The Golden Spider

There wasnÕt much suggestion of a canyon, lost or found, in the handsomely furnished office in the Brewster National Bank building where three young fellows in flannel shirts, belted corduroys and hob-nailed lace boots were waiting for the owner of the office to make his appearance.

Of the three, only the middle-sized one, a good-looking chap whose rough outing clothes fitted him as if they were tailor-made, was showing signs of impatience. The biggest of the three, a square-shouldered young athlete with good gray eyes set wide apart, and a shock of dark-red, curly hair, was standing at a window which commanded a magnificent view of the high, forested mountain range lifting the skyline to the westward, while the other member of the trio, an undersized fellow with a thin, eager face and pale blue eyes, was examining the mineral specimens in a corner cabinet.

ÒGee! I wish Uncle Billy would come!Ó said the impatient one, jumping up to make a restless circuit of the room. ÒWe donÕt want to miss that train.Ó

The big fellow turned from his window. ÒYouÕre sure he got in last night?Ó he said.

ÒOh, yes; they came in on the Flyer. Aunt Stella called mother over the Õphone after the train got inÑjust to let us know. But I wish heÕd come. We donÕt want to lose another single day of this bully weather.Ó

Dick MaxwellÕs impatience was not altogether unreasonable. Ten days earlier Mr. William StarbuckÑthe ÒUncle BillyÓ in questionÑhad made a short stop in the Middle-Western college town where Dick and his two companions were just winding up their Freshman year, and had asked Dick how he was meaning to spend the long vacation. One thing had brought on another, and the upshot of the talk was an offer on the part of ÒUncle BillyÓ to send Dick, and any two of his college-mates he might pick out, on a summer prospecting trip in the Hophra Mountains, the object in view being the possible discovery, not especially of silver or gold, but more particularly of new sources of supply of the rare metals, tungsten, vanadium, molybdenum, and the like, used in the arts and manufactures.

Dick hadnÕt wasted a moment in choosing the first of his companions for the summer outing. Larry DonovanÑthe big fellow at the office windowÑson of a crippled locomotive engineer on the home railroad, had been his chum from their grade-school days in Brewster, and the two had spent the preceding summer together as ÒcubsÓ on the engineering staff of the railroad of which DickÕs father was the general manager, so Larry was promptly elected as Number Two in the prospecting trip. For the third member they had both picked upon Charles PurdickÑLarryÕs roommate in collegeÑfor several reasons: for one thing, ÒLittle PurdyÓ was a pretty good plain cook; and for another, he needed the wages that Mr. William Starbuck was going to pay each member of the prospecting party irrespective of the success of the trip in the discovery of any new mineral deposits.