His
partner, whom he introduced as a Confederate veteran, was a Virginian.
As partners, the blue and the gray were almost irresistible. Three
hundred dollars invested in their shaft would mean a rich strike.
But other Opportunities had left Keeler rich in experience and short of
cash. He could not use Robert Palmer's money as his own; so he could
only smile, rather sadly, and wish his new friends success. How many of
his acquaintances had invested good money in a hole in the ground! Even
the most prudent, in some unguarded moment, had parted with thousands of
dollars, like the dog in the fable which dropped the real bone to seize
the shadow. There was Mack, proprietor of the hotel at Graniteville,
making lots of money at his business and losing it all in mining
ventures. Only the other day Mack had remarked that if his savings had
been allowed to accumulate in some good bank he would now be worth some
fifty thousand dollars. As it was, he was as poor as his humblest guest.
Even Dr. Mason, canny Scot though he was, could not forget the sight of
ninety thousand dollars' worth of gold bullion he had once seen piled up
at North Bloomfield, and so was persuaded to gamble with his earnings.
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