Overland for Gold 
 
 By 
 F. H. GHELEY 
 
 THE ABINGDON PRESS 
 NEW YORK CINCINNATI 
 
fu 
 
To 
 
 JACK 
 BORN IN THE SHADOW OF PIKE S PEAK 
 
 MI8929 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. "PIKE S PEAK OR BUST!" 9 
 
 II. WE ARE TAKEN INTO THE COMPANY 18 
 
 III. A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 31 
 
 IV. A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 43 
 
 V. SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 56 
 
 VI. OUR FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS 68 
 
 VII. AVERTING A MUTINY 77 
 
 VIII. BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 89 
 
 IX. INDIANS! 104 
 
 X. GOLD FOR THE DIGGING! 1 19 
 
 XI. A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 131 
 
 XII. INTO THE GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 146 
 
 XIII. STAKING THE POT-HOLES 159 
 
 XIV. THE COMING OF THE LAW 170 
 
 XV. THE VIGILANTES 183 
 
 XVI. OUR GOLDEN DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 193 
 
 XVII. PROSPECTING THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE 206 
 
 XVIII. A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK 217 
 
 XIX. FATE SETTLES A SCORE 227 
 
 XX. A CHANCE MEETING IN THE NIGHT 241 
 
 XXI. JOE WATSON S BLAST 254 
 
 XXII. GOLD AT LAST AND HOME! 263 
 
CHAPTER I V-l.vfi: : 
 "PIKE S PEAK OR BUST!" 
 
 "PIKE S PEAK or bust!" laughed my 
 JT uncle Herman Trout, merrily, as he 
 opened the door, and then, noting our sur 
 prised faces, he added, more seriously, "Yes, 
 I m off for Colorado at last." He poised his 
 great bulk in the doorway, his merry eyes 
 fairly sparkling with unconcealed excite 
 ment, awaiting my mother s comment on his 
 decision. 
 
 "Tilly," he said at length, seeing that 
 mother had no reply, "I have the old fever 
 again, and I ve finally decided to go. The 
 boys tell me they are actually getting the 
 yellow stuff out in chunks in the hills north 
 of Pike s Peak, and I have decided to get in 
 on the ground floor." 
 
 My mother slowly rose from her chair and 
 looked at my uncle a bit reproachfully, al 
 though she had often predicted that he 
 would have the gold fever before fall if the 
 newspapers kept on, while he had as often 
 
 9 
 
io OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 scouted the. idea, declaring that he was far 
 
 f >too old a: flairs to turn adventurer again. One 
 
 t . gpo4.Jbok. in to* his face now, however, con- 
 
 vmeed : her ; fnat* her surmise had been right 
 
 from the start; yet she was sorry, for she 
 
 had so hoped he would not go. 
 
 But, Herman," she said, half wistfully, 
 as she crossed over and put her hands on the 
 back of my chair, "how ever am I to get on 
 without you, with these two big growing 
 boys needing your counsel and help every 
 day?" 
 
 Hale, who sat at the table studying, raised 
 his head quickly and ventured a suggestion. 
 Then let us go with you, Uncle Herman I" 
 He suddenly brushed aside the books he had 
 been studying and rose, looking straight into 
 my uncle s face. "In two more weeks my last 
 examination will be over, and then I must 
 hunt a job. Getting gold in chunks, you 
 say? I wouldn t need very many chunks 
 to enable me to go on to college in the fall, 
 would I? Besides, Uncle Herman, such a 
 trip with you would be a worthwhile experi 
 ence for any boy." 
 
 As the lad talked on he became possessed 
 with his idea and grew very serious. He 
 
"PIKE S PEAK OR BUST !" 1 1 
 
 was a splendid specimen of real American 
 boyhood as he stood there watching intently 
 every expression on his uncle s face. His 
 body was trim, well knit and muscular, and 
 as erect as a soldier s. He was strong, clean- 
 cut, and just as hard as nails, for Hale Trout 
 was an athlete of no mean reputation in our 
 little city, and incidentally was the very idol 
 of uncle Herman s heart. 
 
 "I ve been wondering for a whole month 
 just where I was to get a job, for work is so 
 very scarce and money so awfully tight. 
 You know, uncle, I have decided definitely 
 now to fit myself for an engineer, and such 
 a trip as you propose would be great normal 
 practice for me. I have no doubt but that 
 there will be trails and bridges to build and 
 all sorts of mine machinery to erect, will 
 there not?" 
 
 Herman Trout eyed the boy critically for 
 a moment before he spoke. He seemed to 
 be mentally calculating whether the lad 
 would be equal to all the strenuous work that 
 such a journey would necessarily involve or 
 not. Hale interrupted his thought by hurry 
 ing on : 
 
 "How will you get there, uncle? It must 
 
12 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 be at least a thousand miles, and nothing but 
 pony express running to Denver." 
 
 "I plan to go by ox-train from Saint Joe, 
 my lad, and I plan to take with me enough 
 simple mining machinery to do the job right. 
 You see, my three years in the California 
 diggings taught me a great deal. I would 
 not be a greenhorn or tenderfoot this time, 
 which, of course, counts for something. 
 This Colorado discovery seems to be largely 
 lode claims with very little placer gold, and 
 such mining, to be profitable in a big way, 
 would require our operating at least a small 
 stamp mill." 
 
 Just what prompted me to speak up at this 
 point I do not now remember, but at any 
 rate, boylike, I blurted out on the inspiration 
 of the moment : 
 
 "Just such a trip as that would make me 
 strong again too, uncle, for after all, what 
 I need is not all of this medicine and tender 
 care, but more exercise and fresh air and 
 sunshine. Besides, you will certainly have to 
 have a bookkeeper and secretary of some 
 sort, if you are going into it that big, won t 
 you?" 
 
 "I believe you are right, son," he an- 
 
"PIKE S PEAK OR BUST !" 13 
 
 swered kindly, and then after a moment s 
 deep thought he turned abruptly to my 
 mother, who was still standing behind my 
 chair. 
 
 "Tilly, such an arrangement would be 
 your opportunity to visit the little daughter 
 in the country, and I verily believe that the 
 change would do us all good, even this puny 
 boy. It had never entered my head to take 
 these lads along until they spoke, but the 
 idea strikes me very favorably. I ll need 
 lots of help, that is quite certain, and it " 
 
 "Hurrah for you, uncle !" shouted Hale in 
 a very fever of new excitement. "I ll gladly 
 be your stable boy, or anything else that you 
 desire, if you will but let me go." 
 
 I noted that mother had become a bit un 
 easy, and a moment later she turned abruptly 
 away toward the kitchen, saying she would 
 prepare tea. My uncle also noted her 
 anxiety over the new development, and so 
 hastily excused himself too, with the promise 
 that he would discuss the matter more fully 
 with us after supper. Hale hurried to the 
 kitchen to talk the matter over with mother, 
 and I buried myself in the evening paper. 
 
 "Fabulous Discoveries of Gold in the 
 
I 4 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Rockies!" ran the big head lines, and then 
 followed story after story written in such a 
 stirring way that in half an hour I found 
 myself on fire with a real gold fever. I was 
 wild to get at once to this wonderful West- 
 land, where mere men dug enormous for 
 tunes in a fortnight. 
 
 The sentiment of "O Susanna" that had 
 permeated every village and hamlet only 
 twelve short years before, when every man 
 that could possibly finance the trip, had 
 joined in that wild march across twenty-five 
 hundred miles of Western, Indian-infested 
 prairies in search of California gold, now 
 suddenly changed to the equally exciting cry 
 of "Pike s Peak or bust !" Once more, even 
 in the face of all the harrowing tales of suf 
 fering, starvation, and death that had fol 
 lowed in the wake of that other tremendous 
 current of gold-seekers once more the mys 
 terious word "gold" seemed to hypnotize the 
 people and make them forget the army of 
 shadowy ghosts that even yet line every 
 Overland trail from Independence to the 
 Golden Gate. It was but three years since 
 the terrible panic of 1857, an d money was 
 scarce. There was little or no business ac- 
 
"PIKE S PEAK OR BUST !" 15 
 
 tivity, and on the whole the future business 
 outlook was discouraging. It was not sur 
 prising, then, that this new and wonderful 
 discovery of gold should cause such a tre 
 mendous sensation throughout the land. 
 
 I had eagerly read every paper, including 
 the editorials, and when I came upon the list 
 of names of local men who were preparing 
 to start at once for the gold fields, I was not 
 surprised to see my uncle s name heading 
 the list. Then I realized for a very certainty 
 that he was going. As I fell to thinking it 
 all over, however, I realized that it probably 
 never would have happened in the world if 
 my uncle had not once before been afflicted 
 with the "gold fever/ I say "afflicted" 
 advisedly, because with that independent, 
 self-reliant, square- jawed individual to be 
 really interested in or enthusiastic about 
 anything was to make that thing his very 
 life, at least for the time being. If he really 
 started, it would be "Pike s Peak or bust!" 
 I was certain. He had joined that "surge 
 of fools to California," as he often referred 
 to the party of young business men like him 
 self who hardly a dozen years before had 
 formed a company, pooled their every re- 
 
16 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 source, and then cast their hope on the 
 hazard of a single die at Sutter s Ford. 
 
 Many a long winter evening, before my 
 father s death, we had all sat about our cozy 
 fireplace and listened with mouths agog to 
 the wonderful yarns of his two years among 
 the "California diggin s": how they had 
 chartered an old schooner and set out un 
 daunted, in the true spirit of youth, on a ten- 
 thousand-mile voyage around the Horn; 
 how he had been left almost a penniless man, 
 and then, after two memorable years, that 
 were fairly crammed with wild adventures 
 in the mountains, and hair-breadth escapes 
 from starvation, Indians, and the ravages 
 of disease, he had "struck it rich" in a rea 
 sonable way, and had returned via Panama 
 to our little quiet village, a hero to every 
 boy in the town, and especially to my younger 
 brother Hale and myself. 
 
 This same uncle Herman had since my 
 earliest recollections been very fond of my 
 mother and of Hale. Of course he had 
 always been friendly to me too, as his only 
 brother s eldest son, but was never enthu 
 siastic about my puny body or my love for 
 books, of which he knew almost nothing. So 
 
"PIKE S PEAK OR BUST !" 17 
 
 it always had seemed perfectly natural to 
 me, after the death of my father, that he 
 should come to live with us. Of his own 
 accord he chose to settle my father s many 
 debts, and took upon himself the no small 
 task of being a father to us two boys. He 
 never told me so for a certainty, but mother 
 and I were both of the opinion that between 
 my father s debts and the hard years of the 
 panic which followed, my uncle s fortune had 
 shrunk to a very modest sum. As I look 
 back over it all now I ami certain that it was 
 this shortage of money, after all, that de 
 cided him to again "play his hand," as he 
 used to say, "with old Mother Nature" in 
 the gold fields. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WE ARE TAKEN INTO THE 
 COMPANY 
 
 THAT evening my uncle brought a Mr. 
 Cyrus Toleman home to tea with him, 
 and such a talker as the man was ! He was 
 tall and handsome, and had a careless way 
 of chuckling every now and then when some 
 thing was said that especially pleased him. 
 He hadn t been with us many minutes until 
 we discovered that, beyond a question, he 
 was a thoroughbred cowboy and trailer from 
 the big Western cattle range. I guessed 
 that he was an expert at all sorts of out 
 fitting and that in all probability my uncle 
 had it in mind to take Toleman along with 
 him to have charge of the ox-train and to 
 find the trail ; for up to this time all Western 
 roads were mere trails and oftentimes a 
 heavy rain would completely obliterate them 
 for miles at a stretch. He told us that many 
 of the old routes used by the forty-niners 
 had already become overgrown with the 
 herbage of the plain, and some had even 
 18 
 
INTO THE COMPANY 19 
 
 faded back into the desert completely, so that 
 it took an experienced trailer to find the way. 
 
 I remember that he and my uncle talked 
 for an hour about wagons and oxen and 
 supplies, apparently forgetting Hale and me, 
 until suddenly the bell rang, and my uncle 
 ushered in a dried-up, weasened little man, 
 whom he introduced to us as Jacob Hender 
 son. I at once recognized him as the pro 
 prietor of a little handy-man s shop on one 
 of our side streets, and I had often heard 
 him referred to as the "jail bird." 
 
 He was a mechanic, a pattern maker, a 
 filer of keys, and, in fact, a Jack-of -all-trades. 
 His eyes were small and cold-gray. He was 
 very small of stature, and a smile rarely, if 
 ever, crossed his deep-lined, bronzed face. 
 He was entirely business, apparently, and 
 had no time nor relish for pleasantries. It 
 surprised me a great deal that my uncle 
 should even think of taking this sour, un 
 agreeable man with him on such a journey 
 as he was now proposing, for if there was 
 one thing my uncle enjoyed, more than one 
 of my mother s good meals, it was an hour 
 of fellowship with a kindred spirit and a 
 few good stories for seasoning. I could not 
 
20 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 imagine his living as intimately as a thou 
 sand-mile trip with heavily loaded ox-drawn 
 carts would necessitate, with a confirmed 
 pessimist that reduced every transaction of 
 life down to a dollars-and-cents basis and 
 held every fellow man forever in suspicion. 
 Some way, it was like trying to mix oil and 
 water, and I was at a loss to understand it. 
 
 As their conversation ran on, however, 
 on stamp mills, windlasses, and power 
 cradles, I began to understand that such an 
 enterprise as my uncle was suggesting 
 simply must have at least one mechanic to 
 set up the machinery. I also came to realize 
 that a dozen or fifteen heavily loaded wagons 
 could not possibly be pulled over a thousand 
 miles of sun-baked, prairie-dog pitted West 
 ern prairie land and then on perhaps into 
 the very heart of the Rocky Mountains with 
 out constant repairs and mechanical atten 
 tion. My uncle could manage a pick and 
 shovel with marvelous ease and effective 
 ness, but when it came to replacing a wagon 
 reach, resetting a wagon tire, or erecting a 
 stamp mill, with its maze of sluices, screens, 
 and rollers, he was a wise enough man to 
 know that he must have a machinist. He 
 
INTO THE COMPANY 21 
 
 confided to me many a night, however, as 
 we lay rolled in our blankets beneath one of 
 our wagons, or as we rode on that long, 
 tedious march over alkaline flats, that he 
 would give a good gold mine if Jake Hen 
 derson was in the bottom of the sea or far 
 up in Alaska, instead of with our party. 
 
 It took them nearly two hours to complete 
 a rough list of the outfit. It included a 
 twelve-stamp mill, with necessary boiler, 
 engine, and repairs, to say nothing of the 
 many smaller tools understood to be neces 
 sary for the extracting of gold from the 
 rock. Then there was a supply of powder, 
 a quantity of quicksilver, copper plates for 
 the sluices, various chemicals, and an enor 
 mous list of provisions enough, in fact, to 
 keep the entire company at least a year. Yet 
 how in the world they ever expected to get 
 any variety of food out of plain flour, beans, 
 salt pork, coffee, sugar, and corn meal was 
 more than I could see.; but when Toleman 
 urged that they add a few delicacies, such 
 as tea, dried fruit, bacon, hardtack, and 
 syrup, I began to have some hopes of fair 
 food, and felt that I understood Toleman 
 better already. 
 
22 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 When the list was finally completed and 
 the cost estimated, my uncle suddenly turned 
 to Toleman and said : 
 
 "Cy, I am thinking strongly of taking 
 these two boys with me." Then, with a 
 good-humored twinkle, he added, "Of course 
 we perfectly understand they won t amount 
 to much as prospectors, but we have to have 
 drivers, you know, and doubtless they will 
 do to skin mules, if we have any; at least 
 they can drive oxen. Then, too, they will 
 help to keep me from being too lonesome, 
 for I can t say I just relish the idea of living 
 a hundred long days with just Missourian 
 teamsters and a cowboy." He eyed Jake 
 from the corner of his eye, and seeing the 
 sour look of disapproval, he added: "Then, 
 too, Jake here is so profoundly talkative, and 
 so humorous, I ll need some one to talk busi 
 ness with at times, I suppose, as a relief from 
 his foolishness." 
 
 Cy Toleman just roared, and I knew full 
 well from that moment that he and I were 
 to be the best of friends; but Jake only 
 glowered at us with such evident displeasure 
 that I disliked him without knowing just 
 why. 
 
INTO THE COMPANY 23 
 
 Take em along by all odds," laughed Cy, 
 good naturedly. "That chap yonder," point 
 ing to Hale, "looks perfectly able to look out 
 for himself. I ve been noticing his arms and 
 shoulders Jerusalem! but I d about as 
 leave be caressed by a Missouri mule as hit 
 on the jib with one of those." Then turning 
 on Jake, who sat with a disdainful, sour look 
 on his leathery face, he added: "Herman, 
 that boy will make a good overseer for Jake 
 when he gets too blamed obstreperous with 
 them funny sayings of his." Then he 
 laughed again in such a hearty way that my 
 mother came hurrying in to see what was 
 going on that could be so funny, for some 
 way she was already feeling sad. 
 
 "Well, Tilly," said my uncle, "we have 
 about finished our plans, and I have decided, 
 if you are willing, of course, to take the boys 
 with us, and furthermore to take them into 
 the company " 
 
 Jake Henderson jumped to his feet in a 
 fit of anger, resembling an irate bantam 
 rooster about to challenge the world. "Into 
 the company!" he roared. "Well, I should 
 say not. You said but a moment ago to take 
 them as driver. Now, I don t propose to 
 
24 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 put any of my money into a company, of 
 boys. What s more, Trout, I won t. I ve 
 subscribed half of the total expense of this 
 trip, and you the other half. We may hire 
 other men and boys at a stipulated wage, but 
 take them into the company? No! What 
 do a bunch of schoolboys know about gold 
 mining, anyway?" he demanded. 
 
 I saw Toleman sit up, stare at the bantam 
 to make sure he wasn t dreaming things, 
 and then chuckle to himself again. My 
 mother, hot with indignation, turned to my 
 uncle and was about to speak, when he fore 
 stalled her. I was fairly startled by his 
 changed manner. His voice was cold and 
 stern, and his eyes flashed. I had never 
 before seen him so angry. 
 
 "No, Jake, you are mistaken/ he said, 
 slowly. "You won t subscribe half, or any 
 part of this expense. I ve changed my mind 
 about this company since I last talked with 
 you, and I have decided to give these two 
 boys your share. Toleman and I will own 
 the balance.. But we ll be glad to hire you 
 as our master mechanic at say " 
 
 Jake was beside himself with rage. "Hire 
 me! By the everlasting gods, no!" he 
 
INTO THE COMPANY 25 
 
 snapped. "I m no hireling. Yesterday this 
 was to be our company, and now " 
 
 "That was my first thought," interrupted 
 my uncle, "but the idea of taking these chaps 
 along with me hadn t entered my head then ; 
 and, besides, we reached no agreement. I 
 have decided that these two boys will be of 
 more use to the company in the long run 
 than you, Jake." He looked the little man 
 straight in the eye as he continued, "Besides, 
 I have never caught either of them in a lie, 
 and I have no time on this trip to nurse hot- 
 tempered fools." 
 
 Jake was too surprised and too disap 
 pointed to say more just then, but his angry 
 red face bespoke his emotions. He glowered 
 at Hale and me with a hate that knew no 
 bounds. I believe it was this churlish atti 
 tude that finally decided my uncle against 
 him. 
 
 But, Herman," roared the little man, "I 
 have already turned down two other offers 
 to go, in favor of this one, and now it is too 
 late to get in on any," insisted Jake, "and 
 what is more, Mr. Trout, it s a dirty rotten 
 deal!" 
 
 "That s all a lie," cried my uncle, "and 
 
26 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 only makes a bad matter worse. You have 
 had no proposition from any one, not even 
 myself definitely; and what is more to the 
 point, I doubt if you will get one. I just 
 learned this evening at the courthouse, Jake, 
 that you were borrowing your money on a 
 half interest in your share of the gold, and 
 you told me positively that you had the 
 money in the bank. Now, I cannot afford 
 to have a scalawag in with me on this deal, 
 for I m playing my last card. You have told 
 me three untruths to-day. I can t trust you." 
 
 "Then you won t even give me a quarter 
 share?" begged Jake, earnestly, for he was 
 fast seeing his get-rich-quick scheme slip 
 out of his hands. 
 
 "None/ said my uncle, quite positively. 
 "I am arranging for these boys to have your 
 share between them. I am certain I can 
 depend upon them." 
 
 Jake Henderson rose, took his hat and 
 stalked to the door, then suddenly flaming 
 into a new rage at the very thought of how 
 he had been caught, he shook his fist at Hale 
 and declared: "You boys will never see 
 Colorado if I can help it." 
 
 My uncle sprang to the door in one leap, 
 
INTO THE COMPANY 27 
 
 his great fists clenched. But Jake was gone, 
 and we saw no more of him until we reached 
 Saint Joe two weeks later. 
 
 As my uncle came back from the door, my 
 mother hurried to him, a strange, frightened 
 look on her face. 
 
 "O Herman," she cried, "what a miser 
 able man! Do you suppose he will really 
 set out to cause you trouble as he threatened 
 to do?" 
 
 "O bah!" exclaimed my uncle, in deep 
 disgust. "A man that lies is a coward too, 
 usually. He hasn t nerve enough to fight a 
 pussy cat. We will probably never see him 
 again. He s gone, and I m glad. Now, 
 mother, what about these boys what do 
 you say ? What do you think of taking them 
 into the company? I had intended to give 
 Jake a share for his services, instead of 
 money, but now I am convinced he is a 
 shyster. I was just testing him out to-night 
 a bit. Of course I would never think of 
 starting on such an undertaking as we have 
 been here proposing with anything save a 
 perfectly congenial company. 
 
 "Toleman, what do you think of the new 
 plan? I want you to be perfectly frank 
 
28 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 about it, for now is the time to say just what 
 you think. I will respect you the more 
 for it." 
 
 "I vote Yes, unanimously," laughed Tole- 
 man. "Me and the boys will get on 
 famously. And I m so blamed glad we got 
 rid of that little skunk without havin to bury 
 our duds. Jerusalem! but he was mad. 
 Your talking to him was just like taking a 
 miserable sinner up to the pearly gates and 
 discoverin who you had and dropping him 
 again. He sure was one surprised and dis 
 appointed man, but, mark my words, gents, 
 we haven t seen the last of him. He ll get 
 to Colorado if he has to go via Greenland 
 and walk every inch of the way. But he ll 
 be there, mark me that; and don t forget 
 he ll be out for our scalps. I only hope I see 
 him first. I ll teach him a few little lessons." 
 
 Uncle Herman laughed, but it was a 
 forced, dry laugh. He turned again un 
 easily to my mother, for he feared the little 
 episode might have caused her to change her 
 mind about our going. Fortunately, she had 
 the utmost confidence in my uncle, and I 
 was not at all surprised when she said, in 
 her firm gentle way: 
 
INTO THE COMPANY 29 
 
 "Herman, I think you know what is best, 
 and although it will be very lonely to have 
 you all gone, if you think it wise for the boys 
 to go, I ll not say no. I fully realize that 
 they are both young men now, and that 
 sooner or later they must begin life for them 
 selves. Nothing could give me more joy, 
 Herman, than to know they were getting 
 their first hard knocks under your super 
 
 vision." 
 
 My uncle smiled, and was himself again. 
 He tapped the table with his finger restlessly, 
 as he mentally went over the whole matter 
 for the last time, and then, as if to make 
 his decision final, he said : 
 
 "Boys, from to-night we are partners, for 
 better or for worse. Toleman, you and I 
 will have equal shares; and if we get rich, 
 you can pay me back my original investment. 
 We will start in two weeks. I ll begin to 
 have the machinery shipped by rail to Saint 
 Joe at once. We will buy our oxen there, 
 I think, and we will send you on to pick them 
 out and find drivers for our wagons. You 
 are an old stock man, and will do better at 
 the buying than I." 
 
 "Then it s Tike s Peak or bust/ lads," 
 
30 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 cried Toleman, shaking us each by the hand. 
 "Jerusalem! but we ll make them herds of 
 buffalo hustle when we hit the valley of the 
 Platte. It will seem great to be on the old 
 Oregon Trail again, to hear the shout of 
 teamsters and the yell of savages. Yes, it s 
 a region of Indians and wild beasts, of 
 scorching deserts, shifting sands, whirlwinds 
 of powdered dust and acres of cactus and 
 prairie dogs; but it s God s country all the 
 same, and I ll be glad to be back to it. Good 
 night, all !" and he was gone. 
 
 We sat a little while, thinking in silence, 
 and then went to bed to dream of the path 
 less deserts, illimitable prairies, nameless 
 rivers, and colossal mountains he had told 
 us of until sleep came. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 
 
 THE next two weeks passed very quickly 
 for Hale and me. Every day we were 
 busy with final arrangements, such as the 
 shipping of supplies to Saint Joe, buying ma 
 chinery, and getting my mother off to the 
 country to visit my sister. We suddenly 
 found ourselves very popular, not to say 
 envied, by our host of boy friends, for we 
 were actually going to Colorado, and were 
 to be part and parcel of a real ox-train. I 
 well remember just how thoroughly inter 
 ested we were in buying our guns and hunt 
 ing knives. Each of us had a splendid new 
 rifle of latest design a gift from Toleman 
 a pair of thirty-eight pistols, and a heavy 
 pocketknife. Each one of us packed his few 
 simple bits of personal clothing in a stout 
 canvas bag, with our names lettered boldly 
 upon them, while our blankets, each num 
 bered to match our respective wagons, were 
 folded and packed on the wagon seat. 
 
 3 1 
 
32 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Toleman had already gone ahead to hire 
 the dozen or more drivers, that would be 
 necessary, and was fortunate in securing, 
 for the most part, farmers from the Missouri 
 hills who were willing to give their services 
 in turn for the opportunity of the trip to the 
 West. With the help of these men, the 
 heavy machinery and provisions had all been 
 loaded on our new wagons under Toleman s 
 direction, so that all was about in readiness 
 for our start immediately upon our reaching 
 Saint Joe. As we hurried through the main 
 streets of the little Missouri town, already 
 rapidly filled up with all sorts and descrip 
 tions of gold-crazed men belonging to the 
 wagon-trains en route to the gold country, 
 I noted that my uncle Herman attracted a 
 great deal of attention. Perhaps it was be 
 cause of his tremendous body, that was ever 
 as erect as a soldier s. But more likely it 
 was because it had gotten noised about that 
 he was the master of the largest and most 
 extensively equipped wagon-train that had 
 yet put in its appearance preparatory to 
 starting West. Keen merchants sought to 
 sell him goods; many masters of smaller 
 trains sought his advice about this or that 
 
A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 33 
 
 detail; while scores of eager adventurers, 
 posing as miners, mechanics and cooks, 
 pressed him from all sides for employment 
 in one capacity or another. 
 
 That evening he called a meeting, at our 
 camp, of every man that was to be a part 
 of our train, including Toleman, Hale, and 
 myself, and talked to us a long time about 
 the necessity of close cooperation, and about 
 the importance of each man doing his own 
 work as well as tending strictly to his own 
 business. The little camp, the big circle of 
 newly painted wagons, the forty head of 
 oxen, the herd of cows and ponies, and last 
 of all the friendly circle of stalwart, bronzed 
 men, made a tremendous impression upon us 
 boys. I can see my uncle yet, as he stood by 
 the blazing fire, his broad-brimmed hat set 
 well back on his head, his high-topped boots, 
 flannel shirt and bandana handkerchief, all 
 looking just as I had seen him after his re 
 turn from California twelve years before. 
 He addressed us from the fire : 
 
 "Men, there are just three things that I 
 want to say to you. Remember them care 
 fully. They are, keep sweet, do your part 
 no matter what the other fellow does, and 
 
34 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 be loyal. We will have many a long, weary 
 day before we even reach the Rockies. There 
 will be many lonesome hours, when every 
 man of you will wish himself back home 
 again, snug and well fed in your own cabin. 
 The desert sun will burn and blister you 
 until the very sands will seem to be on fire. 
 We will have wild, stormy nights, when we 
 will be compelled to go to bed wet and hun 
 gry, with no sound in our ears save the yelp 
 of hungry wolves and the bellowing of buf 
 falo bulls. We will have days and days, I 
 have no doubt, when our tongues will swell 
 and our mouths smart for want of fresh 
 water. We will have breakdowns, long, 
 lonely night vigils, treacherous bands of 
 Indians, bandits and cattle thieves, until 
 every man with a soul will be tried as never 
 before. 
 
 "You see, I have been through one such 
 wild rush as this is to be, and I know just 
 what men suffer. There will be no place 
 for a weakling, or a coward, or an old 
 woman. I want you to withdraw now, be 
 fore we have gotten under way, if any of you 
 do not fully intend to see the whole show 
 through. Is there a man that wants to with- 
 
A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 35 
 draw? If so, it will be entirely satisfactory 
 
 to me." 
 
 He waited a full moment before continu 
 ing, but there was no move on the part of 
 a single man. He had captured them, every 
 one, by his own big self. 
 
 "Pike s Peak or bust!" cried a jolly, fat 
 driver, who had watched my uncle s every 
 move, listening intently to every word, his 
 face shining with admiration. "I m with 
 you, Cap, to the bloody end, unless my in 
 fernal bread-box plays out on me. I can 
 handle anything ordinarily, but stewed 
 prairie dog or skunk sausage won t go." 
 
 "Well, then," continued my uncle, with a 
 hearty laugh, "this will be our plan. I am 
 captain of this little army When in doubt 
 as to your duty, come to me. Toleman and 
 Hale are to be our official trailers and will 
 supervise the packing, the choosing of camp 
 sites, and have the overseeing of our oxen. 
 They will do the scouting in times of danger, 
 and because Toleman is a crack-shot and will 
 be well mounted, he will supply us with fresh 
 meat whenever it is possible. Bill Sikes is 
 going to act as our official cook, and I warn 
 you now, men, don t make any slighting 
 
36 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 remarks about Bill s flapjacks or his biscuits, 
 for I understand Bill is very handy with his 
 fists. I ve followed Toleman s advice in 
 choosing a medicine chest. It consists en 
 tirely of a gallon of castor oil, and it is to be 
 free to all. We ll let every man be his own 
 doctor. Clayton here," referring to me, "is 
 to be my private secretary, and will have no 
 other duties to perform except keep our 
 daily record and to look after the commis 
 sary, until he feels stronger. 
 
 "Every driver will feed, water, and har 
 ness his own teams of oxen, and I will divide 
 you into squads of four each, to care for the 
 cattle and do the extra camp duty. We will 
 excuse Bill, of course, from any responsi 
 bility of feeding or harnessing as long as 
 his chuck does not kill any of us. If it does, 
 Bill Sikes, we ll shoot you at sunrise. Of 
 course, if it does come to a showdown, I can 
 do the cooking myself, for I know how to 
 boil eggs ; and as long as we have eggs I ll 
 get on some way. Years ago, while in Cali 
 fornia, I knew how to bake choke-dog, but 
 a man that s panning gravel in a river-bed 
 sixteen hours a day would have no trouble 
 in digesting most anything. It will be dif- 
 
A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 37 
 
 ferent with you men perched on a wagon 
 seat all day. 
 
 "Now, men, good night. I must go back 
 to the city on a little business trip, but re 
 member we start at daylight for the richest 
 gold country in the world !" 
 
 It was but a short way to the busy little 
 city, so we decided to walk. Everywhere 
 were teams of oxen and loaded wagons, and 
 the narrow sidewalks were fairly alive with 
 hurrying, excited men. As we pushed up 
 the street, whom should we see coming down 
 just ahead of us but Jake Henderson, in 
 company with a burly Irishman that Tole- 
 man told us he had hired as a driver, but 
 later, because of some heated altercation, 
 growing out of the loading of the engine, he 
 had been compelled to pay the Hibernian off 
 and let him go. Both men were now 
 thoroughly drunk, and were singing loudly 
 some rough mining ditties as they jostled the 
 crowd. Uncle Herman quickly drew us into 
 an open doorway until they should pass. He 
 did not want the scalawags to know that we 
 had seen them, for he was sure that both 
 men were headed straight for our camp. 
 Uncle Herman quickly drew Toleman to one 
 
38 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 side and held a conversation with him, with 
 the result that Cy soon left us, for just what 
 destination we did not then know. 
 
 "I m glad we are getting away from here 
 at daylight," said my uncle, after we had 
 completed our little business. "I would cer 
 tainly hate to get into a squabble with Jake 
 Henderson now. He and that big Irishman, 
 when drunk, make a bad combination, and 
 if they haven t already planned some trouble 
 for us, no doubt they will. I hope we can 
 leave them behind." 
 
 An hour later, as we approached our 
 camp, Cy suddenly appeared from out of the 
 darkness, and in an instant we realized that 
 something had gone wrong 
 
 "Jerusalem! but that was luck," he 
 breathed. "I caught the scamp right in the 
 very act. The yellow hound! My fingers 
 just itched to dust the landscape with his 
 skinny carcass. But/ says I, Cy, keep your 
 shirt on a bit yet, and don t go and spill the 
 beans too soon, till you re a bit wise of his 
 intentions/ When I arrived in camp, he 
 and that big Irishman had all the drivers 
 together, and was giving them a great lingo 
 of how you were intendin to take every 
 
A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 39 
 
 advantage of them all the way out, just as 
 you had taken advantage of Jake already, 
 and strongly advised them to strike before 
 starting, unless you would pay them each a 
 hundred dollars cash bonus before they 
 moved and a like sum upon arriving at the 
 diggings. 
 
 Incitin a rebellion, are you? says I to 
 myself. Well, go to it, Jake, and luck! 
 cause I figured that if a skinny little drunk 
 good-for-nothing like him could stampede 
 our drivers this early in the game, we had 
 better have the celebration while we were still 
 in Missouri, where we could get more men. 
 Well, after he had yapped just about so 
 long, the big Irishman suggested that they 
 capture the train by force ; make him captain 
 in your place, rope us all securely in one of 
 the wagons, and go on to the West on their 
 own hook. Finally big Bill Sikes took the 
 floor, and such a waterspout of sarcastic 
 language I never heard before. There never 
 has been no sech an accurate word descrip 
 tion of a man made before nor since, as Bill 
 made of old Jake Henderson. I just lay 
 back in the grass and rolled, I was that 
 tickled. Says I to myself, Billy, if you can 
 
40 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 flip flapjacks as expertly as you can flip 
 beautiful, becoming adjectives, then we ll be 
 in clover so far as the eating goes/ Gentle 
 men, it was like a waterfall in flood season, 
 and when he finished there just naturally 
 wasn t anything left to say that was appro 
 priate, for Bill had used up the hull blamed 
 dictionary. 
 
 "Jake sort of looked bewildered, like as 
 if some one had suddenly turned a hose of 
 cold water on him. I thought it was all over, 
 when Jake flamed forth and completely lost 
 his head. He had the nerve to threaten that 
 whole herd of Missouri mules with all sorts 
 of threats, of everything from shooting em 
 from ambush to poisoning their spring 
 water. Finally the two left, as I supposed, 
 but as I was walking down the row of 
 wagons, well back in the dark, of course, just 
 enjoying my thoughts, I suddenly heard a 
 whispered conversation going on over near 
 the powder wagon. I tell you, right there 
 I smelled trouble. So, laying down in the 
 tall grass, I rolled over and over until I was 
 near enough to hear what was going on. 
 There stood Jake and his Irish friend, and 
 Keats, the driver of Wagon Six, in whose 
 
A PLOT IN THE NIGHT 41 
 
 charge we had put the powder for safe keep 
 ing. 
 
 " Til give you fifty dollars in cold cash, 
 and a job as boss driver in my own train/ 
 I heard Jake say, coolly. 
 
 "I waited breathlessly, my eye on the 
 three, for evidently the Missourian was seri 
 ously considering the matter. 
 
 "Til do the job for a hundred/ finally 
 drawled Keats. When does this here 
 wagon-train of your n start for out yonder ? 
 
 " In just ten days/ said Jake, glibly. 
 And mine is going to be the first real train 
 to leave Saint Joe, and what s more, the first 
 one to arrive at the diggins. Of course the 
 first one in gets pick of claims, and that s me. 
 But a hundred is too much. Why, I can hire 
 a gang of darkies in Saint Joe to eat Trout s 
 whole train alive for less than that. All I 
 want is for you to back your powder wagon 
 up against the stamp mill and touch her off. 
 Before he can get another mill here and 
 loaded I ll be on my way, see? He doesn t 
 know I m here yet, and I don t want him to, 
 either. 
 
 "I chuckled to myself right there, and I 
 says, sort of under my breath, Jake, they 
 
42 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 wouldn t own you in Hades, for you re too 
 blamed mean to burn! Well, the bargain 
 was finally made for seventy-five dollars 
 gold, and Jake and his friend started back 
 toward town, well pleased with their dirty 
 work, agreeing to return before daylight 
 with the money. 
 
 "First I was for bumping into Jake at once 
 and settling matters permanent like. Then 
 I changed my mind, cause I couldn t handle 
 both him and the Irishman if there was to 
 be any real gun play. I have a much better 
 idea. But let s go and sit down a bit, where 
 I can talk. Some one is liable to see us here, 
 if we aren t careful, and spill the beans 
 altogether." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 
 
 WE were all very eager, of course, to 
 hear just what Cy s scheme was, so 
 after going well back into the meadow, to 
 a clump of trees, we seated ourselves and 
 urged him to go on. I could see that my 
 uncle was very angry, and just a bit im 
 patient that Cy should have let Jake get 
 away. But Cy gave him no chance to say 
 a word. 
 
 "Jerusalem ! but it will be fun, and it won t 
 do any one any harm, that is, permanently, 
 and it will teach a few folks how to behave. 
 Now, here is my little scheme. We will all 
 go to camp together, just as if nothing had 
 happened, and will prepare for night. The 
 wagons with the stamp mill on them, and 
 the powder wagon, are standing close to 
 each other in the road. We ll hitch onto 
 them and pull them back out of the way, 
 explaining that the road hadn t ought to be 
 blocked up that way all night. 
 43 
 
44 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "Then Hale, here, and I will take Sikes 
 you let him have your mule and we ll go 
 into town and kidnap Jake. He is probably 
 drinking again, to celebrate his success, and 
 will be easy to find. We ll bring him back 
 here to camp, and smuggle him into that 
 powder wagon without any one knowing he 
 is here, and the Irishman won t be under 
 taking anything without him. Then we ll 
 invite Keats out into the dark to talk over 
 some matters, gag him and put him in 
 Sikes s wagon till morning. We will tell 
 Jake that he bargained for the little explo 
 sion, and that if she s going up, he ought 
 to be on the band wagon. You see, Jake 
 won t know that Keats is tied up, and seeing 
 the powder wagon backed up against the 
 mill, he ll think Keats has everything ready. 
 We will mask ourselves so as to pass off as 
 the teamsters, and we ll have Sikes do the 
 talking, for he can do it so beautiful, and 
 Jake knows Bill was against him. It will 
 be sort of exciting and pleasant-like to sleep 
 on a powder keg for which you have agreed 
 to pay nearly a hundred in hard cash to have 
 exploded before sunrise. 
 
 "We will take Jake on with us about three 
 
A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 45 
 
 days march, and then turn him loose to walk 
 home. It will be a lesson to the rest, and 
 show Jake once for all that he had best tend 
 to his own knitting. What do you say? No 
 telling what Jake will do if we leave him 
 running around here loose. While I m in 
 Saint Joe, I ll hire another teamster to be 
 here at sunrise, so we ll be all safe if we 
 should have to fire Keats too." 
 
 My uncle readily agreed to the plan, and 
 in thirty minutes the three men were on their 
 way back to the little city. It pleased Hale 
 greatly to be a partner with Toleman in this 
 first adventure, as it proved to be only the 
 beginning of a long and varied string of 
 adventures that they were to have together 
 before we reached Denver. I stayed awake 
 just as long as I could, awaiting their return, 
 but finally fell asleep, for the day had been 
 a very strenuous one, and I knew full well 
 that the morrow would be much more so. 
 Hale greeted me in the morning with a 
 knowing wink, and whispered to me : 
 
 "O ! Clayt, it was fun ! He was drunk as 
 a lord and talked something awful. Beat 
 any show I ever saw in my life, and it was 
 all done as neat as a pin. Cy is a perfect 
 
46 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 wonder, and his muscles are like steel. Jake 
 is over yonder now, making all sorts of 
 promises and begging for freedom. He is 
 as tame as a kitten, and will eat out of your 
 hand." 
 
 It was the first of August, and our whole 
 camp was in a bustle. Some men were busy 
 yoking oxen and hitching them to the 
 wagons with great difficulty, for many of the 
 animals, while big and strong, were young 
 and not yet thoroughly broken. It was 
 hours and hours before our train was finally 
 in motion and headed for Pike s Peak. Tole- 
 man, followed closely by Hale, was here, 
 there, and everywhere from one end of the 
 long train to the other, on his pony, while 
 my uncle, who had already been dubbed 
 "Cap" after his little talk at the fire, rode 
 alongside on his stout saddle mule, encour 
 aging here and giving advice there, as the 
 occasion demanded it. 
 
 Our first five miles lay out through an 
 open level valley, and everything went fine. 
 But when we reached the bluffs and ravines 
 to the west, the young, unbroken oxen began 
 to balk, and finally absolutely refused to pull 
 their loads up the hill. Consequently, the 
 
A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 47 
 
 better teams rapidly went ahead and by noon 
 were out of sight, while the less fortunate 
 ones, at Toleman s suggestion, had to double 
 up, taking first one wagon up a hill and then 
 another, which was, of course, very slow 
 work, and discouraging to the drivers. Hale 
 was kept busy with the poorly broken oxen 
 on the off side, while the drivers whipped 
 and stormed at those on the other side. 
 Slowly but surely the wagons became sepa 
 rated, until long before dark of our first day 
 we were actually strung out over fully five 
 miles of prairie. 
 
 In the early afternoon Toleman chose a 
 camp spot on a small stream of clear water 
 that wandered in and out through a bit of 
 meadow, and ordered the first teams to halt, 
 with the hope that we might have time be 
 fore dark for the slow teams to catch up. 
 But such was not to be our luck, although 
 the last teams trailed on till darkness closed 
 about them. Worn and weary, the young 
 oxen were unhitched and allowed to feed 
 where they would, while we ate cheese and 
 crackers for our evening lunch, being too 
 tired to hunt wood for fires or to cook food. 
 
 As we looked back over our scattered 
 
48 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 train, Jake s evil prediction came to mind, 
 and I confess it looked like he might be right, 
 after all. To make matters worse, we had 
 hardly gotten settled for the night when a 
 terrific thunder shower suddenly put in its 
 appearance and insisted on spending the 
 entire night in our immediate locality. Need 
 less to say, everything was soaked to a 
 dismal, soggy state, even our dispositions. 
 We rolled up in our blankets as best we 
 could, and slept under the wagons until the 
 streams of muddy water drove us out. 
 
 At daybreak we started in different direc 
 tions through the wet bushes and waist-high 
 grass that filled every ravine, in search of 
 our scattered oxen. We took time to cook 
 a warm breakfast, however, and all drank 
 quantities of strong coffee, to make up for 
 the sleep we did not get. But when we 
 finally got the train lined up, we discovered 
 that several more or less serious accidents 
 had happened to us, all of which vexed my 
 uncle sorely. Two of our best young cows 
 had fallen into a steep, unguessed gully and 
 had broken their necks. One load of heavy 
 mine machinery had run downhill and up 
 set. One axle, two tongues, and several 
 
A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 49 
 
 yokes were broken, not to mention damaged 
 harness and a number of minor things that 
 needed repairs. My uncle was positively 
 disgusted, and began to wonder if such 
 things were to be a daily occurrence. He 
 was just preparing to go to work on repairs, 
 when Toleman rode up, a very merry twinkle 
 in his eyes. 
 
 "What are you going to do, Cap?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "Got to make these repairs before we can 
 budge an inch," grumbled my uncle, "and 
 I am about as handy at such things as a bear 
 at a piano." 
 
 "Why should you worry over them, when 
 we have a firstclass mechanic riding idly in 
 our powder cart?" laughed Toleman. Til 
 go fetch him, and if he does a right good 
 job, and is cheerful about it, we will shorten 
 his sentence a notch. I calculated we d need 
 the rascal about this morning, and he ll be 
 glad of a little exercise." 
 
 Soon Cy returned with Jake, and the re 
 pairs were gotten under way, much to the 
 merriment of all the tired and more or less 
 disgruntled drivers. Bill Sikes was on hand 
 too, of course, to make a few suggestions and 
 
So OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 incidentally to give Jake a bit of fatherly 
 advice ; all of which Jake accepted in an un 
 usually affable manner. But behind all his 
 self-control there was a purpose, you may 
 rest assured, which was not long in showing 
 itself. 
 
 Toleman and Hale rode back to town to 
 purchase two additional yoke of oxen, for 
 it was now very evident that some of the 
 younger animals were not going to be able 
 to pull their heavy loads day after day. Jake 
 took advantage of Toleman s absence from 
 the camp, and, after finishing the repairs in 
 a first-class shape, drew my uncle to one 
 side; deliberately apologized for his rash 
 loss of temper at our home, and begged to 
 be allowed to continue with the train to the 
 West, pointing out, as only shrewd Jake 
 knew how to do, just how essential he would 
 be to the ultimate success of our whole un 
 dertaking. 
 
 "Just tell me, Mr. Trout," he said, in a 
 last earnest appeal, "what are you going to 
 do when you get into the heart of the Indian 
 country and have breakdowns like these? 
 It would mean that you would have to 
 abandon your priceless machinery or forfeit 
 
A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 51 
 
 your scalps. Which is it to be? You will 
 have repairs like these to be made every day 
 of the trip, only there will be many more 
 of them, for wagons won t stay new long on 
 these hot, dry prairies." 
 
 My uncle asked for an hour to consider 
 his proposition, hoping Cy would return by 
 that time. But as he did not return, after 
 carefully weighing every element concerned, 
 fully aware of the possible costliness of a 
 favorable decision, he decided in Jake s 
 favor. He warned him, however, in no un 
 certain way of just what would be his atti 
 tude toward him in case Jake should in the 
 slightest way forget his place and agree 
 ment. 
 
 Jake secretly gloried in his victory, al 
 though he kept himself very meek. Instinc 
 tively I seemed to realize that I must keep 
 my eyes and ears open, for I could never 
 forget Jake s malignant threats nor the look 
 of savage hatred on his face that night at 
 mother s. It nettled me just a little that my 
 uncle should even consider having him along, 
 knowing what it might mean to Hale and 
 me, but I had already learned in one twenty- 
 four hours that my uncle said little, thought 
 
52 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 much, and kept his own council, except when 
 he was angry. 
 
 When Toleman returned, he received the 
 news about Jake with apparent unconcern, 
 and even laughed about it a bit. Yet I was 
 certain that I saw his thin lips draw tight 
 about his mouth, and his black eyes come 
 together just a little doubtfully, as my uncle 
 confided to him his apparent good reasons 
 for keeping Jake. 
 
 "Cy," he said at length, "Jake is a good 
 friend and a very bad enemy. Every man 
 in camp is onto him now, so that he is not 
 dangerous; and, really, I don t see how we 
 are going to get through without him. You 
 leave him to me, and I ll have him eating out 
 of my hand in a week." 
 
 "Jerusalem ! I wish you hadn t promised 
 him, Cap," was all Toleman said, but it 
 spoke volumes to me. Hale told me after 
 ward that Cy had come direct to him, as 
 soon as the train was in motion again, and 
 they fell well back to the end of the line, 
 where they could talk without being seen or 
 disturbed. 
 
 " Taint that I think you are not able to 
 care for yourself, lad," he said, by way of 
 
A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 53 
 
 introduction to Hale, "but I haven t navi 
 gated these Western cattle ranges all my life 
 without learning a few little points about 
 human nature, and now I m just going to 
 give you the advantage of my observations. 
 You can always depend on a thoroughbred, 
 remember that, whether he s a six-foot giant 
 or a stub. They always play square and in 
 the open. But when you are dealing with 
 a dunghill breed, you must keep your eye 
 peeled all the time. Do you catch my drift? 
 Well, Jake has poison in his heart for you 
 two boys, and I want you to always be ready 
 for him. When he strikes, it will more than 
 likely be in the dark and in the back. You 
 will need to act quickly, or he is sure to get 
 you. Now, that big horse pistol you have 
 there is all right for hunting elephant and 
 buffalo bulls, but for skunks it is too blamed 
 slow. Watch me closely, lad." 
 
 In the bat of an eye a small pistol suddenly 
 appeared in Cy s hand. From whence it 
 came, Hale hadn t the slightest idea in the 
 world, but there it was, and there was no 
 mistaking it. Hale just gazed at his friend 
 in unfeigned admiration, without saying a 
 word, then suddenly : 
 
54 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "Do you mean that Jake might attempt 
 to kill me in cold blood?" he asked. 
 
 Toleman laughed his merry laugh before 
 he answered. 
 
 "Jerusalem! No, lad/ he said. "He is 
 far too clever to do anything like that. He 
 will be sure that the shooting is accidental. 
 He may even attempt to only cripple you, 
 so that you would have to be sent home. 
 But this I warn you, night and day you boys 
 must go armed. You see I carry this little 
 gun in my sleeve. It s so much easier to 
 draw see?" and he snapped the little Der 
 ringer in and out with an odd twist, just as 
 if that was all he had been doing for a life 
 time. 
 
 "He d get the drop on you every single 
 time from the holster, for he is an expert 
 at that, but he doesn t know this little trick. 
 One of the old Vigilants of forty-nine taught 
 it to me, and it has saved my hide more than 
 once. I have a pair of these. You take this 
 one, and every day when we ride on ahead 
 to locate a camp and water for the night, I 
 will see you practice a bit. It is dead easy 
 when you know how. 
 
 "Now, don t worry about him. He won t 
 
A MIDNIGHT KIDNAPING 55 
 
 attempt any play for days, because he has 
 to make good with your uncle first and win 
 the confidence of these men before he has a 
 chance. Meanwhile we will watch and listen 
 and be getting ready. What s more, lad," 
 and the bronzed young trailer reined in close 
 to the boy beside him, "remember that I m 
 in on this game too, and he will have to beat 
 us both to win. I ve got a weather eye that 
 never sleeps leastways not when my pard s 
 in danger." 
 
 Hale put out his hand and looked into the 
 kindly face of the sun-tanned scout. His 
 heart swelled in spite of himself, and all he 
 could say just then was, "Thanks, Cy." But 
 from that hour on he felt safe even in the 
 presence of Jake when Cy Toleman was 
 around. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 
 
 THE first day s adventures taught us all 
 many things, so that by the third day 
 things were working in a much more sys 
 tematic manner. All the teams kept near 
 to each other now, so as not to leave a 
 weaker, or perchance disabled, team in the 
 lurch. Our stock was guarded each night 
 by relays of the drivers, some driver being 
 on duty at each side of the herd all night. 
 Each watch was two hours long. In order 
 not to work a serious hardship on any one, 
 all took their turn, save the cook and myself. 
 So as to avoid my position being misunder 
 stood by the drivers, or from being looked 
 upon as a favorite because of my ill health, 
 I purposely volunteered to help the cook do 
 up his pans. This greatly pleased Bill, for 
 it was a back-breaking job for a fat man, 
 at best, and we soon became quite chummy. 
 Often, as I toiled over his greasy pots and 
 kettles, or scrubbed away at his fry pans, 
 
 56 
 
SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 57 
 
 he would chat with me, and I soon learned 
 that he was very shrewd, and at times a true 
 philosopher. Incidentally, I gathered from 
 his talk that he greatly distrusted Jake Hen 
 derson and that he was also watching him 
 very closely, for Jake had sworn vengeance 
 on the cook already, for his part in the 
 kidnaping. I decided to tell Bill briefly of 
 Jake s quarrel with my uncle, so that in a 
 way he might understand just our position. 
 I lived to be truly thankful that I had taken 
 him into my confidence, and never once did 
 he betray me. 
 
 The third day out our appetites came into 
 their own, and we nearly ate poor Bill out 
 of house and home. It seemed we could not 
 get enough. He declared in deep disgust 
 that he made a thousand flapjacks every 
 morning, and that when it came to hot 
 biscuits and syrup, he had to start two days 
 ahead of time to get enough cooked for one 
 meal. However, each day saw things work 
 ing a little better, and although we were not 
 making race-horse speed by any means, we 
 were fast leaving the Missouri hills behind, 
 and in due time pulled into Hiawatha, 
 Kansas. This was the last real bit of civili- 
 
58 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 zation that we saw. All the rest was typi 
 cally Western and new. The summer had 
 been a very dry one on all the Western 
 plains, and the flat endless prairies were 
 parched and dusty dry, often resembling a 
 huge desert, except for the meager fringes 
 of green along the water courses. We were 
 in constant terror of prairie fires, and twice 
 narrowly escaped them; once a heavy rain 
 saved our train from destruction, and the 
 other time Toleman saved us by racing into 
 camp, setting a back-fire, and then retreat 
 ing into the burned area before the big fire 
 reached us. It seemed to me that the odor 
 of burning grass clung to everything about 
 the train for days. Cy told us that the 
 prairie fires were a favorite means used by 
 the Pawnees to stampede stock and horses, 
 but so far we had seen no signs of Indians. 
 
 The heat of the sun was so intense that 
 the distant hills seemed to fairly quiver. The 
 iron tires and wagon hardware were blister 
 ing to the touch, while the southwest wind 
 blew over us like a blast from a heated fur 
 nace. So intense was the heat at midday 
 that the oxen soon began to show it badly. 
 They would pant, loll out their tongues, and 
 
SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 59 
 
 refuse to pull, very often lying down in their 
 yokes. This tried the patience of every 
 teamster to the breaking point. Often, at 
 Cy s suggestion, we traveled only in the 
 early morning and into the long twilight, 
 resting through the heat of the day, then 
 sometimes traveling by night again, when 
 the moon gave enough light. Cy and Hale 
 were always off bright and early each morn 
 ing, in search of water holes and shade, both 
 of which seemed to be growing rapidly 
 scarcer. Many times they did not return 
 all day long, but I always knew that their 
 hours were not being wasted, and often im 
 agined I saw them practicing with the little 
 derringers to see who could get the drop 
 first. 
 
 As the good water holes became scarcer 
 the hungry prairie wolves became more 
 plentiful. Many nights they surrounded our 
 entire circle of wagons. Twice Toleman 
 just averted a stampede among our cattle 
 and oxen, which often became excited over 
 the fierce yelping about them. Sometimes 
 the wolves became so bold that they would 
 come right in among us as we slept, hunting 
 for discarded scraps from our evening meal, 
 
60 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 often frightening us badly. If any one 
 stirred, the green eyes would silently slink 
 away to a safe distance. Sometimes the 
 peaceful night would be shattered by a series 
 of piercing howls; then every driver would 
 reach for his gun and swear vengeance. 
 
 One of these very hot days was just end 
 ing, and we were harnessing for a night 
 march, when one of our best and strongest 
 oxen lay down in her yoke and refused to 
 rise. Apparently, she was sick from the 
 heat. In order that the train might not be 
 delayed, my uncle asked Hale to stay by her 
 for a few hours, to let her rest, and then in 
 the cool of the evening to drive her on. He 
 had his pony, and could easily overtake us 
 before we should camp. 
 
 Hale gladly dropped out, but took the 
 precaution to take a generous supply of 
 ammunition with him, and his rifle. As night 
 came on the old ox grew weaker instead of 
 stronger, until Hale realized it would never 
 walk again. Yet he disliked leaving the 
 poor helpless thing to the savage fangs of 
 the wolf pack. Several times the idea came 
 to him to shoot the critter and ride back. But 
 the old ox seemed to fully realize its situa- 
 
SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 61 
 
 tion, and watched the boy s every move with 
 an almost pleading look not to be left alone 
 on the desert. "You have pulled a heavy 
 load these many days, and I won t forsake 
 you," cried the boy. "Let the pack come; 
 we ll give them plenty of hot medicine." 
 
 Soon after dark the wolves seemed to 
 realize they were about to have a feast, and 
 so came early in anticipation. First there 
 were only a dozen, and then twenty, and by 
 the time it was really dusk, Hale could see 
 a solid circle of dark bodies about him, all 
 seated on their haunches expectantly. Sev 
 eral times he shot into them just to see the 
 black forms scamper and to hear them yelp, 
 but soon he decided this was a foolish waste 
 of ammunition, and that from indications he 
 was liable to need every shell he had before 
 morning. He tied his pony to a stout clump 
 of Spanish bayonet, and then settled down 
 for what he soon realized was to be an all- 
 night vigil. The howls grew more frequent 
 now, and took on a fiercer note of impatience, 
 as much as to say, "What is one puny boy, 
 that he should keep a wolf pack from its 
 legitimate prey!" Soon the howling and 
 circle of firelike eyes became monotonous, 
 
62 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 and Hale lay down a bit by the old sick ox. 
 Three times he did this, and the third time 
 the wolves, emboldened by the stillness, 
 sneaked up close and broke out in piercing 
 yelps, only to instantly vanish when he would 
 again move about. 
 
 So the long night wore slowly on. Never 
 before had Hale been so lonesome or so far 
 away from protection. He laughed a grim 
 little laugh as he thought what his dear 
 mother would think if she knew just where 
 he was at that hour completely surrounded 
 by a pack of blood-thirsty wolves, on a bleak 
 and barren plain, miles from anywhere. Yet 
 he was not afraid. He deliberately counted 
 his ammunition. He had eleven charges for 
 his rifle and nine for his pistol, that was all. 
 He was sorry now that he had wasted a good 
 half dozen shots just at dusk, for in case 
 the pack should charge, he must make every 
 single shot a fatal one, and he was sure he 
 could do just that thing at such close range. 
 
 The preceding days had been very strenu 
 ous ones, and Hale was tired out. His head 
 would nod now, in spite of himself, and 
 twice toward midnight he fell asleep for just 
 a moment. The last time he slept a long 
 
SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 63 
 
 time, when suddenly he felt the old ox make 
 a violent lurch. He jumped to his feet, rifle 
 in hand, for not fifty feet away from him 
 was the circle of green eyes, with one pair 
 slightly in advance of all the others. As he 
 got to his feet, they howled a blood-curdling 
 howl and sprang forward. Deliberately 
 Hale took aim and shot. The foremost wolf 
 toppled over, but almost instantly another 
 was in its place. He shot again and again, 
 now each shot laying low a leader, but there 
 was no stopping them now, for they had 
 smelled blood. Why hadn t he been thought 
 ful enough to gather a pile of buffalo chips 
 before dark and build him a fire ? He knew 
 full well there was ample protection behind 
 such a fire, even from a hungry wolf pack. 
 Cy had often told him so. 
 
 He realized that his situation was rapidly 
 growing desperate, for while he was picking 
 off a leader in front of him, another would 
 nearly reach him. Of course it was the ox 
 meat they were after, but how was he to 
 separate himself from the ox so that he 
 would not actually share in the carnage? 
 That was what bothered him most. His 
 shots were now reduced to two shells for 
 
64 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 his rifle and three for his pistol. They were 
 all that stood between him and certain death. 
 It was then for the first time in several hours 
 that he thought of his pony, and turned to 
 it as a possible escape, but to his amazement 
 he could not distinguish him in the dark. 
 He worked his way over to the shrub where 
 he had tied the animal, but even that was 
 gone pulled out by the roots. His pony 
 had bolted while he slept ! 
 
 Fortunately for Hale, that was just what 
 had happened ; and it was his riderless pony 
 racing into camp an hour later that probably 
 saved his life. In a secondlmy uncle, mounted 
 on his wiry mule, and Toleman on his wild 
 Western mustang, were racing over back 
 tracks to where the ox and Hale had been 
 left. From time to time they heard shots, 
 and Toleman only too well knew what sort 
 of a drama was going on yonder in the 
 desert blackness. 
 
 "Hope the boy doesn t shoot away all his 
 ammunition before we get there," he 
 breathed, as he urged his horse on faster. 
 "Shooting wolves on these prairies is like 
 trying to exterminate mosquitoes. When 
 you get done with a killing there are more 
 
SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 65 
 
 present than before you begun. I low as 
 how that ox has died and those blood-thirsty 
 scavengers are bound to have fresh meat 
 before morning. I hope he built a fire." 
 
 "Likely he did not," muttered the Captain, 
 "for he only expected to stay a couple of 
 hours. I wonder why he did not leave at 
 dark." 
 
 "The lad would not leave the old ox if she 
 was still alive, and I m thinking that he 
 probably dozed off to sleep," said Cy, "or 
 else his horse would never have gotten away 
 from him. The boy is a bit soft yet, and 
 was so tired all day that he could hardly 
 keep in his saddle." 
 
 The Captain hurried his mule on with re 
 newed vigor, as he muttered bitterly, "I 
 ought to have known better than to send 
 that lad on such an errand. If anything 
 happens to him on this trip, I can never 
 again face his mother." 
 
 "He ain t dead yet, by a jugful !" cheerily 
 called Cy. "There, hear that shot? He is 
 busy picking off the leaders, one at a time, 
 as they get into close range. I ve done the 
 same thing many a time. In ten minutes 
 we ll be alongside." 
 
66 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Ping! sang a rifle bullet just to their right. 
 Suddenly Toleman pulled his pistol and fired 
 three shots in rapid succession it was the 
 agreed signal between him and Hale. Three 
 minutes later the two men dashed into the 
 circle of yelping, howling wolves, and found 
 Hale, a very much excited boy, standing 
 erect on the rump of the big ox, his rifle at 
 his feet and his pistol in his right hand. He 
 was making his last stand. 
 
 "Jerusalem !" called Toleman, as he slid 
 from his lathered, heaving horse. "What 
 you up to, lad? Where is your fire?" 
 
 Hale was never so glad to see human 
 forms, or hear voices, before, for he had 
 been certain, less than a quarter of an hour 
 before that his part in the gold expedition 
 was about over. 
 
 "Eleven scalps isn t so bad for a tender 
 foot/ said Toleman, as he dragged the dead 
 wolves in, one at a time, to the side of the 
 old ox. The circle had withdrawn a bit to 
 see what this new interference with their 
 midnight meal meant, before charging in 
 upon it again. 
 
 "Quick! Let s get out of here!" called 
 Toleman. "Climb on behind, lad, and let s 
 
SURROUNDED BY WOLVES 67 
 
 let em have that meat. They will forget 
 all about us in a few moments/ 
 
 They reached camp about three in the 
 morning, and from that time on I observed 
 that most of the drivers treated Hale with 
 more respect than had been their habit, while 
 Cy never lost an opportunity to comment 
 upon what was bound to happen to any 
 animal, wild or human, that insisted on 
 picking a scrap with a cocky little game bird 
 like Hale. Of course the real significance 
 of such remarks was always lost on all save 
 Sikes, but to Bill they were moments of pure 
 delight, to be chuckled over all the next day. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 OUR FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS 
 
 TO say the least, our progress was dis 
 couraging. So much so that secretly 
 some of us began to doubt a bit if we would 
 ever really see the Rockies at all. The ter 
 rific heat continued without a break, and 
 every day the wagon seemed heavier. We 
 were averaging but a mile an hour. It was 
 little wonder, then, that it was two long 
 weeks before we reached the Big Blue River 
 at Marysville. This was a small settlement 
 on the very edge of civilization, situated on 
 the main branch of the old Oregon Trail 
 which starts due north at Westport, Mis 
 souri, and then passes Fort Leavenworth. 
 As I remember it, it consisted mostly of a 
 disorderly cluster of saloons, a few little 
 stores, and a number of raw ranches. 
 
 The inhabitants had a very bad reputa 
 tion ; in fact, were supposed to be mostly out 
 laws, blacklegs, and stock thieves. Conse 
 quently, we kept very close watch on our 
 68 
 
FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS 69 
 
 train night and day, and even detoured con 
 siderably to keep from camping too near to 
 them. Even with this precaution we came 
 near having serious trouble. One of our 
 drivers, unfortunately, met old friends here, 
 and they succeeded in persuading him that 
 he was on a wild goose chase, and to go 
 no further with us. So we found ourselves 
 again fortunate in having the extra man 
 that Toleman had brought from Saint Joe 
 supposedly to take the place of the driver 
 on Number Six. 
 
 That evening, much against my uncle s 
 wishes, a half dozen of the Missourians 
 walked into the village to celebrate, and as 
 a result of drinking too much "40 rod" we 
 were compelled to start on the morrow short 
 two more drivers. It at once became neces 
 sary for Jake to drive a team, which circum 
 stance greatly pleased him, for it made him 
 just that much more indispensable to my 
 uncle. I offered to drive the other wagon, 
 as I was fast becoming strong and vigorous 
 with the fresh air, strenuous work, and 
 simple fare, so that we were not so badly 
 handicapped after all. 
 
 Our course now, as we supposed, lay for 
 
70 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 several days along the bank of the Little 
 Blue leading directly to Fort Kearney on 
 the Platte. Time after time we were com 
 pelled to make great circling detours to avoid 
 the deep, sandy washes that were every 
 where. Invariably we had to come back 
 to the river for our camp at night. Upon 
 one such occasion we were compelled to 
 make a forced march of at least twenty miles, 
 taking us all day and most of the following 
 night to find water. This trip nearly ex 
 hausted our strength and brought forth 
 much grumbling from the men. It was very 
 evident that our whole train was fast getting 
 worn and weary. Many of the oxen had 
 developed sore feet, and many of the cattle 
 had an infection of the eyes, no doubt due 
 to the dry heat and the flies. Every man 
 had lost his appetite, because of the ever 
 lasting sameness of the menu and the bitter 
 water that we were compelled to drink. 
 Cheek bones were fast beginning to show, 
 and faded, ragged clothes to hang more 
 loosely on the sun-browned, drooping 
 figures. 
 
 What, then, was our joy when one day 
 Toleman and Hale, while scouting for water 
 
FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS 71 
 
 holes, sighted a lone buffalo wandering in 
 solitude over the plains. They took up the 
 chase, and after an hour s racing in the 
 broiling sun succeeded in killing the great 
 brute. It was now Bill Sikes s turn to be 
 come popular. Accordingly, he whetted his 
 knives and strode forth to butcher the 
 carcass, at which job he proved to be an 
 artist. The animal was old and tough, but 
 notwithstanding that, the tongue and tender 
 loins were relished greatly, after having 
 dined on salt side and beans for three solid 
 weeks. 
 
 "The best part of this little party," com 
 mented Toleman, "is that this old fellow is 
 just an indication that we ll soon be where 
 they are so thick you can t see the end of 
 the herd; and then, boys, we ll have buffalo 
 veal and porterhouse steaks three times a 
 day. We ll make it a real celebration, for 
 there will be regular seas of them restless, 
 brown seas of humped, shaggy backs and 
 fiercely tossing heads. They will give us 
 plenty of excitement you may be sure, for 
 with them there will be deer, antelope, great 
 flocks of geese, and now and then a flock of 
 brown turkeys." 
 
72 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "And perhaps a bear or two," suggested 
 Hale in mock earnestness. 
 
 "O yes," laughed Cy. "No fooling, fioys. 
 We are liable to scare up a grizzly any day 
 now, for they are as fond of fresh buffalo 
 as the rest of us." 
 
 We were destined to have another excite 
 ment first, however, for early the very next 
 morning Toleman declared he saw horsemen 
 to the West, and strongly suspected that 
 they were Indians, although it would be at 
 least a week before we would be into the 
 regular Sioux country. Accordingly, he 
 and Hale rode off, their rifles across their 
 saddles, to "read the prairies," as Cy called 
 it. Before starting, however, Toleman told 
 my uncle to keep the train in close formation, 
 and warned every driver under no circum 
 stances to shoot. Such hideous tales of 
 Indian atrocities had filtered back to Mis 
 souri by returning prospectors and hunters 
 that every Missourian felt duty bound to 
 shoot every Indian that in any way crossed 
 his path. No doubt this very ignorant preju 
 dice was the direct cause of many bloody 
 battles in the years of 60 to 65 that could 
 just as easily have been avoided if every 
 
FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS 73 
 
 train had been under the careful supervision 
 of a master plainsman like Cy Toleman. 
 
 In an hour the scouts returned, very much 
 excited, and reported a big band of Pawnees 
 in full war paint, evidently scouting the 
 plains for some lost trail. Cy was of the 
 opinion, however, that this was simply a 
 blind to give them time to look us over and 
 see what we were going to do. 
 
 "The Pawnees and Sioux are hated 
 enemies," explained Cy, "and there are none 
 of the redskins that are so treacherous as 
 the Sioux." 
 
 They circled nearer and nearer, staying 
 well together, and finally the tawny chief, 
 with his sable braids falling each side of his 
 painted face, gay in the headdress of dyed 
 eagle plumes, his buckskin shirt jeweled with 
 blue beads and elks teeth, advanced with his 
 hands extended. Cy rode forth likewise, 
 and parleyed with him. After a time the 
 chief rode back to his band, and we saw no 
 more of them that day. We were thoroughly 
 thankful, for we had troubles enough of our 
 own. The waters of the Little Blue were 
 gradually growing less and less. Just about 
 noon we came to the very last stagnant pools. 
 
74 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 I well remember that these were so full of 
 frogs and snakes that the men refused to 
 drink at all. The thirsty cattle did not seem 
 to mind, and paid no attention to the count 
 less tadpoles or the thick brown scum that 
 clung to the edge of every pool. We took 
 several pails of it, set them in one of the 
 wagons to settle, and at supper that night 
 boiled it, skimmed off the top, and made 
 strong coffee from it. The odor of mud 
 clung tenaciously, however, and made most 
 of us sick. 
 
 Our situation suddenly became very seri 
 ous, for with bands of prowling Pawnees 
 on one hand and no water on the other, we 
 were in danger of total extermination. We 
 finally held a council of war, but it resulted 
 in nothing constructive. Several of the 
 drivers were sick, and made no bones about 
 grumbling, suggesting that if we had had a 
 real guide, instead of a loquacious happy- 
 go-lucky cow puncher, we would be farther 
 along than we were, and in better condition ; 
 just as if poor Cy, or any other man, was 
 able to make poor trails into roads or heavy 
 loads light by a change in disposition. 
 
 I at once recognized the origin of the 
 
FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS 75 
 
 trouble. Jake had begun his fiendish work 
 of sowing seed of rebellion, discontent, and 
 discord. I thought I would mention my 
 suspicion to my uncle, but on second thought 
 I decided not to, as he had grown tired of 
 the petty complaints and just a bit touchy 
 on all points relative to Jake. I thought 
 sometimes during those trying days of dis 
 couragement that he was just a bit disap 
 pointed himself in Cy, for we had struck 
 such bad country and practically no roads 
 at all for days. I talked with Sikes about it, 
 and was not surprised to find that he had 
 the answer, as he most always did. 
 
 "Don t you for a second blame Cy/ he 
 said with some feeling. "If it wasn t for 
 him we would, like as not, be dying right 
 now in some old dry sump-hole, everlast 
 ingly lost. You remember Cy urged and 
 advised the longer, safer route from Fort 
 Leavenworth to the Platte, but the Captain 
 was anxious to save the extra week of time, 
 so took the short cut, and here we are. In 
 a wet season this route wouldn t be so bad, 
 for there would be both grass and water. 
 But it s a dry season, and we must take our 
 medicine. It s that scoundrel Jake that is 
 
76 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 causin this discontent, and not heat, poor 
 water, nor bad roads. Sir, I m dead cock 
 sure of it." 
 
 Cy was not altogether unaware of this 
 feeling toward him, but, true scout that he 
 was, held his peace while hour after hour, 
 with Hale close at his side, they scoured the 
 country for water and the trail that led to 
 the Fort. They too carried water bags tied 
 to their saddles, scanned the prairie closely, 
 but said very little. 
 
 That night, for the first time, we camped 
 absolutely dry, and the discontent was much 
 more apparent, for every man wanted water, 
 and wanted it badly. At the fire the talk 
 became openly rebellious, and I began to 
 fear trouble. My uncle said very little, and 
 I noted that before dark Cy and Hale re- 
 saddled their horses. I felt uneasy in spite 
 of myself, but could do absolutely nothing 
 but wait, and keep my eye on Jake. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 AVERTING A MUTINY 
 
 IT had been dark an hour when my uncle, 
 with no apparent destination, picked up 
 his rifle and left the fire to walk alone in the 
 darkness. Unfortunately, it gave Jake just 
 the opportunity that he had been craving, 
 and with a triumphant leer and a knowing 
 wink or two at Keats, the driver of Number 
 Six, he began to lead up to the subject of a 
 revolt, getting two men to do most of the 
 talking and merely assenting to their 
 opinions himself. 
 
 Toleman and Hale had left early in one 
 last effort to run down a faint trail Cy had 
 discovered just before supper, so that Bill 
 and I were the only two left, and were, of 
 course, in a decided minority. I believe now 
 that Jake realized perfectly, from studying 
 his crude road map, just about where we 
 were, and knew that it was just a matter of 
 a few days until we should come to Fort 
 Kearney. He also knew that at this point 
 77 
 
78 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 we would strike the main route from the 
 States to the mountains and California. 
 Right now was his time to act if he was 
 to succeed at all in breaking up our train. 
 He full well knew that at the junction we 
 would find many other wagon trains going 
 both East and West, and that if he could 
 stir up enough discontent, many, or perhaps 
 all, of our men would turn back to the East, 
 while, if worst came to worst, he would have 
 no trouble in joining himself to some other 
 Westbound train as a mechanic. Victory 
 was at last within his grasp, and it was 
 worth all he had gone through to have his 
 way at last. He was certain that by careful 
 manipulating he could disrupt our party be 
 fore another night. It was evident that at 
 least half of the drivers were solid on his 
 side, while three others were yet on the fence. 
 I could not understand why my uncle did not 
 deal more harshly with them all, but it was 
 evident that he too had lost spirit. 
 
 "I wouldn t go through another four 
 weeks like this for all the gold in Colorado/ 
 complained one. (I noted it was Keats who 
 was speaking.) 
 
 "Nor I, for all that s in California added 
 
AVERTING A MUTINY 79 
 
 to it," growled another. "It s me for old 
 Missouri just as soon as we hit the main 
 road, if I have to walk all the way back." 
 
 "O bah !" I cried, unable to hold my tongue 
 any longer. "Some of you would sell your 
 soul for seventy-five dollars, so what is the 
 use of your talking about what you would 
 do for all the gold in Colorado? I wouldn t 
 trust many of you with even a baby s bank 
 of pennies." 
 
 Perhaps it was very unwise for me to let 
 them know that we had all the facts of the 
 powder deal with Jake, but at any rate it 
 made me feel better. Keats glared at me 
 sullenly, and talked on to the man next him 
 in an undertone, saying: 
 
 "This is our chance, men. Let s take 
 things into our own hands. It s life or death 
 with me now, for I don t believe Cy Tole- 
 man has any idea where he is going." 
 
 "I m getting heartily tired of salt side and 
 sinkers, too," whined Jake. "Why can t we 
 have more food? That commissary wagon 
 is full of better grub that is being saved 
 until after the Captain is through with us. 
 Gents, I move we petition the Cap for more 
 and better rations anything we want, in 
 
80 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 fact, and if he refuses, we ll help ourselves 
 for once. What do you say? I told you 
 before we started that we wouldn t get a half 
 dozen square meals all the way out." 
 
 The next thing I knew, Bill Sikes raised 
 his huge bulk to his feet, his hands twitching 
 nervously the while, as if anxious to be at 
 some imaginary enemy. Instead of his 
 usual flow of piercing sarcastic invective, he 
 simply laughed. It was not a merry laugh 
 to hear, but it was a laugh, and it did the 
 trick nicely. 
 
 "Yew Yorkshire razor-backs," he cried, 
 "eat! eat! Why, dad burn your copper 
 hides, yew ain t cleaned up the grub that has 
 been set before yew for more than a week 
 past. Eat! Why, yew pack of whining, 
 belly-aching coyotes, why don t yew mutiny? 
 I dare yew ! Why, there ain t a man among 
 yew that can boil water. Every one of yew 
 would starve in a week with all the raw 
 provisions in creation piled up in your camp. 
 
 "Why, a drove of common Missouri mules 
 has more gray matter than yew. Yew sit 
 around here in the sun all day like a lot of 
 pet snakes, expecting Providence to take 
 yew to Colorado, and letting that skinny 
 
AVERTING A MUTINY 81 
 
 little yap over yonder do all your thinking 
 for yew. I d just about as leave live with a 
 pack of polecats as to associate much longer 
 with a pack of hounds that lick their mas 
 ter s hands when he s a lookin 5 and then 
 whine and bite when he s gone." Then, 
 turning to Jake, he shouted almost fiercely: 
 
 "Jake Henderson, yew are hungry, be 
 yew? Well, derned if I don t feed yew. Do 
 yew hear me? I m going to feed yew till 
 you re full. Clayton, go fetch me that four- 
 quart crock of prunes and one of them warm 
 Johnny cakes. Boys, he s got to eat. What 
 do yew say? Eat till he s plumb full for 
 once full; do yew hear me?" 
 
 Bill s suggestion struck just the right chord 
 with the drivers, for they were yearning for 
 a bit of relaxation and excitement of some 
 kind to break the dead monotony of oxen 
 and wagons and hot, sun-baked prairies. 
 Jake insisted that he could not eat prunes, 
 that his stomach resented their flavor. But 
 Bill was obdurate. Prunes it was to be. So 
 I brought the great crock, set it on the 
 ground, and put a huge new Johnny cake 
 beside it, then waited to see the fun. 
 
 "Wish I knew where the Captain kept his 
 
82 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 castor oil," observed Bill. "I d fix em so 
 they wouldn t hurt yew none, Jake." 
 
 Jake made a break for liberty, but two of 
 the younger drivers captured him and 
 promptly brought him back. They did not 
 mean to be cheated out of their fun like that. 
 Jake was compelled to sit in the circle, the 
 prune crock between his legs, a hunk of corn 
 bread in one hand and a tin soup-spoon in 
 the other, and then eat. 
 
 Several times he tried to pass the matter 
 off as a joke, and explain to Bill that he was 
 not complaining any of his cooking, but 
 merely of the variety of the food. Twice he 
 attempted to rise after having eaten con 
 siderable of the sauce and corn bread, but 
 both times Bill brought him back to his seat 
 with the order to "Eat! Eat! you skinny 
 little runt ! Prunes will put meat onto your 
 spare ribs." 
 
 Jake at last exploded, and cursed Bill as 
 only Jake Henderson could. But Bill only 
 laughed, and then, quietly, without a bit of 
 stir, he produced a little pistol from some 
 where no one was at all certain from just 
 where and pointing it straight at the cring 
 ing form of Jake, he thundered: 
 
AVERTING A MUTINY 83 
 
 "Eat every last prune! Do yew hear me? 
 I m goin to feed yew well for once, even if 
 prunes are a mighty big luxury out here in 
 this God-forsaken country." 
 
 Jake raged and swore till his little 
 weazened face was scarlet, while the prune 
 juice trickled down through his dirty 
 whiskers in rivulets. 
 
 "I ll kill you for this!" raged Jake. "I 
 warn you now, Bill Sikes, you are a dead 
 
 man." 
 
 Everybody laughed, till I thought some 
 of them would burst, all save the driver of 
 Number Six, and he sat with disgust on 
 every feature. I knew full well he was a 
 coward, or he would have championed Jake s 
 cause there and then. 
 
 Jake was just finishing the last drop of 
 juice when suddenly there came a wild 
 clatter of hoofs, and Toleman, with Hale 
 at his side, dashed into camp, a bag of cold 
 water hanging to each saddle horn. 
 
 "Drink, gents," he said, cheerfully. "It s 
 really the first wet water I ve had for a week. 
 It s as clear as crystal, and what s more, 
 there is oceans of it. To-morrow we hit the 
 main route of the Oregon Trail and the 
 
84 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Platte, and we have saved at least six days 
 by our cut-off/ 
 
 Every man again became human, and 
 began to chat as they had weeks before. 
 Some were even joyous as they drank deeply 
 from the bag. Jake declined to drink, and I, 
 for one, did not wonder at it, for just where 
 a little man like Jake could have put that 
 crock of prunes I did not know. 
 
 "Hurray for the mighty Platte!" shouted 
 first one, and then they all joined, save 
 Keats. The second hour of danger was 
 past ! Jake had lost again. There would be 
 no mutiny, and Cy was a royal good fellow 
 after all. Six days ahead of schedule, and 
 that meant gold. Jake just scowled, and I 
 full well knew that already he was planning 
 his revenge. Bill had broken the camel s 
 back, so to speak, and I was sure that his 
 doom must be sealed, and yet I felt sure Bill 
 would be able to take care of himself. 
 
 Before daylight the next morning all the 
 oxen were yoked and hitched. We began a 
 second forced march to water, only this time 
 we knew for a certainty that it was actually 
 there, and it helped mightily. The sun rose 
 early, and seemed determined to thwart our 
 
AVERTING A MUTINY 85 
 
 plan if possible. I m sure it was a hundred 
 in the sun, and not a sign of shade or a bit 
 of air. We ignored, for the time being, our 
 rule of close formation, and let the strong 
 teams go ahead. Consequently, long before 
 noon the teams were badly separated, and 
 every driver just unhitched where he was, 
 to let the oxen browse and rest. Hale rode 
 on the one side of the long line back and 
 forth continually, while Toleman rode the 
 other side, keeping a sharp lookout for 
 Indians, while my uncle went on ahead to 
 locate the best camp spot he could find along 
 the river. It was fully three miles from the 
 lead wagon to our last ox team, yet we felt 
 safe, being so near to the Fort. Toward 
 the middle of the afternoon my uncle reap 
 peared, and I knew from the way he rode 
 that he had been successful in finding a good 
 spot. 
 
 "I saw the stars and stripes," he cried. 
 "We have reached Fort Kearney." 
 
 "Thank God !" I answered. 
 
 The word was passed on down the line 
 to every teamster, and it certainly was like 
 food to the famishing. Even the oxen 
 seemed to smell water and took a new brace. 
 
86 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 We camped just beyond the Fort, on the 
 bank of the river, and every member of our 
 party fairly wallowed in the clear running 
 waters that evening. 
 
 We decided to rest here two full days, so 
 as to overhaul our wagons, rest the tired 
 oxen, and tend to our letters, for we found 
 much mail awaiting us that had come on by 
 Pony Express. It was from this mail that 
 we learned that the bank where the entire 
 balance of my uncle s funds were on deposit 
 had failed, so that our present undertaking 
 was all that stood between us and absolute 
 ruin. I remember that he just smiled a grim 
 smile, however, and said : 
 
 "Well, there is a great plenty more of the 
 stuff in the hills of Colorado, and with luck 
 and another moon we ll be digging it out." 
 
 Several of our drivers made straight for 
 the little saloon, "to wash the alkali dust out 
 of their throats/ as they explained, and were 
 soon drunk, with other goldseekers. Among 
 them, of course, were Jake and the driver of 
 Number Six. He had never been sober for 
 so long a time before in all his life, and so 
 celebrated to the limit. My uncle begged 
 them not to go, but they went in spite of him. 
 
AVERTING A MUTINY 87 
 
 As a result, the much needed repairs had to 
 wait. 
 
 My uncle was so disgusted over the delay 
 that he finally saddled his mule and went to 
 the Fort. There he found Jake entertain 
 ing a bunch of wags, all of whom were hope 
 less, and soon left the place, disgusted. He 
 had the good fortune to meet up, however, 
 with a tall Down-East Yankee, who had 
 been forced to lay over on account of a slight 
 sunstroke. He proved to be a blacksmith, 
 a humorist, and a sage, as we all discovered 
 soon after his arrival in camp, for my uncle 
 had hired him to take Jake s place for the 
 balance of the trip, and to set up our mill at 
 the other end. The break had come, and we 
 knew it would be final. We did not see Jake 
 again until we reached the gold fields, 
 although many faster trains, drawn by 
 horses and mules, passed us nearly every 
 day. From the time Jake left us, or rather, 
 we left him, there was a new spirit among 
 the drivers. We made better progress, and 
 everybody was better satisfied. Our new 
 friend, Wilson, proved to be a genius in 
 disguise, and soon we had a folding table 
 rigged to the rear of the grub wagon to eat 
 
88 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 from, a crude table and chair in my wagon 
 for my books and accounts, and a dozen 
 other little improvements about the wagons 
 and harness. 
 
 Bill and Red (for we promptly dubbed 
 him "Red," regardless of the fact that he 
 owned less than two dozen straggling hairs 
 on the back of his head) soon became fast 
 friends, and spent all their leisure time dis 
 cussing the slavery question, that was al 
 ready a live issue in the States. Bill s sym 
 pathies were strongly with the South, while 
 Red was a red-hot abolitionist, so we had 
 plenty of heated arguments and much amuse 
 ment as well. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 
 
 OUR course now lay along the south side 
 of the Platte all the way into Denver. 
 The grass was much better, and the roads, 
 being greatly traveled, were in fairly good 
 shape. The Platte valley is a broad, gravelly 
 bottom extending hundreds of miles from 
 old Fort Kearney, and is hemmed in on both 
 sides by low, rounding bluffs. From these, 
 the plains run away in endless tablelands. 
 
 A few days travel down the valley 
 brought us into the buffalo country, and we 
 began to see small herds in the distance, but 
 always too far away for chase. However, 
 we knew it would only be a matter of days 
 till we would have the fresh meat we so 
 sorely needed. It fell to Hale to actually 
 usher in the change of diet. He was riding 
 through a belt of cottonwoods and willows, 
 skirting the river one morning, in search 
 of uncle s saddle mule, when suddenly he 
 came upon a buffalo cow and a calf grazing 
 
90 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 in the bushes. He circled so as to get a shot 
 from the rear, but in so doing frightened the 
 animal to such an extent that she broke for 
 the tableland, followed by her calf. In 
 stantly he gave chase, and soon was within 
 shooting distance. His first shot went com 
 pletely wild, but the second lodged in the 
 shoulder. Suddenly the great animal 
 wheeled and charged, causing the little pony 
 to side step so quickly that Hale nearly left 
 the saddle. In "grabbing leather" he 
 dropped his rifle and had to depend entirely 
 on his pistol, which he used with good suc 
 cess, and soon both cow and calf were dead. 
 As Bill served up the sizzling hot steaks that 
 evening he commented that Jake should be 
 present to enjoy the "embellished menu/ 
 which joke all enjoyed exceedingly. 
 
 The next day we arrived at an adobe 
 ranch house, occupied by a stalwart man and 
 his young son. The masterful way the small 
 lad could handle his pinto pony and swing 
 his lariat completely captured Toleman, and 
 we could hardly get him past the ranch. 
 
 "Have you seen the big herd yet?" asked 
 the young cowboy. 
 
 "Not yet, son," replied Cy. "How far to 
 
BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 91 
 
 the first rank? I suppose the valley is full 
 of them already humps, horns, and all?" 
 
 "Sure!" said the boy, carelessly. "There 
 are about a million of them. They stampeded 
 past here a few nights ago, and it took most 
 all night for them to pass. We kept a fire 
 burning to keep them from running us down. 
 The bulls were savage, and many calves 
 were tramped to death. The wolves have 
 been feasting ever since." 
 
 "A million of them ?" I said, incredulously. 
 "That could not possibly be !" 
 
 Cy just laughed. "You ll see more buffalo 
 in a few days than you ever could imagine 
 were in the world," he said to me, with a 
 friendly wave of his big hat to the lad. 
 "That s the stuff the new West is made of, 
 Clayton. He is a thoroughbred, that lad, 
 and will be the father of a new generation." 
 
 Sure enough, the next day we passed a 
 dozen or more small herds of from twenty 
 to a hundred animals in number and found 
 every watering place muddied and dirty. 
 That evening we camped at the edge of the 
 big herd that extended some seventy-five 
 miles to the West as far as the eye could 
 reach, like a heavy growth of young spruce. 
 
92 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Of course the herd was not solid, but when 
 one bunch moved they all did. I afterward 
 learned that usually the cows and calves 
 stayed bunched pretty well to the center, 
 with a stout bodyguard of bulls completely 
 around them for protection. 
 
 "Where ever did they all come from?" I 
 asked Cy, as we sat by the fire that evening. 
 
 "O, they probably started far up in the 
 Arkansas valley in the spring, and have just 
 now hit the Platte. They come for water 
 and the grass, and then there is protection 
 in their great numbers against the vast 
 hordes of wolves that harass the cows and 
 kill the calves. When once cold weather 
 comes again, and the big herd splits up, 
 there will be thousands upon thousands of 
 whitening carcasses dotting the valley." 
 
 The first watch on the cattle that night 
 fell to Toleman and one of the drivers. They 
 came in at the end of their watch and re 
 ported that the oxen were quite uneasy and 
 that it looked much like storm, suggesting 
 to my uncle that the wagons be drawn into 
 a great circle and that the oxen and cattle 
 be corraled inside for safe keeping. The 
 Captain thought there would be no trouble, 
 
BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 93 
 
 as the buffalo herd was at least three to five 
 miles away, and so we retired for the night. 
 Hale and Red Williams were the second 
 watch, and I noted that they left the fire a 
 bit reluctantly. As it grew darker, the 
 wolves began to howl in all directions, and 
 soon the great bulls of the herd began to 
 bellow back their defiance, until the heavens 
 were fairly rent with wild pandemonium. 
 The cold chills ran up and down every man s 
 back, and it was very evident that there was 
 to be little sleep in camp that night. My 
 uncle finally grew quite uneasy, and ac 
 knowledged that he had made a big mistake 
 in not following out Cy s advice about the 
 cattle. Toleman said nothing more, but I 
 noted his pony stood saddled just the same 
 and tied to a wagon wheel near his bunk. 
 By and by uncle brought his mule and tied 
 him alongside, then we began to realize that 
 they were expecting trouble. 
 
 "A fellow would need the whole United 
 States artillery to fight that bunch of bulls," 
 observed Bill. "I, for one, wish we were 
 on the other side of this river till morning. 
 I wouldn t care to be mixed up in a stampede 
 with that herd/ 
 
94 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Finally the Captain and Toleman mounted 
 and rode out toward our stock, to see just 
 how things were going. 
 
 "They are scattering," said Cy. "We 
 better call the men out at once and round 
 up what we can and tie them fast, for if they 
 ever get into that herd of buffalo they are 
 gone. A needle in a haystack would be in 
 plain sight compared to them." 
 
 The Captain agreed, and all hands were 
 called out, but already the oxen had strayed 
 far. We succeeded in getting in less than 
 half of them. Hale and Red went farther 
 out and prepared to keep a watch, but agreed 
 to stay together as a matter of safety. Once 
 Hale was positive that two horsemen passed 
 him to the left, but could not distinguish a 
 single detail. Far away to the north he saw 
 a tiny light twinkle, but supposed it to be 
 another outfit ahead of them, and gave it 
 little further thought. 
 
 With the first gray of dawn they returned 
 to camp to snatch a bit of rest while the rest 
 of us should hunt up the strayed cattle and 
 do the harnessing. Some of the animal? had 
 gone up stream, some down, and some had 
 wandered a mile out toward the great black 
 
BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 95 
 
 herd. We found a few asleep in the tall grass 
 and bushes. Two old oxen were completely 
 mired in the quicksands, and only after 
 hours of labor under the expert direction of 
 Cy were we able to save them at all. Two 
 hours before noon all the animals had been 
 found, save two teams of our best oxen, and 
 search as we might we could not find them. 
 When Hale and Red awoke we told them 
 of our pligHt? and instantly Hale remem 
 bered that he had seen two horsemen the 
 night before, and exclaimed: "Those men 
 were cattle thieves. O, why didn t I pot 
 them when I had a chance! It never oc 
 curred to me what they were doing." 
 
 "Jake and his friends again/ suggested 
 Bill. But my uncle only laughed at him, for 
 Jake, as he supposed, had no horses, or 
 money to buy them with, either, as far as 
 that was concerned. 
 
 "It couldn t possibly have been Jake, Bill/ 
 my uncle replied, "for he is doubtless still 
 drunk at the Fort. Anyway, he is too big 
 a coward to take any chances at cattle thiev 
 ing, for they hang them in this country for 
 that offense often without a trial/ 
 
 "I m going to find those oxen if it takes 
 
96 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 till Christmas," said Toleman, starting to 
 saddle his horse. 
 
 "And I m going with you!" cried Hale, 
 "for if they were really stolen, it was my 
 fault." 
 
 Accordingly, the rest of us made a start, 
 while Toleman and Hale loaded their cart 
 ridge belts and set off on the hunt. 
 
 "Have you any gold coin, Captain?" said 
 Toleman, when he was ready to go. 
 
 "I have just fifty dollars to my name," my 
 uncle replied. "Why do you ask?" 
 
 "Better give it to me. I may need it," 
 replied Cy. "Two or three days time is 
 more valuable to us just now than those fifty 
 dollars, I judge. You see, I may get a chance 
 to buy them pesky oxen back again before 
 night. You can t tell in this country." 
 
 He winked knowingly. My uncle gave 
 him the coin, and the two set out down the 
 valley. After riding an hour or so, and 
 closely observing every track, Toleman 
 swung to the right and headed for a great 
 clump of cottonwood that stood in a draw 
 away from the river. 
 
 "There is a ranch over there, I think," he 
 said to Hale, "and it may be that our oxen 
 
BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 97 
 
 were out hunting for a night s lodging. 
 We ll just take a look anyway." So together 
 they rode up the lane leading to the corral. 
 
 "Jerusalem !" cried Cy. "There they are, 
 every mother s son of them ! and eating hay ! 
 Now, lad, let me do the talking, and you get 
 your little derringer well set up your sleeve, 
 cause I m liable to have an altercation with 
 this ranchman. If he gets gay, and I give 
 you the wink, cover him. We have got to 
 get those oxen peaceably if we can, of 
 course ; but if not that way, then some other." 
 
 Just then the rancher, seeing the riders 
 coming, put in his appearance. 
 
 "Huntin something, gents?" he asked, 
 friendly like. 
 
 "Nope already found what we were 
 hunting for," laughed Cy. "Those pesky 
 critters (indicating our oxen) smelled that 
 hay of your n some miles, pardner. I ll be 
 derned if they didn t." He eyed the old man 
 very closely. % 
 
 "You don t mean to suggest that those 
 oxen are your n, do you?" said the rancher, 
 in great surprise. Then, without a bit of 
 urging on our part, he told us all he knew. 
 
 "Two tough looking fellers brought them 
 
98 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 here last night. It was considerably after 
 dark, and they explained that they had had 
 a serious breakdown and was abandoning 
 one of their heavy wagons. Not knowing 
 what to do with the two extra teams of oxen, 
 and seeing our light and supposing it was 
 a ranch, they decided to leave them with 
 me until they returned in the spring, lowing 
 as how I d be able to make good use of them 
 if they didn t cost me anything. We made 
 a bargain, and if they never returned, the 
 critters were to belong to me. It all seemed 
 fair enough, so I agreed. The poor duffers 
 looked about worn out and near desperate." 
 
 "What did they look like?" said Cy kindly. 
 
 The old rancher began to describe them, 
 and before he was half through, I cried, 
 "Jake Henderson and Keats !" 
 
 "Exactly!" said Toleman. "But your 
 uncle will never believe it. Those two men 
 have gotten hold of horses stolen them, 
 probably, at the Fort and are hurrying to 
 the gold country, living by their wits." Then 
 turning to the rancher, he said : 
 
 "Those two scoundrels were cattle thieves, 
 and would give anything to wreck our train. 
 I tell you, good and plenty, if such business 
 
BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 99 
 
 keeps on, these danged wolves are going to 
 have a new kind of meat for supper one of 
 these nights, and I m going to feed em. We 
 are much obliged to you, sir, for caring for 
 these critters, and here is a little practical 
 appreciation." He slipped a ten-dollar gold 
 coin into the rancher s hand. "Jnst you tell 
 them gents, if they ever return, which isn t 
 at all likely, that Cy Toleman, of Cross- 
 Bar-X, is on their trail, and that he will per 
 sonally settle for this piece of business." 
 
 The old man swung wide the gate and 
 drove the oxen out. After having a cooling 
 drink from the rancher s spring, the two 
 started back to camp, driving the animals 
 before them. They reached us just at dusk, 
 and we were certainly glad to see them come, 
 for delays were maddening now, with team 
 after team passing us every day. 
 
 That night the big herd came closer than 
 before, and gave us much anxiety, for there 
 seemed to be no way to avoid them. They 
 were everywhere. They stretched away in 
 what seemed to be endless herds. We drew 
 our wagons into a great circle and herded 
 our cattle inside. They did not rest well or 
 feed good, but there seemed to be nothing 
 
ioo OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 else for us to do. We kept a close guard 
 over our train all the night, but saw nothing 
 or heard nothing save the howl of wolves 
 and the bellowing of enraged buffalo bulls. 
 
 The next day the great herd drew closer 
 to ouit line of march, and at noon we were 
 compelled to wait several hours for them 
 to get out of our way. Sometimes a small 
 herd would get frightened at one of our 
 rattling, jolting wagons, and would start on 
 a run that soon became a wild stampede, the 
 hindermost animals following those before 
 them, and in their blind fury crowding for 
 ward with such irresistible force that the 
 leaders could not stop if they would. Often 
 during the next few days the drivers, from 
 their seats, would pepper the animals with 
 bullets. Several times when we were in the 
 direct path of what appeared to be a gather 
 ing stampede, several of us would run out, 
 shouting and shooting our pistols to scare 
 the leaders. In this way we succeeded in 
 changing their course sufficiently to save our 
 train from becoming entangled. 
 
 There was only one advantage in being 
 near to the big herd. We had choice cuts 
 of fresh meat every day, and in addition 
 
BUFFALO BY THE -MILLION Voii 
 
 jerked quantities of the tenderloin for future 
 use by cutting it in strips and curing it in 
 the hot dry air of the covered wagons, where 
 it was partially protected from the dust. 
 Without a bit of exaggeration, I am certain 
 there were millions and millions of buffalo 
 in that great herd. I learned after my re 
 turn from the West that Horace Greeley, 
 while crossing the Platte valley in a stage 
 coach, just two years previous to our trip, 
 had encountered the same great herd, and 
 that he had estimated it at not less than five 
 million animals. 
 
 Three days after leaving the great herd 
 behind, we struck the main-traveled road 
 from East to West, and met many horse 
 and mule trains that were, of course, making 
 faster time than we were. We were glad 
 to see them too, for they brought news of the 
 East, and gave us a bit of new companion 
 ship, for which we were truly grateful. We 
 also began to meet the vanguard of the re 
 turning army of disappointed gold hunters. 
 Some were walking, footsore and discour 
 aged, many times apparently half starved. 
 Some were riding lone oxen perhaps the 
 very last of a once prosperous outgoing train. 
 
OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Others were riding in worn and rickety 
 wagons, drawn by starving, weary animals. 
 The stories that they told were a bit disquiet 
 ing, and anything but encouraging to a 
 party that had gone through all that we had 
 experienced. 
 
 They told us there was no gold, after all ; 
 that it was all a gigantic lie ; that provisions 
 were priceless, flour often selling for one 
 hundred dollars a barrel. The camps were 
 full of sickness, the roadway infested with 
 Indians and bandits, and that every known 
 disease was running rampant in the hills, 
 killing off thousands. Every one that had 
 not already died was preparing to start back, 
 and by spring the hills would be deserted. 
 Some said the roads into the mountains were 
 fairly strewn with the carcasses of horses 
 and oxen that had petered out along the way. 
 
 My uncle listened to them all with pity, 
 but with scorn. He had been there before. 
 He had seen this selfsame sort of men and 
 knew them thoroughly. He continually 
 reminded us that these returning ones were 
 the weaklings, the shallow, fickle men that 
 had gone out under great excitement, not 
 fully counting the cost, and often reminded 
 
BUFFALO BY THE MILLION 103 
 
 us that his information was reliable, and 
 that he would certainly find some traces of 
 the yellow gold. 
 
 The effect of all these stories on our tired 
 drivers, however, was marked, and finally 
 my uncle felt called upon to contract defi 
 nitely with each man to give him half-time 
 work for two months after our arrival, or 
 until they could get mines of their own 
 opened up and in working condition. It was 
 in these discouraging days that Red Wilson 
 proved a real boon. He would tell stories 
 by the hour, and had the wonderful faculty 
 of being able to see the funny side of every 
 thing unfortunate that happened. He helped 
 many of us keep a stiff upper lip and stay 
 hopeful when things looked awfully dark. 
 
 One evening we came up with a dilapi 
 dated old prairie schooner, to which were 
 hitched a pinto pony, a bony mule, and a 
 team of thin, worn oxen that could hardly 
 walk. On the side of the canvas tarpaulin 
 that stretched over the top was painted in 
 big, bold letters, "Pike s Peak or Bust!" 
 Red carefully chose a charred stick from the 
 fire and added just below, "Busted, by 
 Thunder !" 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 INDIANS! 
 
 THE terrible tales of Indian ravages that 
 came to us every few days now upset 
 us worst of all. We feared getting into their 
 country, for we were traveling more slowly 
 each day, and we knew not the moment when 
 we would have to go into camp indefinitely 
 while the oxen rested. Several other trains 
 had sent a man to suggest that we unite for 
 safety s sake, but my uncle declined each 
 offer. Finally, one morning, as our fore 
 most wagon reached the ^top of a gefitle 
 swell, Toleman let out a single exclamation 
 that instantly set every man of us on his 
 mettle* 
 
 "Indians !" 
 
 Sure enough, just a mile ahead of us, five 
 or six hundred Sioux were camped by the 
 river, while scores of their ponies grazed 
 on the open plain. Toleman called a brief 
 halt, and gave his orders to our men. 
 
 "Every man of you arm himself at 
 104 
 
INDIANS! 105 
 
 just as conspicuously as possible, with guns 
 and knives, and put on just as bold a face 
 as you can. If our train bespeaks fear or 
 weakness in any way, we are lost; but if 
 we appear to be strong and ready to fight, 
 they are almost certain to wish to parley and 
 to trade with us. We have made provision 
 for just this sort of a thing, and will strive 
 hard to win their friendship, but be ready 
 for anything." 
 
 We drove boldly forward, my uncle, Hale, 
 and Toleman well in the lead, on their 
 mounts, the rest of us following in close 
 formation. Soon several of their braves, 
 also armed to the teeth, came out apparently 
 to meet us, when they suddenly split into 
 two bands, circled our entire train, and 
 then rode back to their own camp. They 
 were evidently sizing us up. We were 
 near enough to count the lodges along the 
 river now, and found there were more than 
 forty. As we approached their camp we 
 were met by a drove of dirty wolf-dogs, 
 which howled and made a great fuss, many 
 of them snarling and showing their teeth. 
 There were many children, who stopped 
 their play to gaze at our big, heavy wagons. 
 
106 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Finally the chief, in gay war bonnet and 
 blanket, came out toward us with hands ex 
 tended, crying, "How-do ! how-do ! how-do !" 
 and we solemnly shook hands all round. 
 
 They wanted to trade for whisky, powder, 
 and tobacco, but we, by a little talking, were 
 able to please them with an assortment of 
 cheap beads, small sacks of sugar, and many 
 pocketknives that Cy had wisely included in 
 our outfit. They wanted to know how many 
 days away the big herd was, and we sup 
 posed they must be out on their annual hunt, 
 which proved to be the case. 
 
 We did not stop long with them, but 
 pushed on a couple of miles beyond, and then 
 camped, to show the red men that we trusted 
 them. Toleman declared that was the best 
 medicine, and we were willing to try it, 
 although I m prompted to say there was 
 little or no sleeping done in our camp that 
 night. Just as soon as supper was eaten, 
 Toleman, Hale, and my uncle selected some 
 of the best of our provisions and rode back 
 to their camp to head off any night trouble 
 that might be developing by a gift. The 
 chief received them in a very friendly man 
 ner, and insisted that all of them have a 
 
INDIANS! 107 
 
 smoke from his foul pipe, as a sign that they 
 were friendly people. 
 
 Hale was much interested in a pretty 
 young squaw who sat in the doorway of a 
 tepee, and the chief at once noticed it. In 
 an instant he began to jabber and make 
 signs for a trade. Hale was too surprised 
 to speak, but Cy just laughed and laughed, 
 finally motioning the old chief back. 
 
 "No trade, no trade," he cried. "Boy no 
 want wife yet. Need pony for long time to 
 mountains." Then, slipping some twists of 
 tobacco into the chief s hand, they bade him 
 good night, and returned to camp. 
 
 "That was a close shave, Hale," he 
 laughed "The old chief wanted to trade 
 you his daughter for your pony. That is the 
 regular price of a squaw among his people. 
 Jerusalem ! you d make a great squaw-man." 
 
 We were all happy that Cy s diplomacy 
 had saved what might easily have been a 
 bloody battle to the death for prospectors 
 to tell about. Three days later we were 
 startled, just at sunrise, by a blood-curdling 
 yell just to our left. Like a shot Toleman 
 and Hale were out of their blankets and 
 grasped their shooting irons, expectantly. 
 
io8 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "Utes!" breathed Cy. "Jerusalem! but 
 they scared me ! That is their war cry, and 
 when you hear it there is no quarter given 
 or asked usually." 
 
 Directly in front of us, on a ridge of high 
 ground, stood twelve ponies, each carrying 
 an Indian rider, and all in war paint and 
 feathers. 
 
 "They re on the warpath proper," said 
 Cy. "I hope none of our Missourians shoot. 
 You slip along from wagon to wagon and 
 tell the drivers to be ready, but not a man to 
 show his face. Our train is big, and they 
 will suppose there are many more of us than 
 there really are." Then, snatching a white 
 towel that lay nearby, and with both hands 
 held high, Cy advanced to meet them. They 
 parleyed a long while, but did not seem to 
 be satisfied. Finally Cy told them that there 
 were three hundred Sioux not two days 
 journey up the valley. They withdrew to 
 talk over this news, while Cy waited, for the 
 Sioux and the Utes were bitter enemies and 
 fought desperately to the very last, each in 
 an effort to hold supremacy over the great 
 buffalo hunting grounds of the Platte valley. 
 
 The braves dismounted and came to our 
 
INDIANS! 109 
 
 camp, examining every wagon and its con 
 tents with great curiosity and interest, until 
 they came to the big engine boiler that was 
 simply chained fast to the running gear of 
 a short wagon. 
 
 "What him?" asked the chief of the band 
 with great concern. 
 
 "Heap steam cannon! Big shoot!" an 
 swered Toleman seriously. "Him much 
 kill," he added, spreading his arms in a big 
 sweep so as to take in half of the prairie. 
 
 The chief was much impressed, and at 
 once treated us all with renewed respect. 
 We filled them full of white man s breakfast, 
 Bill fairly outdoing himself with his flap 
 jacks. My uncle presented the chief with 
 the pistol Jake had left behind, which, of 
 course, pleased the old redskin very much. 
 In a little while they rode away, after having 
 seen everything we had and having care 
 fully estimated our strength. There was no 
 doubting their interest in our stock from 
 their many glances toward them. When 
 they were safely out of hearing, my uncle 
 turned to Toleman, with his hand extended 
 in a friendly way, a happy smile on his face : 
 
 "Cy, you are a marvel of ingenuity. We 
 
I io OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 were just about man to man, and they had 
 the advantage over us of being mounted. 
 Your cannon yarn saved our hides to-day, 
 for those redskins are looking for blood, if 
 I m not mistaken. I m glad they are gone." 
 
 "But they are not gone," said Toleman, 
 much to our surprise. "They will be back 
 again soon, and stay as long as we ll feed 
 them. We must keep a sharp eye out to 
 night, for they are the slickest cattle thieves 
 in the West. They will steal your horse 
 right out from in under you and leave you 
 to walk. Hale and I had better do the guard 
 duty to-night, and we must leave the stock 
 out in the open. If they get a suggestion 
 that we are doubtful of them, or afraid in 
 the least, they will harass us for days, and 
 some one s life is bound to pay the price. 
 You and Red stay with the train, and watch 
 the off side. If they do sneak in, then shoot 
 to kill." 
 
 We camped that night just by a huge 
 prairie-dog town. Acres and acres of the 
 valley were upturned, in sandy little mounds. 
 Needless to say, the men slept in their 
 wagons that night, while the cattle were 
 taken but a little distance away to a meadow. 
 
INDIANS! in 
 
 We had an early supper, and then built a 
 rousing fire and kept on the move about it 
 all the evening, so that it would be a bit 
 difficult for an observer from the distance 
 to count just how many of us were present 
 and how many were off on guard duty. 
 Toleman and Hale, heavily armed, went out 
 to the stock and prepared for their night s 
 vigil, deciding just what they would do in 
 case of surprise. 
 
 "They don t want to fight," said Cy. 
 "They know now that we are well armed, 
 and believe that we have a big cannon ; 
 but what they do want is our stock and the 
 horses. If they bother us at all, they will 
 probably try to stampede the stock first. 
 That s the safest way for them. If that does 
 not work, they will try to steal them one 
 at a time. I ve divided the oxen from the 
 cows, and I ve half a notion to let them get 
 a part of the cows, if it conies to that or 
 fight. I d like to get all our own men safely 
 to Colorado. I don t want to shoot unless 
 I have to, for as the old saying goes, Discre 
 tion is the better part of valor. If we start 
 that sort of a thing, we will have to fight to 
 a finish, and it will be costly at best. 
 
112 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "If they try to stampede our cattle, they 
 will do it by driving a herd of their loose 
 ponies by our stock at a wild gallop, and 
 then follow closely after them with their 
 bloody war cry. Such a game often works 
 very well, especially when you don t know 
 that Indians are near you. The very next 
 day, after having driven away your best 
 stock, they will often come back to your 
 camp to be fed and to trade with you. 
 
 "I ll sleep first. Waken me instantly if 
 there is any uneasiness among the stock, or 
 if you hear any sort of an unusual sound. 
 These redmen are expert at imitating the 
 wolf, and in that way often get very close 
 to the herd before being discovered. We 
 must watch close." 
 
 Hale could but admire the man, for in a 
 moment or two, even in the very face of im 
 pending danger, Cy was peacefully sleeping. 
 Hale was lonely, and kept his every sense 
 alert for the slightest sound. But all was 
 still oppressively so. All that he could 
 hear was the oxen chewing their cuds, and 
 the occasional little cough of the Captain s 
 mule that grazed nearby. 
 
 After two or three hours sleep, Cy de- 
 
INDIANS! 113 
 
 liberately awoke, rose as if he had not been 
 asleep at all, and was instantly as alert as 
 Hale himself. He bade the boy lie down, 
 which he did, but not to sleep, as he had 
 determined. Finally he did doze off, lulled 
 to sleep by the petulant chirp of the crickets 
 and the soft-scented breeze that was astir. 
 It seemed he had slept but a few moments 
 (in reality it was hours) when Cy gently 
 wakened him and instantly placed his hand 
 over the boy s mouth, to signal silence. Then 
 he whispered in his ear : 
 
 "They are yonder, and I think they have 
 brought some reenforcements. At any rate, 
 there are at least twenty wolves out yonder. 
 Some of the oxen on the off side have lain 
 down. They will make excellent breast 
 works as long as they lie still. Don t shoot 
 till you hear me shoot, unless you are at 
 tacked and must protect yourself. They are 
 going to try to steal first. If they don t 
 succeed, they will try the stampede. If all 
 they want is a few cows, we ll let them have 
 them, for we can t be more than two hundred 
 miles from Denver now, and we can trade 
 oxen for cattle there. If I open fire, you 
 begin to drive a few oxen toward the 
 
II 4 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 wagons, and keep them behind you to guard 
 against a rear attack. Take care not to 
 lose sight of the train, or you are gone." 
 
 The two separated, each to his post, and 
 waited. Hale carefully chose his steps, and 
 in a few moments was making his way 
 among the resting oxen. Suddenly he 
 stopped short. Something was moving 
 among the oxen just to his left. He was 
 certain of it. Slowly he approached it, 
 pausing every now and then to see if he was 
 observed. It was an Indian, he was certain 
 of that, and he knew full well that much 
 depended on his wise action at this moment. 
 He was surprised how calm and steady he 
 was. Slowly, noiselessly, the shadow came 
 nearer. So still was it that he thought his 
 own eyes must be fooling him, and then his 
 heart suddenly stood still, for the savage 
 deliberately raised a huge bow and aimed at 
 him. His mind traveled far and fast in that 
 second, making a number of calculations and 
 figuring out a number of plays. He recog 
 nized, subconsciously, that he was in the 
 same state of mind that he had been that 
 day of the big game, when he had faced the 
 opposing line, realizing that the whole out- 
 
INDIANS! 115 
 
 come of the game depended on his action 
 the next ten seconds. They had won that 
 day ; would he win to-night ? His eyes were 
 riveted on the end of the big bow that 
 showed plainly against the white ox in the 
 background. There was a twang he felt 
 it rather than heard it and instinctively he 
 fell flat, just as the wicked arrow whizzed 
 by his head and lodged in the rump of an 
 ox behind him. . In a second the cattle were 
 astir. He raised his rifle, took hasty aim, 
 and fired. The figure dropped, but instantly 
 there was another, a few feet to one side. 
 He shot again, rolled over, darted under the 
 legs of the old ox that had come to her feet, 
 and waited breathlessly. 
 
 He heard Toleman fire a half dozen times 
 on the opposite side of the herd. The cattle 
 were all up now, and blowing softly through 
 their great nostrils, as if sensing the excite 
 ment. Suddenly there broke on the still night 
 air the war cry of the Utes. He knew the 
 whole band were upon them. In that same 
 instant he realized that if the stock should 
 run, he was in danger of being trampled to 
 death in the rush. 
 
 Just then he saw two savages on the outer 
 
ii6 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 edge of the herd trying to cut out a bunch 
 of the stock. He shot. There was a pierc 
 ing cry; one dropped, and the other disap 
 peared. He could hear shooting at the 
 wagon train now, and knew that they were 
 also killing savages. 
 
 Soon the cattle began to move. Hale had 
 just a moment of indecision to stay was 
 certain death, to ride, gave him a fighting 
 chance. He vaulted to the back of the big 
 ox next him, but in so doing lost his rifle. 
 He lay low on the back of the big beast as 
 she broke into an excited run. He realized 
 that all was lost unless Cy and the Captain 
 could divert the stampede and head it into 
 the spongy ground of the prairie-dog town 
 instead of onto the open plains. 
 
 For the next few moments he was kept 
 busy and alert, keeping his hold, for the oxen 
 were crowding each other badly. He had 
 the sensation of traveling in a circle, and 
 soon, to his surprise, caught a glimpse of 
 the wagon train to his extreme right, when 
 only a few moments before he was positive 
 it had been on his left. With that realiza 
 tion came great relief, for he well knew that 
 Toleman, and perhaps his uncle, were some- 
 
INDIANS! 117 
 
 where out there, making desperate efforts 
 to keep the stock together by driving them 
 in a circle. 
 
 He tried hard to guide his critter to the 
 outside of the herd by pulling desperately on 
 the left horn, but progress was very slow. 
 It seemed hours to him before the herd be 
 gan to slow down again, and then he heard 
 voices behind him. He raised his revolver 
 and fired one shot, for that was all he could 
 spare. In a moment Cy was at his side, 
 peering into the darkness. 
 
 "Is that you, boy?" he called. 
 
 "Yes," replied Hale. "I m mounted on 
 an ox and my rifle is gone. Where are the 
 Indians?" 
 
 "They have withdrawn to parley. We 
 surprised them and got at least a half dozen 
 of them. It will be daylight in thirty 
 minutes, and then we re safe. Keep to your 
 mount, and shoot anything that moves- on 
 the plain. If the stampede gets away, keep 
 to the edge and shoot your critter. I ll keep 
 my eye on you." 
 
 When daylight came, we found we had 
 lost six oxen, the Captain s mule, which had 
 been shot from under him, and one Mis- 
 
ii8 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 sourian had a nasty arrow in his ribs. There 
 was not a sign of an Indian in sight, except 
 two dead ones, which had been trampled 
 pretty badly by the cattle. They were prob 
 ably the ones that Hale had shot. We had 
 been on the road only two hours, when a 
 band of Sioux raced into our camp, inquir 
 ing if we had seen any Utes. Cy told them 
 what had happened, and in a moment they 
 were off at top speed to find the invading 
 Utes. 
 
 "That s the end of at least that band," 
 said Cy. "Let s hope we ll get into Denver 
 without another such night." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 GOLD FOR THE DIGGING! 
 
 THE loss of our oxen that had been 
 killed and stolen by the Indians handi 
 capped us very seriously, for we were com 
 pelled to double up on some of the loads and 
 abandon two wagons. But on the whole 
 we felt that we had nothing to complain 
 about, for we had gotten off miraculously 
 with our lives. From that day on the un 
 expected was always happening to us. We 
 were now in the land of the alkaline deserts, 
 sage brush, and greasewood, and of sad, 
 bleak, lonely stretches. The alkali was very 
 disagreeable, and there were such quantities 
 of it. Often our wagons would sink into 
 several inches of the white dry soda, and 
 the irritating dust would rise about us in 
 clouds, causing sore eyes and infected 
 throats, to man and beast alike. 
 
 Just imagine walking nine or ten miles 
 a day through such country, very often be 
 ing compelled to unhitch and trudge back 
 to help a less fortunate load out of a soft 
 119 
 
120 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 place, and then set guard for two hours the 
 same night over a herd of broken and dis- 
 spirited cattle. It was tiresome to the ex 
 treme, for every man had to himself walk 
 to lighten his load. 
 
 My uncle had grown ten years older, and 
 did not seem half so alert to me as when we 
 started. I noticed that he ate very little, and 
 that every morning the first thing he would 
 do was to scan the Western horizon with 
 his glasses, in hopes of sighting the mighty 
 Rockies; but morning after morning he 
 would turn away more disappointed than 
 ever. The common camp labor became 
 simply intolerably wearisome to the men, 
 and many of the ragged, gaunt drivers 
 strolled around as in a dream, talking to no 
 one and eating but little. At night the sky 
 would blacken, the lightning race across the 
 heavens, and the thunder roll in mighty 
 crescendos, just as if we were about to have 
 a second deluge, but no water came. The 
 men slept in the wagons, because it looked 
 so stormy, and one night while I was sleep 
 ing in on top of the powder the lightning 
 struck the tire of the wagon just behind me 
 and frightened me terribly. It had never 
 
GOLD FOR THE DIGGING 121 
 
 occurred to any of us up to that time what 
 would have happened to our train if the 
 lightning should strike that powder wagon. 
 You may be sure that after that the powder 
 wagon was drawn well to one side at night 
 and left unoccupied. Just two days later we 
 came upon the wretched remains of a wagon 
 train, that plainly told of a terrific explosion. 
 
 "Struck by lightning!" declared Cy. "We 
 got off easy. I could engineer a herd of 
 cattle to Alaska, but when it comes to a 
 wagon train, well, I m lost. There s too 
 many things to remember/ 
 
 Finally the showers came, and, to say the 
 least, they were refreshing. Here and there 
 pools of water gathered on the flats. At 
 first the cattle drank deep and often, then, to 
 our great horror, they began to die, until in 
 barely three days time nearly one third of 
 our remaining number were sick or dead. 
 What remained were too few to pull the 
 heavy loads. What were we to do? We 
 held a long council of war, and finally de 
 cided that we must leave six loads of the 
 heaviest machinery with a guard, while the 
 rest of us pushed on to Denver. Red Wil 
 liams and one of the other drivers consented 
 
122 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 to stay with the machinery until we could 
 send for them. So after provisioning them 
 well for a month, and selecting as good a 
 water hole as we could find, we helped them 
 rig a temporary camp ; then pushed on, leav 
 ing them a quantity of goods to trade the 
 Indians, in case they should bother again. 
 
 Still our oxen continued to die, until some 
 days we thought it doubtful if any of us 
 would ever really see Denver. Bill Sikes, 
 who had not been at all well for weeks, sud 
 denly got the idea that some one of the 
 drivers was poisoning the critters. We had 
 a driver who had been very sullen and who, 
 we remembered, had sided strongly with 
 Jake and Keats, but I was sure he was inno 
 cent of any such a crime. However, Bill 
 insisted on butchering each ox as it died, to 
 examine its entrails. He found the entire 
 inside in a high state of inflammation, and 
 declared it poison. But I knew full well it 
 was just the result of the fearfully strong 
 alkali water. 
 
 One morning, a week later, my uncle 
 called us all from our bunks in great excite 
 ment, and pointed to the Western horizon, 
 crying: 
 
GOLD FOR THE DIGGING 123 
 
 "It s the mountains, boys ! It s the moun 
 tains ! Thank God for them !" 
 
 Toleman was first to take the glasses from 
 him, and after gazing for a full minute, he 
 handed them to me, with the exclamation : 
 
 "Jerusalem! but they do delight my soul. 
 They are there all right from Long s Peak 
 on the north to Pike s Peak on the south. 
 Boys, we re back into God s country again, 
 and we ll soon be digging nuggets as big 
 as roosters eggs on Easter. Hurrah !" 
 
 We differed, however, as to whether it 
 was really the mountains we saw or just a 
 bank of clouds, but Cy s positive position on 
 the matter put backbone into every one of 
 us, and at the campfire that evening there 
 was real rejoicing. It was the first time I 
 had seen my uncle laugh for weeks, and it 
 did me good to hear him once again. 
 
 "In five days we will have deer meat," 
 promised Cy. "And in ten days we ll be in 
 paradise. All we need to do is keep a going. 
 Wish old Red could see those hills once ; but 
 it won t be long now till we ll be going back 
 to get them." 
 
 The next morning the mighty mountains 
 rose cold and silent, reaching high into the 
 
124 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 purple haze ahead of us. Some of them 
 no doubt had slept there since the world be 
 gan, buried under their canopies of snow. 
 Two hours after sunrise Cy rode into camp 
 with the carcasses of two fat young antelope. 
 The meat was a great treat to us all, and 
 was the beginning of much wild game that 
 we found everywhere plentiful. That eve 
 ning we camped on the picturesque old ruins 
 of Fort Saint Vrain, in the shelter of its 
 high, thick adobe walls. We knew full well 
 that Denver lay just beyond in the rollirg 
 hills, and we rejoiced. 
 
 Denver was at that time a typical Western 
 town of one-story log huts, tents, and crude 
 frame buildings. Everywhere were camped 
 parties like our own tired, worn, and many 
 of them sick. For instance, our train had 
 shrunk from a well-equipped, prosperous- 
 looking caravan to eight rickety, very much- 
 the-worse for-wear wagons, and as thin and 
 tired a lot of gaunt, ragged drivers as you 
 will ever see in this world. 
 
 No one paid the slightest bit of attention 
 to us, for every one was too busy with their 
 own affairs to care anything about how we 
 had fared. I saw many strange sights that 
 
GOLD FOR THE DIGGING 125 
 
 day, that I won t soon forget. For instance, 
 a Chicago banker had opened a bank in a 
 ragged tent. A baker was erecting an adobe 
 oven in which the pies and cakes for the 
 surrounding camps were to be baked. There 
 was a blacksmith shop of some kind on every 
 corner, and all were busy at repairs. Of 
 course the saloon was there too ; very crude, 
 to be sure often only a tent with a keg of 
 "40 rod" and a rough plank for a bar. There 
 were general outfitters tents, containing 
 everything a reasonable man might ask for, 
 from gold pans, picks, and overalls, down 
 to chewing tobacco, bacon, and flour. AH 
 sorts of gambling devices were run wide 
 open, and the toughs even indulged in target 
 practice with their guns right in the open 
 streets. There was no law, there were no 
 police. But such things were soon to change. 
 In many places the streets were full of 
 wagonloads of merchandise, piles of mine 
 machinery and tools, and dozens of different 
 varieties of homemade devices to aid in get 
 ting the gold from the rock. 
 
 Many people were preparing to leave soon 
 on the long return trip, sick, disgruntled, and 
 disillusioned. Others were preparing to get 
 
126 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 right into the mountains which lay nearly 
 twelve miles distant, in order to get shelters 
 up and ready for the long winter months 
 that were soon to be upon them. 
 
 We decided to rest a week, and then to 
 send four drivers and our best oxen back 
 on the plains to bring in the machinery. Of 
 course Toleman was to have charge of the 
 expedition. The rest of us were to start for 
 the bottom of the mountains, making two 
 trips to bring up the wagons we wanted, 
 and were then to camp and await the arrival 
 of the other men and teams. During this 
 rest my uncle proposed to look about care 
 fully and do some investigating of the best 
 country in which to make our initial pros 
 pects. The original agreement was now ful 
 filled with all of the drivers, but as we would 
 have to have men for some months to come, 
 and as the prospect was not nearly so golden 
 for them to work on their own hook as we 
 had all supposed it was going to be, the men 
 for the most part were anxious to stay with 
 us at a reasonable wage. 
 
 The route to the gold fields lay north to 
 Clear Creek, past the little camp of Golden, 
 the life of which had apparently been short, 
 
GOLD FOR THE DIGGING 127 
 
 then on up the canon to Mountain City. 
 The roads in places were quite passable, and 
 there was any number of grassy meadows 
 along the way, any of which offered splendid 
 places to camp. We finally chose a spot by 
 the side of a delightful stream, and prepared 
 to hunt, fish, and rest, and get into shape 
 for the heavy work that lay just ahead. The 
 first few days were consumed in a trip back 
 to Denver for clothes, needed supplies, and 
 tools ; the next few in making wagon repairs 
 and in looking over numbers of prospects 
 that were everywhere. It seemed to me that 
 every gulch was populated with prospectors, 
 most of whom were hard at work. Some 
 were washing placer gold in the stream beds. 
 Some were crushing quartz from the vari 
 ous small outcrops on the mountain and 
 treating it with quicksilver. Some few men, 
 who were more certain of their prospects, 
 had already started more elaborate diggings, 
 either in the form of tunnels in the moun 
 tainsides, or as shafts operated with crude 
 windlass and homemade buckets. Others 
 seemed to be dragging all the top dirt down 
 to the stream and washing it in the long 
 sluices through which the water ran. These 
 
128 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 sluices had cleats nailed across them every 
 few inches, the tiny obstructions serving to 
 catch the bits of gold which, being much 
 heavier than the gravel, settled to the bottom. 
 The force of the water carried the larger dirt 
 away, and at night, or more often if occasion 
 demanded it, this precious sediment was 
 carefully removed from the cleats and 
 panned out by hand. 
 
 I remember we found one outfit of Georgia 
 miners actually engaged in feverishly pan 
 ning a prairie-dog town. It was so very 
 ridiculous that we all laughed, but when the 
 excited miners noted how skeptical we were 
 of any results coming from such land, they 
 proudly produced each man his long buck 
 skin sack and tipped into the palm of his 
 hand a little heap of the yellow dust. It was 
 here I saw my first real native gold. Then 
 the gold fever rushed over me, leaving me 
 bewildered. I could hardly realize it. 
 
 "Gold! Gold!" I cried aloud. "Gold for 
 the digging!" Instantly I was possessed 
 with a consuming eagerness to be at work, 
 to get hold of a long buckskin pouch and to 
 fill it to the brim with the yellow, glittering 
 stuff. I could already imagine with what 
 
GOLD FOR THE DIGGING 129 
 
 pride I would produce my buckskin and dis 
 play its contents to every eager inquirer. 
 
 My uncle suggested after a few days that 
 Hale and I take our blankets, a few pro 
 visions, and spend the balance of our time 
 roaming over the hills into the out-of-the- 
 way gulches to see what we could see and 
 learn about the mining game, before our 
 machinery should arrive. We were glad of 
 this opportunity, so set off early the next 
 morning with no particular destination, but 
 to just find out all we could. 
 
 It was interesting to meet the different 
 kinds of men and to chat with them, for 
 there were business men from every State 
 in the Union: manufacturers, tradesmen, 
 farmers, adventurers, and thugs, all work 
 ing side by side, all clothed pretty much alike, 
 in broad-brimmed hats, blue flannel shirts, 
 corduroy pants, and high-topped boots. 
 Every individual to a man was digging as 
 if his life depended upon it. Most of them 
 seemed to be hopeful, and were digging just 
 enough small nuggets and gold dust to keep 
 their hopes high. Every man, we were told, 
 worked away as long as he had any grub, 
 or powder, or money to get more. When 
 
130 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 he was "broke," he sold his labor to ac 
 cumulate more grub; and so the game 
 went on. 
 
 In one little gulch we came upon an old 
 fellow that seemed to be alone, but he was 
 happy and friendly. We watched him work 
 his pan for a long while, and finally he 
 paused to chat with us. He must have 
 realized we were tenderfeet, from our ques 
 tions. But anyway, just before we started 
 away, he shoved his hand into his pocket and 
 pulled out a nugget as large as a big bean, 
 and solemnly handed it to Hale. 
 
 "Take it, my boy. It will bring you good 
 luck. It has me. And now I dig em up like 
 it every day. When you strike it rich, pass 
 it on to some other lad. The gods have 
 smiled on it. It s a charm." 
 
 Hale thanked him, and put it in his pocket, 
 saying, "I ll do it, sir, and that right soon, 
 I m sure. Gold for the digging! I knew it 
 was so, yet I didn t believe it." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 
 
 OUR few days wanderings over the hills 
 and gulches proved to be very valuable 
 to us long before the winter was over, for 
 it gave us an entirely new idea of things, 
 and showed us at first hand exactly what 
 sort of men and conditions we must associate 
 ourselves with. I have often thought, how 
 ever, how different our whole first year in 
 the gold fields might have turned out if it 
 had not been for our last day of sight-seeing 
 and for the unfortunate incident that I am 
 just about to relate, for it seemed that every 
 event of any consequence from that time on 
 referred back to that day s experience in 
 a most intimate way. 
 
 It happened like this: we had seen about 
 all there was to see, and, boylike, of course 
 believed that we had learned all there was 
 to learn about the mining game. So, after 
 six days of knocking about, we decided that 
 the next day we would start for our camp 
 and urge my uncle to hasten into the hills 
 
132 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 and get settled. We were just looking about 
 for a suitable spot for our night s camp, 
 having passed the last prospect, as we sup 
 posed. We were tramping far back in a 
 deep gulch, through which ran a singing 
 brook, when we came upon a crude new trail. 
 Instinctively we were anxious to see where 
 it could possibly lead to, so began to follow 
 it up. It ended abruptly in a thick clump 
 of bushes. We were much surprised, and 
 as we stood wondering where it began again, 
 we heard voices from somewhere just ahead. 
 I presume it was the unmistakable tone of 
 anger in them that caused us both to stop 
 short and look at each other. Evidently 
 there was a quarrel going on over some new 
 discovery. We advanced very cautiously 
 through the thick bushes, every step bring 
 ing us nearer to the angry miners, yet we 
 could see absolutely nothing of them, be 
 cause of the trees. I was especially attracted 
 by the loud bullying voice of one of the men, 
 and turning quickly to Hale, who was also 
 intently listening, I whispered: 
 
 "Hale, I d bet my last dollar that was Jake 
 Henderson, if I didn t know for a certainty 
 that he was somewhere back in Kansas." 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 133 
 
 "Jake!" he said in surprise. "Clayt, it 
 sounds just like him. I wonder " 
 
 I cautioned him to silence, and we stealthily 
 worked our way up stream to where we 
 could better see the men. First we came 
 to a crude cabin, that was evidently very 
 new. It stood just at the edge of a small 
 clearing, and directly in front of it, on the 
 sandy bank, stood an ingenious set of home 
 made sluices. There was a quantity of fresh 
 dirt piled to one side of them, and there stood 
 two prospectors, facing each other, one with 
 a shovel in his hand. Both men were savage 
 with rage. The one was our friend Keats, 
 of wagon Number Six, and the other, a 
 little weazened-up man, with a very leathery 
 face, a pair of tiny bright eyes and an ex 
 cellent growth of dirty whiskers. We could 
 hardly believe our eyes; but it was Jake 
 Henderson, beyond a doubt. We crouched 
 low, not knowing just what was best for 
 us to do. 
 
 "That nugget is mine!" cried Jake, curs 
 ing Keats roundly. "You agreed yourself 
 that all gold from the sluices, nuggets, dust 
 and all, should be mine for the first two 
 weeks, to pay for my building the sluices. 
 
134 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 If it hadn t been for me, you wouldn t have 
 had any sluices at all, and " 
 
 "True/ 5 cried Keats, "but this nugget 
 never reached the sluice, I tell you. I picked 
 it from the shovel before it was emptied, and 
 you can t claim it." 
 
 "But I have it already/ jeered Jake, 
 in his savage way, "and I m going to keep 
 it. You ll play fair, or I ll " 
 
 "I ll have it back, or your head," roared 
 Keats, fairly trembling. "I don t propose 
 to have a crook like you, forever telling me 
 what I can and what I can t have. I ll " 
 
 "Get it if you can !" roared Jake, shaking 
 his fist in Keats s face. This was too much 
 for the Missourian teamster. He sprang 
 forward. Out flashed Jake s gun, but in 
 backing away a step he tripped over the 
 shovel that lay at his feet and half fell. The 
 Missourian had him by the throat now, and 
 bore him to the ground, where he held him 
 fast. Placing his knee across Jake s chest 
 and one arm, he deftly reached into the 
 pocket and quickly removed the big nugget; 
 then, after wrenching the gun from Jake s 
 extended hand, he let the now furious little 
 man rise, turning disgustedly away toward 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 135 
 
 the cabin. We were about to retreat, re 
 joicing over Jake s thrashing, when in a 
 flash Jake was on his feet. Two catlike 
 springs, and he was at the back of the re 
 treating miner. Suddenly he snatched the 
 big gun from the Missourian s belt, and with 
 a snarl like a wild cat, cried : 
 
 Til kill you for that, Keats !" 
 
 Twice the big gun spoke, and the miner 
 fell forward on his face, a dead man. It all 
 happened before I could think, for I was too 
 dazed by what I had seen to act, or I would 
 have done my best to have kept Hale silent. 
 But I was too slow. 
 
 "You yellow hound!" cried my brother, 
 leaping out of the bushes. "Hands up, 
 quick ! or I ll add you to this tragedy." 
 
 Jake turned to gaze into the steady barrel 
 of Hale s pistol, and then in a cooler tone, 
 that struck me as very odd from him, excited 
 as we were, he added : 
 
 "I have a good mind to shoot you anyway, 
 Jake. Any cur that will deliberately shoot 
 a man in the back like that, without even 
 giving him a word of warning, let alone a 
 chance to fight, deserves to die." 
 
 "Don t shoot," begged Jake. "It was in 
 
136 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 self-defense. The blackguard has been try 
 ing to rob me for a week. This is the second 
 time. He was a " 
 
 "Close your trap!" snapped Hale. "I 
 heard and saw the whole miserable business, 
 and you are a plain murderer." 
 
 Then turning to me, a slight tremor in his 
 voice, he said: 
 
 "Clayton, I m so sorry. Now we are in 
 a mess. I couldn t help it. But now that 
 we re in, what shall we do? I don t want 
 this yellow dog on our hands all night, and 
 if we let him go our lives won t either of 
 them be worth a cent, for if he had half a 
 chance he d do us both just as he did poor 
 Keats." 
 
 I calmed him down a bit, and after a little 
 talk we decided to bind Jake s hands and 
 take him down the trail with us. There 
 seemed nothing else to do. Hale did the 
 tying, while I covered the rascal with both 
 our guns, telling him that if he made any 
 effort, no matter how slight, to break for 
 freedom, or that if he so much as opened 
 his mouth, I would shoot him where he 
 stood. Jake obeyed orders carefully, with 
 out further parley, yet I knew full well that 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 137 
 
 even in that moment his clever brains were 
 working to find a way out for himself. 
 
 When we found a suitable camp spot, we 
 bound Jake securely to a tree, gagged him 
 so he could not call, and prepared our simple 
 meal. However, Hale refused to feed Jake, 
 and simply allowed him a drink. We sat by 
 our fire a long time, and talked the matter 
 over, with the result that we decided to take 
 turns during the night guarding our pris 
 oner, and in the morning I was to return 
 to camp and consult my uncle as to what 
 was the wisest thing to do under the circum 
 stances. 
 
 We were both very tired from our strenu 
 ous days over the hills, and found it difficult 
 to keep our eyes open, even to keep watch 
 of a desperate criminal. It was about mid 
 night, while I was on watch, that Jake made 
 vigorous signs of wanting to talk. I care 
 fully removed the gag and let him have his 
 way. He was as meek as a lamb, and pleaded 
 for mercy, winding up with a crafty proposi 
 tion for me to free him for a cash consider 
 ation. He wanted me to untie him, and tell 
 Hale that he had escaped while I slept. Or, 
 if that was not agreeable, he was willing to 
 
138 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 buy his freedom, offering us his cabin, placer 
 claim, and two thousand dollars in gold coin 
 to boot, explaining that, after all, the affair 
 was none of ours, that Keats was our sworn 
 enemy for leaving him drunk at the Fort, 
 and that, besides, it would be very unpleas 
 ant and expensive for us to attempt to prose 
 cute him in a country where there was no 
 law save national law. 
 
 The audacity of his scheme amused me, 
 but, of course, I refused to even consider it. 
 When he finally saw that it was no use what 
 ever for him to talk, he became abusive, and 
 swore everlasting vengeance on our heads 
 if he ever got out of this scrape. I could not 
 but earnestly wish that Hale had kept out 
 of the mess, although my disgust was en 
 tirely neutralized by my admiration for 
 Male s love of fair play. The rest of that 
 long night I spent in entertaining visions 
 of the unscrupulous outlaw harassing us in 
 the mountains, and perhaps even taking 
 vengeance on my uncle s person for our rash 
 act. 
 
 At daylight I set out for our outfit, and 
 by hard marching reached it just at dusk. 
 I found my uncle giving orders for a move 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 139 
 
 forward the next day. He had just returned 
 from Denver, and found Toleman, who had 
 ridden on a bit ahead of the wagon train to 
 say that all was well. Together they had 
 sold a part of the oxen, and made arrange 
 ments to store the six loads of heavy ma 
 chinery in Denver until we should get 
 located. They had purchased a stout team 
 of mules, a supply of cabin hardware, a light 
 wagon, and had then pushed on to camp, 
 expecting to be joined by the drivers there 
 the next morning. Cy and my uncle listened 
 to my story to the end, but both were too 
 surprised to talk. 
 
 "Plucky little rooster," said my uncle, 
 finally. "I admire the boy for his stand, but 
 it was most unfortunate for us just at this 
 time." He thought deeply a few moments, 
 and then put the same question that had been 
 running through my head all the day : "How 
 did those two get here so quickly from the 
 Fort? They didn t walk." 
 
 "Easy enough," said Cy. "You say he 
 offered you two thousand dollars in gold 
 to release him?" 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 "It s dead plain," cried Cy, with a tone of 
 
140 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 final settlement. "They are the men who 
 held up and robbed the government pay 
 train five miles from the Fort, and escaped 
 on horseback. I learned in Denver that they 
 found the horses there, but could get no 
 trace whatever of the men who rode them 
 in. You see, all new arrivals in Denver 
 make for the gold camps so quickly, and 
 then scatter in the timber, that it s next thing 
 to impossible to find anybody. Of course 
 they sent on a United States marshal to 
 work on the case, but he has no clue. Jeru 
 salem! who d a thunk it! Jake and Keats 
 in Colorado, and ahead of us ! And to boot, 
 one of J em even beat us to the Happy Huntin 
 Ground/ 
 
 "Well, then," I said, more surprised than 
 ever, "if those are the facts, we better turn 
 him directly over to the marshal, hadn t we, 
 and be through with it?" 
 
 "Not by a jug full!" laughed Cy. "That 
 would never do just now, for if you do, you 
 two will have to go back to the Fort to tell 
 what you know. That means weeks of delay, 
 and winter coming on soon." 
 
 "You are right, Cy," said my uncle, 
 thoughtfully. "Of course in a settled com- 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 141 
 
 munity no man should shirk any duty that 
 the law imposes upon him, but in this coun 
 try it s different. I think I better write the 
 marshal a letter and tell him the facts rela 
 tive to our relations to Jake, and explain why 
 we don t wish to divulge our names. I ll 
 add that he will find his man bound in that 
 cabin, and that doubtless the bulk of the 
 government money is there also. Jake 
 would not starve in three days, and by that 
 time we too will be lost in the hills of Moun 
 tain City. What do you say?" 
 
 The plan seemed a good one to us all. We 
 were to move on into the mountains at day 
 break, while Cy rode back to the town with 
 the letter and to bring on the rest of the 
 drivers. I was to set out early for Jake s 
 camp, help Hale secure the culprit in his 
 own cabin, and then join our train on the 
 trail that evening. 
 
 I found Hale standing guard over the 
 wretched Jake when I arrived, and taking 
 him to one side I told him of our uncle s 
 decision in the matter. Hale felt it was 
 taking a pretty big chance to leave him, but 
 finally agreed, and in an hour we had him 
 back to his own shanty and securely bound, 
 
142 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 making him as comfortable as possible. We 
 carried in the dead body of Keats, as evi 
 dence, and after listening to one more plead 
 ing argument, we pulled the door shut and 
 hit the trail, happy to be done with the whole 
 matter. We had marched fully a mile, when 
 Hale suddenly stopped short, with an excla 
 mation : 
 
 "We have got to go back again, Clayt. 
 We were in too big a hurry, and we have 
 made a big mistake." 
 
 I looked questioningly at him. 
 
 "You see," he went on, "Jake will in 
 criminate us in that murder. No doubt he 
 has a plausible tale all worked out now of 
 just how he and his pal were robbed and 
 one of them murdered, while protecting their 
 claim from claimjumpers. Of course it will 
 be all right if no one visits that cabin until 
 the marshal arrives, but some one is liable 
 to come along most any time. That is the 
 chance I don t like to run. Of course uncle 
 Herman has explained our real situation to 
 the authorities, but just suppose some pros 
 pector drops in ahead of the marshal, and 
 Jake makes a case. Then we ll all be in for 
 trouble." 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 143 
 
 I saw his point at once, and asked what 
 he proposed to do about it, for we couldn t 
 take Jake with us. 
 
 "We must go back, carry Keats s body 
 away and hide it where Jake can t find it 
 perhaps bury it, if we have time and then 
 lock Jake in. I noticed an open lock hanging 
 on the door as we left. You see, a passerby, 
 seeing the shack locked, would never think 
 ,to force an entrance; but the marshal has 
 definite word that Jake is there, and if he 
 has any gumption at all, he will not be con 
 tent until he sees the inside. The lock 
 wouldn t keep him out at all." 
 
 With real regret that we had ever known 
 or seen Jake Henderson, we again trudged 
 back up the valley and finished our job. 
 
 "If the marshal doesn t find that cabin, 
 Jake will starve to death, that s all," I said, 
 when we were once more on the trail. 
 
 "I ve thought of that," said Hale. "But 
 it isn t likely, for if other prospectors find 
 that shack locked for a day or two they will 
 take it for granted that the prospector has 
 left it, and they will force it, in hopes of 
 finding provisions. They are more valuable 
 in these parts than gold, I guess. If that 
 
144 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 should happen, Clayt," he said very bitterly, 
 then I predict we shall see Jake Henderson 
 again ; and God help us if he sees us first." 
 
 We walked far into the night before we 
 came onto our party, and then probably 
 would have passed them by in the dark if 
 Cy hadn t been on a close lookout for us, for 
 he had not gone back to Denver, as had been 
 planned, but had sent the note by a passerby ; 
 for which we were afterward sorry, for evi 
 dently it did not reach the desired party. 
 
 "Jerusalem! but I m glad to see you, 
 pard," he said to Hale, grasping his hand. 
 "I missed you on that little journey after the 
 machinery. What is all this I hear about 
 you and Jake staking out a claim together 
 over in Widow Gulch and then staying up 
 nights with that old codger to talk matters 
 over?" 
 
 "Wish you had been along, Cy/ said 
 Hale, "we would have done the job different, 
 I m sure. But I didn t know what was best. 
 I m so blamed sorry I didn t keep still. But 
 I didn t, and so there you are. Yd feel a 
 lot better if I knew the marshal had Jake in 
 tow and was hurrying him back to Fort 
 Kearney. Tell me all about the robbery. I 
 
A MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY 145 
 
 believe that s the end of Jake, so far as we re 
 concerned anyway." 
 
 Toleman laughed as he guided us into the 
 camp. "It may be, pard. It may be. But 
 I m powerfully scared it ain t, for a cat has 
 nine lives at least ; and if my natural history 
 serves me correct, a skunk is a polecat. We ll 
 see Jake Henderson again, marshal or no 
 marshal, and then, lad, don t forget that 
 derringer, cause there is bound to be a 
 shooting." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 INTO THE GOLD COUNTRY AT 
 LAST 
 
 1WELL remember how disappointed I 
 was in my first view of Mountain City. 
 I had expected to find it a regular beehive 
 of busy miners; to see buildings going up; 
 to find great piles of merchandise stacked 
 about in the streets, and many other such 
 signs of progress. I had read so much of 
 "a city built in a night in the heart of a 
 wilderness" that my expectations were large. 
 To my surprise, every man, save a few 
 loafers, was away in some nearby gulch or 
 ravine, digging gold. I was told that many 
 of them hardly stopped work long enough 
 to eat a meal, let alone long enough to build 
 shanties and stores. There were in all but 
 a few poor log huts, and probably a hundred 
 tents, many of them very much the worse 
 for wear. There were numerous makeshift 
 saloons, of course, and a general store or 
 two. I was informed that they had not 
 146 
 
GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 147 
 
 struck it rich enough as yet to make a real 
 town profitable. 
 
 "Just you let a miner turn up a bushel or 
 two of nuggets, or find a big vein of free 
 gold/ and then you will see what happens," 
 an old prospector told me ; and I only hoped 
 that I might have that good fortune to see 
 just such things happen. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the exact spot being 
 prospected was not more than ten miles in 
 extent. Several small stamp mills were up 
 and already at work, crushing the lowgrade 
 quartz from the many lode claims. As most 
 of these mills were near the encampment 
 itself, we decided, after looking about a bit 
 among the miners, to move on up into the 
 valley as far as Gregory Gulch and erect our 
 mill near the Bobtail claim, which was at 
 that time producing what appeared to be 
 very rich ore. We were informed by the 
 excited miners at the Bobtail that they were 
 just working a "cap rock," and that when 
 it was once penetrated there wasn t a 
 shadow of a doubt but that they had a 
 bonanza. 
 
 Leavenworth Gulch opened into Gregory, 
 and as many especially good prospects were 
 
148 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 being turned up there every day, my uncle 
 and Cy decided that that was the place for 
 us to erect our mill. Furthermore, just above 
 the chosen spot the miners from farther 
 down the valley had dug a crude ditch to 
 conduct water to their camp. We were sure 
 this ditch would supply us all the necessary 
 water, not only for our mill but for our 
 cabin. The miners in both gulches wel 
 comed us, and promised us quantities of 
 high-grade in the very near future. We 
 were very enthusiastic over the outlook, and 
 bent every energy to get into operation, for 
 we were sadly in need of funds. 
 
 Leavenworth Gulch was crossed by dozens 
 of veins of gold-bearing quartz, so, of course, 
 was staked with claims from one end of the 
 valley to the other. In this district the dis 
 coverer of a vein was entitled to stake a 
 claim two hundred feet square, while others 
 could only claim one hundred feet square, 
 so long as they did an assessment on it in 
 sixty days. This consisted of one hundred 
 dollars worth of any sort of improvements, 
 or a hole of one thousand cubic feet. Just 
 as soon as we could get away, every man 
 of us began staking claims and digging 
 
GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 149 
 
 assessments on every outcrop we could find 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 "What s all the big hurry?" asked Tole- 
 man the next morning. "It can t get away 
 from us now. Let s think a bit. You fel 
 lows remind me of a bunch of hungry hogs 
 rooting for a dead fish. Why, I ve been 
 on the everlasting jump night and day for 
 eighty days, sleeping, when at all, with one 
 eye open and my ear to the ground. Now, 
 I move we be sensible about this game. 
 From the way I froze last night twon t be 
 very long till snow flies in this valley, and 
 then what? Sleep on a pile of boughs, with 
 the cold, gray sky for a canvas? Not for a 
 skinny second! Besides, you must remem 
 ber, gents, that it will take at least another 
 two weeks to get our machinery and pro 
 visions pulled in here from Denver. 
 
 "Why, just think of drawing that stuff 
 into this gulch. Six team of prize oxen can t 
 bring in more than half a load at a time. 
 And look at our critters ! We have to stand 
 them all up in a row now to make a shadow. 
 Now I suggest, Captain, that you divide us 
 into two gangs at once; one bunch to build 
 a good substantial cabin in which we can 
 
150 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 winter, and the other gang to bring in the 
 supplies and machinery. If one job gets too 
 tarnal tiresome for any one, we ll trade off. 
 I ll take Hale, here, and four teamsters for 
 my gang; you take Red and the rest, and 
 let s get busy improving this wilderness 
 estate before we dig gold. Is it a go?" 
 
 We all heartily agreed. 
 
 "And what s more, I move again, Mr. 
 Captain, that we all knock off a day or two 
 to rest and look around a bit. Let s get out 
 among these ground-hogs and get ac 
 quainted. Let s do a little advertising, and 
 tell these gold-grubbers about our mill. Tell 
 em it fairly eats gold quartz and is guaran 
 teed to turn out gold bricks whether there 
 is any gold in the ore or not." 
 
 We saw the wisdom of Cy s remarks, and 
 set about at once to make a temporary shel 
 ter, and to knock together a pole corral, so 
 that our few animals would not stray too 
 far. The next day the men set off, mostly 
 in pairs, to wander about the mines, each 
 man equipped with a shovel of his own, to 
 do a little prospecting in case he found any 
 indications. Long before the second night, 
 a number of the men had "struck it," as they 
 
GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 151 
 
 supposed, and only came back to our camp 
 long enough to draw their pay and to get 
 their simple duffle. Each man brought back 
 with him samples of the wonderful ore that 
 he had discovered, of course, just by a streak 
 of unprecedented luck. 
 
 This exodus of men from our camp 
 bothered my uncle greatly, for he well knew 
 it would take quantities of labor to erect our 
 mill and get our machinery into the hills. 
 So he went hastily to Cy, to see what could 
 be done about it. That steel-hardened plains 
 man, who was never dismayed at anything, 
 just laughed, and said : 
 
 "Cap, I had no idea my little scheme 
 would work so well when I suggested that 
 holiday. Let em go, every mother s son of 
 them that want to go. They have come more 
 than a thousand miles over a scorching 
 prairie, through buffalo, Indians, and 
 drought, to dig gold. Let em dig it, man. 
 But, say, don t you suppose they have got 
 to eat too, along with the diggin ? You 
 can t sweat on the business end of a pick- 
 handle in these hills all day without develop 
 ing a surprising appetite, and before long 
 their little wages will be eaten up, and they 
 
152 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 will be coming back asking for work, in 
 order to buy more grub so they can dig more 
 rock. Now, there was no use in the world 
 of us feeding a discontented pack of Mis- 
 sourians and keeping them laying around 
 here. If part of em never come back, so 
 much the better for us. The ones that do 
 come will mean business and will work hard. 
 Then, instead of paying them for their work 
 with what little money we have, let s grub 
 stake em. We won t give them too much 
 at a time, and in that way we ll be having 
 help all the winter and everybody will be 
 dead busy and happy. I guess that s just 
 about what we want, isn t it? But I think 
 we better take Red and Sikes into our little 
 company some way, at once, for we have 
 just naturally got to have a cook and a me 
 chanic. That s the only way we can hope 
 to hold em, and, Jerusalem! man, there is 
 gold enough here for us all. Just wait till 
 this old mill gets to belching out gold bricks. 
 When all was perfectly arranged, Tole- 
 man, Hale, and I started on a little jaunt 
 about the gulch to look into the prospects 
 and to do some advertising. We came first 
 to an old fellow who was "panning" in a 
 
GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 153 
 
 stream bed just below us, and we stopped 
 to watch him as he deftly swung the heavy, 
 flat pan so as to toss off the coarse rock and 
 sand. He would then bend eagerly to the 
 task of panning out the yellow dust from the 
 sediment that remained. After we had 
 stood eagerly watching for some moments 
 the old fellow looked up at us with a mys 
 terious, confidential wink, and motioned for 
 us to come closer to him. We did as we 
 were invited to do, and there in that one 
 pan of gravel were three splendid nuggets. 
 They were not large, to be sure, but worth 
 three or four dollars apiece, so he told us. 
 
 "Jerusalem!" cried Cy. "Twelve dollars 
 a shake on an old tin pan. Boys, we ll be 
 rich men by the time flowers bloom again." 
 
 We watched the old fellow for a half hour, 
 and each panful of dirt yielded richly. Some 
 times more, sometimes less, but it was 
 always gold in paying quantities. 
 
 "Getting rich?" I inquired of him. 
 
 "O, yes," said the old man, positively. 
 "I ll soon have more money than I can ever 
 use up. You see, I came early and got my 
 pick. I presume this is about the best claim 
 in the Rocky Mountains." He paused to 
 
154 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 study us closely, c;nd then went on as he 
 panned again: "I have far more land here 
 than I ll ever ."~et panned out. It s deucedly 
 hard labor for an old man. I think I ll sell 
 a chunk of it, if I can find the right fellers 
 for neighbors. It s a dead sure gamble too. 
 I expect there is at least a million dollars 
 worth of the stuff on this very claim." 
 
 He laid down his pan and came over to us, 
 seating himself on a big bowlder. Cy looked 
 at him intently for a second or two, and 
 then he laughed that same knowing little 
 half-maddening chuckle that made him dif 
 ferent from all the other men I had ever 
 known, and motioned us to come along. We 
 left the old man at his pan, and climbed off 
 up the trail. When well out of hearing Cy 
 turned to us and said : 
 
 His derned talking spoiled his game. 
 Beats all how a fellow s talking is everlast 
 ingly getting him in a fix. Boys, them same 
 nuggets are being washed out of that same 
 dirt every day for every tenderfoot that 
 comes along. I ll bet my shirt there isn t 
 fifty dollars worth of gold in the whole 
 placer." 
 
 We spent all that day strolling round 
 
GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 155 
 
 the valley. Toward eve ling we came upon 
 a group of excited miners making crude 
 assays by an open camp fir They would 
 take the ore, crush it to fine powder in a 
 small mortar, and then treat it with quick 
 silver. When once the quicksilver had gath 
 ered all the golden particles from the rock 
 dust, it was poured into a big iron ladle and 
 held into the fire until the mercury entirely 
 vaporized, leaving the gold behind in the 
 ladle. Evidently, the gold showed very 
 strong, for the miners were all much ex 
 cited, and crowded around each assay to 
 see the results with their own eyes. Finally 
 the big miner at the ladle turned it over to 
 his partner to test the batch he had been 
 preparing in the mortar, and ambled up to 
 us. No doubt he noted our new overalls, and 
 thought probably we were new arrivals and 
 that we had some money. 
 
 "It s the greatest discovery in the gulch," 
 he whispered, confidentially. "The vein is 
 twenty inches wide, and a tunnel will get 
 her. We re only in the cap rock yet, and 
 she shows two thousand dollars to the ton 
 right now." 
 
 Then, after watching his partner at the 
 
156 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 ladle until he produced his bit of gold, he 
 turned to me, and said: "There are a few 
 claims yet. I ll take you men there to-night 
 for a hundred dollars cash, or for a month s 
 grub stakes. I realize I can t keep it a secret 
 long, it s too rich; but I m broke. Do you 
 want to share?" 
 
 Toleman was thoroughly interested, and 
 so were we all. We watched the two crush 
 the rock and treat it. The gold was there 
 very strong. There could be no question 
 about it. Apparently, two others across the 
 group were accepting the same proposition. 
 Why should we waste good time prospecting 
 for ourselves when some one else, who was 
 hard up for grub, had already stumbled onto 
 a rich "pay streak" and was willing to sell 
 reasonably? 
 
 "I ll go you on the grub stakes," said Cy, 
 an excited tremor in his voice. "Where will 
 we bring them?" 
 
 "I ll meet you where this trail crosses the 
 stream," said the prospector, earnestly. 
 "Come alone, and bring your grub with you, 
 for I won t be coming back again. I want 
 to get right to work before the discovery 
 leaks out." 
 
GOLD COUNTRY AT LAST 157 
 
 We were off for our camp in wild elation, 
 and without saying a word I at once began 
 to pack together what was known as a 
 month s grub stakes of flour, bacon, coffee, 
 sugar, and beans, while Cy told my uncle 
 of our good fortune. He listened attentively 
 to the end, and then he laughed O, how 
 he did laugh ! 
 
 "Cy, I knew the boys were greenhorns, 
 but I thought better of you than that. That 
 is one of the old forty-nine grafts, and it 
 most always works on tenderfeet. I ll 
 wager those men have contracted for at least 
 a year s grub to-day, for maybe twenty dol 
 lars worth of gold, all of which they yet 
 have. That quicksilver with which they 
 were making those tests was loaded with 
 gold, and they would have gotten the same 
 results from desert sand or Missouri mud. 
 But of course you didn t know that. That 
 little game cost me my whole stake in Cali 
 fornia once." 
 
 Cy looked at him almost incredulously, 
 and then he too laughed. The grub stakes 
 were again put away, and we settled down 
 about our own fire to talk it all over. Each 
 told what he had seen and heard, and after 
 
158 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Cy had finished he rose to leave, but my 
 uncle called him back. 
 
 "Better let the grafters go, Cy/ he 
 laughed. "They have got to have food, you 
 know." 
 
 The Captain himself had been down a 
 number of shafts that day, and had ex 
 amined carefully many of the best lodes. 
 He had listened to glowing descriptions of 
 "pay streaks" and "crevice deposits," and 
 rich placers. He talked glibly of "blossom 
 rocks," "wall rock," and "pockets," until we 
 begged for explanations. The rest of the 
 evening was a practical lesson on gold-min 
 ing, from which we all greatly profited. On 
 the morrow we went to work, but more in 
 telligently, I m sure, than without our day s 
 adventures. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 STAKING THE POT-HOLES 
 
 GY S prediction in regard to our men 
 proved to be exactly right, for by the 
 third day half of our best drivers returned 
 to camp, and on the morning of the fourth, 
 agreements had been made with each of 
 them that were satisfactory to both. 
 
 We began at once to fell logs for our 
 cabin, while Toleman saw to the unloading 
 of what stuff we had brought in with us 
 from Mountain City before setting out for 
 the rest of our party who had been left in 
 Denver. When his little task was completed, 
 he called Hale to him. 
 
 "Hale," he said, "I ve been thinking, and, 
 as you know, I never had any use for Jake 
 Henderson, but I d hate to be guilty of starv 
 ing any man to death, even if I knew he was 
 a scoundrel. I d rather shoot him outright. 
 What is more, it won t be so very long now 
 till this camp, like every other gold camp 
 the world over, will be setting up some sort 
 159 
 
160 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 of law and order. I ve been thinking it 
 would be unfortunate if it should ever leak 
 out that we had really starved a man to 
 death. Of course the real facts of the case 
 could never be known by all, and I tell you, 
 boy, suspicion at your door is often worse 
 than crime itself in these mountains at 
 least." 
 
 "Well, what can we do?" asked Hale, 
 "I m certain the marshal has Jake long be 
 fore this, but there is the bare chance that 
 he might never come, and that Jake might 
 suffer." 
 
 "I think you and I had better knock off 
 work and ride over there to-day, just to take 
 a look and make certain." 
 
 In a little while both men were gone, and 
 I found myself wondering all the day what 
 they would find out; even speculated some 
 on several possible things that might de 
 velop before we really finished with Jake. 
 What if they should find him still there? 
 What would they do with him ? It was dusk 
 before they came slowly up the trail again 
 together, and I rushed out to meet them. 
 
 "Gone !" said Hale, in answer to my ques 
 tion, but there was a strange note in his 
 
STAKING THE POT-HOLES 161 
 
 voice and I felt that he had not told me all 
 there was to tell. Finally he told me that 
 the cabin door had been forced open and 
 that Jake was really gone; that the ropes 
 with which we had bound him so securely 
 lay in the center of the floor. The stove 
 was yet warm, and there were many evi 
 dences that a meal had but recently been 
 prepared. Cy refused to talk much about 
 it, and appeared to be very gloomy, so I 
 pushed the matter no further for that night, 
 although I had mighty serious doubts if the 
 marshal had really gotten our man. 
 
 Bright and early the next morning the 
 gang were off for Mountain City, and then 
 followed days of such strenuous toil that, 
 as I now look back over them, I wonder how 
 we ever endured them at all, even for gold. 
 I can see those oxen straining at their loads, 
 as if they would pull themselves to pieces, 
 for in many places the roads were simply 
 impassable running straight up steep hill 
 sides, over rocky ledges, and then slipping 
 down the mountains so precipitously that the 
 fore wheels of each wagon had to be locked 
 with heavy chains to keep them from run 
 ning the struggling oxen down. Sometimes 
 
162 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 these roads lay up the bed of a mountain 
 stream, strewn with huge slippery bowlders. 
 Twice a wagon upset, and, of course, as fate 
 would have it, both times they were loaded 
 with provisions, which cost us great loss. 
 I saw our one precious keg of syrup roll off 
 a load and go bounding down the mountain, 
 like a thing possessed, only to finally crash 
 into a pinnacle of rock and flood the limbs 
 of a big spruce with syrup, much as I had 
 often seen the men do their flapjacks. 
 
 I am very certain that the heaviest parts 
 of the mill would never have reached our 
 gulch at all under any other man s direction 
 than Toleman s. Such patience, wisdom, 
 and quick action I have never since seen. 
 Continually Hale was at his side. I could 
 hardly realize sometimes that the powerful, 
 bronzed young man, with a face covered 
 with black whiskers, was my own young 
 brother ; but so it was, and I was not a little 
 proud of him. 
 
 The cabin a substantial, well-built affair 
 was ready for occupancy in three weeks, 
 and well do I remember the luxury of those 
 pine bunks, the rough table, and the benches 
 that Red had constructed from a few rough 
 
STAKING THE POT-HOLES 163 
 
 sawn planks we were able to buy at a little 
 sawmill. 
 
 The work on the mill progressed much 
 more slowly than did the cabin, for during 
 its erection a number of very rich strikes 
 were made in the gulch above us, and, of 
 course, we joined the wild rush to a man. 
 It was certainly wild excitement, racing 
 over the barren granite, staking claims any 
 where we could find a vein, and then camp 
 ing on them all night, guarding them with 
 our rifles until the excitement was past. The 
 last of these great discoveries lay along the 
 stream in the bottom of our valley, and was 
 purely a placer excitement. Every foot of 
 land on both sides of that stream, from the 
 big falls to the little city, was staked and 
 claimed. There were many bitter fights dur 
 ing the days that followed, and some shoot 
 ing scrapes that proved fatal, but in such 
 wild excitement the loss of a few human 
 lives seemed of little or no consequence, 
 when each new strike brought a fresh supply 
 of greenhorns into the valley. 
 
 Hale and Toleman had both been mixed 
 up in some of these rows and had been com 
 pelled to drive two claim jumpers off their 
 
164 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 land at the point of their rifles. These had 
 in turn set fire to the timber in the night. Cy 
 declared vengeance, and together the two set 
 out to find the offenders. They trailed them 
 far up stream, until the canon narrowed to 
 a mere rocky defile and the stream became 
 nothing but long stretches of stony rapids, 
 ending in a waterfall that leaped from a 
 granite ledge forty feet above them into two 
 enormous pot-holes in the granite below. 
 They could go no further, and their claim 
 jumpers had gotten away. But as the two 
 sat down to think it all over, a great idea 
 flashed into Hale s head. 
 
 "Cy," he said thoughtfully, "placer gold 
 is carried and deposited by water, isn t it?" 
 
 Toleman replied that it was, and Hale 
 continued : 
 
 "Well, then, the mother-vein of all this 
 placer excitement must be somewhere back 
 in this canon. It s sure we haven t passed it 
 coming up, so that every bit of gold that is 
 down the stream must have gone over these 
 falls and through these pot-holes. Why, 
 man, they are wonderful natural settling 
 basins. They beat the best cradle or sluice 
 that has ever been invented. Cy, let s stake 
 
STAKING THE POT-HOLES 165 
 
 these pot-holes as claims. We ll hold them 
 secret till spring, and then we ll work them." 
 
 Toleman was skeptical at first of the 
 whole idea, but could see no harm in adding 
 a few more prospects to their holdings. Ac 
 cordingly, the stakes were erected, and piles 
 of quartz from an outcrop on the mountain 
 set up for corners. 
 
 When they returned to camp that evening 
 they found us all in a state of wild excite 
 ment, for in our absence from our own camp 
 we had been robbed of quantities of supplies, 
 a dozen cans of powder and many mine 
 tools, to say nothing at all of an attempt to 
 blow up the now partly erected mill. Evi 
 dently, the robbers had been disturbed, and 
 had fled before finishing the job. My uncle 
 was disgusted beyond measure to think we 
 had been so foolish as to all leave camp at 
 one time. 
 
 "Why should we be treated this way?" 
 stormed my uncle. "I did not realize that 
 we had an enemy in the camp. I for one 
 have been so careful to be friendly to all." 
 
 "Looks like Jake s doings to me," shyly 
 suggested Bill. 
 
 "Jake, your grandmother!" cried my 
 
166 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 uncle. "If the moon should suddenly turn 
 to green cheese, you men would blame it onto 
 Jake. He is no doubt reposing behind iron 
 bars at Fort Leavenworth by this time. No 
 sir, the solution to this affair lays much 
 nearer home." 
 
 "Better not try much more such doings," 
 vouchsafed Cy. "I m getting plaggy tired 
 of this cut-throat business, I m getting blood 
 in my eye, and some of these days a miner 
 or two will just as like as not be numbered 
 among the missing." We all laughed, yet 
 realized that Cy was in deep earnest. 
 
 "Just remember you are not out on the 
 open cattle range now, though, Cy," cau 
 tioned my uncle, who was always a man of 
 peace. "But living in a civilized mining 
 town, where individuals have civil rights. 
 You can t treat miners like cattle thieves." 
 
 " Bout time some of these little centers 
 of culture began to give their citizens a bit 
 of protection then," grumbled Toleman, dis 
 gustedly, understanding that what my uncle 
 had said was the solemn truth. 
 
 " Center of culture is correct," chimed in 
 Bill from his kettles. "Yesterday a woman 
 and two children arrived across the gulch, 
 
STAKING THE POT-HOLES 167 
 
 and last night I heard two Tom cats having 
 an altercation outside. Fore you know it, 
 this camp will be having a missionary so 
 ciety, and perhaps a grand ball. I heard it 
 said that a preacher was prospecting in 
 Gregory and that Mountain City already 
 owned two doctors and an undertaker. 
 We re a coming me-tropolis, I can see that, 
 in all but the protection." 
 
 The next day we all set to work with a will 
 to get the mill finished and into operation. 
 My uncle was getting very impatient, for a 
 number of the mine-owners were urging him 
 on every day. The frame gradually took 
 shape, and then the machinery was placed 
 and adjusted for its work. 
 
 The principal features of the mill were 
 twelve large pestles, or stamps, weighing 
 five hundred pounds each when loaded. 
 These were raised by machinery about two 
 feet, then dropped at regular intervals into 
 heavy hoppers onto the pieces of gold quartz 
 which were constantly being fed into them. 
 A tiny stream of water led through the hop 
 pers, and as the rock became crushed fine 
 enough it was carried away through fine 
 screens that were fastened under each hop- 
 
168 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 per. This crushed rock and water was then 
 led over long inclined tables covered with 
 highly polished copper plates, and finally off 
 into tough woolen blankets. These copper 
 plates had a generous amount of quicksilver 
 spread over them, and because of the great 
 affinity of copper and quicksilver for each 
 other, the mercury clung tenaciously to the 
 copper plates. 
 
 As the powdered rock ran over these 
 plates the quicksilver gathered the fine 
 particles of gold ; the two combining to form 
 an amalgam that closely resembled lead. 
 The amalgam, when sufficient quantities of 
 it had collected, was then scraped away, put 
 into a small retort-like oven and heated ; the 
 heating causing the mercury to pass off as 
 vapor, while the pure metallic gold was left 
 in the bottom of the retort. This gold was 
 commonly broken up into small pieces and 
 carried in buckskin bags as money, being 
 considered for local use worth sixteen dol 
 lars an ounce. 
 
 We completed our mill in early November, 
 and opened it for business, fully expecting 
 to run it all the winter on the huge piles of 
 quartz that dozens of miners were getting 
 
STAKING THE POT-HOLES 169 
 
 out from all sides. However, the mill had 
 not been running two weeks when suddenly 
 the water in the ditch above us stopped flow 
 ing, because of an intense cold snap. This 
 unfortunate experience suddenly terminated 
 any possibility of our operating till warm 
 weather should return again. To say that 
 we were disappointed would be to put it 
 mildly. Besides, what were we to do all 
 winter, probably snowed in in the hills? It 
 was of course an impossibility to move the 
 mill down to the stream. My uncle was 
 much concerned, and could not figure how 
 we were to live another five or six months 
 without producing any wealth of any kind. 
 
 "We have been living on hope for four 
 months already/ he lamented, "and now 
 even our hope is all gone. We ll have to 
 put every man on his own resources, that s 
 all, and see if we can make a living." 
 
 "Me for those pot-holes," said Hale to Cy. 
 "There is gold there, I know far more of 
 it than this old mill will ever grind out." 
 
 "Then let s get at it," assented Cy. "I m 
 getting awfully anxious to begin my for 
 tune. When do we start?" 
 
 "At once," said Hale. "To-morrow!" 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 THE COMING OF THE LAW 
 
 OUR provisions ran low, our money was 
 gone, and we were facing a serious 
 crisis when Cy came to our rescue by sug 
 gesting that in all probability there were 
 many parties in Denver that would be glad 
 to return East if they could only procure 
 oxen, and inasmuch as we were through 
 with ours, at least till spring, and because 
 grass was getting very scarce in our valley, 
 why not drive our ox teams to the city and 
 sell them ? They would bring big prices and 
 would incidentally rid us of their care during 
 the winter months. In that way we could 
 release all our hired men, except the actual 
 company, and we would have just so many 
 less mouths to feed. Several of our drivers 
 had made fairly good strikes, one in par 
 ticular. Many more were preparing to win 
 ter in the hills, while others of them, who 
 had been less fortunate, were planning to 
 return to the States tired, worn, and dis 
 couraged. 
 
 170 
 
COMING OF THE LAW 171 
 
 Of course Toleman and Hale were again 
 chosen to drive the critters back to the city 
 and to sell them. One of the oldest oxen, 
 that was badly lamed from a fall, we slaugh 
 tered for our winter s meat, but the rest were 
 herded down the canon. As it was at least 
 thirty miles down to Denver, they took the 
 team of mules along, so they might ride 
 back. The first night out it clouded up, and 
 at dusk began to rain. Later in the night 
 it turned to a cold drizzle, and before morn 
 ing the valley was filled with a biting moun 
 tain blizzard, that hissed through the pines 
 with a cold rattle. Winter had come at last, 
 to cover her blanket of white over the beds 
 of glittering gold and to bid mere miners 
 wait till spring. 
 
 There followed a general exodus from the 
 hills, and so, upon reaching Denver with 
 the oxen, our men found many men eager to 
 buy and willing to pay in gold. The sales 
 were soon arranged, a few necessary sup 
 plies purchased, and then the two set out to 
 see the city. They could not believe how 
 Denver had grown in those few weeks. 
 They had left it a straggling prairie town, 
 scattered out over three times the necessary 
 
OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 space, but they found it a Western city, with 
 streets, some board walks, and a promise 
 of growth that was unmistakable. The old 
 makeshift saloons were gone, and in their 
 places were substantial buildings with great 
 glass mirrors and polished bars. Several 
 wooden hotels were up, and many tradesmen 
 were at work on all sorts of permanent struc 
 tures, from banks to boarding houses. 
 
 It was while making the rounds of the 
 new city that the two came upon "Mike s 
 Thirst Parlor." It was a splendid, well- 
 lighted building, equipped with every sort 
 of a gambling device known. Across one 
 end of the big room was the bar, and down 
 one side was a long row of small tables, oc 
 cupied by professional gamblers, miners, and 
 tenderfeet. The place was crowded to the 
 doors, and everyone seemed to be happy. 
 Prosperity was in the air, for money 
 changed hands quickly and with little cere 
 mony, suggesting that there was quantities 
 of it everywhere. Cy and Hale stopped half 
 way down the room to watch a Down-East 
 Yankee lose his roll of greenbacks on a faro 
 bank. As they were so engaged, a shot rang 
 out, and instantly everybody was alert and 
 
COMING OF THE LAW 173 
 
 ready. Hale had never seen such a display 
 of firearms in all his life as he saw in the 
 next thirty seconds. Every miner, gambler, 
 and cowpuncher seemed to fairly bristle with 
 guns. The air was tense with excitement, 
 and every man seemed to be waiting for 
 some other man to make a move. 
 
 Suddenly, as if prearranged, the crowd 
 split, so as to give the men engaged in the 
 altercation plenty of room for gun play. It 
 so happened that Hale and Toleman found 
 themselves at the exact end of the aisle thus 
 created, and could see plainly the trouble. 
 Two men stood facing each other, and 
 of course both men were armed to the teeth 
 and raging mad. The one was a well 
 dressed, stylish man, that marked him at 
 once a professional gambler. The other was 
 an extremely seedy, weazened-up miner, in 
 faded jeans and jumper. He wore a 
 weather-beaten, disreputable hat, and his 
 high boots turned over at the heel. In one 
 hand he clutched a buckskin bag, in the other 
 he held a big pistol with which he covered 
 the gambler. 
 
 "That s twice you tried to rob me," 
 snarled the little man, whose back was to 
 
174 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 the expectant crowd. ( I told you before I d 
 kill you if you tried that trick again." 
 
 "That s a lie!" raged the gambler. "Shoot 
 if you dare. There are a dozen here 
 who would drop you before you could 
 
 move." 
 
 The miner glanced quickly about him to 
 see if the assertion were true. 
 
 "Pay me the bet, or get out!" cried the 
 gambler. 
 
 The enraged miner raised his gun an inch 
 higher, but before he could shoot, a second 
 shot rang out, and the big pistol went spin 
 ning from his hands. All eyes were turned 
 in the direction of the bar. There stood 
 Mike himself, the smoke still curling from 
 his gun. The next instant he was through 
 the crowd and had the little miner by the 
 neck. Like a flash he unloaded the weapon 
 and handed it back. 
 
 "Now, Whiskers, get out," he drawled. 
 "You ve staged a little show like this before, 
 and you have no spunk. You re yellow. Get 
 out, and stay out. You ve blocked these 
 games long enough." 
 
 "I ll kill you for that," snarled the miner, 
 turning fiercely on the big Irishman. 
 
COMING OF THE LAW 175 
 
 "March !" cried Mike. "Quick! I ve got 
 no time to play with you/ 
 
 The little miner started toward the door. 
 
 "It s Jake Henderson," said Hale, in an 
 excited whisper, "whiskers and all." 
 
 "Jerusalem!" breathed Cy. "So it is. 
 Quick, boy, out of sight." But he had acted 
 too slowly. Jake had seen them both. A 
 wild light sprang to his eyes, and in an in 
 stant he whipped out a second gun, and 
 cried : 
 
 "You here? I ll kill you too. I swore I 
 would." 
 
 Hale was too dazed to think. He was 
 just conscious of one fact his derringer 
 was not up his sleeve. 
 
 "I ll drop you in your tracks if you move, 
 Jake," cried Cy, as alert as a big squirrel. 
 
 "Get out!" cried Mike, now thoroughly 
 angered over all the commotion, "all of you. 
 If you want to fight, go outside and do your 
 shooting." 
 
 The big proprietor had Jake by the neck 
 now, and was literally dragging him toward 
 the door, squirming and kicking and breath 
 ing out threats against the whole world. 
 Jake s rage became a fury, and he fought 
 
176 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 like a wild thing to be free, but there was 
 no escaping the giant hand that held him. 
 At the door, the big miner gave the wrig 
 gling, cursing little man a shove that sent 
 him flying half way across the street. 
 
 "If I ever catch you in here again/ he 
 said, simply, "I ll flog you for the amuse 
 ment of my patrons. Hear me ? keep out !" 
 But Jake was gone in the crowd. 
 
 "I told you he had nine lives," said Cy. 
 "We must watch out for him to-night. He 
 is full of murder, and, Hale, it stands to 
 reason he doesn t love you much. Get your 
 little derringer up your sleeve, boy, and keep 
 your eye peeled to-night." 
 
 They were just about to leave the place 
 when Cy dropped behind and spoke a word 
 to two stalwart cowboys who had seen the 
 whole thing and instantly they started for 
 the door. 
 
 "We better stay in the crowd," cautioned 
 Cy. "That little runt is planning to pot us 
 to-night. If he wasn t crazy mad and half 
 drunk he would be harmless, for he would 
 bide his time; but to-night it is different. 
 He will shoot to kill if he gets half a chance." 
 
 A few moments later, as the two stood 
 
COMING OF THE LAW 177 
 
 on the busiest corner watching the proces 
 sion of miners come and go, the two cowboys 
 slipped up to Cy and, with a grin, handed 
 him Jake s other gun. 
 
 "He was acting reckless with it out here 
 at a window, and I thought he might hurt 
 himself, so I just relieved him of it. He 
 swore he d kill me for it, and offered to buy 
 it back at my own price, but I laughed at 
 him. You better get out. He has friends, 
 and he ll get you. Jim will keep him covered 
 till you re out of sight." 
 
 Cy slipped him a big gold coin, stuck the 
 gun in his shirt, and turned to Hale : 
 
 "Let s travel. It won t be long till he ll 
 buy another gun, or steal one, and then we ll 
 have a fuss. We better wait till daylight 
 to start back. It will be safer." 
 
 "I wish he would fight in the open," said 
 Hale. "I m not afraid of him, but being 
 around him is like being in a country where 
 there are snakes." 
 
 Early the next morning, long before the 
 little city was astir, Toleman and Hale 
 mounted their mules and with their packs 
 full, rode off toward the mountains. All day 
 they kept a keen lookout for trouble, but 
 
178 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 none came. It was dusk before the two 
 reached Sentinel Rock, and as they had seen 
 or heard nothing all the way, they decided 
 to take the short cut over the mountain and 
 save another hour s ride. Soon they were 
 in the thick timber. Twice Cy stopped short 
 to listen, but heard not a thing. Soon the 
 timber thickened, and the roaring little 
 stream made it very hard to hear anything 
 save its own wild music. 
 
 "I hear a horse/ breathed Cy. "Ride 
 fast. It s on our left. There is no trail 
 there. It s in the low timber." 
 
 Hale strained to hear, but could dis 
 tinguish nothing. Just as they emerged 
 from the black shadows into a cleared spot, 
 a shot rang out, and then another. The first 
 passed through Hale s hat, the second 
 plunged into his mule s flank. He felt the 
 animal quiver and falter, then stumble. 
 Quickly he slipped to the ground and behind 
 a clump of mountain birch. Cy blazed away 
 at the mountain, but getting no response, 
 he ordered Hale into his own saddle, and 
 together they hurried toward the cabin 
 that stood just a hundred yards further up 
 the gulch. When into the shadows again 
 
COMING OF THE LAW 179 
 
 they stopped to listen, but could hear no 
 sound. 
 
 "He s gone," whispered Cy, at last. "He 
 lost his opportunity. Too much forty rod* 
 last night for sharp shooting. But the scala 
 wag has located our mill, and no doubt we 
 will hear from him every few days until he 
 gets one of us, or till we get him/ 
 
 "What were those shots?" asked my 
 uncle, as soon as we had entered, for he had 
 grown nervous of late with worry and dis 
 appointment, so that it took very little to 
 upset him. "I saw a strange rider out yonder 
 twice just before dark. He seemed to be 
 looking for corner stakes, but kept well into 
 the shrubbery. He was on a mule, I think." 
 
 "It was a hold-up, Captain. He got one 
 good mule and other information, but fortu 
 nately not either of us, although he no doubt 
 would have liked to. Captain, it s time for 
 this gulch to organize itself for protection 
 against the lawless," said Cy. 
 
 "The desperadoes and crooks in Denver 
 are as thick as molasses, and when it gets 
 too hot for them down there they take to the 
 hills. That was a dried-up, weazened-faced 
 thug that just tried to pot us as we hit the 
 
i8o OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 trail to the shanty. No doubt he has been 
 laying for us all day. His ugly face is 
 masked in a few months dirty whiskers, but 
 I know him just the same. He s out for 
 scalps. Before long it won t be safe for any 
 of us to leave this cabin after night." 
 
 "Jake!" blurted out Bill Sikes. Some 
 times he seemed to have Jake Henderson 
 on the brain. 
 
 "O, no," said Cy, derisively. "Not our 
 Jake. He must be behind iron bars at 
 Leavenworth !" Then, in plainly disgusted 
 tones, he cried, throwing off his coat and 
 hat and loosening the neck of his shirt: "It 
 was Jake Henderson, of course. Who else 
 would shoot at a man like that in the dark? 
 Yes, Jake is at large, determined to clean 
 us all out. We saw him in Denver, and 
 worse than that, he saw us. I m afraid he ll 
 get some of us, unless we get this gulch 
 stirred up at once. It s time for the Vigi 
 lantes to take a hand." 
 
 Then he told us very clearly just what had 
 happened in Denver the night before, em 
 phasizing the fact that every man of us must 
 now be on the constant watch for Jake if we 
 valued our lives even a little. 
 
COMING OF THE LAW 181 
 
 "I believe the time has come to organize," 
 said my uncle, thoughtfully. "Yesterday, 
 while you were gone, there were two bold 
 hold-ups in Leavenworth gulch, and I un 
 derstand that thieving down in Mountain 
 City is becoming very troublesome. I ll see 
 the men about it to-morrow. We can t help 
 it if now and then a couple of enraged, half- 
 drunken miners take a notion to shoot each 
 other full of holes. In the long run that is 
 no loss. But when it gets so a man cannot 
 leave his property in reasonable safety, then 
 we must take means to give him protection, 
 even if it takes drastic measures. Some 
 stranger tried to compel Switzer to leave 
 the country yesterday, telling him if he 
 didn t go at once his shop would be burned 
 and he shot on sight. The old fellow con 
 fided to me that he knew where a very rich 
 outcrop of gold-bearing quartz was located 
 and that he was simply working his trade 
 to get a start. I advised him to keep his 
 secret and stay." 
 
 "No doubt there are quantities of gold in 
 many of these shanties, and provisions are 
 even more valuable," said Bill. "Why, it 
 was only yesterday a miner offered me 
 
182 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 twenty-five dollars in nuggets for one ham. 
 Men are getting hard up." 
 
 "I ll go about the camp first thing in the 
 morning and arrange for a secret meeting 
 at our mill," said my uncle. "The Vigi 
 lantes kept peace and order in forty-nine. 
 They can do it again, and they will. I re 
 member the oath of membership and the 
 countersign." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 THE VIGILANTES 
 
 TRUE to his word, it was hardly more 
 than daylight the next morning when 
 my uncle was off to talk with a selected list 
 of miners and mine-owners about the advis 
 ability of organizing the camp against fur 
 ther lawlessness. Some met the proposal 
 with enthusiasm, but others laughed at him 
 and advised him it was a waste of time. 
 However, he was determined, and by night 
 had gotten enough promises to guarantee a 
 representative meeting. 
 
 About noon the same day what appeared 
 to be a professional gambler put in his ap 
 pearance at the gulch, and from the very 
 first it was evident that he was looking for 
 some one in particular. He wore a black 
 suit of dressy clothes, and his face was clean 
 shaven, except for a little black mustache. 
 He asked no questions, and talked with no 
 one, but stopped a number of times as he 
 came up the trail to consult a little memoran- 
 
 183 
 
184 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 dum that he had in his hand. Evidently, he 
 was looking for a man whose description 
 he had in his notebook. I was working at 
 my table near the cabin window, and could 
 see his every move. Finally he abruptly 
 disappeared into Switzer s blacksmith shop 
 on the corner, where the old blacksmith was 
 busy, singing as he sharpened drills. 
 
 I noted that the stranger closed the door 
 behind him. His unusual costume in a wild 
 mining camp had excited my curiosity, so, 
 taking my gun, I sauntered out to see what 
 I could learn. Passing our shed, I picked 
 up a couple of picks that were badly in need 
 of repair. With them as my excuse, I 
 started for the blacksmith shop. When I 
 drew near enough I heard loud and abusive 
 talk, and it seemed to me, from the way old 
 Switzer was begging, that the stranger must 
 have the drop on him. I gathered from the 
 broken conversation that the stranger was 
 trying to compel the old fellow to give up 
 some sort of information that he did not 
 want to part with. 
 
 I knew Switzer, and I at once realized 
 that the stranger would never get the in 
 formation he was after, and, fearing a cold- 
 
THE VIGILANTES 185 
 
 blooded murder right in what might be 
 called our backyard, I hastily retreated in 
 search of Hale or Toleman. Fortunately, 
 I found them both coming down the trail 
 from the upper claim, and quickly told them 
 of the situation. 
 
 "More of this skunk stuff," growled Cy. 
 "Why, old Switzer wouldn t hurt a hair of 
 a man s head. It s common talk, though, 
 among the miners that he does know where 
 the richest lode in the valley is situated, and 
 this scalawag is taking advantage of him. 
 Come !" We were off at a fast trot toward 
 the little shop. 
 
 "Now I ll go in the back door, and you 
 two follow in when you hear me laugh. It 
 will be our signal. Hale, is your derringer 
 up your sleeve?" 
 
 Hale nodded that it was, and Toleman, 
 with as little noise as was possible, opened 
 the door and peered in. There stood our 
 friend Switzer with both of his big hands 
 held high above his head while the new 
 comer kept him covered with his pistol. As 
 Cy entered, the stranger instantly shifted the 
 gun to cover him also, and demanded to 
 know, in a soft, friendly voice : 
 
186 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "Why this intrusion into a private con 
 ference, sir?" 
 
 "Looks a heap more like a private hold-up 
 to me," laughed Toleman. "All I want is 
 my rifle over yonder. I have urgent need 
 of it." 
 
 He made a move toward the corner behind 
 the stranger, who at this point shifted his 
 eye just a second in search of the mentioned 
 rifle, but that was all that was necessary. 
 Quicker than lightning yes, in less time 
 than it takes for a sunbeam to flash from a 
 mirror, a tiny derringer appeared in Tole- 
 man s hand, and with it came a merry 
 laugh. 
 
 It was Cy s signal, so Hale and I, hear 
 ing it, pushed into the shop with guns 
 drawn and covered the stranger, who was 
 too surprised to act quickly. He now had 
 no chance whatever, and seemed to realize 
 it. He glanced about furtively, as if to 
 find a way of escape. Seeing there was 
 absolutely none, he spoke again. It was like 
 the snarl of a cornered wolf. 
 
 "Well, what do you want here, anyway? 
 Since when did you become the custodian 
 of the law in this skunk hollow ?" 
 
THE VIGILANTES 187 
 
 "Since we became bothered with skunks," 
 laughed Cy, a cold hardness having sud 
 denly crept into his voice. 
 
 "Just hand over that pea-shooter of your n 
 to my deputy, please" (he indicated Hale), 
 "and mind, none of your monkey business, 
 or we ll have a half holiday for a funeral in 
 this gulch to-morrow. Jerusalem! but you 
 city sports do disgust me. Quick ! butt first, 
 and keep your finger off that trigger. That s 
 
 it." 
 
 Switzer suddenly pulled a carefully folded 
 bit of paper from his pocket and placed it 
 on the fire in the forge. The stranger 
 sprang forward to snatch it, but Hale was 
 too quick for him, and stepped between. The 
 delay of a second was all that was necessary. 
 The paper broke into flame, and the stranger 
 snarled again at his defeat. 
 
 "Now get out!" cried Cy, "and get so 
 derned far that you can t ever get back. 
 Unfortunately, this gulch ain t organized to 
 care for yer like yet, but mind what I say, 
 it will be next time you call. You have no 
 doubt heard of the Vigilantes. Next time 
 I see you in this camp, I shoot. Good day, 
 
 sir." 
 
i88 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Cy swung wide the door and motioned 
 him out. 
 
 "I gave you your chance, and would have 
 gone halves with you/ cried the gambler to 
 Switzer. "Now I ll get you and the claim 
 too." 
 
 "Toleman," said Switzer, in great earnest, 
 "I won t forget this of you. I know where 
 the best lode in Colorado is, and you boys 
 are in on it with me. We ll go to-morrow. 
 I can draw another map from memory that 
 will do." 
 
 The next morning Switzer failed to open 
 his shop. Cy and Hale wandered up to his 
 shanty to see what was the trouble, and 
 found him dead in his chair, seated at a 
 crude table, where evidently he had been 
 sketching on the map that lay before him. 
 The bottle of ink, however, had been upset 
 and had run down across the paper, com 
 pletely blotting out a strip of the sketch 
 several inches wide. 
 
 The whole incident stirred the gulch to 
 quick action. Many men who, the day be 
 fore, had hooted at the very idea of a 
 Vigilance Committee, came excitedly to our 
 mill and urged a miners meeting at once. 
 
THE VIGILANTES 189 
 
 However, it was night before we were finally 
 able to arrange it. Many miners came 
 whom I had never seen before, but Cy 
 seemed to know them nearly all. When the 
 meeting was finally called to order, there 
 were twenty-seven of the better-known 
 miners of our own gulch there. My uncle 
 acted as chairman, and the discussion was 
 soon under way. 
 
 "We ought to have an oath of member 
 ship," said one. Then, turning to my uncle : 
 "Herman, what was the one used in forty- 
 nine? Can you remember?" 
 
 "Not exactly," said my uncle, "but it was 
 something like this : 
 
 " We, the decent miners of this camp, 
 secretly agree to stand together to the last, 
 to maintain order and safety for lives and 
 property against any lawless element, and 
 to avenge the death of any man of us/ " 
 
 "That s what we want," spoke up several 
 of the men. "Now let s take our oath and 
 elect the officers of this body. I hate to be 
 gone too long, with my cabin full of high- 
 grade." 
 
 Toleman was made sheriff, which position 
 he accepted with Hale as his deputy. An- 
 
190 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 other miner was elected secretary, to keep 
 the proceedings of the court, and my uncle 
 was chosen justice of the peace. This primi 
 tive court was to have jurisdiction over all 
 disputes of importance, such as mining- 
 claim disputes, criminal cases, and in fact 
 everything that had to do with the peace and 
 tranquillity of our camp. The court was to 
 convene on every Sunday afternoon. Be 
 fore a month many interesting cases had 
 come up for settlement. Incidentally, the 
 court was a real social occasion too, and 
 brought the miners together for better ac 
 quaintance and understanding of each other 
 and of each other s interests. One miner 
 stole another s boots, and was given just 
 thirty minutes to leave camp, being warned 
 that to return meant to be shot on sight. 
 Another man stole a quantity of quicksilver, 
 and was sentenced to twenty lashes with an 
 ox whip. Two desperate criminals were 
 turned over to the national authorities. Next 
 came three murders in quick succession, but 
 as each seemed to have been largely a case 
 of mutual animosity, and inasmuch as the 
 camp got nothing but gain from the death 
 of these drunken disturbers, the court took 
 
THE VIGILANTES 191 
 
 no notice of the affair whatever. Two men 
 used the power of the Vigilance Committee 
 to further their own ends, and were com 
 pelled to leave the mountains. Their prop 
 erty was taken from them, and finally sold 
 to make funds for court proceedings. 
 
 With the firm establishment of peace and 
 order, and the final closing of our mill for 
 the winter, we began diligently to prosecute 
 the work on our own two claims. In one 
 the vein was quite rich, but only two to three 
 inches wide, so did not prove to be worth 
 working, yet the hope that kept us, like hun 
 dreds of others, constantly at work was that 
 the vein was bound eventually to widen out 
 and grow richer as we went deeper. 
 
 The other claim developed a wide vein of 
 black pyrites that closely resembled the ore 
 being taken from the best paying claims in 
 Mountain City, so we toiled on piling up 
 the black stuff against the day we could 
 resume work in the mill. During these 
 months we spent many evenings speculating 
 on the value of our pile of ore, confident that 
 when it was crushed and washed it would 
 make us a small fortune. 
 
 It was in January that two men, who had 
 
192 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 taken up an abandoned claim just north of 
 our mill, struck it rich. The original pros 
 pectors had already dug to a depth of about 
 forty feet in a "cap rock/ following a nar 
 row vein and "good indications," only to see 
 the vein snuff out at that point. Discour 
 aged and blue, they tore down their stakes, 
 packed up their tools, and moved over into 
 California Gulch, where a new excitement 
 was fast developing. The two newcomers 
 relocated the claim, set off just two blasts in 
 that old abandoned hole, and struck a vein 
 of high-grade that paid them that winter 
 alone over fifty thousand dollars in gold, 
 most of which they promptly squandered in 
 the gambling houses and saloons of Denver 
 and Mountain City. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 OUR GOLDEN DREAMS BEGIN TO 
 FADE 
 
 "T II TE better be wandering up and look-. 
 
 VV ing over that pot-hole claim again, 
 hadn t we, Hale?" said Cy one morning. "I 
 see the first signs of spring are here, and 
 before we know it a swarm of prospectors 
 will be back in the hills again and the stream 
 will be alive with new tenderfeet. Some one 
 might take a fancy to them granite bath tubs 
 of our n and camp." 
 
 So, taking a couple of days provisions, 
 our rifles, a shovel, and a small pick, we 
 started out, for there was but little more 
 that could be done in camp, even on our 
 claims, till the ice went out and the spring 
 water came. The country was beautiful to 
 see. On one side stretched hundreds of 
 pine-clad hills with thousands of prospect 
 holes scattered everywhere. To the east, 
 through the valley of Clear Creek, as it 
 wound through the intervening ranges, the 
 plains could be seen for over a hundred 
 193 
 
i 9 4 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 miles. Sometimes these plains would be 
 covered with shifting clouds that were far 
 below, and at other times the dry stream 
 beds could be seen winding through the 
 black belts of yellow pine that stretched 
 away to the horizon like an immense burned- 
 over prairie. 
 
 We especially liked to watch an east wind 
 drive the fluffy clouds up into the hills, like 
 an immense herd of big sheep, blotting out 
 first one range, then another, until we our 
 selves were lost in the mists. 
 
 I decided that I would go part way to the 
 pot-holes with them that morning, and I 
 shall never forget what I saw as we reached 
 the summit. Far to the West, fully twenty 
 miles away, I think, stretched the Snowy 
 Range with its scores of peaks. The sun 
 was shining upon them, causing them to 
 sparkle in the light like big diamonds set in 
 the purple green of the lower ranges. Far 
 to the South, where Pike s Peak raised her 
 snowclad summit, we could see a raging 
 mountain blizzard playing in the Middle 
 Park. 
 
 At our very feet were the unmistakable 
 tracks of mountain lion in the snow. Evi- 
 
DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 195 
 
 dently, the lion had been trailing his break 
 fast, for Hale reported later having seen 
 the half eaten carcass of a big elk in a small 
 canon beyond. The squirrels were yery 
 plentiful, especially the big black ones, and 
 many a cold night on that trip, we had 
 stewed squirrel with split peas for our eve 
 ning meal. 
 
 Just before I left them to return, we came 
 upon a tumbled-down old cabin, and as there 
 were some signs of it having been recently 
 inhabited, we decided to investigate. What 
 was our horror to find an old miner dead in 
 his bunk, having been shot through the 
 heart. On the rough table beside him lay 
 three empty buckskin bags. The old miner, 
 perhaps sick and unable to protect himself, 
 had no doubt been shot and robbed. 
 
 Upon reaching the pot-holes, Hale was 
 furious to find our first claim-stakes knocked 
 out and a crude shanty erected on the land. 
 This was occupied by an old Scotchman, 
 who absolutely declined to talk and who kept 
 a careful watch on our every move. It was 
 evident he was guarding a secret, or else he 
 was suspicious of who we were or what we 
 were after. 
 
196 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "There is a dim trail leading off into the 
 trees from the rear," whispered Cy. "Keep 
 the old fellow busy, and I ll see where it 
 goes." 
 
 Cy followed the trail back through the 
 timber until he came to as snug a cave in 
 the granite cliff as could be imagined, and 
 in it were two splendid saddles, a pinto pony 
 and a mule. A big silver spruce had been 
 felled so as to partly screen the entrance, 
 and apparently care had been taken to re 
 move all signs of the animals. Strange as 
 it seemed, and without being able to tell just 
 why, both men had felt from the instant they 
 came into sight of the cabin that they were 
 being watched from a hidden point. 
 
 "Something almighty strange about that 
 shanty," observed Cy to Hale. "They are 
 doing no mining, apparently " 
 
 "They ! Why, I saw only one," spoke up 
 Hale. 
 
 "Yes, but there are two animals. You 
 don t suppose that crippled Scotchman rides 
 both animals, do you? Where is the other 
 man now? that s the main question." 
 
 They were compelled to return home with 
 out having accomplished very much. They 
 
DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 197 
 
 stopped at the cabin of the dead miner and 
 gave the old fellow a decent burial before 
 coming on home, but kept what they had 
 really seen to themselves, except for me, and 
 waited developments. Cy was sure some 
 thing would turn up to shed some light on 
 the matter. 
 
 We went to work again on our upper 
 claim, more to keep ourselves busy and in 
 trim than for any other reason. About a week 
 later, what was our joy to open a fair-sized 
 pocket that made wonderful returns. We 
 took some of the best ore to the cabin and 
 crushed it by hand, then treated it with 
 mercury and vaporized it in our own open 
 fireplace. Each ladleful of rock would pro 
 duce fifty to sixty dollars in pure gold, and 
 we were riotously happy, and dreamed great 
 dreams of what we would do when we could 
 crush and work the ore in large quantities 
 at our mill. 
 
 One evening while we were all engaged 
 in this interesting pastime, a stranger 
 knocked at our cabin door. This was not 
 an uncommon thing, for our cabin was the 
 best in the gulch, and many a tenderfoot, 
 and even capitalist, for that matter, had 
 
198 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 come there during our stay, asking for 
 everything, from information to grub stakes. 
 This evening it was a lone man of middle 
 age. It took but a few moments of con 
 versation with him to convince us that he 
 was not the usual adventurer, but was a man 
 of high intelligence and no little education. 
 After Bill had fed him well, he drew into 
 our circle and watched us carefully as we 
 prospected ladle after ladle of the precious 
 ore. Finally my uncle brought out the buck 
 skin bag into which we had been putting 
 our findings from the new pocket, and 
 showed them to the stranger. I noted his 
 flushed, triumphant face. He was as happy 
 as a boy. His wildest dreams were coming 
 true. He was in the land where pure gold 
 could be cooked out of the powdered rock in 
 an open fireplace. 
 
 "Tell me, are there quantities of that 
 wonderful stuff?" he asked my uncle, in sup 
 pressed excitement. 
 
 "We can t tell," said my uncle, soberly. 
 "There may be but a few pounds of it. There 
 may be tons." 
 
 "Tons? Will you sell that mine?" he 
 questioned, eagerly. 
 
DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 199 
 
 "Yes," said my uncle; and we were all 
 surprised, for he had not even so much as 
 questioned us in regard to our desires, and 
 we held the claim by joint ownership. 
 
 "What is your price, sir?" asked the gen 
 tleman. 
 
 "Ten thousand dollars," said my uncle. 
 "We have other claims, all good ones ; more 
 than we can work ourselves, and before long 
 we will be starting up the mill again. That 
 will take every man long hours every day. 
 There are thousands of tons of ore waiting 
 for our mill to begin operation." 
 
 The stranger considered carefully. Early 
 the next morning they went to examine the 
 shaft, and when they returned to the cabin 
 the deal was made. We were to take eight 
 thousand dollars in gold and a one-third 
 interest in the mine. The next day the gen 
 tleman started back to Denver for supplies, 
 additional help, and a tool kit. 
 
 My uncle then called us all together and 
 told us why he had sold our very best claim. 
 
 "We have but thirty dollars left from the 
 sale of our oxen and wagons, besides this 
 little bag of dust from the pocket," he said, 
 "and we cannot hire help for the mill when 
 
200 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 it opens without money. I am confident that 
 our fortune lays in that pile of black ore, and 
 there are quantities more of it; but it must 
 be milled before it is of any value here." 
 
 We boys had hazarded nothing, save our 
 selves, in this gold venture, so could not 
 complain, although it was just a bit disap 
 pointing to us all not to be able to continue 
 our pleasant task of actually cooking fifty 
 dollars worth of gold out of the rock every 
 few moments. 
 
 The next morning brought news of a bold 
 robbery in Mountain City, while all that was 
 known about it was that the robber rode a 
 mule. 
 
 Cy sat thoughtfully a long while, after the 
 news arrived, but all that he would say was : 
 "On a mule, eh? There will be more work 
 for the Vigilantes before long, I m thinking. 
 On a mule ! and there is but one in the whole 
 valley." He called Hale to him, and together 
 they held a secret conference. 
 
 It was hardly a week later that two of the 
 best-known miners, who had been prominent 
 in several trials in our court, en route to the 
 city for a new supply of provisions, were 
 held up and robbed of their entire bag of 
 
DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 201 
 
 dust. The next day an outlying prospector s 
 cabin was fired. It so happened that it had 
 been well stocked with powder, and a ter 
 rific explosion followed, loosening a great 
 granite stratum far up on the mountain and 
 causing a landslide that nearly wiped our 
 mill down into the valley. It was, indeed, 
 a narrow escape for us. If it had not been 
 for the burning cabin, we would have been 
 inclined to believe that the thing had been 
 planned for our destruction. 
 
 The next two days Hale and Toleman 
 were gone. No one knew where, but I had 
 my suspicions that they were on the trail 
 of a man mounted on a mule. They returned 
 to camp in the middle of the night, tired and 
 exhausted, but declined to talk. Evidently, 
 Cy was in a very bad humor, so I left him 
 alone. The next day the two rode away 
 again, and did not return till the spring 
 thaw, some days later. The water began 
 to run in the ditch again now. Once more 
 the springs began to flow. Red cleaned his 
 boilers, started his fires, and got the mill 
 into readiness, and we all prepared to go 
 to work on a pile of black ore. 
 
 My uncle, however, had grown very thin 
 
202 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 and pale, and I began to worry about him, 
 for I very often awoke in the night of late, 
 always to find him sitting in a chair by the 
 fire, his head in his hands. I knew he had 
 been threatened a number of times, because 
 of his court decisions, and Cy was sure this 
 was affecting him. Yet I alone suspected 
 that the real trouble, after all, was that he 
 had come to realize, as a result of his own 
 assays, that our pile of black pyrites, upon 
 which we were all setting such great store, 
 was worthless. I was sure he was much 
 concerned about keeping the rest of us hope 
 ful and helping us get along till spring, when 
 we might have better luck in our prospects. 
 
 We determined to begin work at the mill 
 the next Monday. On Saturday two officers 
 appeared and asked for the gentleman who 
 had recently purchased our claim. We 
 showed them where they could find him, and 
 soon to our very great astonishment they 
 returned with that gentleman securely hand 
 cuffed and carefully guarded. They asked 
 for a conference in private with my uncle, 
 which was, of course, granted. We never 
 knew just what happened in that room, ex 
 cept that my uncle came out of it penniless. 
 
DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 203 
 
 I 
 It seemed that our friend had been the 
 
 cashier of an Eastern bank, and had em 
 bezzled the money with which he purchased 
 our mine. He had come West to get rich 
 with it as a stake, expecting some day to 
 return the stolen money from the profits. 
 
 When my uncle learned the facts, and was 
 entirely satisfied that the papers were 
 genuine, he at once forfeited the money paid 
 him, without a protest. But from that day 
 on he was a broken man. His whole scheme 
 for us was a failure, and he was absolutely 
 without funds. 
 
 With the coming of the rich claim back 
 into our possession again, Hale and Tole- 
 man determined to work it, in the hopes 
 that it would produce money enough to carry 
 on the mill. They had worked it just three 
 days, when the pocket played out, and there 
 was nothing left but hard cold granite; not 
 even quartz. 
 
 Suddenly we all became discouraged, but 
 not for worlds would any of us let any of 
 the rest know just how we felt. True, we 
 had perhaps a few hundred dollars left from 
 the pocket. After a long conference on the 
 whole matter, we decided to put it into 
 
204 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 operating the mill, as our very last chance. 
 We worked it day and night, but very soon 
 discovered that none of the ore was rich 
 enough to pay for both mining and milling. 
 A general gloom settled over the entire 
 camp. Many prospectors began to move 
 out. McKee, the owner of the only other 
 mill in the gulch, loaded it up and dragged 
 it over the hills to Leadville, where a great 
 silver strike was being made. We closed 
 our mill down at the same time, and that 
 threw Red out of employment. McKee 
 made him an attractive offer, and we re 
 leased him. 
 
 Evidently, my uncle was fast becoming 
 a sick man, and Toleman, more than any 
 of the rest of us, seemed to realize it. The 
 next day, without telling us where he was 
 going, he saddled his horse and set out on a 
 journey. Late that evening he returned with 
 an old doctor prospector from a neighboring 
 camp. After a thorough examination, the 
 doctor said that my uncle was a nervous 
 wreck, and that his only chance of recovery 
 was to get out of the high altitude at once. 
 There was but one thing to do. That was 
 to send him back to the States. To this, 
 
DREAMS BEGIN TO FADE 205 
 
 however, he firmly objected, and said he 
 would much rather die in his mountain 
 cabin than risk the trip back over the desolate 
 plains alone. Bill Sikes jumped at the op 
 portunity of getting home too, and offered 
 to see my uncle back for his passage home. 
 Of course we agreed, and soon all details 
 had been arranged. The old stamp mill was 
 sold to get the necessary funds for the trip 
 that old mill that we had carted literally all 
 the way from Chicago ; that old mill that had 
 been the focus of our fondest hopes and 
 dreams, was sold for a mere pittance. Ap 
 parently, our whole enterprise had collapsed, 
 and the golden halo that had for ten long 
 months surrounded it had suddenly vanished. 
 All that we now had left was our seasoned 
 bodies and strong muscles, plus a year of 
 first-hand experience. 
 
 Soon the gulch was almost deserted, and 
 in a few weeks it was a rare thing to see a 
 miner at work. 
 
 "If we could catch that mysterious rider 
 of a mule/ said Cy, jokingly, after my uncle 
 was gone, "we wouldn t need to mine any 
 longer. He must have bags full of gold by 
 now. Hale, we ll try our pot-hole again." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 PROSPECTING THE CONTINENTAL 
 DIVIDE 
 
 THAT night we sat a long time making 
 new plans, for, by our own choice, Tole- 
 man, Hale, and I were to be left behind. As 
 we sat talking there seemed to come to us 
 a conviction that, after all, the hills would 
 yield a golden harvest for us, as they had 
 done for so many other men. We decided 
 to form a new company, giving my uncle 
 one-fourth interest for his investment in the 
 wagon-train and for the cabin, tools, and 
 what few provisions remained. We made 
 the cabin our headquarters, and then began 
 a number of extended prospecting trips. 
 
 We were just ready to start on our first 
 trip when Joe Watson, who had been one of 
 the best-known miners in the gulch, struck 
 it rich. He had come back unbeknown 
 to any one and just gone to work on an 
 abandoned claim. He was a quiet, unassum 
 ing man, with quantities of nerve and lots 
 of determination. He had gone to work, 
 206 
 
PROSPECTING 207 
 
 just as he had a half dozen times before, on 
 an inspiration. He had had many streaks 
 of good luck, and some reverses, in his time, 
 but he was always the same. When he 
 "struck it" he was willing to share, and 
 when he was broke he would patch up his 
 old pants, borrow a pick, and go back to 
 work. This time it was the old Bob Cat 
 claim, just above us, that he chose. In two 
 weeks he took out from a narrow crevice two 
 loads of quartz that looked like rusty iron. 
 He hauled it to Mountain City and it pro 
 duced six thousand dollars in amalgam. He 
 hired us all for one week, which pleased us, 
 for we needed the money. We got out three 
 more loads from the same crevice, but it 
 produced less than twenty dollars per load. 
 
 Joe s rich strike created a great deal of 
 excitement, and soon the camp was busy 
 again with a new population of tenderfeet 
 from the East. Two strange men decided 
 to go on through the "cap rock" of a claim 
 high up .on the mountain. They struck it 
 rich, and actually took out upward of 
 seventy thousand dollars in gold. 
 
 "Well strike it yet!" said Cy, the last 
 evening before we started on our trip. "But 
 
208 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 if we don t, I believe I know where there is 
 a fortune stolen, perhaps, but which could 
 never be returned to its rightful owners, for 
 they are mostly dead. If we just can t strike 
 a rich lode or a placer, we ll look into this 
 other matter a bit, anyway." 
 
 Hale was about to speak, but Toleman in 
 terrupted him. 
 
 "Now, don t ask me any questions, boys 
 no, not now. Just remember there have been 
 no end of robberies hereabouts all winter, 
 and all that gold is somewhere. Jerusalem ! 
 but I ll bet there is a lot of it. And the rob 
 ber rides a mule. It s easier for some folks 
 to steal gold than dig it in these hills." 
 
 We planned to take in the new fields to the 
 West in our exploring, and to go over the 
 range, if possible, into the wild regions of 
 the Middle Park. Each man carried his 
 own blankets, a bit of flour, bacon, coffee, 
 and sugar for food, his pistols and rifle for 
 protection, and a shovel with which to pros 
 pect. 
 
 The first day we walked up the slopes 
 through the pine woods around the head of 
 Nevada Gulch, and along the high ridge 
 South of Bowlder Valley. We camped for 
 
PROSPECTING 209 
 
 the night just below timber line, so as to 
 have fuel for our fire. The trees kept grow 
 ing smaller, until the last ones were straggly 
 and much blown by the cold, prevailing 
 wind. They were all fantastically covered 
 with moss, and but a few feet high, although 
 perhaps hundreds of years old. 
 
 Toward evening we reached the summit 
 of a great crag, where nothing grew save a 
 few tiny alpine flowers. The peak was a 
 vast pile of broken granite, partly covered 
 with snow, and the wind blew past in a bitter 
 biting gale. Far to the north, Long s Peak 
 lifted her majestic head above vast valleys, 
 the details of which were swallowed up in 
 the purple haze below. 
 
 We decided to spend the night on top, to 
 see a real mountain sunrise, so made us a 
 shelter of flat stones, which we stood on edge 
 to cut the wind. The sunrise proved to be 
 a very riot of colored clouds, and was by 
 long odds the most wonderful picture I had 
 ever seen. We hurried down the peak, and 
 by ten o clock were again among the luxuri 
 ant flowers. We stopped to rest a bit, and 
 it seemed to us that we had just emerged 
 from fairyland. 
 
210 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 In the yalley we stopped to carefully ex 
 amine a series of beaver dams, and about 
 noon came onto fresh bear tracks. Toleman 
 examined them critically, and pronounced 
 them "grizzly," which fact was made certain 
 by later finding numerous rubbing trees 
 where the great beast had left his calling 
 card of hairs high up on the rough bark of 
 the pines. We did not care to camp too 
 close to such an animal, so pushed on as far 
 down the valley as possible. That night we 
 built us a bed of spruce boughs, roofing it 
 over with thick branches hung on cross 
 poles. We discovered, the next day, that 
 we were following an old game trail, for in 
 places it was fairly lined with whitened 
 carcasses of buffalo and deer. It wound 
 gently round jagged cliffs, always following 
 the line of least resistance, although many 
 times we were compelled to climb over, or 
 creep under, fallen trees. It finally brought 
 us through a low pass to the headwaters of 
 Clear Creek, whence we at once came into 
 country we recognized. Already we were 
 coming onto prospect after prospect, and 
 finally a few straggling cabins began to 
 appear. 
 
PROSPECTING 211 
 
 We were certain that eventually we would 
 come to the falls and the pot-holes. Often 
 we stopped to prospect an outcrop of quartz, 
 or to examine a lode, but found nothing that 
 looked good to us. However, game was 
 very plentiful and the stream abounded with 
 speckled trout, so we were content to camp 
 a few days and rest. The second day on 
 Clear Creek, Cy came into camp about eve 
 ning dragging the hind quarters of a black 
 bear, and early next morning Hale stalked 
 a splendid elk, so we agreed to camp and 
 eat our choice cuts. 
 
 "The stream is very low," commented 
 Hale at the fire that evening. "I suppose 
 it is because of the very hot season. I ve 
 just been thinking what a good time it would 
 be to prospect the pot-holes. I don t believe 
 the water in them would be over waist deep 
 just now." 
 
 "We can t do that, Hale, without jumping 
 the claim," said Toleman. "That would 
 completely spoil my best scheme too." 
 
 "Your best scheme!" said Hale, in sur 
 prise. "Come, you aren t keeping secrets, 
 are you? Tell us of this latest idea." 
 
 Cy declined just then, explaining that it 
 
212 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 was a mere idea yet, and that there might 
 be nothing to it, promising, however, to 
 "take us in" as soon as he was satisfied that 
 his theory was sound. 
 
 "I think/ he said, "that before we waste 
 any time jumping the pot-holes, we better 
 prospect some of these sandbars above the 
 falls. If we can t pan good color up here, 
 I doubt very much if there is anything in 
 your pot-holes, after all." 
 
 "A good idea," said Hale, "a very good 
 one. Let s get at it to-day. I suggest that 
 we divide up: one work here on this bar; 
 Clayton, you go down to the next one that 
 looks promising; and, Cy, you take a look 
 upstream." 
 
 "But what are you going to pan with?" 
 said I, at a loss to know how to begin. 
 
 "That s so," said Hale. "I hadn t thought 
 of that. I brought one old pan with me, but 
 three can t use it at once." 
 
 "I saw an old pan hanging in a tree this 
 morning, over where I shot that bear," said 
 Cy. "It s only a little ways. I ll go after 
 it, for it was a big heavy one." 
 
 "That was upstream, wasn t it, Cy?" ques 
 tioned Hale. Cy nodded. "Well, then," my 
 
PROSPECTING 213 
 
 brother continued, "why don t you put in a 
 little time up there? I ll go downstream 
 to the head of the falls and see what I can 
 find. We ll let Clayt stay right here to keep 
 camp. We would hate to lose this fresh 
 meat, and Clayt can get dinner." 
 
 So it was agreed, and both men set off, 
 each taking his rifle and shovel with him. 
 They were to return to camp at noon, for 
 dinner and to report. I busied myself about 
 the camp and started the noonday meal, but 
 for some reason I felt a bit uneasy. I was 
 not a coward by any means, but I had a 
 horror of being left alone in a desolate, 
 lonely place. Accordingly, I began to sing 
 a bit, or to whistle, for some sort of noise 
 of my own making seemed to comfort me. 
 The morning wore away very slowly. Twice 
 I thought I had faintly heard the sound of 
 a galloping horse, but made up my mind that 
 it was only the stream talking to me, for 
 after that I heard all sorts of voices, all the 
 way from the cry of a distressed child to the 
 angry roar of an enraged miner; but, of 
 course, all was mere fancy. 
 
 Shortly before noon, Hale came jogging 
 along upstream, whistling a merry tune. I 
 
214 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 knew it was a good sign. In his hands he 
 carried nothing but his rifle, but instinctively 
 I realized that he had struck it rich. As 
 soon as he saw me, he set up such a joyous 
 shout that I hurried out to meet him. 
 
 "We have struck it! We have struck it 
 at last, Clayt!" he cried. "Pocket after 
 pocket of it in midstream. This stream is 
 full of tiny pot-holes in the bed rock, and 
 each one is filled with black silt. The silt 
 is full of gold. Hurrah ! hurrah ! And we 
 have it all to ourselves! Where s Cy? 
 Hasn t he returned yet? Just take a peep 
 at these, boy," and he pulled from his pocket 
 seven nuggets, each about as big as a good 
 sized bean. "We camp right here," he 
 laughed in high glee, "and live on elk tender 
 loin and bear steak, while we pan out a ton 
 or two of nuggets. I wonder what uncle 
 Herman would think of a dish full like this. 
 It s odd, I think, that Cy has not come in to 
 dinner. I ll warrant he has struck it rich 
 too, and hates to leave, even to eat. My, 
 but I wish we had an ax and a few tools, so 
 we could build a cradle and some sort of a 
 shanty. 
 
 "We must be sure to not let anyone catch 
 
PROSPECTING 215 
 
 us at the panning. If we have visitors, to 
 all intents and purposes we are just hunting 
 and fishing. We ll pan a few days, till we 
 have enough dust to buy a new outfit, and 
 then one of us must walk into Mountain City 
 and buy a pair of pack animals, some sup 
 plies, a few tools, and get more ammuni 
 tion/ 
 
 So we sat, and planned and talked, for 
 nearly an hour, and still Cy did not come. 
 
 "He must be finding it in handfuls, or else 
 something has happened to him," said Hale. 
 "You did not hear any shots during the 
 morning, did you?" 
 
 I told him that I had heard everything 
 imaginable, but felt sure that all I had heard 
 was only the music of the stream. 
 
 "I m going to take a little look around," 
 he said. So, picking up a bit of cold meat 
 in one hand and his rifle in the other, he 
 started off upstream, telling me to prepare 
 the dinner, and that he would soon bring 
 Cy back with him. 
 
 I set to my task, and in half an hour had 
 everything under way. I waited an hour, 
 and still no one came, and when it became 
 two o clock I was certain something had 
 
216 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 gone wrong. Unable to sit idly by any 
 longer, I set out upstream, going cautiously 
 to see if I could see or hear anything of them. 
 A great silence seemed to have settled in the 
 valley, and time after time a chain of cold 
 shivers ran up my back. Yet I saw nothing 
 or heard nothing. At last I sat down to 
 rest and think, every added moment only 
 serving to agitate me the more. I must 
 go on! 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK 
 
 1WAS thoroughly excited now, and a 
 thousand fears rushed into my mind. I 
 hurried on, almost running along the 
 stream, for another thirty minutes, when 
 suddenly I heard a faint "Hello!" I 
 stopped to listen. Then I was certain that 
 it was not upstream, but off to one side in 
 the brush. I worked myself nearer, and 
 finally caught a glimpse of Hale as he rose 
 above a clump of low spruce. He saw me 
 too, and waved his hat. Then disappeared 
 again. My heart beat wildly as I hurried 
 on. At last I came to where Hale stood, 
 trembling. His face was savage, and the 
 perspiration ran from his forehead in 
 streams. 
 
 "Did you see anybody?" he breathed, 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Not a soul," I said, then added: 
 
 "Where is Toleman?" 
 
 "Gone!" whispered Hale. "All I could 
 217 
 
2i8 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 find of him was where he had been at work 
 in the bed of the stream. His pan and shovel 
 were there on the bank, and fresh horse or 
 mule prints were in the sand. I thought 
 there were signs of a struggle, but I wasn t 
 sure. I called and called, but got no answer. 
 Farther on I discovered blood on the gravel. 
 I picked up the trail of the horse and followed 
 it. It wound round and round, up one side 
 of the stream and then down the other, but 
 always well back in the low trees and brush. 
 Finally it led off to this strata of granite, and 
 I cannot find it from here. Clayt," he said, 
 looking me straight in the eye, "Cy has been 
 shot from ambush, and his body dropped into 
 some of these ledges of granite, or taken 
 away. We have got to find him. Where is 
 your gun?" 
 
 "My gun?" I breathed. "Why, I left it at 
 camp, of course. I only meant to come a 
 little way to tell you to hurry." 
 
 "Greenhorn!" breathed Hale in disgust, 
 "to leave your gun behind in a country like 
 this, with Jake Henderson running wild 
 in it." 
 
 "Jake Henderson !" I echoed. "If it was 
 Jake, then he has gotten Cy at last. He 
 
A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK 219 
 
 swore he would, you remember. What shall 
 we do?" 
 
 "I think there were two of them," added 
 Hale. "The trails don t match. We ll go 
 back at once and get your rifle and all our 
 extra ammunition. We will then return and 
 run this trail down, if possible. We will 
 hunt till night, and if we do not find Cy I m 
 going down over the falls after dark and 
 shoot up that shanty and everybody that s 
 in it Scotchman, mule, pony, Jake, and all, 
 if he s there." 
 
 We hastened back, wild with excitement, 
 forgetting we were hungry. True to Hale s 
 prediction, we found my rifle and both 
 pistols gone, as well as every bit of extra 
 ammunition. Our blankets had been tossed 
 onto the fire, and our provision bags either 
 hidden or stolen, for we could find no trace 
 of them. Fortunately, the two hind quarters 
 of elk, that had been hung on a cross pole 
 back of a thick spruce, had missed the rob 
 ber s gaze. 
 
 Hale s rage knew no bounds. All I could 
 do was to obey orders and follow. He gave 
 me one of his pistols and a dozen rounds, 
 with the sharp orders not to waste a single 
 
220 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 shot. We returned again to where the trail 
 was lost on the granite and then separated, 
 each to investigate, agreeing to return at 
 sundown, if we found nothing, and to shoot 
 twice in rapid succession if either of us 
 found any clue or needed help. We scoured 
 the mountain eagerly for hours. Twice I 
 found a few tracks, but they were larger 
 than the ones Hale had shown me. Hale 
 had guessed that the rider had followed the 
 granite ledge as far as possible, because it 
 was open and unobstructed. It so happened 
 that it finally led to the stream, so gave no 
 further clue. 
 
 At sundown we both returned, weary and 
 worn and discouraged, but with no new in 
 formation whatever. Cy was gone as com 
 pletely as if the ground had swallowed him 
 up. We built us a tiny fire and fed it care 
 fully so as not to make any more smoke than 
 was necessary. We decided to roast a bit 
 of meat, and then put out our fire before 
 night, and as we did not know at what mo 
 ment we might be fired upon from am 
 bush, we ate in silence, carefully avoiding 
 any stir. 
 
 "I m going up to the top of that point to 
 
A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK 221 
 
 see if perchance there is smoke anywhere 
 and to see if any of our own smoke is hang 
 ing in the valley/ said Hale. But, when 
 a hundred yards away, he turned and came 
 back. "I think it will be better to stay to 
 gether," he said. "If we are shot from 
 ambush, then we will at least know where 
 the other is. If we had stayed together this 
 morning, no doubt we would know where 
 Cy is to-night. I can t believe that he is 
 dead. He was too handy with his gun to 
 be caught napping. If he still lives, we ll 
 find him in time." 
 
 We climbed in silence, and at last reached 
 the top of a jagged slivered granite stratum, 
 from which we could see most of the valley. 
 There was no smoke that we could see any 
 where. The valley was absolutely still, and 
 was as wild as if man had never stepped 
 into it. We sat watching the sunset on the 
 distant peaks to the West, each lost in his 
 own thoughts, when Hale suddenly pinched 
 my arm and pointed into the sky. I looked, 
 and there, circling above a series of jagged 
 crevices above us, swung two great birds. 
 They were too high for us to tell whether 
 they were eagles or vultures. 
 
222 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "There is meat among those crags some 
 where/ cried Hale "It s a chance. Let s 
 go. It is an hour before dark." 
 
 He set off at a furious pace, and although 
 I was dog tired, I followed closely. The top 
 of the hill had been burned over years be 
 fore, and as a result was covered with sea 
 soned fragments of pine that were nearly 
 pure pitch. It was too dark to see over the 
 edge, but Hale was determined. So, choos 
 ing a choice bit of pine, he sat down and 
 whittled the end with his hunting knife, so 
 that he could ignite it easily with a match. 
 In a few moments he had made a crude 
 torch. Bidding me gather a few bits of 
 wood for a fire, he left me, with orders to 
 come to him if he shot his pistol; if not, to 
 wait for him till daylight. I gathered my 
 wood and prepared it ready to burn, fuming 
 the while because nature had so slighted me 
 with a puny body, void of muscle and endur 
 ance. I was so weary I could have cried out, 
 and I confess that in that hour I almost 
 wished that I was back in my mother s little 
 cottage, seated in my big armchair by the 
 window, instead of in the heart of Colorado 
 Rockies, hunting gold. 
 
A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK 223 
 
 I heard a faint sound. I jumped to my 
 feet and listened. Yes, I heard Hale calling 
 me. Snatching a good piece of the fat pine, 
 I lighted it with trembling hands and started 
 toward him. Just how I got there, I never 
 knew, but in a few moments I stood before 
 a crude shelter built against a protruding 
 stratum. In front was a little stone fire 
 place, and back in the corner of the hut was 
 a crude bunk of pine boughs. I could see 
 fresh horse prints on the little trail that 
 wound over the cliff, apparently from the 
 valley below. Hale was bending over the 
 form of a man in the corner. I hurried to 
 him, and gazed into the face of Cy, but his 
 eyes were closed and his arms lay limp. 
 
 "Is he dead?" I breathed. 
 
 "No," said Hale, "but he is badly hurt. 
 He is shot through the abdomen, and the 
 bullet entered from the back. Evidently, he 
 was shot as he washed gold at the stream. 
 How they ever got him here, and for what 
 reason, I don t know. We must have water. 
 I must go for it at once. No doubt there is 
 a spring hereabouts, or else this cavehouse 
 would be uninhabitable. But I probably 
 can t find it to-night. If I keep to this nar- 
 
224 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 row trail, I can find my way to the stream, 
 but can I find my way back to you again ? 
 
 "Either the man who brought Cy here, 
 or the horse that carried him, is also shot, 
 for there is more blood about than ever came 
 from Cy s wound. Evidently, he is gone, 
 but may return here any minute, so we must 
 watch. I m going to take this old canteen 
 and go for water, and leave you my rifle. I 
 want you to sit on that rock yonder and 
 guard this hut. If any one crosses, shoot, 
 but take care and don t shoot me. As I 
 draw near, I will call to you. If I should 
 not return in two hours, you will know I 
 have lost my way and must wait for day 
 light. Mind what I say, don t leave your 
 post, and don t sleep, not even for a second. 
 Cy s very life depends upon it. If he wakes, 
 speak to him, but don t go in." In a second 
 Hale was gone. 
 
 I took my post, my pistol ready and Hale s 
 rifle across my knees. I could hear my own 
 heart beating wildly as I sat there. By and 
 by I heard some movement on the ledge 
 above me. I trained the rifle on the spot 
 and waited. It sounded more like an animal 
 than anything else. I think I sat in that 
 
A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK 225 
 
 strained position for hours, until my arms 
 ached. The night was absolutely silent. I 
 think it must have been nearly morning when 
 I heard a voice, as plain as day, just as if 
 it were behind me, say, "Clayt ! Clayt !" Up 
 to that instant I had heard nothing, and I 
 am certain I had not been asleep. 
 
 I answered, and in a moment or two Hale, 
 his hands bleeding and himself almost ex 
 hausted, climbed up over the rock just back 
 of me. Strapped to his belt was the precious 
 canteen of water. My own throat was dry 
 and parched, but I dared not drink, for that 
 water was for Cy. Carefully Hale pressed 
 the tin to his lips, taking care to catch the 
 overflow in his bandana handkerchief. With 
 this he gently mopped the wounded man s 
 face and neck, and then forced more drink 
 into his mouth. At last Cy stirred a bit and 
 turned restlessly to one side. Evidently he 
 was in great pain. Hale cried with joy, and 
 before long I was sniffling too. Slowly he 
 opened his eyes, gazing at us at first a bit 
 uncertainly, then, as he caught sight of 
 Hale, he said, in a voice I can never forget: 
 
 "I knew you would come, old pal." And 
 then he closed his eyes again and sighed. 
 
226 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Almost instantly he seemed to relax and feel 
 more comfortable. 
 
 With tears streaming down his face, Hale 
 came over to me and said, simply: "Now 
 you can sleep, Clayt. I ll watch till morn 
 ing; then you can relieve me." 
 
 I stretched myself on the bare hard rocks 
 and was asleep in an instant physically, 
 nervously exhausted, but happy that we had 
 found old Cy. The price that we had paid 
 was not too great. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 FATE SETTLES A SCORE 
 
 THE sun was high when Hale wakened 
 me. He looked so tired and worn that 
 he frightened me. Seeing my anxiety, he 
 smiled and said : 
 
 "Clayt, now I can sleep just two hours, 
 and then make me get up, for I must go 
 down after that meat and more water. We 
 cannot move Cy till afternoon, and mean 
 time we must not both be gone at once. 
 Shoot if anyone comes near." He lay down 
 and was soon dead asleep. 
 
 As I sat guard, I saw the two eagles of 
 the evening before hovering above, and then 
 I knew that there must be a nest, for they 
 came again and again, each time with food. 
 By climbing high up, I could look down into 
 the crude pile of sticks and mud and litter 
 of white bones. Someway I felt strongly 
 drawn to the birds, for if it had not been 
 for them it is doubtful if we would ever have 
 found Cy at all. 
 
 227 
 
228 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 After two big hours I reluctantly roused 
 Hale. When he awoke he was a different 
 man. After giving Cy more drink, and 
 bathing him carefully again, he took the 
 empty canteen and began to search the cliff 
 for the spring that he felt sure must be 
 somewhere near. His common sense aided 
 him in searching the many crevices, and 
 soon his search was rewarded. To be sure, 
 it was nothing but a tiny trickle of water, 
 but it was cold and clear. He drank deeply 
 himself, then brought me a canteen full, re 
 turning for more for Cy. When he came 
 back the second time Cy lay with his eyes 
 wide open, the old smile playing feebly about 
 his mouth. 
 
 "Nearly got me, Hale," he whispered. 
 "But I m sure I potted them both before I 
 completely lost my senses. I played possum, 
 and when the one came to load me on his 
 horse (I thought at first that he meant to 
 leave me to die, but he changed his mind) 
 I pulled my derringer from my sleeve and 
 shot twice. The first went into the horse s 
 flank, the second, I am sure, went into the 
 scoundrel s leg. He snatched my gun and 
 threw it away, or Fd have gotten Jake, who, 
 
FATE SETTLES A SCORE 229 
 
 seeing our struggle, crossed over the stream 
 to help. 
 
 " Til take him to the cave/ said the first 
 man, and you go downstream and get the 
 rest/ That s all I remember. I tried to 
 recognize him, but could not, on account of 
 the heavy beard; but as I think of it now, 
 I am positive it was the gambler that killed 
 Switzer. You mind, he said he would get 
 me. He is mining somewhere, for he had 
 two sharp drills with him. I don t believe 
 he knew who I was at first, but just feared 
 I would discover his claim. You know, 
 Hale, I believe he found Switzer s mine, 
 after all. Tell me how you boys got here, 
 and where are we anyway ?" 
 
 Hale told him carefully about the events 
 of the day before, ending his story by pulling 
 the handfuls of nuggets from his own pocket 
 and holding them before Cy s face. Cy 
 smiled, and then said: 
 
 "I had some too, boys, just like them ; but 
 when I was shot I threw them away. I 
 didn t want my captor to know I had struck 
 it. He shot me in the back as I worked. I 
 didn t see him at first. I only saw the rider 
 on the far side of the stream. I blazed 
 
230 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 away, but I was too stunned for good aim 
 ing. They seemed to be sort of patrolling 
 both sides of the stream. I suppose as fast 
 as a prospector puts in his appearance they 
 pot him. We fooled them by coming in 
 from up the valley. They must have some 
 thing pretty good, or else they are the rob 
 bers who have been working in the valley 
 all winter and this is their retreat. One of 
 them rides a mule." 
 
 "The question is," said Hale, "what is to 
 be done with you now? We have got to 
 move to some other shelter, and then lay for 
 the scoundrel when he comes back to see 
 you." 
 
 "I don t believe he will come back," said 
 Cy. "He probably knows by now that you 
 two are at large and on the lookout. A 
 coward never takes any chances, and he 
 probably thinks me dead." 
 
 "We must build a fire, cleanse that wound 
 with hot water, cook a bit of food, and pre 
 pare for a long stay," said Hale. "As soon 
 as possible, one of us must go to Mountain 
 City for iodine and more ammunition, also 
 some tools. Ours are all gone. I ll go scout 
 ing, and if I can find a good shelter, we ll 
 
FATE SETTLES A SCORE 231 
 
 move this pile of boughs to it and burn the 
 rest. By not having to cut fresh boughs it 
 will be difficult to find us. This granite 
 gives away no trails, and by careful watch 
 ing we would be safe for days. We have 
 a week s meat in the valley." 
 
 In half an hour he came back, and we were 
 able to tell from his face that he had found 
 a suitable place. We gently rolled Cy to one 
 side, while we moved the boughs. In an 
 hour we had the bulk of them in our new 
 cave, and also the half dozen tin cans and 
 the little fry pan that had been the cooking 
 equipment of the camp. We then built a 
 small fire, cleaned the cans, and put water 
 on to boil. Hale cut away a sleeve from his 
 own underclothes and, after boiling it, dried 
 it in the warm sun. We then carefully re 
 moved the bloody clothing from Cy s back 
 and gently bathed the wound. I noted that 
 Hale s face grew very grave, and he shook 
 his head doubtfully. By night we had Cy 
 moved (although we were almost certain 
 that the moving would kill him), and had 
 the two pieces of fresh meat carried up from 
 the valley. Hale also brought both of the 
 gold pans back up with him, Cy s did very 
 
232 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 well to keep a supply of fresh water in, while 
 Kale s made a suitable frying pan. Hale 
 cut a little of the meat into small cubes, and 
 after carefully washing it, stewed it in the 
 best one of the cans, giving Cy the soup. 
 He seemed to greatly relish it, and soon 
 afterward fell asleep again. 
 
 "We will each sleep half the night/ said 
 Hale. "You first, for at daybreak I must 
 be off. I am going to Mountain City. By 
 very hard marching I can make it by night. 
 I am going to sell the secret of the new 
 placer, and bring a doctor back here with 
 me, if I have to kidnap one. If he will let 
 us move Cy, well make a litter, carry him 
 down the mountain, and move him to our 
 cabin by the old mill. He has no chance 
 whatever of recovery here. If I do well in 
 selling the placer, I ll offer a reward for 
 those two scoundrels or the wounded horse; 
 and if I get stuck on the placer, I still have 
 the big nugget that Jake took from Keats a 
 year ago. It got me into trouble, perhaps 
 it can get me out/ At daylight he started 
 down the mountain, warning me to be con 
 stantly on the alert for danger. 
 
 Once in Leavenworth Gulch, he went 
 
FATE SETTLES A SCORE 233 
 
 straight to Joe Watson and told him of our 
 great misfortune, also of the rich new placer. 
 Joe loaned him five hundred dollars in dust, 
 and urged him not to sell the placer secret, 
 but to keep still, at least for a time. He 
 then hitched up his own old horses and drove 
 Hale on into Mountain City. They went 
 straight to the doctor miner who had sent 
 my uncle back to the States, and, laying a 
 bag of dust before him, Joe said: "Colonel, 
 I want you to go with us on a little trip, and 
 if you bring this wounded friend of mine 
 through alive, I ll have another bag for you 
 just like it." 
 
 At daybreak they had started back, but 
 not till Hale had posted his notice of reward 
 for information leading to the gambler and 
 to Jake Henderson s arrest. This was the 
 first of many such notices to be posted in 
 the camp, and it caused a sensation. By the 
 middle of the afternoon the three reached 
 the bottom of the cliff, and Joe stood guard 
 over the rig while Hale and the doctor 
 climbed to the cliff. The old Colonel made 
 a careful examination, redressed the wound, 
 and assured us that Cy would get better if 
 blood poison did not set in. That evening 
 
234 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 they rejoiced about the fire, while I relieved 
 Joe at the rig, so he could go up to see Cy. 
 
 The next day we had the poor fellow 
 safely moved to our old cabin in the gulch. 
 I was, of course, detailed to care for him 
 while Hale went out to support us. I had 
 no fear that he would fail in this undertak 
 ing, especially when Cy Toleman s life and 
 chances depended upon it. Taking a few 
 tools and provisions, along with plenty of 
 fire arms, he persuaded Joe to go with him 
 to work the new placer, incidentally to see 
 if they could get any trace of the gambler 
 or of Jake. After three days of unmolested 
 work, Hale rode back to tell us of their good 
 fortune, and to leave the dust and nuggets 
 secured, for it was fast accumulating. The 
 next week he brought in seventy ounces of 
 dust and thirteen good nuggets; but there 
 had been many visitors, and he was certain 
 they could not hold the discovery secret 
 much longer. Accordingly, Joe had sug 
 gested that they take a large number of ore 
 sacks, shovel them full of the black silt from 
 the best pockets in the bed rock, and stack 
 them up in camp against the day of a big 
 rush. 
 
FATE SETTLES A SCORE 235 
 
 Hale accordingly brought in what treasure 
 they had, and went out to purchase ore 
 sacks. When he had upward of a hundred 
 he started back, but, because he had created 
 some excitement by his purchase, and so that 
 no one would follow him, he decided to take 
 the bags south in the main valley and then 
 go back to camp empty, then on the morrow 
 take a pack horse and go over the ridge on 
 the trail past the cave, and bring in the sacks 
 that way. However, he had not gone far 
 before he was certain that he was being 
 followed. He camped, and that evening 
 struck what appeared to be a game trail that 
 led back into a side valley. When well back 
 into the canon he sighted an apparently de 
 serted cabin, and thought he might leave his 
 bags there with safety, so went to investi 
 gate 
 
 As he drew nearer he was startled to hear 
 a horse neigh from the lean-to shelter that 
 had been used for a barn. He found there, 
 to his intense excitement, a poor brute that 
 was in a very bad condition from a bad 
 wound in the flank. It had had no attention, 
 and the flies had so badly infected it that the 
 animal was suffering terribly. Apparently, 
 
236 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 it had had no food nor water for days, and 
 was tied too securely to gain its own free 
 dom. 
 
 Instantly Hale realized what he had dis 
 covered, and at once became alert. Under 
 cover of darkness, he sneaked to the cabin 
 and, being satisfied that there was no one 
 there, he entered, struck a match and looked 
 around. His eyes caught sight of a dis 
 ordered bundle in the bunk, and upon ex 
 amination he found it to be a dead man. 
 Finding a bit of a candle, he lighted it and 
 began to look around. In the corner stood 
 two rifles, one of which was Toleman s. On 
 a peg in the corner hung, without a ques 
 tion of a doubt, the suit of black clothes 
 and the hat Hale had seen on the gambler 
 that winter s day in Switzer s blacksmith 
 shop. 
 
 Close examination of the dead man 
 showed a nasty tear in the left leg, in which 
 gangrene had already set in. Both legs 
 were badly swollen, and gave every indica 
 tion of severe blood poisoning. The bunk 
 and body were simply alive with vermin, and 
 at one end of the bunk was a new rat s nest, 
 built from portions of the covers. Fate had 
 
FATE SETTLES A SCORE 237 
 
 at last avenged the death of the innocent 
 blacksmith. 
 
 Hale camped outside, and in the morn 
 ing put the horse out of its misery. He then 
 packed his bags well back up the valley, and 
 in so doing very soon realized he was near 
 the cliff where Cy had lain. He carefully 
 determined just where he was, then took the 
 line of least resistance over the ridge. He 
 was not surprised to find the little trail lead 
 ing to the cliff cave. He carefully hid his 
 load of sacks well back from the cabin, took 
 Toleman s rifle and the gambler s pistols, 
 and slowly returned to the city. Avoiding 
 all men, he started at once for the new 
 placer, to talk things over with Joe. Both 
 felt tremendously relieved to know that one, 
 at least, of their adversaries was out of the 
 way. What could possibly have become of 
 Jake, was what really bothered them. Could 
 it be that he too was wounded, or was he 
 just waiting his chance now for a fatal shot ? 
 
 Both men began digging with renewed 
 vigor, filling bag after bag and packing them 
 into camp on their horses. They had just 
 been at work a week when what they had 
 feared would come to pass really happened. 
 
238 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 The doctor, having had just a few too many 
 drinks, had become talkative, and had told 
 fabulous tales of bushels of nuggets to be 
 had for the digging above the falls. The 
 rush arrived in the middle of the night. 
 There were more than fifty in the advance 
 guard, and nearly two hundred in all, and 
 each was hungry for claims. Hale and Joe 
 awoke with a start to find the valley teem 
 ing with prospectors, and when the first gray 
 streaks broke over the eastern hills the 
 stream was already staked both sides, from 
 the falls to the canon wall. Hale sat guard 
 on the piles of black gravel, a rifle across his 
 knees, while Joe told the excited miners 
 where the best pay dust had been. He ad 
 vised them to work up stream, jokingly sug 
 gesting that the mother lode must, out of 
 pure necessity, be up there somewhere. So 
 it came about that the Lucky Strike lode was 
 discovered, which in after years proved to 
 be the best mine ever opened in the valley. 
 The dead gambler of the mysterious cabin 
 had it staked, and all the assessments 
 worked to date ; and what was more, no one 
 save Hale and Joe knew that the real owner 
 was dead. No doubt he had already taken 
 
FATE SETTLES A SCORE 239 
 
 a fortune out of it, but just where it was 
 hidden, no one knew at that time. 
 
 "What will you take for that pile of 
 sacked silt?" said a big man, who was 
 plainly out of place in a flannel shirt and 
 high boots. 
 
 Hale looked him over critically, and then 
 turned to Joe : 
 
 "What do you say, Joe?" 
 
 "Ten thousand, in cold hard cash/ said 
 Joe, expectantly. 
 
 "Sold!" said the stranger. "Can I take 
 possession at once?" 
 
 "At once," said Joe, with mock courtesy. 
 "Come, Hale, we move out." 
 
 Two happy and satisfied men rode into 
 Leavenworth Gulch that evening, and 
 straight to our cabin. 
 
 "Ten thousand dollars and one hundred 
 thirty ounces of dust at twenty dollars an 
 ounce, that s not so bad for a few days 
 work. Now, if Cy just gets well, Til for 
 give the doctor for letting our secret out," 
 laughed Hale. 
 
 "What is next?" asked Joe. 
 
 "I m going to Denver," said Hale. 
 
 "For what?" I asked, in surprise. 
 
240 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "To deposit our money for safe keeping, 
 and to hunt up the United States marshal," 
 replied Hale, a merry twinkle in his eye. 
 
 "The United States marshal for what?" 
 I asked, more interested. 
 
 "I learned to-day that Jake Henderson is 
 back again. He is living in the cabin below 
 the falls, with the Scotchman. He s been 
 gone since Cy was shot. I suppose he thinks 
 that has all blown over now. I had decided 
 to go to work on my pot-holes next week, 
 but now I dare not do it, with him there. 
 He would shoot me in a second." 
 
 Toleman smiled from his bunk with real 
 pleasure. "That was my scheme, Hale, to 
 turn the marshal loose on Jake, but now you 
 have beaten me to it, so go ahead, and luck 
 to you. I m convinced the old pot is full of 
 gold, but remember you re hunting skunk, 
 and need to have your derringer handy." 
 
 "I want to see him with my very own eyes 
 before I start," replied Hale, "so I m going 
 back to-morrow, just to reconnoiter." 
 
 His sudden meeting with Jake on the 
 morrow, however, was somewhat of a sur 
 prise to both men. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 A CHANCE MEETING IN THE NIGHT 
 
 JOE WATSON had decided to go back to 
 the placer again to see what he could do 
 for himself on his own hook, and as Hale 
 had not heard from him, he rode up to talk 
 matters out with him in regard to Jake. The 
 stream was still lined with toiling miners, 
 some jubilant with success, others tired out 
 and discouraged. The boom promised to be 
 short lived, and already some of the lazy 
 ones that could not stand the strenuous back- 
 breaking labor over the pans were preparing 
 to leave. 
 
 Hale rode leisurely among them, chatting 
 with this one and that one, when suddenly 
 he turned to look into the muzzle of a pistol. 
 He was promptly ordered to dismount, and 
 was too surprised to disobey. Jake Hender 
 son had gotten the drop. Hale was certain 
 his time had come, when suddenly, from be 
 hind, a miner cried out, "Don t, don t you 
 shoot Jake in the back !" Jake s eye shifted 
 241 
 
242 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 the fleeting part of a second, but that was all 
 that was necessary. The little derringer 
 flashed, and the two men stood facing each 
 other, guns ready. 
 
 "I call that a draw," said Joe Watson, 
 from behind. "Both of you hand me your 
 guns. Now, young man, come with me. 
 Jake, you better get. There are a dozen men 
 after you, any one of whom will shoot on 
 sight. There s a plenty that need that re 
 ward. I ll give you an hour to get, and then 
 I ll let it out who you are; and when I do, 
 you re same as a dead Indian, for that s a 
 worthwhile reward they re offering for your 
 scalp." 
 
 With an oath and a muttered threat, Jake 
 retreated over the ridge, shaking his fist at 
 the two as he disappeared. Hale laughed 
 a dry little laugh before he spoke. 
 
 "You saved my life, Joe," he said at length. 
 "Now I want you to go partners with me on 
 a new claim. That s what I came up for. 
 I know it s rich, richer than any yet panned, 
 but it s hard to get at. Will you go?" 
 
 "Go anywhere with you, lad," said Joe. 
 "Now when do we begin operations ?" 
 
 "As soon as I can go to Denver and back," 
 
A CHANCE MEETING 243 
 
 replied Hale. "Meanwhile I want you to 
 keep Jake s whereabouts in mind. We 
 can t go to work till we are sure he is safe 
 in hands of the law. I m going to see the 
 marshal/ 
 
 "Leave him to me, boy," said Joe. "I ll 
 know where he is when you want him, if you 
 hurry. I have a notion he won t be long in 
 these parts anyway, but best to make cer 
 tain." 
 
 Hale rode in on us that evening and an 
 nounced that he had located Jake, but did 
 not tell us the little incident in which Joe 
 had come to the rescue. 
 
 "How are you, Cy?" Hale asked, ear 
 nestly. "Are you soon going to be strong 
 enough to watch operations at the pots? It 
 will be some sight, I ll wager. We are going 
 to make a big stake there, I m positive 
 enough to put us all in clover, then I m going 
 home. Do you hear me ? home !" 
 
 "You re wise, pal," said Toleman, cheerily, 
 "and if I am able to go, I am going with 
 you." 
 
 The next morning Hale rode down the 
 gulch for Denver. Once there, however, he 
 met an obstacle that he had not counted on. 
 
244 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 The marshal was not even interested in his 
 case. In fact, he laughed at Hale, and in 
 formed him that he already had a man in 
 prison for the robbery at the Fort a year 
 ago ; that Hale must be mistaken. "My man 
 was convicted of the crime on circumstantial 
 evidence, I ll admit/ added the marshal, 
 "but it was very strong evidence. Describe 
 this man Jake to me, and let me see about 
 this a bit." 
 
 Hale did so, minutely, and at once the 
 marshal was interested. 
 
 "You have described the man I have 
 in prison, exactly," he said. Then, turning 
 abruptly, he added: 
 
 "Why are you so anxious to have this 
 Jake Henderson apprehended now after a 
 year has lapsed. You realize, of course, that 
 these hills are filled just now with all sorts 
 of bad men from the cities. If I should at 
 tempt to arrest them all, I would need a regi 
 ment of soldiers behind me." 
 
 "But supposing you could regain a large 
 part of that stolen money ?" suggested Hale. 
 "Isn t there a reward waiting?" 
 
 "That money would prove the case beyond 
 a doubt. What s more, the coin was all 
 
A CHANCE MEETING 245 
 
 secretly marked, but we have never gotten 
 a trace of a bit of it. But, answer me, sir, 
 why do you so wish his arrest, especially just 
 now?" " 
 
 "He has sworn to shoot me on sight," said 
 Hale, slowly, "because I was the man that 
 bound him and left him in Widow Gulch for 
 you. He knows that I alone know the facts 
 of his shooting Keats. He has not dared 
 to shoot me, as long as Cy was about ; besides, 
 just the right opportunity has not presented 
 itself ; but he came near doing so yesterday. 
 I came West, sir, to hunt a fortune, not to 
 kill men, and I do not wish to be compelled 
 to take a human life, even in order to save 
 my own. However, the next time we meet, 
 one of us will lose. I d much rather have 
 the law take its course, sir." 
 
 "It would take an armed posse to capture 
 him if he knew I was after him," drawled 
 the marshal. "I would like to talk to your 
 brother and this Toleman about it too. I ll 
 go to the cabin with you, and we ll decide 
 what is best to do." 
 
 "I do not think it wise for us to be seen 
 together on the road," suggested Hale. "I ll 
 take the south trail, cross over the ridge to 
 
246 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 the placer, and come into the cabin from the 
 West. You go directly to my uncle s cabin 
 in the gulch. Are you agreed?" 
 
 The marshal agreed to this plan, and the 
 two separated, Hale taking the south trail 
 and riding hard in an effort to reach the 
 gambler s cabin before dark. In this he was 
 successful. He did not put his horse in the 
 stable, however, but took him well back up 
 stream into a bit of meadow, and hobbled 
 him. It was indeed fortunate that he was 
 so cautious, for upon his return downstream 
 he heard a faint neigh, apparently at the 
 cabin. Dropping into the thick brush, he 
 waited. By and by a horse and mule were 
 turned loose to feed, and two men, each 
 carrying a heavy sack, entered the cabin and 
 carefully fastened the door from the inside. 
 
 Hale lay still a long while, and then 
 quietly began to work his way toward the 
 cabin. An empty ore sack had been nailed 
 across the small window, so that he could 
 not see in, but by carefully working his way 
 around the cabin he found a place where the 
 mud chinking had rattled out. He was 
 making his way to it, when suddenly he 
 tripped over a protruding root and fell head- 
 
A CHANCE MEETING 247 
 
 long. Instantly he was up and alert to see 
 if he had been discovered. Evidently the 
 rush of water in the stream had drowned the 
 noise of his fall. With trembling hands and 
 shaking knees he worked his way to the 
 crack and peeped in. 
 
 The two men sat up to the table, upon 
 which stood four buckskin bags, two of 
 which bulged noticeably, as if filled with 
 chunks of some kind. The crack was so 
 narrow that he could see but a small strip 
 of either man, and unfortunately it lay just 
 about the belt. They were talking earnestly 
 together, and were evidently bargaining 
 about something. Hale removed his eye 
 from the crack and placed his ear to the hole 
 instead. He listened intently, but could not 
 catch all of the conversation. Of this much 
 he was certain, that in the morning the two 
 were going to separate, one going into 
 Mountain City to buy equipment for a long 
 prospecting trip to Leadville, while the other 
 started on with what horses and tools and 
 dust they already had to find a suitable 
 camping spot. The man who was to go into 
 the city was to take the bags of coin with 
 him, with which to make his purchases, 
 
248 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 while the second would take care of the two 
 big bags of gold dust. 
 
 Suddenly it dawned upon Hale that his 
 men were no other than Jake Henderson 
 and the little Scotchman from the cabin 
 below the falls, and that they were planning 
 their get away. The Scotchman was to buy 
 the grub, while Jake was to await him up 
 Turkey Creek, or, as Hale thought more 
 probable, to make his get away with all the 
 gold dust. 
 
 "There have been many robberies of late," 
 said Jake, "and we can t afford to take any 
 chances by taking ours into the city. Noth 
 ing is safe here any longer, not even your 
 life, if you happen to have a little gold, and 
 that is why I think we better move on. If 
 you have a little money, they say you stole 
 it, and a mob is onto your trail in no time. 
 Leadville is a new camp, and we ll make a 
 second fortune there." 
 
 "So the population is getting too thick 
 for you, is it?" said Hale under his breath, 
 but with great personal satisfaction. "I m 
 glad you re going. It saves me a nasty mess, 
 that s certain. And what s more, it leaves 
 the pot-holes at last free/ 
 
A CHANCE MEETING 249 
 
 Hale withdrew to a safe place, built him 
 a little fire and prepared to rest a bit before 
 morning. As he sat by his little fire he fell 
 to thinking just what was his duty in regard 
 to Jake. His enemy was leaving, thus his 
 own life was safe and his claim cleared so 
 he could go to work at once, if he chose. 
 When once the pot-holes had yielded their 
 fortune, he was expecting to return home. 
 Why not let Jake go ? But he could not get 
 the sight of the bold killing in Widow Gulch 
 out of his head, or of the unwarranted shoot 
 ing of Cy in which he had no doubt Jake 
 had had a part. To let him go seemed like 
 stirring up a poison viper and then going off 
 and leaving it to endanger others. Some 
 how it didn t seem fair. Had there been 
 nothing but his own personal grievance to 
 consider, he would have dropped the matter ; 
 but there was the safety of the whole valley 
 to consider. As he sat meditating, an idea 
 came to him. The marshal had told him 
 that the gold coin stolen near the Fort had 
 been marked. It was with this coin that 
 Jake s pal was now to buy provisions, he 
 was sure. If there were any doubt, the 
 marshal could examine the coins thus spent 
 
250 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 in Mountain City, and then follow up the 
 provision train and ride in on Jake. The 
 evidence would then be secure and he would 
 not need to figure in the arrest at all. This 
 plan suited him, and he determined upon it. 
 
 With the first streaks of dawn the two 
 men left the cabin. Hale, from his hiding 
 place, made certain that they were really 
 Jake and his pal, and then returned to his 
 own horse, saddled, rode over the high ridge 
 around the base of the cliff where Cy had 
 been taken prisoner, then down into the 
 placer field. There he met Joe, and learned 
 from him that Jake had left, bag and bag 
 gage. He expressed surprise, but did not 
 betray his secret, even to Joe. 
 
 The two men then sat down, and Hale 
 carefully told Joe of his proposed scheme at 
 the pot-holes, and suggested that, so long 
 as Jake was gone, they better get to work. 
 At once the two men rode to the odd claim, 
 and finding the place absolutely deserted, 
 staked it anew and prepared to go to work. 
 In the late afternoon Hale left Joe in charge, 
 to make some tests and look over the prop 
 erty, while he rode in to meet the marshal, 
 according to his agreement. The marshal 
 
A CHANCE MEETING 251 
 
 was very vexed that Hale had kept him wait 
 ing so long, but upon learning of the new 
 development he regained his humor and set 
 off at once for Mountain City to follow up 
 the new clue of the marked coins. 
 
 Cy was fast improving, and would be able 
 to get around a little in another two weeks, 
 if he had no set back. He was very anxious 
 to go to the pot-holes and watch the de 
 velopments, but Hale forbade. We divided 
 what provisions there were left, and in the 
 morning he set out again, confident that the 
 new claim held our fortune, and promised 
 to soon prove it. 
 
 Joe greeted him with enthusiasm. 
 
 "I ve an idea, lad," he called, "the very 
 first one of any value in many moons. You 
 see that granite crag to the left of the falls, 
 don t you?" 
 
 Hale gazed in the indicated direction, 
 wondering what a granite crag above the 
 falls could possibly have to do with the gold 
 in the pot-holes. 
 
 "Yes," he said. "What about it, Joe? 
 There are hundreds of them all up and down 
 the valley. What you going to do ship it 
 to a museum ?" 
 
252 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 Joe was too interested in his scheme to 
 joke, so proceeded to explain. 
 
 "Eight cans of powder will topple it over 
 and divert that whole stream of water into 
 a new channel. The pot-holes will then be 
 dry, and we could work them with ease." 
 
 Hale stared at his partner in boylike ad 
 miration, the significance of such a move 
 suddenly dawning upon him. 
 
 "Why, Joe, you are a regular wonder!" 
 he cried delightedly ; and then his face fell. 
 
 "But where will we ever get eight cans 
 of powder? It is worth fifty dollars a can 
 in Denver, and a hundred and fifty in the 
 Gulch, if, in fact, there is that much to be 
 had at all." 
 
 "But I have the powder," cried Joe, glee 
 fully. "That s what suggested it all to me." 
 
 "You have eight cans of powder?" said 
 Hale, incredulously. "Where ever did you 
 get them? These placer miners didn t have 
 it, I ll wager." 
 
 "No," laughed Joe, "but come with me." 
 
 He led Hale back through the brush over 
 that same dim trail to the hidden stable Cy 
 had discovered on their second trip to the 
 pots mouths before. Together they entered, 
 
A CHANCE MEETING 253 
 
 and there, neatly stacked against the rock 
 wall, stood eight cans of powder, a jug of 
 quicksilver, a half dozen shovels, two rusty 
 picks, and a half dozen placer pans, every 
 one of which had been stolen from our mill 
 the time we were first robbed and the at 
 tempt made to blow us up. 
 
 "Luck! pure luck!" cried Hale. "Now 
 let s get at that cliff. We ll rig a camp in 
 that old tumbled-down cabin. It will do us 
 very well for the short time we ll be here." 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 JOE WATSON S BLAST 
 
 THEY spent most of the day getting 
 things shaped up and ready for the 
 blasting. 
 
 "It will take us several days to get the 
 powder up to where we want to use it and 
 to get our holes properly drilled, won t it?" 
 asked Hale. 
 
 "Yes, the drilling in that bald old cliff will 
 be very hard work, but it will prove very 
 much worth while. We will make our first 
 trip in the morning while it s cool." 
 
 "I ll ride over to the cabin in the Gulch 
 and bring a few sharp drills, a sledge or 
 two, and a roll of fuse. There is a bundle 
 of it that has been hanging over there since 
 last fall." 
 
 For the next few days the two men were 
 
 very busy with the drilling and with hauling 
 
 the powder up to the base of the great cliff. 
 
 The day for the big blast finally came. Cy 
 
 254 
 
JOE WATSON S BLAST 255 
 
 insisted that he was amply able to take care 
 of himself for one day, and so I rode over 
 to see the celebration. Reluctantly I left Cy 
 behind, but only after I had put everything 
 that he might need within easy reach. I 
 cooked him his dinner, expecting to be back 
 by night, if all went well. The mine fuse 
 was led back through a grove of immense 
 spruce that stood in a draw at one end of 
 the cliff. Hale and I, having removed the 
 provisions from the cabin and the horses 
 from the shed, climbed up the opposite cliff 
 to watch the culmination of Joe s engineer 
 ing. After several moments we saw Joe 
 appear up the valley, hatless, his sleeves 
 flying. He waved to us, and we both waited 
 eagerly for him to reach us. 
 
 Suddenly there was a low rumble, like 
 distant thunder, and then a sharp report, 
 followed in quick succession by others. The 
 great pinnacle seemed to rock gently, much 
 as a pile of blocks would do if the bottom 
 one should be suddenly kicked out. The 
 loose bowlders began to roll, and soon a per 
 fect avalanche of rock and dirt descended 
 into the stream. Our eyes were riveted on 
 the great crag above. Slowly it toppled 
 
256 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 over, then fell headlong, directly into the 
 stream and just above the falls. 
 
 We waved our hats frantically, to let Joe 
 know all was well. He had circled across 
 and was coming toward us. In a few mo 
 ments he joined us on the ledge and gazed 
 down with satisfaction at the destruction 
 below. The water rapidly backed up until 
 it was perhaps twenty feet deep, and then 
 began to flow over the obstruction at the low 
 end, leading the water down a side gulch 
 that emptied back into the main stream fifty 
 yards below our cabin. 
 
 When we were sure it was safe to descend, 
 we hurried down, for miners were coming 
 from up the valley, like bees out of a bee 
 hive, to see what had happened, many be 
 lieving it was an earthquake or a terrific 
 landslide. 
 
 Joe took his place at the rim of the big 
 polished granite pot and told the curious 
 prospectors "that far and no farther," while 
 Hale and I waded into the cold water up to 
 our armpits and began to throw out the rock 
 that had slid in from the blast. 
 
 The crowd of spectators were skeptical. 
 Nevertheless every claim in the dry stream 
 
JOE WATSON S BLAST 257 
 
 bed up to the very edge of "discovery" was 
 almost instantly staked; a little detail 
 that we had entirely overlooked in our ex 
 citement. There were so many miners 
 about that we deemed it necessary to guard 
 the claim all night. Accordingly, I decided 
 to stay and take my turn. It was well I did, 
 for long before morning there was much 
 squabbling on the lower claims, and many 
 disputes as to just where the "discovery" 
 ended. 
 
 At daylight Joe began to rig a crude wind 
 lass across the upper pot, while Hale began 
 the construction of a big cradle from a sec 
 tion of hollow log. The miners hung about 
 expectantly, waiting to see what the pots 
 would produce, but Joe refused to pan a 
 particle of the dirt until all the preliminary 
 work was finished, all of which he made go 
 just as slowly as he could, in order to thin 
 out the envious crowd. 
 
 Shortly before noon I felt I must return 
 to Cy, as he would be greatly in need of me. 
 Joe assured me that I was not needed longer 
 at the claim, so I rode off down the valley, 
 promising to return the next day to get the 
 news and to bring new provisions. 
 
258 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 I reached our cabin about four, and found 
 it occupied by a strange assembly. Seeing 
 the six horses and a mule that were tied in 
 front, I knew something unusual had hap 
 pened, so hurried in. Cy was propped up 
 in the corner of his bunk. To his right stood 
 the marshal with three other miners who 
 were strangers to me. Seated just in front 
 of them were Jake Henderson and the 
 strange little Scotchman, whom I at once 
 guessed to be Jake s pal. They were both 
 in hand-cuffs, and tied securely besides. 
 
 Cy was telling of his acquaintance with 
 Jake from the very beginning. I stood 
 silent and listened. Jake s eyes were on the 
 floor, and he scarcely moved during the 
 entire story. I noted that Cy took great 
 care to leave Hale in the background just 
 as much as possible. When he came to that 
 part of the narrative that had to do with 
 Jake s proposal to me to buy his freedom, I 
 insisted upon speaking for myself, but made 
 it as brief as possible, not alluding in any 
 way to there being any connection whatever 
 between the two thousand dollars Jake had 
 offered me for freedom and the two thou 
 sand dollars that had been stolen near the 
 
JOE WATSON S BLAST 259 
 
 Fort; in fact, I did not even let on that I 
 knew of the robbery at all. 
 
 "And where did you come across this 
 Henderson, sir?" asked the sheriff, turning 
 abruptly to the little Scotchman. 
 
 "I was passing his cabin in Widow Gulch 
 on a little prospecting trip," replied the 
 miner, "when I heard a strange sound. 
 Thinking some one had done dirt and locked 
 some prospector up, and perhaps robbed 
 him, I battered down the door, and found 
 this man. He was so weak from hunger 
 that I had to feed him. And then he told 
 me of how he had been beaten and tied, be 
 cause he refused to give up his secret as to 
 where there was a rich claim, and told me 
 he would take me in as a pard if I d do just 
 as he said. I agreed, for I was broke, and 
 then we moved to the Falls and built a shack. 
 
 "I kept it while he went to work the secret 
 claim. He was gone nights a good deal, 
 but often returned with a quantity of dust. 
 When we got too much he took some of it 
 to Denver, to deposit, he said. I finally 
 suspected he was not getting it all honestly, 
 and asked him about it. He flew into a rage, 
 and threatened to kill me, adding, Why 
 
2<5o OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 need a man steal it when the hills are full of 
 it? Another man often came to the cabin, 
 on a gray horse, and they would go outside 
 and talk for hours; but finally he stopped 
 coming, and I never saw him again." 
 
 "Did you know that Jake had quantities 
 of gold coin in his possession?" asked the 
 sheriff. 
 
 "That I did not, sir," replied the Scotch 
 man, "until we decided to leave and go to 
 the new fields. He told me then his vein 
 had about pinched out and that he had sold 
 it for cash. That night he brought the bags 
 of coin. The next day we started, and I 
 was sent on into the city to get provisions, 
 which I did. You know the rest." 
 
 Evidently, the marshal was entirely satis 
 fied, for he said, after a thoughtful moment 
 or two, turning to Cy: 
 
 "You say you are expecting to return to 
 the States soon, Mr. Toleman?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Cy. "Just as soon as I 
 can travel in safety and can dispose of my 
 interests here. Hale hopes to enter college 
 this fall, I believe, with the little stake we 
 have made here. It would be a great deal 
 more of a fortune if I hadn t gotten in the 
 
JOE WATSON S BLAST 261 
 
 way of that miserable bullet, and could have 
 helped, instead of lying here/ 
 
 "It s a pity it didn t get you worse than 
 it did," snarled Jake. "I ll tell what I know 
 of that shooting when the time comes. It 
 was you, sir, that killed Craig, as I have 
 plenty of evidence to prove, and then burned 
 his body in his shack to cover your crime." 
 
 "So that blackguard was your partner 
 too, was he ?" cried Toleman. "I was always 
 sure that you were his assistant. As sheriff 
 of the Leaven worth Vigilantes, I have 
 plenty of evidence of many robberies to hang 
 you, sir. I promise you, if the marshal were 
 not taking you away, you would come to 
 speedy justice." 
 
 "And when the proper time comes I ll tell 
 what I know of the tragedy in Widow 
 Gulch," I cried, hotly. "I suppose you have 
 told your partner all about your affair with 
 Keats?" 
 
 "We ll be off," said the marshal. Then 
 turning to Toleman, he added: "I ll expect 
 you to stop off at the Fort, sir, and tell what 
 you know of this affair to the commandant 
 in whose hands the matter was placed." 
 
 "I ll do it willingly, sir," said Cy, "and 
 
262 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 we ll hope that it won t be many weeks from 
 now, either. Let me warn you, sir: watch 
 your prisoner closely. He is as slick as an 
 eel, and far more dangerous. I ve come to 
 believe that his life is well-nigh charmed, or 
 else he s so mean the devil won t have him." 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 GOLD AT LAST AND HOME! 
 
 THE first cradleful of black silt taken 
 from the big pot so delighted Joe and 
 Hale that they fairly went wild with excite 
 ment. At last every golden dream was com 
 ing true! Each pot held a fortune, and 
 although it had been kept a secret for ages 
 by the powerful waterfall, at last it was 
 yielding it up to the wits of man. 
 
 There were so many eager prospectors 
 lounging about to see just what the dirt 
 would yield that, upon Joe s suggestion, we 
 decided to only semiwash it, sack the 
 roughly refined dirt and carry it to our 
 cabin in the Gulch for the final wash. In 
 this way we were able to keep the richness 
 of our discovery a mystery and get the valu 
 able dirt to safety much quicker. 
 
 I rode out each day and brought home a 
 
 goodly bag of the rich earth, and put it in 
 
 Cy s care. He was up and about a bit each 
 
 day now, but dared not attempt to ride to 
 
 263 
 
264 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 the pot-hole claim. Day after day the two 
 toiled on, scarcely taking time to eat, often 
 stumbling into their bunks at night without 
 even removing their wet and muddy cloth 
 ing. They were slowly growing exhausted 
 with the labor, for there proved to be nearly 
 eight feet of silt in the big pot, and over five 
 in the second. This aggregated several tons 
 of coarse dirt in all that had to be washed. 
 There proved to be very few bowlders in 
 either pot, and for this we were glad. The 
 day they struck bottom and the last pound 
 was hoisted to the surface, Joe sat down and 
 cried from nervous exhaustion. Hale looked 
 at him in consternation, and then deliberately 
 threw away his shovel. 
 
 "There is no use in the world of acting 
 like the stuff was going to run away," he 
 said. "What fools we are. I m going to 
 rest a few days now, and do a bit of fishing 
 and hunting, for I m getting so that I m 
 almost ashamed to look a ham in the face. 
 A piece of fresh meat is what we both need 
 and sleep." 
 
 Accordingly, both men put up their 
 shovels and pans, shouldered their rifles 
 and went off for a hunt, while I sat guard 
 
GOLD AT LAST 265 
 
 at the claim. It was while I was so engaged, 
 that word came of the discovery of a great 
 bag of gold dust that had been hidden by 
 the gambler under the floor of his cabin. It 
 proved to be a small fortune, and created no 
 little excitement. The result was that every 
 abandoned cabin in the hills was promptly 
 overhauled in search for hidden treasure. 
 
 For this reason, I was a bit fearful of 
 Cy s being left alone, for it was well known 
 that we had much dust somewhere. Late 
 the next evening Joe and Hale returned to 
 camp, refreshed, each with a quarter of deer. 
 We cooked up a big supper, ate our fill, and 
 slept, for the large majority of the miners 
 in the valley were off hunting treasure as a 
 result of the cabin excitement. 
 
 After satisfying ourselves that we had all 
 that was worth the panning, we packed up 
 what we wanted from the claim and moved 
 home to the big cabin, to do the final wash 
 ing. Hale had twenty-nine small nuggets, 
 which he said were for the gods ; but I hap 
 pened to know of a promise that he had 
 made to a certain little lady to bring home a 
 necklace of pure gold nuggets. We tried 
 to get him to tell us about it, but he became 
 
266 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 confused, and so we did not urge the matter 
 farther. 
 
 In twelve days more we had the dust all 
 washed, and gathered about the scales to 
 weigh it up. There were sixty-nine pounds 
 of pure metal, worth approximately twenty- 
 five thousand dollars. Then there was the 
 money from the sacked dirt at the placer, 
 and some other odds and ends that we had 
 saved. We divided, as per our agreement, 
 with Joe, selling him our cabin and outfit 
 for a thousand dollars, Joe agreeing in turn 
 to haul us into Denver and help us get 
 started home. 
 
 "I want to ride back up to that cliff cave 
 once more, where I was slated to die, before 
 we go home," said Cy. "I have an idea in 
 my head that won t be gone. I ve dreamed 
 it these weeks. Say, boys, what was that 
 hidden cave there for, anyway ?" 
 
 We went on horseback as far as we could, 
 and then by easy stages we helped Cy 
 climb to where the old lean-to had stood 
 before we burned it. Cy directed us to pull 
 away the burned debris from the shelves of 
 granite rock. 
 
 "Examine them closely, boys," he said. 
 
GOLD AT LAST 267 
 
 "I can t see why that gambling stranger ever 
 came up here if it wasn t to hide something. 
 May have been just to hide himself, but that 
 don t seem probable. I believe there is gold, 
 stolen gold, for that one bag at the cabin 
 couldn t have been all." 
 
 On the topmost ledge, under a pile of dry 
 sticks, that resembled an old abandoned 
 eagle s nest, we unearthed three buckskin 
 bags. Two held retorted gold perhaps 
 twenty-five pounds in all, while the other, 
 which was the larger and heavier one, was 
 filled with placer dust. We held them up 
 triumphantly, for suddenly, as if by magic, 
 our fortune had more than doubled. 
 
 "That makes our pile over seventy thou 
 sand dollars, don t it?" grinned Cy. "Jeru 
 salem! but that s good pay for a picnic!" 
 
 We had been so busy with our own affairs 
 and the exciting adventures that had be 
 fallen us since my uncle s departure that we 
 had paid little or no attention to the war 
 talk that was filtering out from the States. 
 However, upon reaching Denver we found 
 the city in a state of great turmoil. A large 
 company of Georgia miners had just de 
 parted for the South, and heated arguments 
 
268 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 could be found going on at almost every 
 corner. The Southerners were buying up 
 all the guns and ammunition that were avail 
 able and the Northern Yankees were making 
 wild threats of what the North would do 
 when once she got into action. 
 
 Toleman listened with great interest to 
 it all, and apparently was doing much think 
 ing. Several times I observed him and Hale 
 in serious talk, but it did not occur to me 
 for some time what was in their minds, until 
 one day I overheard Hale say, with deter 
 mination : 
 
 "If you go, I go with you. Our scouting 
 practice ought to be an asset to us/ 
 
 We took passage for Omaha in a stout 
 prairie schooner drawn by four big mules. 
 The owner of the wagon and his wife were 
 returning East after a short stay in the gold 
 camp. She was an excellent cook, and we 
 certainly did credit to every meal. We ate 
 pie for the first time since leaving home, and 
 the event was the occasion for much merri 
 ment. We slept on the ground, except when 
 we came to small ranches, and then we in 
 dulged in a haystack or a barn loft. Hale 
 and I kept the table supplied with small 
 
GOLD AT LAST 269 
 
 game, while Cy took complete charge of our 
 fortune, never leaving it day or night. We 
 had it divided into numerous small bags, so 
 that it was quite easy to handle, and created 
 no special interest on the part of our friends 
 and drivers. We met several bands of 
 inquisitive Indians, but finding us well 
 armed they would always parley, perhaps 
 trade a bit, and then go away in peace. The 
 government had very severely punished a 
 number of raiding bands, so that travel on 
 the main roads was comparatively safe. 
 
 At last we reached the Fort, and as Cy 
 had agreed, we stopped over to tell what we 
 knew of Jake. We found, however, that he 
 had made a complete confession, and had 
 been sent on East for trial, so after a little 
 visit with the commandant we pushed on 
 toward home. 
 
 We came to several small camps of Sioux 
 along the Platte, but they paid very little 
 attention to us. But just ten days out from 
 the Fort, we came upon a mounted band of 
 Pawnee warriors, who stopped us and asked 
 us if we had seen any Sioux, and how many. 
 We told them that we had, and gave them 
 the particulars. The driver presented them 
 
270 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 with a fine big ham, and soon they rode 
 away. 
 
 The next time we were not so fortunate, 
 and probably it was only Cy s quick thinking 
 that saved our treasure, for he saw them 
 coming and hastily buried our bags of gold 
 in the hay stack. They surrounded our 
 camp and demanded gold. Only a search of 
 our entire outfit satisfied them that there 
 was none to be had. We learned soon after 
 ward, from a party that had been robbed 
 by the same band, that the Indians had 
 learned that the yellow dust would buy fire 
 water at the trading posts and they were 
 always on the lookout for it. 
 
 We reached Omaha from Denver in 
 twenty days. There we bade good-by to our 
 friend and his wife, paying them hand 
 somely for their service. Then we took 
 stage for Iowa City, and from there home 
 by train. We insisted that Cy stay with 
 us as long as he would, for he had become 
 like a brother to us boys. We talked almost 
 incessantly for a week with friends who 
 called to welcome us back, and the papers 
 made good stock of our success. Cy insisted 
 that he would feel better if he knew that 
 
GOLD AT LAST 271 
 
 Jake s wife was provided for in some way, 
 for he had learned that he had left her with 
 out a penny and that she had been very sick 
 all the winter. Accordingly, he and my 
 uncle arranged it through the local bank so 
 that the little old body, which had never 
 known much but poverty and hardship, had 
 a monthly payment, supposedly from Jake, 
 who was somewhere in the West. 
 
 One evening, supper over, we all sat in 
 the parlor, each one in his accustomed place, 
 just as we had before our expedition, only 
 now Hale was reading war news in the 
 daily instead of studying his books. 
 
 "I suppose/ said my uncle, addressing 
 Hale, "that you will plan on entering college 
 in the fall, to prepare for your chosen voca 
 tion?" 
 
 Hale laid the paper down and gazed out 
 of the window before he spoke, then he fairly 
 startled us by his reply. 
 
 "Not this fall, uncle/ he said, earnestly. 
 "I have changed my mind. My country is 
 calling for volunteers. There is a great 
 principle at stake. I must go." 
 
 My uncle s eyes flashed, and I noted that 
 Cy was alert not to miss a word. 
 
272 OVERLAND FOR GOLD 
 
 "Then we enlist together," he finally said, 
 "and we ll do it to-morrow. It s my country 
 
 too/ 
 
 "And mine," said my uncle, "but I am too 
 old. God bless you, boys. I know you will 
 bring your country nothing but honor." 
 


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