Norton, Andre - Novel 32 by Ten Mile Treasure (v1.0) Page B

what Marlene told us— that her father and not Daddy owns it."
    "I don't think anyone knows the truth just yet, Christie. You see, when the
stage line was established Arizona wasn't even a state—it was a territory. Mr. Bright, who started the stage line, had a grant from the territorial government to build the stations. But this particular one was built only with the permission of the Navajos by a
special treaty.       s
    "Then for a while it served also as an army post. So there have been a number
of different 'owners.'
The stagecoach rights were given to last
a good many years, and they were renewed again
right after Arizona became a state be cause no railway ran in this
direction and there was
another silver strike back in the mountains about fifty years ago. So, though the
real stage had not
run for a good many years, a transportation company was formed on their old charter and the station used
again.
    "Your father and his partner bought these rights from the representative of
that old com pany.
Now Mr. Toner says that because the stage line stopped using the station, they lost their claim and had no right to
sell to a private person. It is all very
complicated and may have to be taken to
court."
    "That would take a long time, wouldn't it?" Neal asked doubtfully.
    "I'm afraid so."
    "And we can't wait a long time," Neal said. "We have to have the station
open for business as soon as the highway
is ready—Dad has said that several times. So
it looks as if Mr. Toner may win after
all."
    "Why did the man sell it to Daddy if it didn't really belong to him?"
Christie wanted to know.
    "He thought that it did, and he will have to go to court, too," Mrs. Wildhorse said.
    "But that still doesn't mean that Marlene can have Lady Maude and the rest of
the things does it?"
Perks leaned against Christie, again pulling at her hand. "It doesn't, does it?"
    Christie could not answer that—she was too afraid that the answer might be
yes, and inside now
she felt as hot and angry as Parky must have been back in the cave. Nobody was going to get Lady Maude—not if she could help it!

Christie
Writes a Letter
     
     
    "You found all this hidden in a cave?" Father stared at the mailbag, Lady
Maude's box, and the strongbox where they sat on the long table in the station house.
    "There're some trunks and bags in there, too," Neal said. "But
they've mostly just got clothes in them. And a shotgun—"
    "But why would anyone wall up luggage and mail in a cave?" Mother
questioned.
    "Pinto told us a story about how once some men going
east offered a lot of extra money to a
driver to get them through when the Apaches were
raiding. The driver knocked out the sta tion man when he said they
shouldn't go. They might have taken this
extra weight out of the coach to go
faster. But they were never heard of
again," Neal continued.
    "Why leave luggage in a cave instead of in the station itself?" Father
wondered. "Well, no
matter how it got there, you found it. And this"—tie picked up the mail bag—"will cer tainly cause quite a stir. Its contents
will be delivered
quite a few years late."
    "Dead letters." Parky relished those words. "Neal
said they're dead letters."
    "But Marlene can't have Lady Maude, can she?" Perks piped up.
"She doesn't own her— or the treasure in there, either—" She pointed to the strongbox.
    "It'll be for the court to decide." Father sud denly looked very tired. "Might as well get this into
town tomorrow." He put the mailbag on top of the strongbox.
    "Lady Maude, too?" Christie asked in a small voice. To have Lady Maude
go out of her life so
quickly was very hard.
    Father hesitated. "Well, we can leave her and the other things you left in
the cave until we find out what sort of
claims can be made for those. But even if Toner gets the station, I don't see how he can claim any of this. We'll wait and see. This"—he patted the mailbag and the strongbox—"does have a place to go—the postal authorities."
    "Is the strongbox