dynamite all
the Rocky Mountain country was agog with marvelous tales of Douglass's
luck and a great rush of prospectors was made to the new Eldorado. At
the time of the discovery of the quartz ledge, at Douglass's suggestion,
Brevoort, Carter and McVey had conjointly located three extension claims
on the vein, and the two women, Grace and Constance, had also located
two claims in their joint names. The assessment work legally required to
hold these claims had all been done and the necessary excavations had
shown all the five extensions to contain values. The additional work
required to make the holdings patentable was rushed to completion, and
before the inrush of the prospective Midases had fairly begun, the
titles had been made incontestibly secure.

In the parlance of the camps Douglass's original discoveries "paid from
grass-roots down" and his exploitation work was all in high grade ore.
With the proceeds derived from its sale he installed a diamond drilling
plant with which he thoroughly prospected the formation within his
boundary lines with the result of indisputably establishing the
continuity of the rich deposits. So extensive and valuable did these
prove that he was fairly inundated with offers of purchase from the
shrewd representatives of various syndicates, the figures rising with
each successive bid as the vein was definitely proved. But the offers as
yet were scarcely half the amount which Douglass had sturdily demanded
for his holdings, although at his advice the two women and Red McVey
sold out their interests to a syndicate headed and promoted by Anselm
Brevoort. His good judgment was fully vindicated later, when, after
extensive exploitation the consolidated five extension claims barely
yielded ore enough to pay the purchase price, the real ore chimney being
confined inside Douglass's property. And as the three lucky venders
received in the neighborhood of one hundred thousand dollars each, with
only a nominal outlay for assessment work and patenting, the
transaction was very satisfactory to them.

Before sailing for Europe, Grace had at her brother's suggestion given
Douglass power of attorney for the handling of her interests, and he had
duly deposited her share of the proceeds to her credit in Denver's best
bank, notifying her brother of the disposition of the fund and
suggesting that it be retained there until her return, when it could be
presented as an agreeable surprise. Constance's share s