wearing convict stripes and prison
pallor to the end of his dishonored days.

But Graham had journeyed with his long-time friend and senior
officer--senior by seven years--and McCrea's plans, to a certain point,
seemed to dominate those of the younger and less experienced man.
McCrea's idea was to "tackle" the local directors first and compel
recognition of their rights. He, as post quartermaster, had had
business dealings with bankers and merchants both in Denver and
Chicago. He believed that, reinforced by the presence of Captain Lee
from Reno, he could make a certain impression, or else certain threats,
that would bring these magnates to time.

But Dr. Graham, an older head, thought otherwise, had so instructed
Geordie and so endeavored to impress McCrea. The men, said he, had
planned this out. "They stand to lose little in the market if the
stocks are 'beared.' They have invested little; we have invested our
all. If nothing was found they could quit. If good ore was found, then
it was their game to conceal the fact, to demand more and more money
for more and more development, force us out, get our shares, and own
the property. Why, laddie, the man that warned me dared not sign his
name, for every wire was watched; yet I'd stake six months' pay he's
got the rights of it. There's ore there in plenty!"

And so every indication said at the start. It wasn't until many Eastern
people had been induced to invest (Dr. Graham's New York friends, the
Fraziers, among them) that managers and directors began to tell dismal
tales and ask for more and more. It was then that Dr. Graham bethought
him of a brother Scot who dwelt near Argenta, a man once so poor that
when his bairns were down with diphtheria he could not coax Argenta
doctors out across the five-mile stretch of storm-swept, frozen
prairie. It was the burly post surgeon from the fort who rode eight
miles to and eight miles back in any kind of weather, night or day,
until he snatched those babies back from death, and gave them, weak and
gasping, yet alive, to the arms of their weeping and imploring and at
last rejoicing mother. Oh, those are deeds that women remember so long
as life remains to them, and that but few men forget, and the clansman,
who couldn't begin to pay in cash for what "the Graeme" had done for
him and his, could reward in fealty now. It was Donald Ross to whom the
doctor had written, and Ross who made investigation and reply.

And yet, though he ha