CHAPTER XXI
OUT ON SUNSET TRAIL
If Peter Garrish was ill at ease, it must be confessed that Tom Rover was also somewhat perplexed regarding the best way of approaching the manager of the mine. He had thought to get a great deal of data concerning the mine from Lew Billings and then confront Garrish with these proofs of his wrongdoing.
“Came to look the place over, I suppose?” said Garrish, eyeing Tom distrustfully.
“I did,” answered the father of the twins bluntly. “And I also came to take a look at the books.”
“Take a look at the books, Mr. Rover? What’s in the wind now?” and Garrish’s voice took on a decidedly unpleasant tone.
“I won’t beat around the bush, Garrish. You know that for a long time I have not been satisfied with the way things are going here. I have got a lot of money tied up in this mine, and I don’t intend to lose it.”
“Who said you were going to lose it?” demanded the manager.
“Nobody said so, Garrish. But I can put two and two together as well as the next fellow. I don’t like the way things are running here. By the way, what have you done to Lew Billings?”
“Billings! I haven’t done anything to Billings.”
“He seems to be missing.”
“Well, that’s his fault and not mine. We had something of an argument and I told him if he was not willing to carry out my orders he had better look for a job. Since that I haven’t seen or heard of him.”
“He seems to have disappeared very mysteriously, Garrish,” went on Tom suggestively.
“See here, Rover, do you want to start something?” snarled the manager. “If you do, I’ll tell you right now it won’t get you anywhere! I’ve had nothing to do with Billings’ disappearance. He went off on his own hook. Now, I know you’re a stockholder here and you’ve got a stockholder’s rights. But you must remember that I’m the manager and that I represent the majority of the stockholders. I’m willing to do what’s fair, but I won’t be bulldozed.”
“I sha’n’t ask you to do anything but what is fair, Garrish,” answered Tom. “You certainly ought not to object to a large stockholder like myself looking over the books and taking a look around the mine.”
“That’s all right. But you’ve got to treat me as a manager ought to be treated, or you’ll keep out of the office and out of the mine too.”
“Well, perhaps after——” began Tom, and then suddenly stopped and said instead: “Well, have it your own way, Garrish. Just the same, I don’t think you’re treating me quite decently, seeing that I have seventy-five thousand dollars locked up in this mining company.”
“Other people have over half a million dollars locked up in it. I’m representing them as well as you. You know the majority rule, and I am taking my orders from the majority.”
After this there was a sharp exchange of words lasting ten minutes or more. During that time Peter Garrish tried to draw Tom out, but the father of the twins refused to commit himself any further than stating that he had come West to look over the mine and likewise the books.
“Well, you can’t go down in the mine to-day, and probably not to-morrow,” said Peter Garrish at last. “We are using a lot of dynamite and it might be dangerous. As soon as it’s safe you can go down and take a look around.”
“All right, that’s fair,” answered Tom. “Now, what about the books?”
“The two bookkeepers are busy to-day making out the pay roll and doing some other things, but I’ll fix it so you can go over the books with them in a couple of days.”
This was as much as Peter Garrish was willing to concede. Then he added that they might obtain accommodations from the general storekeeper at Maporah.
“Yes, we stopped there last night,” answered Tom. “But now we have already made arrangements to stay at Toby White’s boarding house.”
“Toby White’s!” exclaimed the manager, and it was evident that this information did not please him in the least. “Toby had no business to take you in. That boarding house is run exclusively for mine employees.”
“Well, he had room, and he took us in. I don’t see what harm there is in it when the rooms are vacant.”
“That place is on mining property, and Toby understood the boarding house was to be exclusively for our employees. Of course, if you, as a stockholder, want to stay there, I’ll raise no objections. But I don’t see what we’re going to do with these boys around.”
“We don’t expect to stay around very much,” put in Randy quickly. “We’re going out on Sunset Trail to see if we can stir up any fishing and hunting.”
Another argument started over the question of the boarding house, but here Tom Rover was firm and stated that they would stay as long as the colored man would permit them. Then some one came to tell the manager that they were getting ready to set off the charge as ordered, and he said he would have to leave and see that everything was all right. But before going down into the mine he hurried off to the office, where he closed the door sharply behind him.
“Uncle Tom, those bookkeepers were not busy at all!” whispered Jack. “When we looked in at the window they were both looking over a newspaper and talking about baseball scores.”
“Never mind,” answered his uncle, with a peculiar look in his eyes. “I think I know how to handle this Peter Garrish. He puts on the front of a bulldog, and just at present I’m going to let him do it. But before I get through with him I’ll make him squeal like a stuck pig. Don’t you boys give him any information, and especially don’t say a word about those stockholders I stopped off to see in Chicago. You just go back to the boarding house, and then you can go out on Sunset Trail if you want to. I’m going to ride back to Maporah. I want to send off several telegrams. He says he has the backing of the majority of the stockholders. Well, he won’t have when I get through with him.”
“Gee, that’s the way to talk, Dad!” exclaimed Randy, in admiration. “You get the other stockholders to back you up, and you can soon give Mr. Peter Garrish his walking papers.”
All returned to the boarding house. A little later Tom Rover set off on his return to the railroad station. Then the boys, with nothing else to do, looked over their hunting and fishing outfits and, after dinner, went off on horseback to do a little exploring.
They found Sunset Trail a fairly good highway leading westward. It wound in and out among the hills and mountains, and there were numerous high spots where the descending sun might be viewed to advantage.
“I suppose that is where the name comes from,” remarked Fred, as they came to a halt at one of these high spots to view their surroundings. “It must be beautiful here when the sun is setting beyond those distant mountains.”
“I don’t believe there’s very much in the way of hunting around here,” remarked Jack. “So far I haven’t seen a sign of anything outside of a few squirrels.”
“I’d like to get some trout or pickerel,” came from Fred. “Gee, I haven’t been fishing for almost a year!”
“Speaking of fishing puts me in mind of Clearwater Lake,” remarked Randy. “I wonder if Phil Franklin has done anything about looking for that silver trophy we lost overboard.”
“Gee, I certainly wish that was found!” sighed his twin. “They ought to be able to get at it somehow, if they fish long enough.”
The boys rode up a long hill and then went down the somewhat steep decline on the other side. At the foot they found a fair-sized stream of water rushing along through the rocks.
“Here is a pretty good trail,” announced Jack. “And look, isn’t that a lake?”
“That’s what it is!” cried Fred. “Come on! Let’s ride over and see what it looks like. Maybe we’ll have a chance for some fishing to-day,” he added, for they had brought their rods along and also a box of assorted flies.
The trail was rocky in spots, but the horses seemed to be used to this sort of going and made fairly good progress. Presently they came out on the edge of the lake which seemed to be about half a mile long and over two hundred yards wide. There were numerous rocks on the shore interspersed with brushwood and trees.
“There ought to be something in the way of fish in this lake,” remarked Jack. “Let’s try our luck and rest the horses at the same time.”
The lake was located about seven miles directly westward from Gold Hill and in a spot evidently but little visited by the natives. Not a building of any sort was in sight, and when the boys discovered the remains of a campfire they came to the conclusion that the fire must have been built months before.
Tethering the horses so as to make sure the animals would not stray away, the four boys quickly unslung their fishing outfits and got them ready for use.
“I don’t know what we ought to fish with—flies or worms,” said Randy. “What do you think?” and he looked at Jack.
“If we can find any worms we might mix it up,” was the reply, and so it was arranged.
Having baited to their satisfaction, the boys wandered along the bank of the lake, seeking various points that might look advantageous. Jack and Andy found convenient fallen trees while the others walked out on a rocky point that projected far into the water.
“Hurrah, I’ve got something!” cried Randy, after a few minutes of silence, and brought up a lake trout about nine inches long.
“Good for us!” came from Jack. “Not so very large, but it’s the first catch, anyway.”
For some time after that the fish did not seem to bite. But presently Jack brought in a trout weighing at least a pound, and then the others were equally successful. Inside of an hour they had a mess between them weighing five or six pounds.
“Gee, we’re going to have fish for supper all right enough,” declared Fred, with satisfaction. “I don’t see why the miners and other folks around here don’t do more fishing.”
“It doesn’t pay as well as mining, that’s why,” answered Jack. “Just look at it, we’ve been here nearly two hours, and we’ve got about two dollars’ worth of fish. If the four of us were working at the mine we’d have earned at least eight dollars in that time.”
“This wouldn’t be a bad spot for camping,” suggested Andy.
“Suppose we ride around the lake,” suggested his twin. “There seems to be a trail all the way around.”
The others were willing, and soon the fishing tackle was put away and they were once more on horseback.
At the lower end of the lake they found another stream of water running between a mass of dense brushwood. Here the trail was narrow and the horses had to pick their way, for the spring freshets had thrown the loose stones in all directions.
“Maybe we had better turn back,” came from Fred. “The trail seems to be getting worse instead of better.”
“Oh, I reckon it will be all right on the higher ground,” answered Jack. “When the snows melted last spring I suppose the water was pretty fierce down here where the lake empties.”
Andy and Randy had pushed ahead, and now they disappeared around a bend of the trail. A moment later came a yell.
“Hi! Look out, boys! There’s some wild animal here! He’s up a tree!” came from Andy.
Then came a snarl, followed by a snort of fright from the horse Randy was riding. The next instant something came flying through the leaves of the tree, landing on the horse’s flank.