of ore-bearing rock which' he had brought from the
mine to careful analysis hut aiao appealed to sev-
eral of the greatest living chemists and mineral-
ogists to aid him; bot they were all equally mysti-
fied. The green substance ctm-ta-irieft in- the 1 oVe, al-
though differing slightly f-roiri ordinary chrysolite,
answered all the known' tests of that miner al. It
was remembered; however, that Dr.- Syx Had said
that they would be likely to mistake the substance
for chrysolite,' and the result of their experiments
justified his prediction'. Evidently the doe'tbr had
gone a stones' east beyond the 1 chemistry of the' day,
and, just as evidently,- he' did 7 fl&fc mean: to reveal
his discovery for the benefit of science, nor for the
benefit of any pockets except his own.
The Extraction of the' Metal is an- tJttsorvable Mystery
NOTWITHSTANDING the failure 6f.,tKe
chemists to extract anything fr-ottr Dr. Syx's
ore,- the public at large' never doubted 1 that
the secret would be' discovered- in' good time, and
thousands of prospectors flocked- to the' Teton- Mouh-
tains in search of the ore. And' without milch dif-
ficulty they found it. Evidently the 7 doctor had been
mistaken in thinking that his mine might be' the
only one. The new miners hurried speei'ineirs of : the
green-speckled rock- to the chemical 1 laboratories' for
experimentation' 1 ,- and 1 meanwhile began' to lay up
stores of the' ore in- anticipation' 6f the time whett
the proper way to extract the metal should be dia^
covered.
But, alas I- that' time did- not come.- The 7 fresh
ore ; proved to be as refractory as that which had
been obtained' from' Dr.- Syx'. But- in' trie midst- of
the universal disappointment- there came a 1 new
sensation'.
One morning the newspapers glared with a 1 des-
patch from Grand Tetori 3-tation 7 anntfimcing that
the metal- itself had been discovered by prospectors
on the eastern slope 1 of- the main peakv
"It outcrops in many places," ran the despatch,-
"and many small nuggets have been picked out of
crevices in the rocks/'
The excitement produced' by this news- was even 1
greater than when 1 gold was discovered 1 at the 1 south
pole. Again a mad rush was made for the Tetons.
The heights around Jackson's Bole 1 and the 7 shores
of Jackson's and Jenny's' lakes- were' quickly d'otted
with Camps, and the military force had to' be-
doubled to keep off- the curious-, and occasionally
menacing, crowds which gathered- in 1 the vicinity
and seemed' bent on unearthing the great secret-
lOcked' behind the windowle3s walls' of the 1 mihV
where the column of black smoke and the roar of-
the engine served as reminders' of thff incredible'
wealth which the sole' possessor of- that secret was"
rolling iip!-
T-his' time no' mistake had 1 been' marie. It' was a>
fact- that the- motah in virgin 1 purity,' had been dis-
covered scattered in various places on the ledges'
Of- the Grand Tetoiu- Br a little 7 while- thousands 7 had
obtained specimens with' their own' hands 7 ; The-
quantity was distressingly small, considering- tlrff
number and- flie eagerness of- the seekers; but that
it- was genuine 1 arteniisiuni not even 1 DrV Syx* could-
have denied^ He,- however-,' made no attempt to-
deny it.
"Yes;" he- said, when' questioned/ "I find that" I
have been deceived. At first I thought the ihetal
existed only in the form of the green ore, but 6f late
I- have come upon veins of pure artemisium in my
mine. I am glad for your sakes, bnt sorry for my
own. Still,- it may turn out that there is no great
amount of free artemisium after all."
The Mountain is Covered with Prospectors
WHILE the doctor talked in this maimer close
observers detected a lurking sneer which his
ac^iia'intanceS had net notified since arte-
misidm was first adopted as the money basis of trie
world.
The crowd that swarmed upon the mountain
quickly exhausted all of the visible supply of the
metal. Sometimes they found it in a thin stratum
at the" bottom of crevices, where it could be de-
tached in opalescent plates and leaves of the thick-
ness of. paper. These superficial deposits evidently
might have been formed from Water holding the
metal in solution'. Occasionally, deep cracks Con-
tained nuggets and wiry masses which' looked Si
if- they had run together when molten.
The most promising spots were soon staked Out
in miners' claims, m noli hi cry was procured, stock
companies were formed, and borings were' begun.
The enthusiasm arising from the earlier finds' and
the flattering surface indications caused everybody
tct work with feverish haste and energy, and within
two months one hundred tunnels were piercing trie
-mountain'/
For' a long' time nobody was willing to admit the"
truth which gradually forced itself upon the atten-
tion- of the miners. The deeper" they went the scarc-
er became the indications of artemisium! In fact,
such deposits as wore found were confined to 1 fis-
sures near' the : surface: But Dr.- Syx Continued to"
report a surprising increase in the amount of freV
metal in his' mine, and this encouraged all who had"
not exhausted- their capital to push on' their tunnels"
in' the hope of finally striking a vein. At length",
however, the smaller operators gave up in despair,
until only one heavily capitalized company remained'
at work.
CHAPTER V)
A Strange Discovery
« TF T isr my belief that Di ; . Max Syx is a deceiver."'
H The person who uttered this opinion was a;
-fir young engineer,- Andrew Hall, who had
charge of the operations of one of the' mining com-
panies which' were--' driving tunnels" into the' Grand'
Tetonv
"What do' you mean by that?" asked President-
Boon 7 , who was the principal' backer of thfe enter-'
prise-.
"I mean;" replied 1 Hall',' "that there 7 is no fr£8
metal- in- this 1 Mountain;- and' Dr. Syx; knows there'
is 3 none:"
"But he is getting it himself from his mine," retorted President Boon.
"So he says, but who has seen' it? No" one is admitted- into the' Syx mine, his' foremen' are" forbidden 1 to; talk, and' his' workmen are specially imported' negroes who do not understand the English-language:"
"But," persisted Mr. Boon, "how, then, db you account for the nuggets scattered over the' mourn-
