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Show SBeastagTTiriTr-MaTrnrTTTTM nr- irsaiBSsmanii'aiiisiaiMiis--TiiiresiTiBse' T'ROSTECTO'R 1, IJSf 1ZOCK.IES. rrrSrg H Tho prospector Is the adventurer of H the Hackles, says a writer In Alnstee'a BBB Mtgailne. From the moment he starts BL :. ' iPon lils career In the mountains, leav-f leav-f Ing b'silnd him the collection cf color- BBS Jom Tind wlnd-btaten ahantlra, known BBS a "the city," adventures greet him Hfri - .ptt at every turn. Aa he picks hit way BBffl through a wilderness of rocks and BBH fallen trees, haying loft the meager BBB trail far behind, ever on the lookout BBH for a faint sign of the outcropping of BBH tho precious metal, hla passage Is at- BBB most suro to be disputed by wild BBB beasts. Hut what an excitement there J Is In seeking for gold! It la stronger BH and more Intense than that of the H gambler at the green table, ataklng H hla last dollar on the turn of n card. H The prospector may be penniless, he H may have put his last cent Into the H "grub" that Is now fastened onto the H lack of hla burro; yet one, stroke of H hla pick Is likely to uncover trraaure H that will transform him Into n mil- H llonalro. Me sits down to a tneipir BBb meal, cooked over a rudo Are between BBB a few stones, but all the time feels BBV about him the presence of gold. I'or- H haps his flro Is built on the end of a B ledge that Is "chocktul" of gold; per- H haps be Is sitting on a rich outcropping BBV that Is simply covered with small H atones, perhaps there la gold beneath M the big tree Juit across the ravine. B (lold may be everywhere. If tie can H only find It. Ho must find It. Hurely H lils luck Is not less than other men's. B And so he goes on, araltng tho loftiest H peaks where snow lies all the year BBJ round, and even his heavy blankets are not tuQclcnt lo Keep him warm at night, diving Into all eorU of caverns cav-erns and rlfu In the rock, exploring cares only perhaps to be chased out by wild bsaat' occupan's, braving a thousand dangers that he may find the meant of passing tho rest ot bit daya In rase. And how does It all end? In moat cases the daring prospector pros-pector who sets out alone moots his death miles and miles away from any human being. How, nobody ever knows. Ills bonct may never be found, Ha disappears nt completely ua last wlntcr'a mow. Hut should tho prospector strike It rich his adventures will go on as long as ho remains In tho Ilocky mountains. If his find Is worth anything as a "poor man's claim," he will put up u rudo cabin and go to digging, concealing what gold he takea out In n place secret to himself Hut bo will hnvo to guard It all tho lime, for covetous miners who are not so fortunate would not hreltato to take his life It they could get possession ot his little pile ot yellow yel-low metal. Ills rifle must be ready to use It at the flrat elgn. At night he must sleep with ono eyo open. It a stranger approaches the cabin he must be ready to dispute his right to be there. The fow years a man may put In at this kind ot Ufa are most wearing, and should the prospector conquer all risk nnd get back to his native town with a "pile," his friends will look upon him as an old man, though ho Is still under 49. Only ti unknowing ones will enry his fortune. |