W. C. Tuttle

“ One Winter me and him was snowed in up in th’ Coeur d’Alenes, and Magpie finds uh copy of th’ Congressional Record.
“Since then nobody can read out loud to me.
“‘Laziness covers uh multitude uh sins,’ announces Magpie, while we’re eatin’ supper that night. ‘Tellurium states that he’s only drivin’ uh foot uh day. Now, Ike, no man can ever live long enough to develop uh copper mine at that rate. ”

“ Mebby he’s kumtux to th’ real estate, but on mines he don’t show uh trace. He has six little books on mineralogy which he reads continually; and when uh feller has to consult uh book every time he sees uh piece uh rock he’s in th’ same class with th’ jasper who opens th’ Home Doctor book every time he feels off color—he shore finds symptoms of everything.
“Me and Magpie needs uh grub stake fer our Winter work if we don’t sell out, and bein’ as Peters is plumb wild to be uh mine owner we lets him buy uh third interest in our claims. ”

“ Th’ next day I goes down to Granite to have a talk with Peters about this Daylight Mine deal. Me and Magpie had decided not to tell Peters how good it is, ’cause uh hombre like him is jist as apt to talk as not. We don’t want ourselves to show in th’ deal cause Johnson might suspect our motives. Uh feller like Peters looks like uh sucker, and mebby Johnson will make him uh good price.
“Peters swells out his chest and his little derby does uh tango on his head when I puts it up to him. He sure thinks he’s an expert. ”

“ With th’ help of psychology he can drift three feet uh day in that formation.’
“‘Well, mebby,’ I sort of agrees. ‘I don’t know th’ power of this element yuh claim to have corraled, but I do know Tellurium, and I’m here to state that uh foot uh day is hy-iu driftin’ fer him.’
“Magpie peruses his book some plentiful before he opens up again.
“Ike, I’ll bet yuh uh hundred dollars that I can have Tellurium drivin’ three feet uh day inside of uh week. I aims to sort of work on his imagination through th’ elements uh psychology. ”