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14 - In the Heart of the Rockies by G A Henty · In the Heart of the Rockies

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Speaker 1: Is in the public domain. Read by Alan Kammer, Chapter thirteen,
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Speaker 1: A fresh start. In the evening, they camped on the
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Speaker 1: banks of the Green River. Here a stream of but
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Speaker 1: small size, except when the melting snow swelled its waters
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Speaker 1: into a torrent. At the spot where they halted, a
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Speaker 1: rivulet ran into the stream from a thickly wooded little valley.
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Speaker 1: It was frozen, but breaking the ice with their axes
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Speaker 1: they found that water was flowing underneath. They had observed
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Speaker 1: that there was a marked difference in temperature on this
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Speaker 1: side of the mountains, upon which the strength of the
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Speaker 1: southern sun had already in many places cleared away the snow.
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Speaker 1: It is a comfort to be able to sit by
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Speaker 1: a fire without the thought that redskins may be crawling
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Speaker 1: up towards you, Sam Hicks said, heartily, and to sleep
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Speaker 1: without being turned out, to stand watching the cold. You
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Speaker 1: say the country ahead is bad chief bad lands both
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Speaker 1: sides of Green River, deep canyons and barrels. Well, we
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Speaker 1: need not follow it. It don't make any difference to
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Speaker 1: us whether we get down to the fort in a
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Speaker 1: fortnight or six weeks, none at all. Harry said. We
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Speaker 1: have agreed that when summer fairly sets in, we will
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Speaker 1: try that place I hit on just as the Utes
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Speaker 1: came down on us. It is the richest place I
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Speaker 1: have ever seen. And if the Indians will but let
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Speaker 1: us alone for a month, we ought to bring back
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Speaker 1: a big lot of dust, and if we do, we
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Speaker 1: can sell our share in it for a big sum
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Speaker 1: and take down enough men to thrash the Utes out
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Speaker 1: of their boots if they interfere with us by our reckoning.
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Speaker 1: It is the end of March now, though we don't
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Speaker 1: at all agree as to the day. But at any rate,
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Speaker 1: it is there or thereabouts that gives us a good
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Speaker 1: six weeks. And if we start in the middle of May,
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Speaker 1: it will be time enough. So I propose that we
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Speaker 1: strike more to the west or to the east, whichever
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Speaker 1: you think is the best, chief, and try and pick
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Speaker 1: up a few more pelts so as to lay in
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Speaker 1: a fresh stock of goods for our next trip. Bad
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Speaker 1: hills everywhere the chiefs said, better go west, plenty of game, there,
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Speaker 1: no fear of Indians. Indians there peaceable, make good trade
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Speaker 1: with whites. Ten years ago, fight but lose many men
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Speaker 1: and not get much plunder trappers hear good friends with
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Speaker 1: them traders bring up powder and cloth and beads. Indians
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Speaker 1: give no trouble for the next six weeks. Therefore, they
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Speaker 1: traveled slowly, camping sometimes for two or three days on
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Speaker 1: a stream, and then making a long march until they
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Speaker 1: again came to water. The beaver traps had been left behind,
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Speaker 1: but they were fortunate enough to come upon several beaver villages,
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Speaker 1: and by exercising patients, they were able to shoot a
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Speaker 1: good many, getting in all some fifty skins. Tom used
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Speaker 1: to go out in the evening and lie down to
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Speaker 1: watch the beavers at work, but he would not take
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Speaker 1: a gun. I could not shoot them down in cold blood, Uncle.
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Speaker 1: It is almost like looking at a village of human
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Speaker 1: beings at work. One can shoot a man who is
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Speaker 1: wanting to shoot you without feeling much about it, but
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Speaker 1: to fire at a man laboring in the fields is murder.
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Speaker 1: Of course, if we wanted the flesh for food, it
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Speaker 1: would be different. I did not see you refuse that
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Speaker 1: beaver tail soup we had last night, Tom, No, and
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Speaker 1: it was very good, Uncle, But I would very much
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Speaker 1: rather have gone without it than shoot the beaver. The
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Speaker 1: tail belonged to well. Tom. As we have all got guns,
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Speaker 1: and as none of us have any scruples that way,
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Speaker 1: there is no occasion whatever for you to draw a
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Speaker 1: trigger on them. They take some shooting, for if you
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Speaker 1: hit them in the water, they sink directly, and you've
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Speaker 1: got to kill them dead when they are on land.
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Speaker 1: Otherwise they make for the water at once and dive
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Speaker 1: into their houses and die there. They killed a good
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Speaker 1: many other animals besides the beaver, including several wolverines, and
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Speaker 1: by the time they got down to the fort in
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Speaker 1: the middle of May, they had had to give up
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Speaker 1: writing and pack all the animals with the skins they
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Speaker 1: had obtained. None of these were of any great value,
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Speaker 1: but the hole brought enough to buy them a fresh
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Speaker 1: outfit of clothes, a fresh stock of provisions and powder,
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Speaker 1: and to give them a hundred dollars each. The evening
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Speaker 1: after the sale was affected, Tom wrote home to his sisters,
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Speaker 1: giving them a brief account of what had taken place
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Speaker 1: since the letter he had posted them before starting for
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Speaker 1: the mountains, but saying very little of their adventures with Indians.
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Speaker 1: I am afraid you have been in a great fright
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Speaker 1: about me, he said, But you must never fidget when
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Speaker 1: you don't get letters. We may often be for a
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Speaker 1: long time away from any place where we can post them,
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Speaker 1: or as they call it, here mail them, though I
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Speaker 1: certainly do not expect to be snowed up again for
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Speaker 1: a whole winter. Owing to the Indians being hostile. We
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Speaker 1: do not do nearly so well as we expected, for
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Speaker 1: we could not go down to hunt in the valleys.
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Speaker 1: So after getting a fresh outfit for our next journey,
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Speaker 1: our share is only one hundred dollars each. I did
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Speaker 1: not want to take a share, for of course I
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Speaker 1: was not of much use to them, though I have
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Speaker 1: learnt a lot in the last six months and can
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Speaker 1: shoot now as well any of them except the two Indians. However,
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Speaker 1: they all insisted on my having the same share as
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Speaker 1: the rest. Uncle wanted me to take his hundred dollars
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Speaker 1: and send them home to you with mine, but I
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Speaker 1: told him that I would not do so, for I
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Speaker 1: know you have enough money to go on with even
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Speaker 1: if your school has turned out a failure. So I
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Speaker 1: think it would be as well for us to keep
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Speaker 1: our money in hand for the present. There is never
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Speaker 1: any saying what may happen. We may lose our horses
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Speaker 1: and kit and it would be very awkward if we
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Speaker 1: hadn't the money to replace them. As soon as we
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Speaker 1: get more, we will send it off, as you know
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Speaker 1: I always intended to do. I have still some left
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Speaker 1: of what I brought out with me, but that and
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Speaker 1: the two hundred dollars would not be more than enough
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Speaker 1: to buy an entirely new outfit for us both. I
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Speaker 1: hope you got the five hundred dollars Uncle sent you.
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Speaker 1: He told me he sent it off from Denver, and
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Speaker 1: it ought to have got home a few weeks after
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Speaker 1: I left. It is horrid to think that there may
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Speaker 1: be letters from you lying at Denver, but it serves
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Speaker 1: me right for being so stupid as not to put
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Speaker 1: in the short note I wrote you from here before
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Speaker 1: I started that you had better direct to me at
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Speaker 1: Fort Bridger, as I shall almost be sure to come
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Speaker 1: back to it before I go to Denver. I like
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Speaker 1: Uncle awfully. It seems to me that he is just
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Speaker 1: what I expected he would be. I suppose they all
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Speaker 1: put in equal shares, but the other men quite look
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Speaker 1: upon him as their leader. Sometimes when he is talking
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Speaker 1: to me, he speaks just as people do at home.
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Speaker 1: When he talks to the men, he uses the same
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Speaker 1: queer words they do. He is taller than father was
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Speaker 1: and more strongly built. What I like in him is
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Speaker 1: he is always the same. Sometimes the others used to
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Speaker 1: get grumbly when they were shut up so long, but
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Speaker 1: it never seemed to make any difference in him. I
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Speaker 1: told you when I wrote from Denver that he was
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Speaker 1: called straight Harry because he always acted straightforwardly. And now
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Speaker 1: I know him, I can quite understand their calling him.
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Speaker 1: So one feels somehow that one could rely upon his
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Speaker 1: always being the same whatever happened. Leaping Horse is a
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Speaker 1: first rate fellow, and so is Hunting Dog, though of
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Speaker 1: course he does not know nearly as much as the
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Speaker 1: Chief does, but he knows a lot. The other three
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Speaker 1: are all nice fellows too, so we were a very
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Speaker 1: jolly party. They know a tremendous lot of stories about
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Speaker 1: hunting and red skins and that sort of thing. Some
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Speaker 1: of them make all you girls hair stand on end.
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Speaker 1: We are going to start off in two or three
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Speaker 1: days to hunt up a gold mine Uncle found three
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Speaker 1: years ago. The Indians are going too. They will hunt
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Speaker 1: while the rest of us work. It will be quite
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Speaker 1: a different journey to the last, and I expect it
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Speaker 1: will be just as hot this time, as it was
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Speaker 1: cold last. We may be away for four months, and
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Speaker 1: perhaps we may not come back till the snow, said said, so,
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Speaker 1: don't expect a letter till you see it. This was
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Speaker 1: by far the longest letter Tom had ever written, and
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Speaker 1: it took him several hours to get through. He had
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Speaker 1: the room to himself, for the others were talking over
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Speaker 1: their adventures with old friends they had met at the fort.
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Speaker 1: His uncle returned about ten o'clock. Where are the others,
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Speaker 1: Tom asked, in the saloon, But they are not drinking,
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Speaker 1: that is, not drinking much. I told them that if
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Speaker 1: they were to get drunk, one of them would be
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Speaker 1: sure to blab as to where we were going, were
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Speaker 1: at any rate to say enough to excite suspicion among
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Speaker 1: some of the old miners that we knew of a
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Speaker 1: good thing, And in that case we should get a
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Speaker 1: lot of men following us, and it would interfere with
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Speaker 1: our plans altogether. A party as small as ours may
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Speaker 1: live for months without a red skin happening to light
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Speaker 1: on us, but if there were many more, they would
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Speaker 1: be certain to find us. There would be too much
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Speaker 1: noise going on, too much shooting and driving, backward and
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Speaker 1: forward with food and necessaries. We wanted kept dark till
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Speaker 1: we thoroughly proved the place. So I made them all
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Speaker 1: take an oath this morning that they would keep their
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Speaker 1: heads cool, and I told them that if one of
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Speaker 1: them got drunk or said a word about our going
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Speaker 1: after gold, I would not take him with us. I
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Speaker 1: have given out that we are going on another hunting party,
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Speaker 1: and of course our having brought in such a lot
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Speaker 1: of skins will make them think that we have hit
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Speaker 1: on a place where the game is abundant, and are
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Speaker 1: going back there for the summer. Two more pack ponies
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Speaker 1: had been added to the outfit. They might be away
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Speaker 1: for five or six months, and were determined to take
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Speaker 1: a good supply of flour this time, for all were
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Speaker 1: tired of the diet of meat only on which they
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Speaker 1: had existed for the last six months, having devoted by
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Speaker 1: far the greater part of the flower to the horses.
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Speaker 1: When they started next day, they turned their faces north,
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Speaker 1: as if they intended to hunt in the mountains where
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Speaker 1: they had wintered. They made but a short march, camped
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Speaker 1: on a stream, and long before daybreak started again, traveling
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Speaker 1: for some hours to the west and then striking directly south.
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Speaker 1: For two days. They traveled rapidly, Tom going out every
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Speaker 1: morning with the Indians hunting, while the others kept with
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Speaker 1: the pack horses. Ben had now quite recovered from the
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Speaker 1: strain which had crippled him for the first three weeks
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Speaker 1: of their march down to Fort Bridger. They were now
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Speaker 1: fairly among the Ute hills, and at their third camping place,
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Speaker 1: Harry said, we must do no more shooting now till
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Speaker 1: we get to our valley. We have got a supply
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Speaker 1: of deer flesh for a week at least, and we
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Speaker 1: must be careful in future. We heard at the fort
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Speaker 1: that several miners have been cut off and killed by
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Speaker 1: the Utes during the winter, and that they are more
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Speaker 1: set than ever against white men entering their country. Everyone says,
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Speaker 1: those rascally saints are at the bottom of it. We
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Speaker 1: must hide our trail as much as we can. We
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Speaker 1: are just at the edge of the bad lands and
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Speaker 1: will travel on them for the next two days. The
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Speaker 1: Redskins don't go out that way much. There be nothing
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Speaker 1: either to hunt or to plunder, so there is little
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Speaker 1: fear of their coming on our trail on the bare rocks,
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Speaker 1: especially as none of the horses are shod. On the
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Speaker 1: third day we shall strike right up into the mountains.
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Speaker 1: Are you sure that you will know the place again? Harry?
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Speaker 1: I reckon I could find it, but I should not
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Speaker 1: feel quite certain about it if I had not the
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Speaker 1: Chief with me. There is no fear of going wrong.
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Speaker 1: When a redskin has once been to a place, he
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Speaker 1: can find his way straight back to it again, even
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Speaker 1: if he were a thousand miles off. You said when
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Speaker 1: we were talking of it among the hills. Uncle Tom said,
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Speaker 1: as he rode beside him the next morning, that leaping
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Speaker 1: horse and you each took two shares. I wonder what
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Speaker 1: he will do with his if it turns out well.
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Speaker 1: He won't do anything with it. Tom, the Chief and
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Speaker 1: I are like brothers. He does not want gold, he
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Speaker 1: has no use for it. And besides, as a rule
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Speaker 1: Indians never have anything to do with mining. He and
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Speaker 1: hunting dog really come as hunters. And he has an
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Speaker 1: understanding with me that when the expedition is over, I
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Speaker 1: shall pay them the same as they would earn for
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Speaker 1: many English sportsmen who might engage them as guides and hunters,
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Speaker 1: and that I shall take their shares in whatever we
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Speaker 1: may make. I need not say that if it turns
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Speaker 1: out as well as we expect, the Indians will get
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Speaker 1: as many blankets and as much ammunition as will last
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Speaker 1: them their lives. You can't get a red skin to dig.
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Speaker 1: Even the chief who has been with us for years
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Speaker 1: will consider it degrading to do work of that kind.
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Speaker 1: And if you see an Indian at mining work, you
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Speaker 1: may be sure that he is one of the fellows
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Speaker 1: who has left his tribe and settled down to loaf
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Speaker 1: and drink in the settlements, and is just doing a
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Speaker 1: spell to get himself enough fire water to make himself drunk.
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Speaker 1: On the Seneca would be just as willing to come
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Speaker 1: and hunt for us for nothing. He would get his
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Speaker 1: food and the skins which would pay for his tobacco
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Speaker 1: and ammunition, and occasionally a new suit of leggings and
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Speaker 1: hunting shirt made by an Indian woman, and with this
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Speaker 1: he would be happy and contented. He doesn't mind taking
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Speaker 1: money in return for skins, and he and hunting Dog
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Speaker 1: had their full share in the division at the fort.
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Speaker 1: When I last talked to him about this business, he said,
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Speaker 1: leaving Horse doesn't want money. Of what use is it
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Speaker 1: to him? He has got a bag full hidden at home,
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Speaker 1: which he has been paid when he was scouting with
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Speaker 1: the army, and for the skins of beasts he has shot.
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Speaker 1: It is enough to buy many horses and blankets and
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Speaker 1: all that a chief can want. He is going with
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Speaker 1: his friend to hunt and to fight by his side
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Speaker 1: if the utes come. He wants none of the gold.
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Speaker 1: I explain the matter to him, and he said carelessly,
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Speaker 1: leaping horse will take the two shares, but it will
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Speaker 1: be for his brother, and that he may send it
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Speaker 1: to the girls, the sisters of his friend Tom, of
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Speaker 1: whom he spoke one night by the fire. Hunting dog
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Speaker 1: is like leaping horse. He will take no gold. I
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Speaker 1: have told the three men how matters stand. Of course,
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Speaker 1: it makes no difference to them whether the Indians keep
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Speaker 1: their share or hand it over to me. But at
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Speaker 1: the same time I thought they ought to know how
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Speaker 1: we stood. They said it was no business of theirs,
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Speaker 1: that as I was the discoverer, I had a right
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Speaker 1: to sell the whole thing if I chose, and that
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Speaker 1: they thought I had done the friendly thing by them
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Speaker 1: in letting them in his partners. So you see it
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Speaker 1: is all right and square. It is like enough too
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Speaker 1: that we shall find some other loads, and of course
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Speaker 1: there they will come in on even terms with us.
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Speaker 1: So there, please with the lookout, and know well enough
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Speaker 1: it is likely to be the best strike they ever
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Speaker 1: made in their lives. They kept near the edge of
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Speaker 1: the bad lands, as had they gone farther out they
14:10
Speaker 1: would have been obliged to make long detours to get
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Speaker 1: round the head of the canyons made by rivers running
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Speaker 1: down into the Colorado. They had filled their water skins
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Speaker 1: at the last stream where they had camp, and had
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Speaker 1: taken with them enough dried wood for the fires. These
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Speaker 1: they lit each night in a hollow, as from the
14:28
Speaker 1: upper slopes of the Ute Hills a view could be
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Speaker 1: obtained for a great distance over the flat, rocky plateau.
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Speaker 1: Tom was heartily glad when the two days journey was over.
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Speaker 1: Not a living creature had met their eyes. There was
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Speaker 1: no grass on which beasts could exist, no earth in
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Speaker 1: which prairie dogs could burrow. Even birds shunned the bare
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Speaker 1: waste of rock. It is a desolate country, he said,
14:50
Speaker 1: as they sat round the fire. It would be enough
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Speaker 1: to give one the horrors if one were alone. It
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Speaker 1: is hot now, and in the height of summer. The
14:57
Speaker 1: heat and glare from the rock must be awful. It
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Speaker 1: is tom many and many a man has died of
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Speaker 1: thirst in the bad lands, And what makes it more
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Speaker 1: terrible is that they can perhaps see water a thousand
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Speaker 1: feet below them, and yet die from the want of it.
15:12
Speaker 1: When we were camped on the Green River, Uncle, you
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Speaker 1: said that no one had ever followed it down. That
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Speaker 1: is so lad One knows whereabouts it goes, as men
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Speaker 1: driven by thirst have followed canyons down to it, and
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Speaker 1: in some places it runs for many miles across lowland
15:27
Speaker 1: before it plunges into another canyon. Then it cuts its
15:30
Speaker 1: way for two or three hundred miles, perhaps through the
15:33
Speaker 1: hills with walls two or three thousand feet high. No one,
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Speaker 1: so far as I know, has gone down these big canyons,
15:40
Speaker 1: but it is certain there are rapids and whirlpools and
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Speaker 1: rocks in them. Two or three parties have gone down
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Speaker 1: through some of the shorter canyons to escape Indians, and
15:49
Speaker 1: most of them have never been heard of again. But
15:51
Speaker 1: one or two have got down some distance and managed
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Speaker 1: to escape. No one has followed the course by land.
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Speaker 1: They could not do so unless they carried all their
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Speaker 1: provisions and drink and food for their animals, and even
16:03
Speaker 1: then the expedition would take months, perhaps years to do,
16:07
Speaker 1: for every spring from the hills runs down a canyon
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Speaker 1: to the river, sometimes fifty miles, sometimes a hundred long,
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Speaker 1: and each time the party came upon one of these
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Speaker 1: they would have to work up to the mountains to
16:18
Speaker 1: get round it. It is over a thousand miles in
16:21
Speaker 1: a straight line from the place where the Green River
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Speaker 1: first enters a canyon to where the Colorado issues out
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Speaker 1: on to the plains, and it may be quite twice
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Speaker 1: that distance if one could follow all its windings. Some day,
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Speaker 1: when the country fills up, attempts will no doubt be
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Speaker 1: made to find out something about it. But it will
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Speaker 1: be a big job whenever it is tried, and it
16:42
Speaker 1: may cost a lot of lives before the canyons are
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Speaker 1: all explored. In the morning they started westward for the hills.
16:50
Speaker 1: The greatest care was observed on the march. They took
16:53
Speaker 1: advantage of every depression, and when obliged to pass over
16:57
Speaker 1: level ground moved at a distance apart as a clumb
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Speaker 1: or string of moving animals would be made out at
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Speaker 1: a distance from which a solitary one would be unnoticed.
17:06
Speaker 1: By noon they had left the bare rock and were
17:09
Speaker 1: traveling up a valley clothed with grass and dotted with
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Speaker 1: clumps of trees, and the first of these they halted.
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Speaker 1: We will stay here until it begins to get dusk,
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Speaker 1: Harry said, and then move on as fast as we
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Speaker 1: can go. If we don't lose our way, we shall
17:23
Speaker 1: be there before morning. There was no moon, but the
17:26
Speaker 1: stars shone brilliantly, and the mountains, with their summits still
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Speaker 1: covered with snow, could be seen ahead. The chief went
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Speaker 1: on in front. Sometimes they proceeded up valleys, sometimes crossed
17:38
Speaker 1: shoulders and spurs running down from the hills. They moved
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Speaker 1: an indian file, and at times proceeded at a brisk pace,
17:46
Speaker 1: at other times more slowly, but there was no halt
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Speaker 1: or sign of hesitation on the part of their leader.
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Speaker 1: At last, just as morning was breaking, the chief led
17:55
Speaker 1: them into a clump of trees. He moved a little
17:58
Speaker 1: distance in, and then reined in his horse and dismounted.
18:02
Speaker 1: Does my brother remember that, he said to Harry, pointing
18:06
Speaker 1: to something on the ground. Gee, hosafat, Harry exclaimed, If
18:10
Speaker 1: that ain't my old pack saddle, that is the berry's
18:13
Speaker 1: pot where we camped. Boys, well, chief, you are certainly
18:17
Speaker 1: a wonder I doubt whether I would have found my
18:19
Speaker 1: way here in the daytime half a dozen times to night.
18:23
Speaker 1: It seemed to me that you were going in the
18:25
Speaker 1: wrong direction altogether, and yet you bring us us straight
18:28
Speaker 1: to the spot, as if all the time you had
18:30
Speaker 1: been following a main road. Bully for the chief, Cherry
18:34
Speaker 1: said warmly, I am blamed if that ain't a first
18:37
Speaker 1: rate piece of tracking. While here we are at our
18:40
Speaker 1: journey's end, can we make a fire? Make small fire,
18:44
Speaker 1: but must put screen around very well. We will leave
18:47
Speaker 1: the fire to you, and we will unpack the critters.
18:50
Speaker 1: There's a bundle of dry wood left, so we sha'n't
18:53
Speaker 1: have the bother of looking for it. Now. Before lighting
18:56
Speaker 1: the fire, the two Indians stretched some blankets some six
18:59
Speaker 1: feet above it revent the light falling upon the foliage. Then,
19:03
Speaker 1: by their directions, Sam cut a dozen short poles and
19:06
Speaker 1: fix them in a circle around the fire. Half a
19:09
Speaker 1: dozen more blankets were fastened to the poles, forming a
19:12
Speaker 1: wall round the fire, which the chief then lighted. The
19:16
Speaker 1: knights were at that height above sea level, cool enough
19:19
Speaker 1: to make the heat pleasant, and there was just room
19:22
Speaker 1: for the seven men to sit between the blanket wall
19:24
Speaker 1: and the fire. Do you mean this to be our
19:27
Speaker 1: permanent camp, Harry, what do you think leaping horse? Wait
19:32
Speaker 1: till me go up Gold Valley? The Seneca said, if
19:35
Speaker 1: can't find a good place there, better stay here. If
19:38
Speaker 1: go backwards and forwards every day, make trail. Indian squall
19:42
Speaker 1: would notice that is so, Chief, But by what Harry says,
19:46
Speaker 1: it is a mere gully and the horses will have
19:48
Speaker 1: to range. Horses must feed, the chief said, if we
19:52
Speaker 1: find a place up there, make hut, take saddles and
19:55
Speaker 1: outfit there, Tie up horses here and let them loose
19:58
Speaker 1: to feed at night. No regretgular track then, but talk
20:01
Speaker 1: after sleep. It will be broad daylight by the time
20:05
Speaker 1: that we have finished our meal, Jerry said, And I reckon,
20:08
Speaker 1: none of us will be wanting to sleep till we
20:10
Speaker 1: have got a sight of Harry's bonanza. As soon as
20:13
Speaker 1: they had finished their meal, the mining implements, which had
20:15
Speaker 1: been carefully hidden among the rest of their goods when
20:18
Speaker 1: they started from the fort, were brought out. Among these
20:22
Speaker 1: were a dozen light pickheads and half a dozen handles,
20:25
Speaker 1: as many shovels, a flat iron plate for crushing or upon,
20:29
Speaker 1: and a short hammer with a face six inches in
20:32
Speaker 1: diameter as a pounder. Also a supply of long nails
20:36
Speaker 1: to be used in fastening together troughs, cradles, and any
20:39
Speaker 1: other woodwork that might be required. Three or four deep
20:43
Speaker 1: tin dishes, a bottle of mercury, a saw, and a
20:46
Speaker 1: few other tools. Three of the pick heads were now
20:49
Speaker 1: fastened to their handles, and taking these, a couple of shovels,
20:53
Speaker 1: two of the tin basins, a sledge hammer, and some
20:56
Speaker 1: steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter in shape somewhat
21:00
Speaker 1: resembling a small shield with an indentation in the middle,
21:04
Speaker 1: called a vanner and universally used by prospectors. The five
21:08
Speaker 1: whites and leaping horse started from their camp for the
21:11
Speaker 1: spot where Harry had found the load. It lay about
21:14
Speaker 1: a mile up a narrow valley running into the larger one.
21:18
Speaker 1: A rivulet trickled down its center. I reckoned on that,
21:21
Speaker 1: Harry said, of course it was frozen when we were here,
21:24
Speaker 1: but I could see that there was water in summer.
21:27
Speaker 1: You see this hollow runs right up into that wood,
21:30
Speaker 1: and there is sure to be water in it. For
21:32
Speaker 1: the next three months. Anyhow, they had gone but a
21:35
Speaker 1: short distance up when they stopped at a spot where
21:37
Speaker 1: the streamlet widened out into a pool. Let us dry here,
21:41
Speaker 1: Jerry said, and see if there is any sign. Half
21:44
Speaker 1: a shovelful of sand was placed in the banner with
21:47
Speaker 1: a small quantity of water, and while Harry and Sam
21:50
Speaker 1: proceeded to wash some gravel roughly in the pans, Tom
21:54
Speaker 1: stood watching Jerry's operations. He gave a gentle motion to
21:57
Speaker 1: the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser
22:01
Speaker 1: particles being thrown towards the edges, while the finer remained
22:04
Speaker 1: in the center. The water was poured away and the
22:07
Speaker 1: rougher particles of gravel and sand swept off by the hand.
22:11
Speaker 1: Fresh water was then added, and the process repeated again
22:14
Speaker 1: and again, until at last no more than a spoonful
22:17
Speaker 1: of fine sand remained in the center. A sideway action
22:21
Speaker 1: of the banner caused this to slope gradually down towards
22:24
Speaker 1: the edge. At the very bottom, three tiny bits of
22:27
Speaker 1: yellow meadow were seen. They were no bigger than pin's heads.
22:31
Speaker 1: It seemed to Tom that this was a miserably small return.
22:34
Speaker 1: For five minutes labor. But the others seemed well satisfied,
22:39
Speaker 1: and were still more pleased when on the two pans
22:41
Speaker 1: being cleaned out, several little pieces of gold were found,
22:45
Speaker 1: one of which was nearly as large as a small pea.
22:48
Speaker 1: That is good enough, men said, it will run a
22:51
Speaker 1: lot richer when we get down on to the rock.
22:54
Speaker 1: At two other places on their way up, they tried
22:56
Speaker 1: the experiments with increasingly good results. There's tall work to
23:00
Speaker 1: be done here with washing, Harry said, Now come on
23:04
Speaker 1: to the vein. I only saw one of them, but
23:07
Speaker 1: there must be a lot more. You would not find
23:09
Speaker 1: so much metal in the sand. However, the one I
23:12
Speaker 1: saw is good enough for anything. They went on again
23:15
Speaker 1: to a point where the rock cropped boldly out on
23:18
Speaker 1: both sides of the valley. Harry led them a few
23:21
Speaker 1: paces up the side and pointed to some white patches
23:24
Speaker 1: in the rock. That is where I tipped it off, lads,
23:27
Speaker 1: three years ago. The face of the load, discolored by
23:31
Speaker 1: age and weather, differed but little from the rocks surrounding it.
23:35
Speaker 1: But where it had been broken off it was a
23:37
Speaker 1: whitish yellow, thickly studded with little bits of dull yellow
23:41
Speaker 1: metal sticking out of it. Tom was not greatly impressed,
23:45
Speaker 1: but he saw from the faces of his companions that
23:48
Speaker 1: they were at once surprised and delighted. By gosh, Harry,
23:52
Speaker 1: you've done it this time, Sam Hicks exclaimed, you have
23:55
Speaker 1: struck it rich and no mistake. I thought from the
23:58
Speaker 1: way you talked of it, it must be something now
24:00
Speaker 1: out of the way. But I am blamed if I
24:02
Speaker 1: thought it was like this. Stand back, you chaps, Jerry said,
24:06
Speaker 1: lifting the heavy sledge hammer, let me get a drive
24:09
Speaker 1: at it. Here is a crack. Put one of them
24:12
Speaker 1: wedges in, Ben. The wedge was placed in the fissure,
24:16
Speaker 1: and Ben held it while Jerry gave a few light
24:19
Speaker 1: blows to get it firmly fixed. That will do, Ben,
24:23
Speaker 1: take away your hand and let me drive at it.
24:26
Speaker 1: Swinging the hammer round his head, Jerry brought it down
24:28
Speaker 1: with tremendous force on the head of the wedge. Again
24:32
Speaker 1: and again the heavy hammer rose and fell with the
24:34
Speaker 1: accuracy of a machine upon the right spot, until the wedge,
24:38
Speaker 1: which was nine inches long, was buried in the crevice.
24:42
Speaker 1: Now another one, Ben, give me a longer one this time.
24:46
Speaker 1: This time Ben held the wedge until it was half buried,
24:49
Speaker 1: having perfect confidence in Jerry's skill. It was not until
24:53
Speaker 1: the fourth wedge had been driven in that a fragment
24:56
Speaker 1: of rock weighing four or five hundredweight suddenly broke out
24:59
Speaker 1: from the face. All bent eagerly over it, and the
25:03
Speaker 1: miners gave a shout of joy. The inner surface, which
25:07
Speaker 1: was white but slightly stained with yellow, with blurs of
25:10
Speaker 1: slate color here and there was thickly studded with gold.
25:14
Speaker 1: It stuck out above the surface in thin leafy plates,
25:18
Speaker 1: with the ragged edges, with here and there larger spongy masses.
25:22
Speaker 1: I reckon that is good enough, Jerry said, wiping the
25:25
Speaker 1: sweat from his forehead. If there is but enough of it,
25:28
Speaker 1: it is the biggest thing that ever was struck. There
25:31
Speaker 1: ain't no saine how rich it is, but I will
25:34
Speaker 1: bet my boots it's over five hundred ounces to the ton.
25:38
Speaker 1: It ain't in nature that it is going to run
25:40
Speaker 1: far like that, but it is good enough for anything. Well,
25:44
Speaker 1: what is the next thing, Harry? We will break it up,
25:47
Speaker 1: Harry said, and carry it down with us to the camp.
25:50
Speaker 1: If the utes came down on us tomorrow and we
25:52
Speaker 1: could get off with it, that would be plenty to
25:55
Speaker 1: show if we want to make a sail. It took
25:57
Speaker 1: them a long time to break up the rock, for
25:59
Speaker 1: the whartz was hard and was so bound together by
26:02
Speaker 1: the leafy gold running through it that each of the
26:04
Speaker 1: four men had several spells with the hammer before it
26:07
Speaker 1: was broken up into fragments weighing some twenty pounds apiece.
26:12
Speaker 1: As soon as this was done, the men collected earth,
26:15
Speaker 1: filled up the hole in the face of the rock,
26:17
Speaker 1: and planted several large tufts of grass in it, and
26:20
Speaker 1: poured four or five tins of water over them. Then
26:23
Speaker 1: they smeared with mud the patches where Harry had before
26:26
Speaker 1: broken pieces off. What is all that for, Jerry Tom asked,
26:31
Speaker 1: it is to hide up the traces. Lad We may
26:33
Speaker 1: have to bolt away from here tomorrow morning for anything
26:36
Speaker 1: we know, and before we come back again, some one
26:39
Speaker 1: else may come along. And though we shall locate our
26:42
Speaker 1: claims at the mining register, there would be a lot
26:44
Speaker 1: of trouble if any one else had taken possession and
26:47
Speaker 1: was working the vane when we got back. It is
26:49
Speaker 1: not likely that any one else would come along here, Jerry, Well,
26:54
Speaker 1: I reckon that is so. But one ain't goin to
26:56
Speaker 1: trust the chance when one has struck on such a
26:58
Speaker 1: place as this. The Seneca had been the only unmoved
27:02
Speaker 1: person in the party. What do you think of that,
27:05
Speaker 1: Chief Harry asked him. If my white brother is pleased
27:10
Speaker 1: leaping horses, glad, he replied, But the Indian does not
27:14
Speaker 1: care for gold. What can he do with it. He
27:17
Speaker 1: has a good gun, he does not want twenty. He
27:20
Speaker 1: does not want many hunting suits. If he were to
27:23
Speaker 1: buy as many horses as would fill the valley, he
27:25
Speaker 1: could not ride them all, and he would soon tire
27:28
Speaker 1: of sitting in his lodge and being waited upon by
27:31
Speaker 1: many wives. He has enough for his needs. Now, when
27:34
Speaker 1: he is old, it will be time to rest well.
27:37
Speaker 1: That is philosophy, Chief, And I don't say you are
27:40
Speaker 1: wrong from your way of looking at it, but that
27:43
Speaker 1: gold means a lot to us. It means going home
27:46
Speaker 1: to our people. It means living in comfort for the
27:49
Speaker 1: rest of our lives. It means making our friends happy.
27:53
Speaker 1: Leaping horses glad, the chief said gravely. But he cannot
27:58
Speaker 1: forget that. To him, it means that the white brother
28:00
Speaker 1: with whom he is so long hunted, encamped, and fought
28:03
Speaker 1: bad Indians will go away across the great salt water,
28:07
Speaker 1: and Leaping Horse will see him no more. That is so,
28:12
Speaker 1: Chief Harry said, grasping the Indian's hand warmly. And I
28:16
Speaker 1: was a selfish brute not to think of it before.
28:19
Speaker 1: There is one thing I will promise you. Every year
28:22
Speaker 1: or so I will come out here and do a
28:23
Speaker 1: couple of months hunting with you. The journey is long,
28:27
Speaker 1: but it is quickly made now. And I know that
28:29
Speaker 1: after knocking about for twenty years, I shall never be
28:32
Speaker 1: content if I don't take a run out on the
28:34
Speaker 1: plains for a bed every summer. I will give you
28:37
Speaker 1: my word, Leaping Horse, that as long as I have
28:40
Speaker 1: health and strength, I will come out regularly, and that
28:43
Speaker 1: you shall see your white brother's friendship is as strong
28:46
Speaker 1: as your own. The Cynica's grave face lit up with pleasure.
28:51
Speaker 1: My white brother is very good, he said. He has
28:55
Speaker 1: taken away the thorn out of the heart of Leaping Horse.
28:58
Speaker 1: His Indian brother is all glad now. The quartz was
29:02
Speaker 1: placed in sacks they had brought with him to carry
29:05
Speaker 1: down samples, and they at once returned to the camp, where,
29:09
Speaker 1: after smoking a pipe, they lay down to sleep. But
29:12
Speaker 1: it was some time before all went off, so excited
29:15
Speaker 1: were they at the thought of the fortune that seemed
29:18
Speaker 1: before them. In the afternoon, they took one of the
29:21
Speaker 1: pieces of stone, weighing by a spring balance twenty pounds,
29:25
Speaker 1: and with the flat plate and the crushing hammer, went
29:27
Speaker 1: to the stream. The rock was first broken with a
29:31
Speaker 1: sledge into pieces the size of a walnut. These were
29:34
Speaker 1: pulverized on the iron plate, and the result carefully washed.
29:39
Speaker 1: And when the work was finished, the gold was weighed
29:41
Speaker 1: in the minor scales and turned the four ounce weight
29:45
Speaker 1: that is nearly five hundred ounces to the ton. Harry said,
29:48
Speaker 1: But of course it is not going to run like that.
29:51
Speaker 1: I reckon it is a rich pocket. There may be
29:54
Speaker 1: a ton of the stuff, and there may be fifty.
29:57
Speaker 1: Now let's go up and have a quiet look for
29:59
Speaker 1: the load and see if we can trace it. We
30:01
Speaker 1: ought to see it on the rock the other side.
30:04
Speaker 1: A careful search showed them the quartz vein on the
30:07
Speaker 1: face of the rock, some fifty feet higher up the valley,
30:10
Speaker 1: and this showed them the direction of the run of
30:12
Speaker 1: the load. It was here, however, only six inches wide,
30:16
Speaker 1: instead of being two feet as at the spot where
30:19
Speaker 1: it was first found. Some pieces were broken off. There
30:23
Speaker 1: was gold embedded in it, but it was evident that
30:25
Speaker 1: it was nothing like so rich as on the other side.
30:29
Speaker 1: A piece of ten pounds was pounded up. It returned
30:32
Speaker 1: only a little over a penny weight of gold, about
30:35
Speaker 1: twelve ounces to the ton. Harry said, not bad, but
30:39
Speaker 1: a mighty falling off from the other. Tomorrow morning we
30:42
Speaker 1: will follow the load on the other side and see
30:44
Speaker 1: if we can strike an outcrop. The next day they
30:47
Speaker 1: found the load cropping up through the rock some thirty
30:50
Speaker 1: yards from their great find. It was about nine inches wide.
30:54
Speaker 1: They dug it out with their picks to a depth
30:56
Speaker 1: of two feet so as to get a fair sample.
30:59
Speaker 1: This rush gave a return at the rate of twenty ounces.
31:03
Speaker 1: That is rich enough again, and would pay splendidly if
31:06
Speaker 1: worked by machinery. Of course, the question is how far
31:09
Speaker 1: it holds on as rich as we found it at
31:11
Speaker 1: the face, and how it keeps on in depth. But
31:15
Speaker 1: that is just what we can't find. We want drills
31:18
Speaker 1: and powder and picks, or no sort of good on
31:20
Speaker 1: this card quartz. Supposing it goes off gradually from the
31:24
Speaker 1: face to this point, there would be millions of dollars
31:27
Speaker 1: in it, even supposing it pinched in below, which there
31:31
Speaker 1: is no reason in the world to suppose. We may
31:33
Speaker 1: as well take a few of these chunks of rock.
31:36
Speaker 1: They will show that the gold holds fairly a good
31:39
Speaker 1: way back. Anyhow, a few pieces were put aside, and
31:43
Speaker 1: the rest thrown into the hole again, which was stamped
31:46
Speaker 1: down and filled up with dust. The party then went
31:49
Speaker 1: back to dinner, and a consultation was held as to
31:52
Speaker 1: what was next to be done. Of course we must
31:55
Speaker 1: stake out our claims at once, Harry said. In the
31:59
Speaker 1: first place, there are our own eight claims, two for
32:03
Speaker 1: each of the discoverers, and one each for the others.
32:06
Speaker 1: Hunting dog will not have a share, but will be
32:09
Speaker 1: paid the regular rate as a hunter. Then we will
32:12
Speaker 1: take twenty claims in the names of men we know.
32:16
Speaker 1: They wouldn't hold water if it were a well known place,
32:19
Speaker 1: and everyone scrambling to get a claim on the load.
32:22
Speaker 1: But as there is no one to cut in, and
32:24
Speaker 1: no one will know the place till we have sold it,
32:27
Speaker 1: and a company sends up to take possession and work it,
32:30
Speaker 1: it ain't likely to be disputed. The question is what
32:35
Speaker 1: shall we do now? Shall we make back to the settlements,
32:38
Speaker 1: or try washing a bit, Try washing, I should say,
32:42
Speaker 1: Jerry said you maybe some time before you can sell
32:45
Speaker 1: the place. Anyone buy and will know that they will
32:48
Speaker 1: have to send up a force big enough to fight
32:50
Speaker 1: the utes, And besides they will want someone to come
32:53
Speaker 1: up here to examine it before they close the bargain.
32:57
Speaker 1: I vote we stick here and work the gravel for
32:59
Speaker 1: a bit, to take enough away to keep us till
33:01
Speaker 1: next spring. I reckon we shall find plenty of stuff
33:04
Speaker 1: in it as we go down, and if that is so,
33:07
Speaker 1: we can't do better, then stick to it as long
33:09
Speaker 1: as there is water in the creek. I agree with
33:13
Speaker 1: you there, Jerry, but it will never do to risk
33:15
Speaker 1: losing those first samples. I am ready to stay here
33:18
Speaker 1: through the summer. But I vote we sow them up
33:21
Speaker 1: in deer hide and put two or three thicknesses of
33:23
Speaker 1: skin on them, so as to prevent accidents. Two of
33:27
Speaker 1: us had best go with him to the fort and
33:29
Speaker 1: ask the major to let us stow them away in
33:32
Speaker 1: his magazine. Then if we have to boat, we shan't
33:36
Speaker 1: be weighed down with them. Besides, we might not have
33:39
Speaker 1: time for packing them on the horses. And altogether it
33:42
Speaker 1: would be best to get them away at once. Then,
33:44
Speaker 1: come what might, we should have proofs of the value
33:47
Speaker 1: of the mine. This proposal was cordially agreed to, and
33:50
Speaker 1: it was settled that on the following morning, Harry himself, should,
33:54
Speaker 1: with hunting dog and two pack horses, start for the fort,
33:58
Speaker 1: following the same route they came, while the rest should
34:01
Speaker 1: set to work to construct a cradle and troughs for
34:04
Speaker 1: leading the water to it. End of Chapter thirteen,