Show the prospector and his burro you sure dont look very pleasant today said the prospector to his burro and I 1 believe it is because that old lop eared jack you have been associating with elih has deserted the camp cut your acquaintance as it were and left you to your own lonesome well this does not cut much lee ice with me al thought I 1 suppose that you feel as badly at being jilted in a way as some of the city belles of your sex and persuasion and so I 1 will have to bear up with you until you cheer up a bit 1 I know that you are of the opinion that I 1 have no feelings similar to yours and that I 1 live alone in the desert prospecting the hills purely as a matter of choice but none whatever once I 1 had a partner whom I 1 thought as much of as you do of that disreputable jack of yours and he left me as suddenly and without a parting word or handshake but he left a good thing and know it just as your jack flung from him a large juicy heart when he deserted you I 1 was not the good thing in this instance however but my partner lost out in a small fortune which I 1 found shortly after he left which goes to prove that we are within hailing distance of a bonanza very often when we get discouraged cou raged and fly the track you want to hear the story you say well if you will listen while I 1 am smoking my pipe I 1 will give it to you in brief outline as talking 1 too much is a bad habit and leads to gossiping about your neighbors which is worse still about five years ago I 1 had a partner by the name of smith a rather uncommon name to be sure but he was an uncommonly nice fellow and I 1 grew to be fond of him although it took me a long while to find out that he had a yellow streak in him you want to know what a yellow streak is well if you interrupt me you will never find out but I 1 will come to that shortly to go on with my story smith and I 1 had heard of an old and abandoned mine which was supposed to have been worked by the spaniards some two hundred years ago As is usually the case in such instances some old convent in mexico had been surreptitiously raided and an ancient pa paTch cament ment found on which was inscribed a map of a lost mine with directions how to find it I 1 had come into possession of this through means in which you would not be interested and smith was wild to go in search of the old bonanza although I 1 told him it would probably a wild goose chase finally we set out however with two burros well loaded with provisions and supplies and as full of hope and joy as you were when that old jack visited you the first time in the spring for days we traveled in a southeasterly direction being headed for white rose canyon near the confluence of the san juan and colorado rivers in due time we arrived at our destination ti made camp and began to look for the landmarks land marks given in the old chart for a week we met with no results as every sign seemed to have been obliterated and the contour of the country changed and altered by erosion smith was somewhat discouraged by this time and he became more so when a river of water caused by a cloudburst swept away our camp one day while we were out in the hills for several nights we slept out in the open and the way the coyotes yelped and the mountain lions screamed was a caution in the end I 1 believe smith became thoroughly alarmed at our position I 1 tried to reas re as sure him but he said he was sure we would die there of starvation and exposure and so one day when I 1 was up in the hills he took one of the burros and left the 23 sign of course I 1 was sorely distressed when I 1 found he had left me so suddenly so unkindly but I 1 would not give in and decided to go out in a new direction in the morning this I 1 did and had not gone far when I 1 found what seemed to be the remains of an indistinct trail this I 1 followed for a distance of about five miles up into the hills until I 1 came to a small mountain st stream realia near the banks of which I 1 found portions of an old and also considerable sid erable quartz scattered about which on panning gave long strings of gold two days I 1 spent here trying to find the location of the old mine finally I 1 found an old cedar tree one side of which was covered with gum having evidently been blazed blamed at one time A hundred feet further on was a similar tree and taking a direction in a line with these two trees I 1 went a mile further up into the hills until I 1 came to a big mound digging down into this and through the surface mold I 1 found it to be the remains of an old mine dump then I 1 began to search for the opening and finally beginning to dig in a slight depression I 1 came upon a large flat stone removing this I 1 found that it was the covering of an old shaft which was wonderfully well preserved considering its age taking the rope I 1 had with me I 1 let myself down the hole which was about feet deep and here I 1 found drifts running both ways on a splendid vein of quartz these had been run a distance of about feet each and their faces disclosed about three feet of quartz which was very rich in gold indeed some of the gold was native and existed in grains in the quartz as large as the head of a pin in these old workings I 1 also found a few decayed and rusted tools outside of these however no further evidences were visible as to the former owners of this old bonanza for bonanza it was for I 1 afterwards sold it to a syndicate of philadelphia people and they have taken a million out of it since As for smith poor fellow he never got home as he was drowned at dandy crossing when he attempted to ford the river on his way back As for me I 1 had my gun with me and by shooting a jackrabbit jack rabbit and a few quail now and then I 1 managed to exist until I 1 got to escalante where I 1 re equipped and finally reached my old camp in safety 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector smith would have made a big strike out of that old spanish mine had it not been for the yellow streak in his makeup make up there was no reason why he should have quit me and the quest we were both strong and hearty men accustomed to hardships and enjoying life had he stayed with me we might have found the old mine sooner but he was like many other men who want to get rich quick he Is like the man who drove a tunnel feet into the mountain and because the vein was not just where he expected it to be quit within fifteen feet of as big an ore body as was ever found in the silver king mine at park city some men will stick to a proposition until they achieve success others will work like trojans for a while and then quit just as your jack did when success has almost crowned their efforts many men look good and are good but then once in awhile you will find one with the yellow streak and there you are and then some |