Show THE prospectors STORY written fertile for THE REVIEW by C C higgin I 1 am a prospector and though comparatively a young young man have spent many years among tiie the hills and in the deserts of this western country in search of gold but luck come my way and at present I 1 am far from rich thou though ah still hopeful and ready to chase rainbows at a moments notice but though I 1 have not been fortunate as regards finances I 1 have secured a variety of experiences well worth the telling and which in the hands of one of those newspaper chaps chapa might be made to pay dividends and the stra strangest of the lot transpired last summer in death valley where I 1 went to search for the lost mine which has cost many prospectors their lives I 1 dont know what made me make the vendure veni venture ure unless it was a love of such chases and an absurd hopefulness which seems to be a prominent trait of my character however that may be the of september found me alone in the desert with my burro several days travel from the last habitation and equally distant from known water but in sight of the lone hill in the midst of the sandy wastes where the lost mine was supposed to exist the dawning of this day found me in serious trouble my water supply was exhausted and on account of the intense heat I 1 was be beginning g inning 11 to suffer the torture of thirst by noon my swollen tongue protruded from mouth and at 3 iwas I was delirious and as helpless as the infant I 1 remember late in the afternoon throwing myself down on the hot sand and then came oblivion to my intense suffering my lifes history would have ended abruptly there had not one of the infrequent rains of that region fallen that night saturating my clothing restoring me to my senses and enabling me to continue my journey to the lone hill which proved now to be not far away here I 1 found a spring of water and as good luck would have it the lost and deserted mine the mine was developed by a tunnel at the mouth of which were nine sacks which on account of the wonderful dryness of the desert air still held their contents intact and each was full of the richest ore it has ever been my fortune to see it was a yellowish porous quartz and gold sparkled in every fracture it warmed my heart to see it and I 1 already began to build air castles with much caution I 1 explored the tunnel which was in good preservation it extended into the hill for a distance of about fifty feet following a quartz streak small but exceedingly rich as I 1 was convinced by the ore contained in the sacks in the face of the tunnel a drill still remained in a half finished hole picks and shovels lay on the floor and leaned against the sides of the tunnel and there was every evidence that the mine had been unexpectedly abandoned upon coming out of the tunnel I 1 saw a miners cabin not far from the spring 11 but hidden from the latter by a spur which came down from the hill and which had prevented my discovery of it when I 1 first arrived I 1 approached it and was startled to see lying not far from the door the skeletons of two human beings with the skulls grinning at each other not a yard apart you will not find it hard to believe that as aa I 1 approached the door I 1 gave these 7 grim relies relics as wide a berth as possible I 1 a am in not ashamed to admit that they gave me a turn for the place was silent and lonesome and I 1 had come upon the gruesome sight unexpectedly and when I 1 opened the cabin door and saw what was within I 1 felt my hair begin bearin to rise r seated on a pine box with its elbows resting on a table before it was a third skeleton held in semblance of human form by old and tattered clothing the skull had fallen from the shoulders and now lay upon the table encircled at the moment of my entrance in the repulsive coils of a rattlesnake who sounding his ominous rattle gave warning that he intended to do battle for the possession of this poor remainders remainder of mans mortality but his cour courage acre soon failing he glided silently from the table and into a crevice in the stone wall of the cabin on the table still grasped by the skeleton hand of the dead man was an oblong 6 tin case and scratched thereon with the blade of a jackknife jack knife were these words look inside steadying my nerves as best I 1 could I 1 did as directed and drew forth a piece of rough brown wrapping paper on which the following was legibly written 1 am an american miner and came to this place about a year ago with emanuel garcia and juan alvarado mexicans to whom I 1 will owe my death in a few hours we came from monterey monte rey in search of the lost mine of which we had heard rumors I 1 wish we had never found it for when we learned how rich it was the greasers Grea serg coveted my share and at supper time last night when from the spring with a bucket of water they set upon me with their knives they forgot that I 1 carried a revolver revolve r with which I 1 shot t them hem both but not before juan gave me a knife thrust in the side from which I 1 now suffer I 1 smother if I 1 lie down my suffering is unbearable help is far off and I 1 am too weak to seek it I 1 shall die alone what a horrible thought I 1 there is gold in a box under the bunk which we pounded out with a hand mortar and washed at the spring take it whoever reads this and leave this cursed place which brings death to all who find it WM BROWN july 23 1869 after readi reading ncr the words of the murdered man I 1 was in a state of mind to take his advice for the experience was getting gettin g on my nerves I 1 found the gold under the bunk some five pounds 0 or r so which I 1 added to my pack I 1 gave the bones of the murdered man a decent burial in the sand for he was an american and evidently a brave man but the bones of the greasers I 1 left to bleach and crumble where they lay I 1 filled up bywater my at the spring 11 and the next evenin evening 0 after a good rest I 1 set my my face toward the east and civilization |