powers would not have dared to talk 
 that way. In his loose method of doing business, he 
 had bought, from an individual, a water right belong 
 ing to a company. The right was meaningless and 
 void. 
 
 "What's the matter with the bill of sale?" he asked. 
 
 "What's the matter with it? Oh, hear him! What is 
 the matter with it? What is right about it? What 
 good is it? It is not worth the paper it is written on. 
 
Page 44 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 It conveys nothing does not specify, explain, locate 
 or stipulate. Does not say whether the water right 
 is in the United States, or in Asia, whether for ten 
 inches a second or four oceans a century. Sherman, 
 you are an ass a big, overgrown, blundering idiot. 
 You own no water. Why didn't you let me see this 
 paper before you started to build the mill " 
 
 "When you get over your excitement, Powers/' 
 said Sherman, his voice coldly even, "we will get at 
 the legal aspect of the case. Where do I stand ?" 
 
 "This fellow has defrauded you. We will have 
 him arrested" 
 
 "We will do nothing of the kind," replied Sherman. 
 "He is a poor devil arresting him will not help us. 
 We want to go higher up get the fellow who engi 
 neered the deal. We have no time for revenge. We 
 want water, and We want it quick. You get busy and 
 report your findings to me." 
 
 Three days later Powers saw Sherman again. The 
 president of the Farmers Co-Operative Water Com 
 pany was the controlling factor in the corporation that 
 was warring on Sherman, and their attorneys were the 
 legal arm of the Co-Operative concern. 
 
 They had cut the sand from beneath Sherman's 
 
Forced to the Wall Page 45 
 
 feet, legally purchased the water right, and had the 
 papers recorded. Then they had organized and had 
 taken the water over. Sherman's papers, in addition 
 to being worthless, were not even of record. He had 
 not a leg to stand on. 
 
 We were beaten, fairly and squarely, though Sher 
 man forced Powers to go through the farce of going 
 into court, and insisting that we were not using, but 
 were turning the water back into the stream after 
 sending it through the mill, but the fact that the other 
 crowd intended to carry it by our plant in a flume, si 
 lenced the attorney. 
 
 Bills were beginning to accumulate. His enemies 
 had so timed this blow that it struck at a most inoppor 
 tune moment. There was money due on the Consoli 
 dated Group, and it was on this point that they hoped 
 to trap him, for by a stipulation in his bond and lease 
 he had agreed, if he failed in his payments, to give 
 them all improvements in the matter of machinery, and 
 any land he might have acquired in connection with 
 the property. So, unless he raised money, he would lose 
 everything he had in the world, and besides, there were 
 the unsettled damage suits. It was a terrible muddle, 
 
Page 46 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 and as he fought the different battles in the courts, 
 Powers' hair began to turn gray. 
 
 Even his enemies now began to concede that it 
 would be a calamity if Sherman lost he had done 
 more for the camp than any dozen men. He was 
 "square," and from all sides rang notes of genuine 
 regret. The people were only just beginning to appre 
 ciate him. 
 
 But Sherman was not seeking sympathy. He 
 never indulged in self-pity the luxury was too ex 
 pensive. 
 
 He spent considerable time in the county seat, 
 wrote numerous letters, and transacted a volume of 
 business by telegraph, and in cipher. 
 
 At the mine we were saving a small streak of smelt 
 ing ore, and it little more than paid expenses. While 
 he did not say so, I knew that he was grateful. 
 
 Then he went away, and was gone several months, 
 and we lived in daily expectation of hearing that the 
 great property had been seized by the vandals who 
 were pursuing him. I received letters from him from 
 time to time, that contained little information as to 
 what he intended to do or when he would return. 
 
 One evening, while sitting in the office, wondering 
 
Forced to the Wall Page 47 
 
 when it would all end, the telephone rang and Central 
 said: 
 
 "County seat wants to talk with you." 
 
 A moment later a voice said : 
 
 "I'll be up in the morning." 
 
 It was Sherman. 
 
 I thought everybody at the mine would go wild 
 they nearly tore him to pieces. They danced around 
 him like children. He made no demonstration. He 
 was still the same cold, dignified man, and he wore 
 the same mask of mystery, and appeared, if anything, 
 more shabby than usual. His presence revived hopes, 
 though from different sources reports began to filter 
 in that he had simply returned to deliver over the 
 property that he had given up the fight. This had a 
 depressing effect, and our feelings alternated between 
 hope and fear. That afternoon he sent a bulky letter 
 down to the bank. 
 
 After supper, while smoking in his little den, he 
 turned to me and said : 
 
 "Those fellows are going into court in the morning 
 with a personal note of mine for $50,000, which they 
 have managed to obtain possession of. They asked me 
 for the money over the 'phone this afternoon. I didn't 
 
Page 48 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 have it. They will ask judgment, and will take it by 
 default, because I won't be there. Then they are going 
 to try to levy on this property." 
 
 Sherman smoked on in silence for awhile. 
 
 "Funny," he finally said, "how men will go to all 
 that trouble for nothing." 
 
 Three or four more puffs. 
 
 "Now, if that money had been due yesterday, for 
 example, instead of today, it might really have been a 
 serious affair." 
 
 "Serious? Isn't it? What do you mean ?" I asked. 
 
 "I mean," he continued, slowly, "that I no longer 
 own the Consolidated Group. It has been transferred 
 to the Consolidated Mining, Exploitation and Milling 
 Company in trust to secure my Eastern creditors, and 
 they are to carry on the work until such time as I can 
 repay them. I am to be their new general manager, 
 though." 
 
 "Yes ?" I said, for I was burning with curiosity. 
 
 "I mean," said Sherman, with the only smile I had 
 ever seen on his gaunt, melancholy face, "that I am 
 judgment proof." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Ube flDejican Venture 
 
 "Well," said Sherman one night, "I am going to 
 give up the Mexican Venture." 
 
 "Mexican venture? Never knew you participated 
 in one. When were you down there?" 
 
 "Wrong. The Mexican Venture is a mine here 
 in camp. I own it. Bought it a couple of months ago. 
 Fellow had a row over the ground with a Greaser, and 
 finally got possession. He named it the Mexican Ven 
 ture. That was several months ago. I bought it then, 
 and now I am going to sell it for $150,000." 
 
 "What did it cost you?" 
 
 "Honestly, I'm ashamed to tell it. I only paid 
 $25,000 for the hole. Going some, eh ?" 
 
 It certainly was, but you would never know it from 
 Sherman's face. 
 
Page 50 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "It will solve all of our financial difficulties for the 
 time being, and give me money to pay for the mill 
 and other things." 
 
 There was no need of hurrying him. After he had 
 smoked in silence awhile, he continued: 
 
 "I knew it was a cinch that property for I felt 
 at the time that I was buying the apex to the Vendetta 
 they are on both sides of me, and the leads they are 
 working crop on the Mexican Venture. How they 
 ever overlooked that strip of ground is a mystery to 
 me. At any rate, its mine. Few days ago, I called the 
 attention of the owners to the matter politely, of 
 course and after they had sent their surveyors over 
 the ground and blustered some, they agreed to buy it 
 of me, if I could deliver title, within nine months. Got 
 a signed contract from them to that effect." 
 
 Here was another one of those moves, which Sher 
 man always told about afterward. It seemed mighty 
 strange to me that he could coolly walk up on the Ven 
 detta for $150,000, as he said he was doing, and have 
 the owners agree to his proposition without the usual 
 process of establishing title in the courts. I thought 
 he had overlooked something, and told him so. 
 
 "This deal is one of the cleanest you ever saw. 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 51 
 
 Now, I'll go all over it again. The original owners 
 had a row with some Mexicans, got the claim that's 
 none of my business named it, did the assessment 
 work in the first thirty days and sold it to me, and now 
 I have made the Vendetta crowd agree to buy it from 
 me in nine months." 
 
 "If you can deliver title, I think you said." 
 
 "Of course. That was a measure of safety they in 
 serted in the agreement. All I have to do is to sign a 
 quit claim deed to the ground, they pass over the money 
 and it's done. Easy? What makes it look so good to 
 me is the fact that the people who have been giving me 
 the run own the Vendetta. Startles you, eh ? It is not 
 generally known that they own it, but I found it out. 
 They were surprised when they saw me come in. For 
 some reason they were keeping their ownership quiet. 
 That will even up scores on the Bombshell deal." 
 
 I was not quite so certain as he was. 
 
 Sherman had had a dozen brushes with these peo 
 ple, and, so far, he had won every case, and though it 
 had cost him a deal of money, he was ahead of the 
 game to date. But now he had bearded their pet lion, 
 in their favorite den, and I fancied that they were not 
 as insecure as he imagined they were. 
 
Page 52 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "Sherman," I said, "I think I will go down with 
 you and look over that piece of ground. Perhaps you 
 have made a mistake sometimes, you know, a man 
 only opens his mouth to put his foot in it." 
 
 "When I require your services on the Mexican 
 Venture, I will inform you," icily, "and in the mean 
 time please be good enough to devote your energies 
 to the Consolidated property we want to double the 
 capacity of the mill, and this afternoon we will send in 
 an order to the supply houses " 
 
 "Wouldn't it be a good idea to wait until you have 
 the $150,000 before you send in that order?" I asked. 
 
 "Who is responsible for the debts of this prop 
 erty, you or me? I will send along $20,000 for the 
 first payment, and by the time the addition is com 
 pleted, the Vendetta money will be due, to pay off the 
 balance." 
 
 "If you can deliver title," I answered, quoting his 
 words. 
 
 Sherman glanced at me. 
 
 "W'you mean ?" a trifle sharply. 
 
 "Sherman, who drew that contract?" 
 
 "It's all right the Vendetta attorneys wrote it, and 
 they signed it. No, I didn't show it to my attorney. 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 53 
 
 It's none of his business. Powers is a nice fellow, and 
 I like him but I don't want him to know any more 
 about my business than I want to tell him, and, be 
 sides, I know the law. Know more than most lawyers 
 do. The only trouble is, these fellows who fight me 
 don't know the law. That's proved by the way I al 
 ways win my suits. Understand?" 
 
 As a matter of fact, most of his cases were settled 
 out of court, due to an intuitive knowledge on his part 
 of the exact moment at which to bring his business 
 mind into action. 
 
 About a week after this Sherman went down to the 
 county seat, and during the day telephoned to me to 
 join him. I found him sitting in the lobby of the 
 hotel, quietly smoking, by himself. We talked awhile 
 on commonplace subjects, and as there was a fair the 
 atrical production in town that night, he invited me to 
 see the play. When we reached the opera house, I 
 found that he had purchased tickets in the gallery, for 
 while he was in many ways the most generous of men, 
 he was in other respects the most miserly individual 
 I ever knew. 
 
 We reached the hotel about n o'clock. He sug 
 gested a light lunch. He was always hungry. So we 
 
Page 54 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 crossed the street, and while I ate a sandwich, he 
 gorged himself on corned beef and cabbage, which, he 
 said, was "the cheapest thing on the bill of fare that 
 was filling." How he could do it, and sleep afterward, 
 was a mystery. 
 
 He had rented the best room in the hotel for me, 
 with a bath, and a hall bedroom for himself the low 
 est price apartment in the house, of course. 
 
 Coming into my room, for his was without heat, 
 he threw himself into a rocker, elevated his feet to the 
 dresser, and, after blowing a cloud of smoke toward 
 the ceiling, said : 
 
 "The Mexican Venture has been jumped." 
 
 "Jumped?" 
 
 "That's what I said. That's the reason I sent for 
 you. Fellow located it and sank a new hole, and, just 
 to be funny, has named it Sherman's Dream. Of 
 course," in an injured tone, "that's a slam at me. My 
 location was first. Powers says it's a clear case." 
 
 "What do you expect me to do?" 
 
 "Damifino. Thought I would have you down here, 
 if anything happened. Well, let's go to bed," saying 
 which he went to his room, and I sat up wondering 
 what devilment his enemies had been plotting, for he 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 55 
 
 certainly seemed to be in the midst of new trouble. 
 The order for the addition to the mill, which I thought 
 was foolish, as we did not possess the water to operate 
 it, had gone out. This meant more debts, and Sher 
 man was already tied up in a complicated mass of in 
 junctions and restraining orders, of apex, extra- 
 lateral rights and damage suits. He was simply burn 
 ing money to keep out of the flame himself. 
 
 The next morning I visited Powers, while Sher 
 man had a session with the local banker, and when he 
 was not with the financier, he was in the telegraph 
 office. He was a mighty busy man. 
 
 "It's like this," said Powers. "Sherman is the vic 
 tim of a conspiracy, as near as I can figure it out, 
 though it is impossible to prove it. In the first place, 
 there have been no Mexicans in the neighborhood of 
 the Vendetta since history began. In the next place, the 
 fellow who located the claim is in the employ of the 
 Vendetta, and he seems to be spending the greater part 
 of his time in the city. His name is Hunt. He says 
 that Sherman has no legal right to the claim. He has 
 simply located it. It is not an adverse suit. It looks 
 to me like a put-up job of some kind, though I cannot 
 tell until they show their hand. Yesterday, under my 
 
Page 56 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 advice, Sherman went up there to resume work, when 
 Hunt appeared, and with a number of Vendetta work 
 men drove him from the property. Today we filed a 
 suit against Hunt, alleging trespass, and restraining 
 him from interfering with Sherman farther. I think 
 that will settle Mr. Hunt." 
 
 But it didn't. 
 
 At the last moment he came into court, and through 
 the Vendetta attorneys alleged that the ground was 
 public domain, and that sufficient work had not been 
 done upon it to hold it under the law. When one lo 
 cates a mining claim, one must sink a hole on a vein 
 showing mineralization, ten feet deep. The hole on the 
 Mexican Venture was only nine feet eleven inches 
 deep.* 
 
 So Sherman lost his case the first real legal set 
 back since the litigation started. 
 
 That he was the victim of a plot there seemed to be 
 no doubt that he could maintain an action on these 
 grounds was doubtful. Powers advised against it. 
 
 That afternoon he sat in his attorney's office, his 
 hands shoved deep in his trousers' pockets. As I 
 watched him, his face seemed different from the first 
 
 *Fact. 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 57 
 
 day I had known him. His great nose was finely chis 
 eled, and his long, gaunt features, somehow or other, 
 seemed to have been nobly moulded. There was a sym 
 pathetic expression that one did not notice, except 
 through long acquaintance. Powers, cool and calculat 
 ing, had grown to love this rough specimen of humanity, 
 the victim of so many intrigues. He was a poor, strug 
 gling attorney when Sherman found him, in a back room 
 of an out-of-the-way building. The beginning was 
 small. After the first contest, when Powers advised that 
 heavier legal talent be retained, he introduced higher- 
 priced men. Sherman did not murmur at the outrageous 
 bills they rendered for he had to have them. In set 
 tling up he handed Powers, without comment, a check 
 in excess of the largest he had drawn for the outside 
 lawyers, for Powers had charge of the cases, and he 
 believed in giving him the general's fee. Powers tried 
 to tell him that he could save him all the trouble if he 
 would only advise with him in advance, but Sherman's 
 answer was : 
 
 "What's the good of a lawyer if you can't get him 
 when you are in trouble? Any damned fool can tell 
 you how to keep out of it. It takes a wise man to get 
 you out, once you are in the quicksands." 
 
Page 58 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 All these things came to me as I sat watching 
 him that afternoon, wondering what his next move 
 would be. 
 
 "I am going," he said suddenly. "Meet here to 
 night at seven o'clock." And he stalked from the room. 
 
 Having failed at law, it was evident that he now 
 intended to bring his genius to bear. It was a terrible 
 mess, for the machinery for the mill would soon be ar 
 riving, and the bills would be due. We were producing 
 practically no ore, and he was heavily indebted to the 
 bank. More of his paper had mysteriously passed into 
 the hands of the Vendetta owners, and they had notified 
 him that they possessed it. He needed more than 
 $100,000 to meet his next payment on the addition to 
 the mill, and he had still other notes out. 
 
 Sitting in the office waiting for Sherman, we no 
 ticed that the lights were burning in the office of the 
 attorneys of his enemies, and that occasionally a cur 
 tain was drawn aside slightly, as some one apparently 
 glanced up the street. 
 
 At nine o'clock we were still waiting, when we 
 heard a stealthy footfall in the hallway. Powers picked 
 up a heavy metallic ruler and moved silently across 
 the room. The faltering steps halted in front of our 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 59 
 
 door, and the attorney tiptoed back to his seat. There 
 came a timid knock. 
 
 "Come in !" bawled Powers. 
 
 The door opened, and Hunt stepped into the room. 
 Powers was too well trained to utter an exclamation 
 of surprise, but I was thunderstruck. The attorney 
 rose quietly, shook hands with him, and in the manner 
 of understanding perfectly, seated him where he could 
 not be seen from the windows across the street, saying 
 the while : 
 
 "We were waiting for you expect Sherman every 
 minute." 
 
 He had hardly spoken the words before we heard 
 Sherman coming noisily up the front steps. Entering 
 the room, he sat down at the table, drew up a desk 
 'phone and called a number. After a moment he 
 asked : 
 
 "Everything all right?" 
 
 It must have been, for a moment later Sherman 
 said: 
 
 "Very well. Send him down to Powers' office right 
 away." 
 
 Then, hanging up the receiver, he turned to the at 
 torney and said : 
 
Page 60 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "Draw up a quit claim deed conveying the Sher 
 man's Dream from Hunt to me, consideration $15,000. 
 A notary will be here in a moment to acknowledge it." 
 
 Powers looked hard and long at Sherman. I knew 
 what he wanted to say, but he dared not in Hunt's 
 presence. Then, drawing a blank form of a deed from 
 a drawer, he filled it in and had just finished when the 
 notary appeared. Sherman counted out $15,000 in 
 bills, the signatures were acknowledged, the deed 
 passed to Sherman and a $5 gold piece to the notary. 
 
 "Now/' said Sherman, "remain here until I return. 
 Back in half an hour." 
 
 Wonderingly, we waited. Sherman was evidently 
 taking no chances now, though we were fearful that 
 he was on the verge of another costly blunder. He 
 went out the back way, in the direction from which 
 Hunt came. Ten minutes later the telephone rang and 
 Sherman's voice said: 
 
 "Let those fellows out. I'll be down in a few 
 minutes." 
 
 Powers unlocked the door, and said: 
 
 "Gentlemen, good night." 
 
 From the window we observed that Hunt went 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 61 
 
 directly to the offices of the Vendetta attorneys, across 
 the street. 
 
 A few moments later Sherman came lazily up the 
 front stairs, and, entering the room, dropped into a 
 chair, struck a match and lighted a long perfecto his 
 only real extravagance, for he was a slave to good 
 cigars. Then he tossed to Powers a deed for the 
 Sherman's Dream, indorsed by the County Clerk as 
 having been filed for record at 9:55 that night. 
 
 "How do you know," asked Powers, after a crit 
 ical inspection of the papers and signatures, "but that 
 this claim has already been sold to the other side?" 
 
 "It may have been," was the aggravating response, 
 after which he smoked for a few moments, "and I 
 should not be surprised if it had been but it's not on 
 record in the County Clerk's office, and this deed is. 
 That being the case, it beats me to know where these 
 fellows are going to get off short of $150,000." 
 
 For once in his life he had done something thor 
 oughly, and he had not left a loophole for the other 
 side to crawl through. His enemies had been scorched 
 in a fire of their own kindling. He paid Hunt just 
 $14,000 more than they had promised him, and had 
 remained at the end of the hall until he saw him enter 
 
Page 62 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 Powers' office. He had previously made the arrange 
 ments for an examination of the records and the 
 recording of the instrument that night. 
 
 I went up to the Consolidated property the next 
 morning, and Sherman followed a few days later, 
 arriving at supper time. He partook of an enormous 
 meal, and washed it down with a bottle of beer, which 
 made everybody gaze at him in amazement, and 
 wonder what in the world had happened. 
 
 Later, in the office, he said : 
 
 "Something dropped, down in the county seat, to 
 day." 
 
 Then he lighted a cigar, and for some reason so 
 far forgot himself as to hand me one. 
 
 "Yes, indeed. Something dropped hard. I filed 
 suit against the Vendetta, claiming an apex, damages 
 for ore already extracted from the vein and, then 
 some." 
 
 "You " I was speechless. 
 
 "But you are under option to sell them that claim 
 for $150,000." 
 
 "Guess again. You see, they agreed to buy the 
 Mexican Venture for that price but they knocked 
 the Mexican Venture higher than a kite, and we have 
 
The Mexican Venture Page 63 
 
 the court's decision on that. I filed suit from the 
 Sherman's Dream, you know they have no option on 
 that whatever. Sabe?" 
 
 I gazed at him speechless. He was the most re 
 sourceful man I ever knew. 
 
 "They want a settlement with me now Powers 
 says I am a fool for granting it that I can force the 
 entire matter on this one point but I intend to sell 
 them the Sherman's Dream for the amount for which I 
 agreed originally to transfer the Mexican Venture, 
 $150,000, plus $15,000 I was compelled to pay Hunt." 
 
 It happened just that way, and the money was paid, 
 with the understanding that it was to apply on a note 
 he owed in the East and which was held by the local 
 bank for collection. After it was over, in that cold 
 tone of his, he said: 
 
 "That Mexican Venture was not such a bad one, 
 after all if it was only one of Sherman's Dreams." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ttbe Delusion an& tbe Dog facet) /iDan 
 
 Sherman hung up the 'phone, after a ten-minute 
 talk over the long-distance, lighted a fresh cigar, 
 pushed back his chair, adjusted his feet on the table 
 in a satisfied manner, and squinted across the tips of 
 his boots at Ascension Peak in the distance. I knew 
 he had something on his mind, and a moment later he 
 said: 
 
 "I intend to start work Monday morning on .the 
 Delusion." 
 
 The remark made me sick at heart. This new 
 freak, whatever it was, meant more litigation. He was 
 fighting now to keep his head above water. Hundreds 
 of thousands of dollars in judgments hung over him. 
 He was hounded on all sides by collectors, lawyers and 
 detectives, who dogged his footsteps, in the hope of 
 
The Delusion Dog^Faced Man Page 65 
 
 finding something they could levy on. The statement 
 that he intended to start work on a new property was 
 astounding, for it meant the expenditure of more 
 money, and the Consolidated was using every dollar 
 he could get. True, we were mining a thin streak of 
 very high-grade ore from the Bonanza vein. I was 
 afraid it would fade downward into low grade, while 
 the people he was fighting, not knowing the exact con 
 dition, were fearful that it would mount into sensa 
 tional values. 
 
 Sherman had been in court for more than a week. 
 He had been on the stand the greater part of the time. 
 In response to questions, he frankly told opposing 
 counsel that he had no money. They asked him what 
 he had done with the Consolidated Group, and he told 
 them that he had turned it over to his creditors in 
 trust, the corporation assuming his obligations on the 
 property. He told all this honestly, and no amount of 
 cross-questioning could break him down, for he was 
 telling the truth. 
 
 One of them asked him : 
 
 "Is it possible for you to borrow any money?" 
 
 "I think possibly I could, yes, sir." 
 
 "Then why don't you do it, and pay some of these 
 
Page 66 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 judgments that are hanging over your head?" he was 
 asked. 
 
 "Because I do not care to incur any more indebted 
 ness," came the answer, like a flash. 
 
 I have already said that Sherman had a great 
 many enemies. After the trying week on the stand 
 he had fewer. For, through it all, Powers had offered 
 no objection to the course of opposing counsel, asking 
 just enough questions to show that Sherman was the 
 victim of a well-laid conspiracy to encompass his ruin. 
 He brought out the fact that the depressed condition 
 of the several mining sections of the county could be 
 laid at the door of the Vendetta people, and that they 
 intended to hound his client until he had lost his vast 
 possessions. Through it all Sherman was the coolest 
 man in the court-room. A galaxy of the hardest 
 cross-examiners in the state had him in hand, but his 
 story was always the same. 
 
 Then came the arguments. 
 
 When Powers' turn came, he arose and said: 
 
 "Two years ago, your honor, my client was worth 
 more than $1,000,000. Today he is a pauper, accord 
 ing to the investigation of the people who are harass- 
 
The Delusion Dog Faced Man Page 67 
 
 ing him, and because of the litigation they have forced 
 him into." 
 
 Then he took his seat. The other side argued for 
 hours, but Powers' words struck home. They were 
 meant for the crowd, and they hit the bull's eye. 
 
 It was all over, and now he was calmly considering 
 work on a new property. 
 
 "You have no money," I said. 
 
 "I don't need it," he replied. "Why, there's ore in 
 sight, and I can get out enough in the first week to 
 meet expenses for a month." 
 
 "And have the other fellows attach you," I said. 
 
 "I won't tell them anything about it, though." 
 
 Just the same, the fact that he was about to start 
 work on the Delusion made everybody gape with 
 astonishment. He selected a small force, and took the 
 men to the property. Then the fact leaked out, from 
 some mysterious source, that he had a bond and lease 
 on the mine, calling for the payment of $300,000 
 within ninety days. 
 
 The enormity of the deal made men of money rub 
 their eyes. Work started, and a carload of extremely 
 rich ore was sent to the smelter within a week. The 
 district was afire with excitement, when his old-time 
 
Page 68 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 enemies came into court and enjoined him, alleging 
 that he was extracting ore from a vein that apexed in 
 a claim owned by them, just above the Delusion, and 
 known as the Dog Faced Man. 
 
 Sherman took me up to look the ground over. It 
 was a clear case. He had been buncoed again. The 
 ore belonged to the Dog Faced Man, and I told him 
 so. Then he sent for Powers, and he confirmed my 
 statement. Powers then went to the records, to find that 
 Sherman's enemies had purchased the Dog Faced Man 
 since he had commenced operations on the Delusion, 
 for the sum of $100,000, and they had so timed their 
 suit that they intercepted his check from the smelter 
 in settlement for the car of ore shipped. 
 
 "Can't you file a demurrer, or something," asked 
 Sherman, "to give me more time?" 
 
 "It would be ridiculous you haven't a ghost of a 
 show. You would be laughed out of court. This 
 thing, Sherman, is pitifully spectacular." 
 
 He sent Powers to try and effect a consolidation of 
 interests, and failed. Following this, he appeared at 
 the Vendetta office, with the same proposition. He 
 was treated with scant courtesy. It was the last straw, 
 everybody said. 
 
The Delusion Dog Faced Man Page 69 
 
 "This venture/' they told him, "is typical of your 
 whole life a delusion." 
 
 "I thought of that," he answered, slowly, "but I 
 believe I am taking a more hopeful view of life than 
 you are." 
 
 That night, at the mine, he suddenly looked up and 
 said : 
 
 "I don't understand it at all." 
 
 "Don't understand what?" I asked. 
 
 "I don't sabe how a man with his eyes open can 
 transfer, say, one hundred cents from one pocket to the 
 other, and lose eighty of them in the process." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "I mean," slowly, "that this whole thing has been 
 a Delusion and a snare but the other fellow 
 dropped into the business end of the snare." 
 
 "I may be dense, but I don't follow you." 
 
 "So? Now, my friends, our enemies never pleaded 
 guilty to being dense and they did follow me." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "I mean this, old man. I took a bond and lease on 
 the Delusion, with a clause to pay $300,000 in ninety 
 days. I could not do it I knew that when I signed 
 the lease. The ore in the Delusion belonged to the 
 
Page 70 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 Dog Faced Man I knew that, too, and just as soon 
 as I commenced to produce, they jumped in and pur 
 chased the Dog Faced Man and bottled me up." 
 
 "What has that to do with the loss of eighty cents 
 on the dollar?" 
 
 "Just this. Previous to getting that bond and 
 lease Oh, a long time ago I secured an option on 
 the Dog Faced Man, for $20,000. When they paid 
 $100,000 for the property, through the bank, I received 
 $80,000 of the money, for the owner of the claim was 
 tied up in an agreement with me in escrow, and prom 
 ised me all I could get over $20,000. Well, you know 
 there was a payment due on the Consolidated today of 
 $80,000, and that little transaction just naturally saved 
 me the trouble of raising the money myself. So, in 
 their anxiety to throttle me, they transferred $100,000 
 from one pocket to the other, and lost $80,000 in the 
 operation. Is it all clear to you now? And, what's 
 more, the claim they bought is worth the money. They 
 are welcome to all they can get out of it if they can 
 get it." 
 
 I gazed at the man in amazement. His resources 
 were beyond calculation. He was fighting the enemy 
 with fire. 
 
The Delusion Dog Faced Man Page 71 
 
 "I cannot understand why you should have gone 
 to all the trouble to try to settle with them to effect a 
 consolidation, and suffer the insults you did." 
 
 "Oh, there's nothing mean about me, in a case of 
 this kind. They thought they had me in a trap, and it 
 was my business to encourage them in the belief, for a 
 number of reasons. It afforded me great pleasure, too, 
 to amuse them. If I had not acted that way, they 
 would never have known what the song of victory 
 sounded like, for they had the song all prepared, and 
 were practicing on it, and they felt the thrill that comes 
 over one as he feels he is surmounting all obstacles. I 
 simply did that out of generosity." 
 
 "Are you quite sure of that, Sherman?" I asked. 
 "You knew that because of your action, the greater 
 would be their fall, did you not?" 
 
 "That," he answered, "was their affair. I make it 
 a point never to interfere with another man's busi 
 ness especially when it concerns a Dog Faced Man." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 flDaster Strode 
 
 We had just stepped from the office to get a breath 
 of fresh air, for the tobacco fumes had nearly stifled 
 us, when Hennessey, the timberman, rushed up and 
 breathlessly announced : 
 
 "The Vendetta has been leased !" 
 
 "Step into the office," said Sherman. 
 
 It was an honor to be invited into his den. In 
 the years at the mine, I do not recall the names of half a 
 dozen men, outside of the superintendents, who were 
 ever invited into the office. Hence, I was surprised at 
 Sherman's course, since Hennessey was an individual 
 to whom he had never addressed a word of conver 
 sation. He knew every man by name, but seldom 
 
The Master Stroke Page 73 
 
 spoke to one. As Sherman leaned back in his chair, 
 in the glare of the incandescent lights that flanked the 
 room, one seemed to realize that he was no ordinary 
 man. Hennessey was out of place, took off his hat and 
 seemed to feel that his hands and feet were in the way. 
 
 "You say the Vendetta has been leased?" Sherman 
 commenced. 
 
 "Yes papers signed today. I thought you would 
 like to know about it. Everybody is talking about it 
 down in the county seat." 
 
 "Did you hear who the lessee is?" Sherman asked. 
 
 "No. No one knows, except that he's a damned 
 fool. Say, that crowd of pirates has sure caught a 
 sucker, for he agrees to pay 25 per cent, royalty gross 
 on the mill dirt, and the smelting rock pays all the way 
 from 30 to 75 per cent, on the gross think of it 75 
 per cent.'' 
 
 "Pretty steep," said Sherman, thoughtfully. 
 
 "Steep, is it? Why, the fellow who signed that 
 lease is a lunatic. I thought you would like to know 
 about it, because may be it is because those devils you 
 are fighting are hard up for cash. I know that's it, for 
 the lessee has agreed to double the present working 
 force within six months." 
 
Page 74 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "How do you know that?" 
 
 "Because everybody says so, and everybody can't 
 be wrong." 
 
 ''Suppose he fails?" 
 
 "That's where he shows himself to be a damned 
 fool he has put up a bond of $300,000 to guarantee 
 it." 
 
 "Well, well," said Sherman, musingly. Then he 
 relapsed into silence, and Hennessey did not have to 
 be hit with a brick to know that he could depart when 
 ever it suited his convenience. 
 
 Just as he was going through the door, Sherman 
 said: 
 
 "Smoke, Hennessey?" and passed over a fine per- 
 fecto. 
 
 I almost dropped dead at this sudden display of 
 liberality. Hennessey took the cigar like a frightened 
 man thanked Sherman two or three times, and nearly 
 broke his neck stumbling toward the mess house to 
 tell about it. He would have committed murder for 
 Sherman after that. 
 
 "W-you think of it?" asked Sherman, after Hen 
 nessey had gone. 
 
 "You mean the lease ? The same as Hennessey." 
 
The Master Stroke Page 75 
 
 "About the royalties?" 
 
 "Same as Hennessey does." 
 
 "I gave you credit for having more sense than Hen 
 nessey," said Sherman, sarcastically. "Now, if I 
 asked him that question,! think he would have been a 
 trifle more diplomatic in his reply. For my part, I 
 can't see anything wrong about it." 
 
 I glanced up at him, wondering whether he had 
 slipped a cog, or had miraculously commenced to joke. 
 
 "You see," he continued, after a moment, "Hen 
 nessey told more truth than he thought when he said 
 that the Vendetta gang is in need of money. So is the 
 fellow who got the lease. He needs it more than 
 they do." 
 
 "Then why did he sign such an insane agreement? 
 After he pays his bills and royalties, he will find him 
 self in debt." 
 
 "Suppose if, in addition to that, he agreed to leave 
 as much ore in sight at the end of each quarter as 
 there is in the mine at the present time, would you con 
 sider him sane?" 
 
 "I would not." 
 
 "Well," slowly, "that is what he has agreed to do." 
 
 "How do you know?" 
 
Page 76 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "Because," came the even reply, "I am the lessee." 
 
 All of Sherman's interests swam before my eyes. 
 We were fighting for our very existence, and he had 
 made this deal. It meant ruin there was no other 
 way out of it. 
 
 Briefly, the mine had been leased by a company, in 
 which Sherman did not appear, for he was to be the 
 manager, a fact which the Vendetta people were to 
 ascertain the next day. 
 
 "Sherman," I said, "if you have been able to fur 
 nish a bond of $300,000, for goodness' sake forfeit it, 
 for you will lose less in that manner than by operating 
 the mine." 
 
 "I was not aware that I had sought your advice 
 on the subject," he said, drily. 
 
 Naturally, when you are bowled over like that, the 
 less you have to say, the better. So I waited. 
 
 "I regard this lease," he continued, after a mo 
 ment, "and particularly the terms, as most favorable. 
 In the first place, it shows that I am confident that I 
 can do precisely what I agree to. You will go over 
 the property with me in the morning. I want your 
 opinion on a certain piece of development work I wish 
 to carry on there." 
 
The Master Stroke Page 77 
 
 The next day Sherman explained it all to Powers, 
 who walked the floor and tore his hair like a madman. 
 
 "Just think/' he cried to me, appealingly, "we need 
 every dollar we can get, and this idiot is diving head 
 long to the bankruptcy court. Sherman, you are crazy. 
 You have only a bedspring in the place where your 
 brains should be, and a damned poor spring at that." 
 
 And then he moaned in anguish. Powers had taken 
 Sherman's trouble to heart he was growing thin 
 with worry. Finally, he dropped into a chair, ex 
 hausted. 
 
 "Now, there's no use getting worked up about this 
 thing," he replied, kindly. "I know how you fellows 
 feel, and I know why you feel that way but, believe 
 me, it is all for the best. My mind works best in single 
 harness. I simply cannot train with others, and I am 
 never given to entering into a conference. You just 
 watch my smoke, and you will see something." 
 
 "Witness your financial cremation," snarled Pow 
 ers, disgusted. 
 
 It was the same old story if he had taken on more 
 trouble it was up to Powers to fight the case in court, 
 and to me to dig the expenses out of the ground not 
 yet tied up in litigation, and I had failed to keep pace 
 
Page 78 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 with his downward financial plunge, for nearly $1,000,- 
 ooo in judgments hung over him. 
 
 Then we went up to the Vendetta, and Sherman 
 presented his credentials. There was a scene, but he 
 took possession. The arch enemy of the mine pirates 
 was now, for the first time, within their lines, system 
 atically checking up their wealth, for we immediately 
 began to sample the property. 
 
 Ten days later, after Sherman had assumed full 
 charge, and a clean-up had been effected, he paid off 
 the mill hands, and boarded up the windows. 
 
 "Here, you can't do that," protested one of the 
 owners, hotly. 
 
 "Can't do what?" asked Sherman, innocently. 
 
 "You must keep this mill running." 
 
 "Not unless I care to." 
 
 "Our contract says " 
 
 "I have read the contract very carefully," answered 
 Sherman, "and I see nothing in it that compels me to 
 continue the operation of this mill or any other mill. 
 Read your contract." 
 
 They repaired to their attorneys, and Sherman 
 turned his attention to developing the ore bodies of 
 the Vendetta, which were rich, and enormous in size 
 
The Master Stroke Page 79 
 
 and strength. He increased his working force steadily, 
 but did not ship a pound of ore to mill or smelter. 
 
 Then came the inevitable suit, and Powers, who by 
 this time had worked himself into a frenzy, was taken 
 aside by Sherman. A moment later, his face was all 
 smiles. Whatever it was, the information imparted had 
 acted as a tonic, for the attorney was himself again. 
 
 The trial opened, and Powers, arising in his place, 
 moved to dismiss the action. The leasing company, 
 which he represented, had promised to pay a royalty 
 on all ore shipped, but to date it had not shipped any. 
 It had promised to develop the mine, which it was 
 doing, and it had promised and agreed to leave as 
 much ore in the workings at the end of each quarter 
 as was in the mine when the lease was signed. And 
 the company had filed a bond for the faithful per 
 formance of all these obligations, since it was the pol 
 icy of the leasing company to develop, and not to ship, 
 at the present time. Then he spoke on the legal phase, 
 and while the other side stormed and raved, and quoted 
 law from a hundred volumes, Sherman won the case. 
 The action was dismissed. 
 
 Sherman had broken down, apparently, the last 
 barrier, and was not only within their house, but had 
 
Page 80 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 actually driven them out. He knew to a dollar the 
 value of their ore in sight, and he was making a shrewd 
 guess at their reserve in bank, by their action in sud 
 denly resuming work on the Dog Faced Man, though 
 they were already in litigation with the owner of the 
 Delusion. It was the boldest piece of enterprise I had 
 ever heard of. It made me tremble at the thought. 
 
 "Has he the money to carry it through?" asked 
 Powers. 
 
 "I don't know," I replied. "I know nothing of his 
 resources." 
 
 "If he would only talk," said Powers, "we could 
 help him. But he comes to us after he has put his 
 foot in it." 
 
 Later, I went to Powers' office with Sherman, to 
 find the lawyer trembling with excitement. 
 
 "The Vendetta people and their attorneys are so 
 completely upset that they forgot to appear in court 
 this afternoon at two o'clock to prosecute their suit 
 against us in the Alligator-Treasure case or to answer 
 us in our suit for damages for ore extracted, and I 
 took judgment by default." 
 
 There was a gleam in Sherman's eye. 
 
 "That means?" 
 
The Master Stroke Page 81 
 
 'That you may resume work on the Treasure 
 whenever you want to. Of course, a judgment may 
 usually be opened again. The whole outfit is on the 
 way to the state capital. Now, Sherman, get out all 
 the ore you can, for when they discover their lapse 
 they will tie you up again." 
 
 I called up the mine at once, and gave Larsen in 
 structions to start the pumps on the Treasure, and 
 crowd the men on the ore as fast as the various levels 
 were recovered, while Sherman went out and re 
 tained every lawyer in the small place. 
 
 I arrived at the Consolidated property at midnight, 
 to find that Larsen had recovered the first level, and 
 was forcing the work. The pumps beat with steady 
 rhythm. The compressor was so heavily overloaded 
 that a stream of water was playing on it to keep it 
 cool. The trammers were working like Trojans, the 
 engineer was straining every nerve, and a force of 
 men was engaged in transferring the big sinker pump 
 from the new shaft to the Treasure, to hurry the 
 work of unwatering the mine. Fifteen machines were 
 pounding in the ore body. 
 
 It was a noisy battle. The men did not know the 
 reason. All they knew was that Sherman needed 
 
Page 82 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 money, and all he could get out of the ground in the 
 shortest possible time, and while he had not spoken to 
 a dozen men about the place, they all revered him. 
 
 The lower levels were richer than the upper reaches 
 of the property, and the miners entered them dressed 
 in rubber, as soon as it was possible to put up their 
 machines. By eight o'clock the next morning we had 
 raised 100 tons of ore, and now that we were getting 
 to the deeper portions of the mine, the production in 
 creased, but because of the fact that the workings were 
 larger, the task of unwatering was necessarily slower. 
 
 We were "gutting" the vein of the high grade 
 streak. 
 
 The next night at six o'clock Larsen was still on 
 duty he would not go to bed. Ainsworth, the mill 
 man, was on his way to the smelter with six cars of 
 ore. We were fighting hard, for the other side had 
 heard of their lapse, and, we learned, were returning 
 by special train. They wired different attorneys in 
 the county seat to take some action in their behalf, but 
 Sherman's forethought in adding every lawyer in town 
 to his staff estopped them in that direction. 
 
 We called up on the long-distance every hour to 
 ascertain where the train was. The closer it 
 
The Master Stroke Page 83 
 
 approached the county seat, the harder the men 
 worked and then Hennessey, who seemed to be agi 
 tated about something, suddenly resigned. 
 
 Everybody swore at him, called him a traitor, and 
 if it had not been for the fact that the business in hand 
 was of such a serious character, he would have had to 
 fight the crowd. He disappeared down the hill on the 
 tram. 
 
 It was Saturday afternoon, and the special was 
 racing to reach the county seat, for word had been sent 
 ahead, and the Judge indicated that he would hear their 
 side in chambers that evening. The train, which was 
 due at seven P. M., did not arrive on time. The hours 
 dragged slowly. At I o'clock Sunday morning it 
 came in, and nothing could be done until Monday 
 morning. It seemed that the special was held at a 
 small station that closed at six P. M. until the passage 
 of an ore train bound to the smelter in the valley. 
 With strange irony, it was a train bearing Sherman's 
 ore. Another curious circumstance was the fact that 
 the ore train was held up nearly six hours at a flag 
 station, to repair some defect in the engine. 
 
 Years afterward I learned that Hennessey, an ex- 
 locomotive engineer who had deserted the cab to pros- 
 
Page 84 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 pect, had told the engineer of an out-going ore train 
 that his wife was sick and offered to make his "run." 
 Receiving orders at the county seat to pass the special 
 at a certain point down the road, he had deliberately 
 stopped half-way down, and spent something like six 
 hours going over his engine, which, he declared, was 
 out of order. 
 
 Sunday night he returned to work. Sherman was 
 absent. 
 
 Monday I stepped into the office to hear Larsen 
 say over the 'phone: 
 
 "I tank not. You bedder send mon up. Meester 
 Sherman, he not here. No, I tank not," and he hung 
 up the 'phone. 
 
 The Vendetta attorneys had obtained an injunction 
 and tried to get the big Swede to accept service, but 
 he convinced them that he was too dense to understand. 
 So a deputy sheriff started up the gulch on a special 
 light engine. When he stepped off the cab, he made 
 straight for the Consolidated mill, seeing which, Hen 
 nessey jumped one of the descending tram buckets and 
 was soon swinging dizzily over the gulch. He reached 
 the lower terminal before the deputy did, where he ex 
 plained, the tender afterward told me, in most pictur- 
 
Hennessey jumped one of 
 the descending tram buckets and 
 was soon swinging dizzily over 
 the gulch. 
 
The Master Stroke Page 85 
 
 esque and profane language, that it was contrary to 
 rule to ride the tram that it was dangerous and he 
 was there to see that no one endangered his life by 
 disobeying the order. The deputy stormed and threat 
 ened, but Hennessey stood his ground, smiling and 
 aching for a fight. 
 
 The deputy, therefore, had to reach the mine via 
 Trail, which would take two hours horseback. 
 
 No sooner had he left the mill than Hennessey 
 jumped to the 'phone, and, calling up Horrigan, the 
 livery man, ordered him to hold all the available 
 horses, pack animals and the like subject to his order. 
 Horrigan did not know what was up, but from Hen 
 nessey's excited tone, he knew there was something in 
 the wind. When the deputy reached the stable, he dis 
 covered that it was impossible to get a mount in the 
 town. So he started to climb the Trail afoot, and that 
 meant that he would not reach the shaft house before 
 nine o'clock that night. 
 
 After he was well on his way, Hennessey returned 
 on the tram in twelve minutes, and "squared" himself 
 for his prior desertion by telling what he had done. 
 That night, just before the deputy arrived to serve his 
 papers, we drew the fires, pulled the pumps, and the 
 
Page 86 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 mine commenced to fill with water. The plant was 
 idle and the steam and air lines disconnected when he 
 arrived. 
 
 The last bucket had gone down on the tram before 
 the deputy reached us. We had all learned something, 
 by reason of the interminable litigation that had surged 
 about us. 
 
 During the time we had operated the mine we had 
 taken out $180,000 worth of ore, at a cost of about 
 $10,000, and this was on the way to the smelter, in the 
 name of the trustees of the mine. 
 
 We were all standing on the dump, tired out, but 
 proud of the work performed, when we heard some 
 one slipping on the slide rock above us, and a moment 
 later Sherman stood in our midst. 
 
 "Where have you been?" I asked. 
 
 "Up the creek, hunting whales," was his reply. 
 
 "An' ye hunted until ye heard the machinery stop," 
 cried Hennessey, and then he thumped Sherman on 
 the back so hard that he nearly knocked him down. 
 We were all amazed, but, turning to the man, quietly, 
 Sherman said: 
 
 "Come into the office, Hennessey, and have a 
 cigar." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Hn 1Hn&er0roun& IRailroafc 
 
 With the regularity of clockwork, the streak of 
 smelting ore in the Bonanza workings was yielding 
 a carload of high grade a week. This, with the 
 amount we had taken from the Treasure shaft during 
 the lapse when we operated it under pressure, enabled 
 Sherman to continue work at the Vendetta, for he had 
 borrowed money from his Eastern friends who were 
 holding the Consolidated Group in trust. Sherman 
 had guaranteed the Vendetta Leasing and Develop 
 ment Company against any loss, and this he lived up to 
 by giving his note to the trustee corporation, and try as 
 they would to reach him, the attorneys for the other 
 side were unable to do so. 
 
 His enemies were now hard pressed they were 
 
Page 88 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 really worse off than he was. He was fighting keen 
 men, who had been squeezed a dozen times before, and 
 who had always come out victorious. They had a 
 coterie of friends, upon whom they were calling for 
 assistance. They were bold, and never hesitated at 
 enterprise, and, coupled with their natural commercial 
 instinct, they were piratical in their tendencies, licensed 
 bandits who operated under cover of the law. It was 
 a hard combination to combat. Every man who had 
 tried it in the past had been ruined. Every compact 
 formed against them had been reduced to bankruptcy. 
 Every corporation that stood in their path had been 
 engulfed in an ocean of misfortune, and families had 
 been carried down from a plane of refinement to the 
 level of paupers, because of the machinations of this 
 gang of corporate highwaymen, in order to warn others 
 not to stand in their way. Against this power, wealth, 
 influence, bribery, intimidation, threats and business 
 sagacity, there was now matched the genius of a single 
 man, rough, honest, fearless a forlorn, melancholy 
 person, who hesitated at nothing that was honorable, 
 who detested and spurned anything that was question 
 able, and who was fighting simply for his rights, and 
 no more. 
 
An Underground Railroad Page 89 
 
 The struggle had extended from months into years, 
 and between the conflicting interests the prosperity of 
 the district was threatened. Credits in many lines were 
 withdrawn mysteriously, and friends of Sherman sud 
 denly found themselves embarrassed. The influence 
 was exerted by the Vendetta people the fault was laid 
 at Sherman's door. His enemies increased as the diffi 
 culties of the people multiplied, and gradually senti 
 ment was crystallizing against him. 
 
 We were now a little more than holding our own, 
 and would probably continue to do so, unless Sherman 
 made a false move. When he blundered, the cost 
 usually ran into six figures. 
 
 The ore bodies developed in the Great Bonanza 
 were enormous, but Sherman had no water to turn the 
 mill. It was through their control of the water that 
 his enemies hoped to conquer him. 
 
 If we pumped from the Treasure shaft, we could, 
 by piping it down to the mill, obtain sufficient to run 
 one side of it but that would permit the engineers 
 to make the ground survey under order of court. 
 Sherman would not consent to that. Not that he had 
 anything to fear as a result, but his action led the other 
 side to belive that he was concealing something, and 
 
Page 90 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 they were trying to force his hand, spending thousands 
 of dollars to force him to reveal a condition that would 
 spell their ruin. Why Sherman assumed the attitude 
 he did, we could not understand. 
 
 We were talking in the office one day, when he 
 pointed to a curious formation of rock far up on the 
 mountain, for all the world like an extinct dodo. 
 
 "When I first came to the district, years ago," he 
 said, "I located a claim up there, and called it the Big 
 Dodo. Sank a hole, but the water ran in so fast I had 
 to stop work. If we had that water we could run the 
 mill. Sometimes I have thought of installing a pump 
 up there and going to work. Good ore there." 
 
 "The trouble, Sherman," I said, "is that it would 
 cost too much to get supplies up to that point. The 
 dyke, on which the Big Dodo is located, is doubtless 
 the one along which the major portion of the water in 
 this hill flows, and it probably feeds all of these 
 veins " 
 
 "The very thing !" he cried. "It's patent that we 
 cannot mine from the surface. So we must get under 
 the hill. We will drive a tunnel to tap the vein from 
 which the water flows, and get a supply to operate the 
 mill." 
 
An Underground Railroad Page 91 
 
 "The cost?" 
 
 "Never mind the cost that's my business. Get out 
 the surveyors, and start the bore from the Wedge frac 
 tion just above the mill." 
 
 "You can never get a right of way through the hill, 
 for after you are in twenty feet you will run into 
 ground owned by the common enemy. You must get 
 easement for your tunnel " 
 
 "I understand all that but this case is different." 
 
 The next day we started the tunnel, and after it 
 had been driven close to the ground of the adjoining 
 claim M'Cracken appeared to ascertain whether or not 
 we were trespassing. He wanted to know whether he 
 could enter and examine. 
 
 ''You may," answered Sherman, "but I can tell you 
 now that we will enter your ground tomorrow." 
 
 M'Cracken thanked him, warned him not to tres 
 pass, and departed. 
 
 This was the time to have temporized, it seemed to 
 me. Sherman said "No." 
 
 "This is the time," he explained, "to show them a 
 thing or two. Just keep your advice to yourself, and 
 your eyes wide open, and you will see things that will 
 give these fellows a nightmare." 
 
Page 92 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 He was served with more papers but he explained 
 that he had nothing to do with any mining company 
 that was driving a tunnel. He was the general man 
 ager, he said, of a railroad company, organized to bore 
 a tunnel through the mountain, to afford transporta 
 tion to any and all mines desiring to utilize the tracks, 
 and he forthwith commenced condemnation proceed 
 ings and won his point, in behalf of the Bonanza 
 Railway & Transportation Company. 
 
 Six months later the breast of the tunnel reached 
 a great barren vein, and a flow of water was tapped. It 
 was conducted from the portal of the bore to the mill 
 in a wooden flume enough to permit the handling of 
 twenty-five tons of ore daily. A few months more, and 
 another water course was cut. Within a year or so we 
 had sufficient water to run the mill full blast. 
 
 The Consolidated Company was on a paying basis. 
 
 Sherman was borrowing money from the company 
 and settling his debts. Soon everything was paid ex 
 cept the note for $150,000 held by his enemies he re 
 fused to borrow to pay that. Work on the Vendetta 
 proceeded steadily. Richer ore was opened, but not a 
 ton was shipped his enemies were growing poorer 
 and poorer. The district began to share in the pros- 
 
An Underground Railroad Page 93 
 
 perity of the Consolidated Group. There were daily 
 conferences in an attempt to settle the difference, and 
 one day we heard that his enemies owed $150,000 to a 
 bank in the East, When Sherman learned that he 
 wrote a long letter to an Eastern city, and in three 
 weeks he laid on the table in the Consolidated office his 
 enemies' notes, several months overdue, for $150,000. 
 
 "This is no Delusion, either," he said, sententiously. 
 
 The next morning Powers was at the mine. Sher 
 man explained, and Powers stuck his thumbs in the 
 arm holes of his vest, and strutted about like a bantam, 
 repeating : 
 
 "Oh, I guess not." 
 
 "Now, Powers," said Sherman, "I do not wish to 
 witness their misery. You will trade notes with them 
 this note for mine, on even terms." 
 
 "But, Sherman," said Powers, "this note is secured 
 by the Vendetta property you can take the mine from 
 them bag and baggage. If they had you in the same 
 hole, they" 
 
 "Never mind what they would do I am not gov 
 erned by their actions. I don't want their mine. I 
 only want what belongs to me. I am not a Shylock. 
 Trade the notes." 
 
Page 94 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 Within twenty-four hours the exchange had been 
 effected, and not a cloud marred Sherman's financial 
 sky. 
 
 The Treasure and the Alligator, and the claims that 
 intersected the Great Bonanza, were still tied up but 
 so was the Vendetta, and as Sherman's lease ran for 
 twenty years, and he now had an abundance of money, 
 it seemed that he had the best of the argument. 
 
 I mentioned this to him, and asked him if he had 
 any definite plan. 
 
 "I have," he replied. 
 
 "May I ask what you intend to do?" 
 
 "You may." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "They have cooked up a hell broth for me, and I in 
 tend to make them swallow their own medicine." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Jumping tbe Golfcen /Boon 
 
 "I can get half a million dollars for the Fortune 
 Dike within 30 days and I need the money," said 
 Sherman. 
 
 I had never heard of the property, much less its 
 worth, and I said so. 
 
 "Of course not. It has not been located yet. But it 
 will be tonight." 
 
 It was the last day of the year, and a mighty cold 
 one. The sky was changing from steely blue to a yel 
 lowish, leaden color, that promised a heavy fall of 
 snow. 
 
 All the men about the mine who were not working, 
 or sleeping, were busy oiling "digging shoes" for mys 
 terious pilgrimages in the evening. 
 
 "You remember the Golden Moon, don't you?" 
 asked Sherman. "Well, it belongs to old man Corson. 
 
Page 96 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 Had a fellow up to look at it about three months ago, 
 and he offered me that sum for it, providing I could 
 deliver it by February I." 
 
 "But you don't own it " 
 
 "I am aware of that. As I was saying, the prop 
 erty belongs to Corson or will until midnight then 
 it will be mine, for I intend to change the name to the 
 Fortune Dike. Understand?" 
 
 When you locate a mining claim the law requires 
 you to sink a hole on a mineral-bearing vein, not less 
 than ten feet deep. That constitutes your assessment 
 work, and it holds good until the midnight of December 
 31 following. After that you must do $100 worth of 
 work annually before the whistles announce the birth 
 of a new year. When you have done $500 of work, 
 you may acquire a patent if you don't, you must con 
 tinue the assessment work until you do. If you fail, 
 you give notice to the world that you have abandoned 
 the claim. 
 
 Corson was a poor old miner, who had been injured 
 a few years before. He had a large family and was in 
 debt to pretty nearly everybody. He had been unable 
 to do the work this year, and Sherman was calmly cal 
 culating to "jump" his claim. 
 
Jumping the Golden Moon Page 97 
 
 "You could buy the old fellow out for a few thou 
 sand," I said, "and do the work. The claim is sup 
 posed to be valuable there will be dozens of others on 
 the ground possibly a little argument with shooting 
 irons." 
 
 "\ es, and I can save the couple of thousand by lo 
 cating it myself. And there will not be any shooting. 
 No blood shed. I don't fight that way. That claim be 
 longs to me or will tomorrow, January I. Is that 
 plain? Glad you understand. Awful lonely trip up 
 there so I'm going to take you along, for company." 
 
 Pleasant prospect, this matter of going out to jump 
 a claim, and possibly have your skin cultivated with bul 
 lets. It was Sherman's method throw away a small 
 fortune on litigation and deny it to some worthy old 
 man like Corson but he excused himself on the 
 ground that Corson's condition was none of his busi 
 ness. He provided handsomely for men injured in his 
 employ, and he could not afford to worry about others. 
 
 Shortly after five o'clock we "hit" the trail for 
 town, where we were to get a buckboard for the trip, 
 for this property was located up at the Forks. When we 
 reached the village, I discovered that in his loose way 
 of doing business, that he had actually failed to arrange 
 
Page 98 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 for a team. He took it for granted that there would 
 be no trouble in renting one as though he was the 
 only man on earth who intended to go out on a claim- 
 jumping expedition on the last night of the year. 
 
 "Pay you double price for a team," he said to the 
 liveryman. 
 
 That individual laughed. 
 
 "If anybody could get a team here, Sherman, you 
 are the man, for you pay me a lot of money during the 
 course of a month for burros and the like but every 
 team I have is rented and has been for six weeks." 
 
 Sherman's jaws set. Stepping into the half -heated, 
 poorly-ventilated room, which served as an office, he 
 sat and waited. As the men who had hired animals 
 came in, Sherman tried to dicker with them. He 
 finally gave one man $2,000 for the right to a span of 
 big Missouri mules and a light buckboard. The news 
 that he had paid so much spread over the town like 
 wildfire. It presaged trouble. It meant that half the 
 population would follow us, if it could obtain convey 
 ances. But he was not satisfied. He rented two more 
 monster mules, and had them harnessed. Then he 
 hired as driver a man who had handled the ribbons on 
 the stage before the railway had pushed up from the 
 
Jumping the Golden Moon Page 99 
 
 county seat. We piled into the wagon, the driver in the 
 middle. 
 
 "Where?" asked the ex-stage man. 
 
 "Up the gulch." 
 
 Three or four horsemen hung on our wheel, and a 
 string of vehicles stretched out behind us. We 
 certainly had lots of company. The snow was very 
 deep and after an hour the rigs began to lag and 
 some of the saddle animals were showing signs of 
 weariness, but those four Missouri mules had to be 
 shown. They pulled along as though they were in a 
 habit of stepping through snow hock deep. As we 
 followed the winding river road, the snow grew deeper, 
 for the highway was less traveled. The country became 
 more rugged, and after a time only two horsemen re 
 mained with us. 
 
 "How long will it be before these animals wear out 
 those saddlers ?" he asked. 
 
 A critical glance, and Simpson, the driver, said : 
 
 "They can last as long as these mules, old man." 
 
 "Stop the team." 
 
 When the mounted men came up, Sherman asked: 
 
 "You fellows want some work? If you do, I have 
 a job for you." 
 
Page 100 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "We were going up in the hills to locate a claim, 
 and " 
 
 *'I know but I saw it first. I want you fellows to 
 carry a message for me one of you to the mine the 
 other to Horrigan." Horrigan was the liveryman. 
 "I'll pay $1,000 each." 
 
 Sherman's word was as good as gold. The men 
 hesitated a moment. If Sherman placed the price at 
 $1,000, it was all he would pay there was no use try 
 ing to raise. They agreed. 
 
 "You," to one of the horsemen, "go to town and 
 telephone Larson, at the mine, that I will be back in 
 me morning. You/' to the other man, "tell Horrigan 
 that I shall want this team all day tomorrow." 
 
 They turned, and we continued upward, just as the 
 snow began to descend from out of those leaden clouds. 
 It came down faster, and soon it was difficult to see 
 more than a hundred feet ahead. Suddenly the driver 
 pointed at the road. There were wagon tracks ahead, 
 which the fresh falling snow had not yet covered. 
 Sherman's eye took on that cold expression one notes 
 when he is hard pressed. He glanced at the driver and 
 then asked: 
 
 *'Can these animals stand more speed ?" 
 
Jumping the Golden Moon Page 101 
 
 "Those tracks are only an hour old how much 
 farther must we go ? Eight miles ? Leave it to me." 
 
 The animals were not crowded. We were moving 
 along at the same rate we had been for the past hour, 
 and the new snow was rapidly filling in the tracks, it 
 seemed to me, but the driver insisted that we were 
 steadily gaining. Another hour, we came to a blan 
 keted team, tied to a fallen tree. 
 
 "They couldn't go any further," ventured Simpson. 
 
 Our mules plodded along, but they were beginning 
 to breathe heavily. After a while, we noticed partly 
 covered footprints in the snow the tracks of the men 
 who had abandoned the team we had passed. This 
 continued for a long time. Now the driver was using 
 the whip. Finally, when the animals were in snow to 
 their bellies, and the dashboard was bent by contact 
 with the half icy particles, the mules stopped. 
 
 "It's all off," announced Simpson, turning to Sher 
 man for orders. 
 
 "We'll walk," he said. "You stay here with the 
 animals." 
 
 "Not on your life. I don't have to come here to 
 stay with animals. I can do that in town. I've enlisted 
 for this night, and I'm going to see you through. You 
 
Page 102 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 may need me," and he tapped his coat pocket signifi 
 cantly. 
 
 "W-you got there?" demanded Sherman. 
 
 The fellow pulled out about the ugliest-looking 
 long-barrel revolver I ever saw in my life. Sherman's 
 eyes narrowed. 
 
 "Look here, Sherman," said Simpson, speaking rap 
 idly. "I never spoke to you before in my life until 
 tonight. I have been one of those down in town who 
 have cussed you for all that is out, but since this trip 
 I'd go anywhere with you. There's trouble brewing 
 ahead I'm in your service tonight, and I'll make it go 
 hard with the man who harms you." 
 
 "No man will harm me," he answered slowly, "for 
 I have harmed no one you can come but on condi 
 tion that you put up that gun and don't use it unless 
 I tell you to." 
 
 "It's a go." 
 
 Then we commenced to plod through the snow, up 
 to our waists. The driver was ahead. Soon he was 
 exhausted. Sherman took the lead, then I took a turn. 
 Eight or ten feet, and we would have to stop for a 
 breathing spell, when 
 
 "Good evening, gentlemen." 
 
Jumping the Golden Moon Page 103 
 
 We were looking along the barrels of three revolv 
 ers. We had overtaken the party ahead of us and they 
 had the "drop." The driver's eye seemed to take in all 
 men together. Sherman glanced and said quietly : 
 
 ''You are not to get into action under any circum 
 stances. We will settle this peaceably. What can I do 
 for you, gentlemen ?" addressing the men ahead of us. 
 His tone was very even. 
 
 "Well, if it's just the same to you, we would rather 
 have you turn back." 
 
 "I thought of that," drawled Sherman, "but fact of 
 the matter is, I have urgent business ahead." 
 
 "You are going to Corson's property." 
 
 "I am going to locate it yes, sir." 
 
 "You are not." 
 
 "No?" asked Sherman as though surprised. "Why?" 
 
 "Because we will prevent it." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "By force of arms." 
 
 Then they parleyed. It was decided after a mo 
 ment that Sherman should locate the claim, and they 
 were to be partners, he to guarantee them not less 
 than $10,000 each for their share, within 30 days. This 
 thing of jumping old man Corson's claim was coming 
 
Page 10 Jf The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 pretty high. We started again, when one of the party 
 who had stopped us ejaculated: 
 
 "Well, I'll be damned!" 
 
 ''What's the matter?" asked Sherman. 
 
 "Some one's ahead of us." 
 
 We were on a sheltered portion of the trail now, 
 and there, in front of us, was the track of some one 
 who had gone before. It must have been hours pre 
 vious, for the footprints in the snow were covered, 
 except at this point. We commenced to push upward 
 again. The mine whistles announced the birth of a 
 new year. We plunged on, for the dinky little shed 
 that served as Corson's blacksmith shop was outlined 
 against the sky now. 
 
 After twenty minutes more we stood on the dump, 
 and there, in front of us, was a new monument of 
 rocks, six inches higher than the required four feet, 
 and in a tightly closed tin can, protected from the 
 weather, a location notice, showing that the property 
 was claimed by E. Corson. 
 
 "Who the 'ell is E. Corson?" 
 
 We glanced at each other ; we had been outwitted. 
 Then we started for the blacksmith shop, when the 
 driver stumbled over something. 
 
Jumping the Golden Moon Page 105 
 
 "Great God !" he cried, and lifted up out of the snow 
 the slender form of Ethel Corson, the eldest daughter 
 of the man whose claim we had tried so hard to get. 
 
 We glanced at each other. Right there, on that 
 mine dump, nearly 12,000 feet above the level of the sea, 
 every man among us looked mighty sheepish. I know 
 how I felt, and Simpson said afterward that he felt as 
 though he was robbing a grave. Simpson carried her 
 into the blacksmith shop, where a fire was built, for 
 she was nearly frozen. Sherman took the driver aside, 
 spoke to him in low tones a moment, and then, taking 
 off his great shabby overcoat, handed it to him, turned 
 and disappeared into the snowstorm. 
 
 When that young woman returned to consciousness 
 she was nearly frightened to death, I guess, at the 
 sight of five men, who must have looked like a lot of 
 bandits. 
 
 "Oh," she said, appealingly, "you would not take 
 my father's claim? It is all we have. He is crippled 
 and nearly blind there are so many of us, and we are 
 so poor. We " 
 
 And then that fool Simpson blubbered out like a 
 child, and well, I guess we all forgot we were grown 
 up men. 
 
Page 106 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "Never mind, little girl," Simpson said, "they ain't 
 nobody going to get this here claim from you. One of 
 you fellows go out and get that location notice." 
 
 It was done, and we all signed it as witnesses to 
 the fact that Ethel Corson had legally located the 
 ground, which she had renamed the Reindeer. Then 
 Simpson wrapped her up in Sherman's thick coat, and, 
 picking her up like a child, stumbled over the trail. It 
 took a long time, but at last we reached the team, and 
 started down the river, arriving at Corson's house in 
 town shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. Santa 
 Claus, who had been unable to find the place Christ 
 mas night, must have paid it an early New Year's 
 morning visit, for there were enough groceries and 
 supplies piled up in the little log hut to stock a family 
 for weeks, and everybody, even the crippled old man, 
 seemed to be in the best of humor and tearfully happy. 
 After a few moments, during which the girl thanked 
 Simpson for his kindness, which was added to in a 
 vacant manner by the family, we withdrew. 
 
 That afternoon I reached the mine, more dead 
 than alive, to find Sherman presiding over a fat tur 
 key, which I helped him to devour. 
 
 One day, about a month later, when the mail came 
 
"Never mind, little 
 Simpson said, "they ain't nobody 
 this here claim 
 
 to 
 
 get 
 
Jumping the Golden Moon Page 107 
 
 in, there was a long letter bearing the return of a bank 
 in the county seat. It was rather a bulky missive, 
 which Sherman held up and said : 
 
 "Know what's in that envelope?" 
 
 "No," I answered; "I'm not gifted with second 
 sight." 
 
 "That," said Sherman, "is a deed to the Reindeer/' 
 
 He broke the seal and tossed the envelope over to 
 me. It contained a deed for the claim, signed by 
 Ethel Corson, to a person whose name I never heard 
 before, for a consideration of $500,000. 
 
 With the papers was a note from the bank, to the 
 effect that old man Corson had paid to Sherman's 
 credit all the money he had expended on that stormy 
 December night, with one year's interest at eight per 
 cent, in advance. This consisted of the money he had 
 paid for the team and to the two horsemen for turning 
 back. 
 
 The girl had fairly won the prize. A few days later 
 the Corson's moved away. 
 
 It was not until after Sherman's death that I got all 
 the details, and then they came from Simpson, who 
 told me that in the few moments Sherman talked to 
 him on the Reindeer dump he told him to carry the 
 
Page 108 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 girl to her father, "get her there if you have to kill the 
 mules/' he had said. 
 
 Sherman himself took a short cut to the gulch by 
 risking his life down the side of a mountain that no 
 man had ever attempted before or has dared to since. 
 He aroused the grocer and bought those provisions, 
 and then he saw old man Corson, told him what had 
 happened, explained the price he was to get and ar 
 ranged the deal. Corson wanted to pay $10,000 each 
 to the three men who had stopped us. No; Sherman 
 would not allow that. 
 
 "That was only in case I got the claim," he ex 
 plained; "and I was too slow." 
 
 He made the old man promise to move East, quit 
 mining, buy government bonds and place his children 
 in school and give half the money to the girl. We 
 never heard of them again. 
 
 To Simpson he gave out of his own pocket $5,000 
 and at a moment when his stock of money was at the 
 lowest ebb I had ever known it to be. 
 
 Afterward Sherman was sued by the three men 
 who had stopped us in the trail, for $10,000 each, but 
 he wore them out in the courts. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 tlbe dDan Eater 
 
 Sherman was outputting 250 tons of mill dirt daily, 
 and in consequence of such a great quantity of low 
 grade coming from the mine, we were sending to the 
 smelter a larger amount of smelting rock. He was 
 on a profitable basis, while his enemies were closed 
 down, and by reason of the vice-like grip he held on 
 the Vendetta, he was slowly forcing them to the wall. 
 
 They tried to compromise, but he would not listen. 
 They had forced the owner of the Delusion to consoli 
 date with them, in order that they might mine the rich 
 ore from the Dog Faced Man, 
 
 "Before you come to terms with these people," 
 Sherman had told him, "see me. No matter what kind 
 of a proposition they make you, I will go them one 
 better. But I must see theirs in black and white, that's 
 the way they deal when it comes to handling property." 
 
Page 110 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 Now the man had signed an agreement to work 
 in harmony with Sherman's enemies, and to use a 
 portion of his share of the revenue to fight Sherman 
 with. 
 
 There was great indignation because of this, for 
 everybody knew that Sherman had loaned him money 
 to clear the mortgage on his home at a time when he 
 was badly involved, and could illy afford it, and with 
 out the formality of a note. The loan had never been 
 repaid. 
 
 Hennessey, who had developed into a rumor fac 
 tory, brought the news up from the county seat one 
 night. He was fighting mad, and while attempting to 
 explain to Sherman, he was cut off with the remark : 
 
 "I know all about it I have known it for three 
 days." 
 
 That night a deputy sheriff rode up the Trail, and 
 served more papers on Sherman, alleging damages be 
 cause of the prolonged shut-down, and suing for the 
 value of the ore they might have taken out. 
 
 "This suit," said Sherman, "is simply a blind, to 
 occupy my mind at a time when they propose to work 
 the Delusion and the Dog Faced Man. They do not 
 know what I might do." 
 
The Man Eater Page 111 
 
 The next day another suit was filed, asking him to 
 commence producing ore from the Vendetta, and alleg 
 ing that he was seeking to encompass the ruin of the 
 owners. 
 
 It looked to me as though they had made a good 
 point, and I said so. 
 
 "Looks are frequently deceiving," was the dry 
 response. ''I am not trying to ruin them. I am trying 
 to obtain my rights in the only manner possible. Keep 
 your eye on me, and you will see the wheels go round." 
 
 The next morning he walked across the dining 
 room to where Hennessey was sitting, and said : 
 
 "I have decided to start work on the Man Eater, 
 and you are to be superintendent. Come into the 
 office." 
 
 Hennessey was dumbfounded. So was everybody. 
 
 The Man Eater was a claim that lay above the Dog 
 Faced Man, and Hennessey took possession before 
 noon. Along toward night word reached us that he 
 had thrashed one of the owners of the Vendetta for 
 making fun of Sherman. We had a fire-eater in charge 
 of the Man Eater. 
 
 The Man Eater vein was a split from that of the 
 Dog Faced Man. Sherman claimed an apex, and like- 
 
Page 112 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 wise brought suit to set aside the consolidation of the 
 Delusion and the Dog Faced Man, on account of his 
 previous oral agreement, and the two claims were en 
 joined from working. Sherman had effectually back 
 fired his enemies. 
 
 While Sherman was filing these suits, Hennessey 
 dressed down one of the Vendetta attorneys, who went 
 up to protest, and then he announced that he would 
 whip any man who bothered him, or, "If I just think 
 he is going to bother me," he concluded. 
 
 This was rather wide latitude, for the Irishman 
 seemed to have set up a dictatorship in that neighbor 
 hood. They came into court and charged him with 
 assault and battery, and intent to do great bodily harm, 
 and asked that he be placed under bonds to keep the 
 peace. On the strength of that he whipped one of 
 their foremen. Things were getting serious now, and 
 Sherman was charged with attempting, through Hen 
 nessey and a ''gang of thugs," to incite riot. 
 
 Sherman disclaimed all knowledge of Hennessey's 
 acts in fact, he deplored them. 
 
 "I do not approve of violence. Never struck a man 
 in my life. This man Hennessey is guilty. Fine him. 
 I will pay the fine, not because I indorse him, but be- 
 
The Man Eater Page 113 
 
 cause I, as his employer, am responsible for his actions, 
 a curious position, to be sure, but a fact, nevertheless/' 
 
 Hennessey was fined $1,000 and sentenced to ninety 
 days in the county jail. Sentence was suspended dur 
 ing good behavior, and in addition he was placed under 
 bonds of $5,000 to keep the peace. 
 
 "I adopt this method," said the Court, "because by 
 it you are more likely to obey this order." 
 
 It was a fact. Hennessey's hands were tied, but 
 his tongue was unbridled. 
 
 Sherman was in court pretty much all of the time 
 now, but because he had nothing to conceal he came 
 out unscathed. Every employe of the Consolidated 
 Company was brought into court, to ascertain whether 
 they knew anything of Sherman's motive, but all said 
 that he had never discussed his plans with them. 
 
 In the meantime other suits were filed the tangled 
 mass of litigation nearly drove all to distraction, except 
 Sherman, who was as serene as ever. 
 
 Hennessey, in trying to prove up the Apex case of 
 the Man Eater, was making some costly blunders, and 
 I protested, but Sherman said he was doing no worse 
 than the other side had done. 
 
 One day, in court, just as it seemed that Sherman 
 
Page 114 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 would get a decision, by asking that the Treasure- 
 Alligator case be dismissed, his attorneys suddenly 
 began to object and obstruct. This change of tactics 
 was a surprise, and court adjourned for the term. 
 
 In Powers' office, afterward, one of the outside 
 lawyers asked: 
 
 "Why did you make us do that? We could have 
 obtained the decision. Those fellows have no case." 
 
 "I know that, too. That is the reason I wanted you 
 to object. They will think we have overlooked some 
 thing. Hunting for that loophole will keep them bus 
 ier than searching for a needle on a hay ranch. In the 
 meantime, I shall be satisfied." 
 
 Hennessey was still blundering on the Man Eater. 
 
 "These people will charge that you have instructed 
 Hennessey to act that way purposely," I said one day. 
 
 "In court, you mean?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 *'No. This case will never go to court again, except 
 to be dismissed. That will happen before the snow 
 flies. After they fail to find what they have been hunt 
 ing for, they will realize their position. Then we shall 
 have peace on my terms, which will be just. That is 
 all I want." 
 
The Man Eater Page 115 
 
 The months dragged along, and one day the camp 
 was thrilled by the announcement that the cases had 
 been dismissed. That night steam was raised at the 
 Vendetta mill, and Powers called me up to instruct me 
 to start the pumps in the Treasure shaft, a duty that 
 Sherman, with a fine sense of honor, had delegated 
 to him. 
 
 "Just to think," Sherman said that evening in the 
 office, "of all the trouble those fellows could have 
 saved themselves." 
 
 I was burning with curiosity. 
 
 "How did you settle with them, Sherman?" 
 
 "They deed me all the claims that intersect the 
 Great Bonanza, and which they led me to believe I was 
 buying in the first place. In addition, they reimburse 
 me for all the money I have expended on the Ven 
 detta. As they have no money, I accept bonds for the 
 amount, something less than $200,000 but we call it 
 $200,000 for good measure. The bank purchases the 
 bonds. They deed me the Dog Faced Man. The 
 owner of the Delusion gives me seven-tenths interest 
 in his claim, and I agreed to purchase his three-tenths 
 for $30,000. Paid the money. I have sold that group, 
 including the Man Eater, for a little matter of $250,000 
 
Page 116 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 to the Vendetta people. They give bonds the bank 
 takes those bonds off my hands also. All litigation is 
 wiped out. Everything is harmonious now." 
 
 He watched the smoke curl upward from his cigar, 
 and then said : 
 
 "It was all due to the Man Eater, however. I 
 bought that claim the day after they commenced to 
 harass me from the Alligator, for I felt that they would 
 attack me from all sides. Then I made the deal with 
 the Delusion just as a safeguard, in case I was forced 
 to realize a large sum of money suddenly." 
 
 I gazed at him in astonishment. While we thought 
 he was blundering, he was methodically following a 
 carefully-laid plan. 
 
 He looked at me in amusement for a moment, and 
 then said, quietly: 
 
 "I am not so green as I look if an occasional cow 
 does take my trail." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Sberman's Uraaic Beatb 
 
 With litigation on the Consolidated ended, the rich 
 ore measures of the Treasure, where it intersected the 
 Great Bonanza, were developed. The magnitude of 
 the wealth of that deposit was appalling. As the shaft 
 went deeper, the grade of the ore was lower, but the 
 width was steadily increasing, and, because of the 
 expense of pumping, we drove the tunnel to undercut 
 the vein, and drain it. This resulted in a great saving, 
 and in addition afforded ventilation for the mines, for 
 prior to that we employed blowing engines to send 
 air down into the property. The bore also furnished 
 an avenue through which to transport considerable of 
 the ore to the mill. 
 
 Sherman's policy was now to develop, and while he 
 did not say so, from the number of letters that passed 
 to and from a foreign city, I fancied that he was about 
 to sell the mine. 
 
Page 118 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 One day a corps of engineers appeared, but no 
 intimation of their purpose was to be given. Sherman 
 called Hennessey aside, and told him that these men 
 were here to ascertain whether the lower grades of ore 
 in the mine could be treated, and if so, an addition was 
 to be built to the mill. This was a fact, but he did not 
 tell all. 
 
 "This," said Sherman, "is between you and me, 
 Hennessey. I would not tell all I know to the others. 
 They talk too much." 
 
 "Sure, I am as dumb as a clam." 
 
 Within an hour he had told it to the cook, the cook 
 repeated it, with embellishments, to one of the tram 
 mers, and he, in turn, to one of the shift bosses. By 
 noon it was repeated at the mill, and that night it 
 reached the county seat in the shape of a positive state 
 ment that a plant that would treat 1,000 tons of ore 
 daily was to be erected at once. That evening Hen 
 nessey imparted the story to me under pledge of 
 secrecy, stating that he had received it "straight" from 
 a man who knew. 
 
 The next day he would go on the stand and swear 
 to it, for he believed that the story he had uncon 
 sciously scattered was the truth. 
 
Sherman's Tragic Death Page 119 
 
 Finally everything checked out, the deal had been 
 completed, and the money paid. The mine was to be 
 turned over to the new owners the next day. 
 
 We were all sitting in front of the office, smoking, 
 when Sherman said: 
 
 ''Some one has been stealing high grade from that 
 cross lead on the tunnel level, and I placed Hennessey 
 at the mouth of the tunnel to prevent anybody from 
 going in there, until the property is formally turned 
 over. We encountered the ore this evening/' 
 
 A few moments later he arose, and said: 
 
 "Believe I will go down and see him tell him if 
 anybody does appear, not to lose his temper, or do 
 anything rash." 
 
 "I tank I go, too," said Larsen, rising. I wanted 
 to accompany him, but he said "No," and motioned 
 Larsen to his seat. 
 
 "I will go alone," and a moment later he was on 
 the Trail. 
 
 ''Better go down through the shaft,"! shouted. 
 
 "This is all right. I'll be back shortly." A moment 
 later his form became a shadow and then blended with 
 the moonlight. 
 
 We were listening to one of the foreign engineers 
 telling a story of South Africa, when we were startled 
 
Page 120 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 by a shot, and we all sprang up, trying to locate the 
 direction from which the sound came. A moment later 
 the office telephone bell rang violently. The mine was 
 connected by a telephone system, and we maintained 
 our own "central." The continuous ringing ;vas from 
 the mouth of the tunnel. 
 
 "Sherman has been shot !" was the cry that went up. 
 
 "Sherman has been shot!" echoed through the 
 mine. 
 
 In an instant pandemonium reigned. 
 
 We rushed to the shaft house, and as many as pos 
 sible crowded on the cage, and were dropped to the 
 tunnel level. Men deserted their work in the mine. 
 The top men were going down the ladders, the tram 
 mers, single j ackers and machine men were literally 
 falling down the manway, and each drift was pouring 
 men out into the main working way. The cages and 
 pump men, everybody except the man at the hoisting 
 engine, ceased to work. The alarm spread to the 
 bunk house, and soon 250 angry miners were swarm 
 ing down the mountainside to the portal of the tunnel. 
 
 The telephone operator remained at his post. He 
 called up all the local doctors and told them to come 
 up on the tram Sherman had been shot. Then he 
 
Sherman's Tragic Death Page 121 
 
 called up Powers, and told him to bring up three 
 doctors from the county seat, celebrated surgeons who 
 were visiting there and whom the local physicians had 
 recommended. Then he called up the dispatcher and 
 arranged to have an engine detached from an outgoing 
 ore train, and coupled to a day coach, to bring the 
 surgeons to the mine. Within twenty minutes the 
 little narrow gauge engine commenced its race with 
 death. 
 
 Hordes of men, mad with excitement, were rushing 
 pellmell through the tunnel. Some were armed with 
 pieces of drill steel, some with hammers, all with some 
 thing, when we saw a light, and met Hennessey carry 
 ing Sherman in his arms. There was a small stain of 
 blood on his shirt front. He was very white. 
 
 "Nothing much," he said, faintly. "Just a little 
 accident. BUBCHrft LfefftTf 
 
 Never did old man Crandell handle the hoisting 
 engine more carefully than he did that night, when he 
 raised us through 1,200 feet of shaft, with Sherman. 
 
 A physician was waiting for us as the cage came 
 through the collar, while the place was filled with awe- 
 stricken men, who silently watched us carry Sherman 
 out, across the dump, to the bedroom adjoining his 
 office. While he had not uttered a sound of complaint, 
 
Page 122 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 it was plain that he was suffering greatly, and one of 
 the physicians administered morphine. 
 
 Hennessey laid him on the bed, and turned to 
 leave, when Sherman said : 
 
 "Wait, Hennessey don't leave the room until I 
 tell you to." 
 
 The doctors were now disrobing him, to ascertain 
 the extent of his injury, and we stepped out onto the 
 porch. As we did so, we heard the barking of the 
 locomotive, bringing the visiting surgeons, in the gulch 
 below. Occasionally it whistled, signaling to us across 
 the silence of the soft moonlight. 
 
 After a time, one of the physicians came out, and, 
 taking me aside, said: 
 
 "He is dying." 
 
 I passed into the room, to find Hennessey on his 
 knees beside the bed, crying like a child. My heart 
 chilled. 
 
 "Oh, Sherman," he sobbed, "I didn't know it was 
 you when I shot." 
 
 The words made me sick at heart. Sherman put a 
 finger to his lips, and glanced at me. Then : 
 
 "You have sent for Powers?" inquiringly. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I want to see him as soon as he arrives." 
 
Sherman's Tragic Death Page 123 
 
 The presence of the physicians, the consultation in 
 the other room, the noise of the narrow gauge engine 
 as it screamed around the sharp curves in the gulch, 
 were enough to warn him. 
 
 "The physicians have not told me so but I know 
 that I am dying. Powers will fix a few things for me 
 particularly this unfortunate affair of Hennessey's 
 it was all my fault." 
 
 Then we heard the tram start and stop suddenly 
 several times, as Powers and the visiting surgeons 
 were placed in the buckets. Then the brakes were 
 slipped, and the great wire ropes were allowed to race 
 around the drums faster than ever before, in the hurry 
 to bring relief. The surgeons were the first to step 
 from the buckets Powers last. I explained matters 
 hastily as we hurried to the office. 
 
 An hour later, the examination had been com 
 pleted. Sherman demanded to know the verdict. The 
 surgeons agreed that he could not live. 
 
 "Can nothing be done?" asked Sherman, evenly, 
 without betraying emotion. 
 
 "Nothing," was the answer. "We might operate 
 but it would be fatal." 
 
 "How long can I live ?" 
 
 "Not to exceed two hours." 
 
Page 124 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 "Very well ;" a glance to the bookkeeper ; "get a 
 receipt in full from the doctors, and make out checks 
 for them. Likewise the payroll, up to and including 
 the first of the month. Call in all the men." 
 
 When as many as possible had crowded into the 
 bedroom and office, he said: 
 
 "I want every man to do as I shall ask him. To- 
 night I sent Hennessey to the mouth of the tunnel to 
 watch for high-graders.* I told him to let no one 
 enter the portal of the bore. Later I went down my 
 self. While stumbling over the slide rock, I did not 
 hear his challenge, and as I turned in by the old tool 
 house I stepped into the shadow a suspicious move 
 ment and he fired at me. I spoke then but it was 
 too late. He was right. I was wrong. The fault was 
 all mine. I want you to draw up a statement to that 
 effect, Powers, and have everybody within sound of 
 my voice sign it, under oath. Then I want you to go 
 into court and clear Hennessey." 
 
 Glancing toward the men, he added, in an author 
 itative tone : 
 
 "And mind you no violence toward my friend 
 Hennessey remember my friend." 
 
 *A term used in the mines for a man who steals rich ore. 
 
Sherman's Tragic Death Page 125 
 
 Then Sherman turned to business. He called in 
 and turned over to the visiting engineers the Consoli 
 dated property for it had been sold for a fabulous 
 sum to a foreign syndicate. 
 
 Sherman's last moments were spent in signing 
 checks. Everybody about the mine was remembered 
 this in a lump sum, which Powers was to distribute. 
 Hennessey was given $5,000. Sherman filled out, 
 signed and sealed in an envelope a check, which he 
 handed to Powers, with the statement: 
 
 "Open that tomorrow, old man." 
 
 Letters he dictated were signed, papers Powers 
 prepared received his signature and were acknowl 
 edged, in the presence of more than 100 witnesses, 
 and when he had finished there remained of his vast 
 fortune not a penny he had given it all away, and in 
 a manner that touched our hearts and caused the tears 
 to well up in the eyes of every man present. 
 
 Then Sherman told the following pathetic story: 
 
 "Perhaps I have appeared grasping to most of you. 
 It was necessary, however, to accomplish my end. If 
 I had not been, it would not have been possible to do 
 what I have done here, tonight. 
 
 "When I was a child, I was left with a little sister 
 mere baby, younger than I was. I was a trifle 
 
Page 126 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 over eight, she but four. We were destitute. We were 
 not even permitted to follow to the grave the mother 
 who comforted us, who was buried in the pauper's 
 field, and the record of whose burial was lost. I was 
 a great, hulking boy she a frail child, slight and 
 sickly. There is no use living over those months of 
 torment. She grew weaker. I could not get proper 
 medical treatment, could not afford sufficient food 
 she was actually dying from lack of nourishment lit 
 erally starving to death. Well-fed, sleek authorities of 
 charitable institutions to whom I appealed, men ve 
 neered with stiff shirt bosoms and benevolent faces 
 that concealed religious hypocrisy, told me they would 
 investigate. These men permitted a worthy child to 
 die at their feet while I was knocking at their hearts 
 for aid. I worked day and night, at anything, and, 
 why should they care? A kind old woman told them 
 she was taking care of the child. Kind she took my 
 money, and little attention Elsie received. I stole her 
 away the police brought us back, and I was threat 
 ened with arrest if I tried it again. Well, she died, I 
 believe, of starvation. The day before I walked into 
 a great banking house and told my story to a man 
 there. I touched his heart, and he loaned me money 
 only a few dollars, but it came too late. When I re- 
 
Sherman's Tragic Death Page 127 
 
 turned, he went with me, and buried my sister. I 
 saved my pennies, and repaid that debt, and at that 
 tender age I made up my mind that I would do what 
 I could to relieve the condition of helpless children 
 similarly situated. 
 
 "I was a good trader and I made money, in my 
 way. My bank account grew. My friend was ad 
 vanced in the bank, became cashier, and then president 
 of the institution. We grew to be great friends. He 
 was the man who held all of my interests in trust for 
 the amount I owed him, which made me proof against 
 judgment. He was the man who loaned me money to 
 tide over so many tight places. He was my best 
 friend, and once I saved his bank from failure. 
 
 "You have heard these letters and you know that 
 my money has gone to the organization of a home to 
 which any hungry, dirty child of the street may turn 
 and obtain food, and where the sick receive succor and 
 the weary comfort, where the attendants are paid a 
 salary for being good, and not for wearing a mantle 
 of charity to conceal a selfish disposition. 
 
 "I have planned, and schemed, and stinted myself, 
 with this end in view, for it has been my mission. I 
 never accepted an invitation to a home, I never was 
 familiar with men, for fear I would forget my duty, 
 
Page 128 The Mystery of Bonanza Trail 
 
 as I had mapped it out, for fear I would relax my vigi 
 lance in the pursuit of the dollar. Dollars have formed 
 the wheels of my existence, and through them my life 
 is about to pass away, and out of them the fabric of my 
 work is just emerging. 
 
 "I am quite poor now in fact, a pauper again. In 
 a few moments I shall have passed Beyond. I want 
 you to bury me as I have lived simply and plainly. 
 Get the mine carpenter to knock a rough box together, 
 and bury me up on the ridge, in sight of Ascension 
 Mountain. 
 
 "My life may not have been charitable I may have 
 ground others down I may have paved a path for my 
 soul that leads straight down to the bottomless pit of a 
 burning hell, but if I have, the sacrifice will be small on 
 my part, and will be more than compensated for by the 
 joy it will bring to the homeless waifs who may live to 
 grow to be useful men and women, through the fruits 
 of my labor." 
 
 A few moments later and he had passed to the 
 other side. 
 
 We buried him as he wished, in a rough pine box, 
 which was lined with black cloth. The rude coffin was 
 lowered into a grave made in the rocks, on the ridge 
 of the continent, and that night God covered his bed 
 with a soft mantle of snow.