Show the prospector and his burro by will 0 higgins this seems to be a pretty good place for prospecting said the prospector to his burro this grove of pinion pine will make a nice shelter for my tent and the beautiful little spring pouring from the base of yonder cliff looks better to me than a case of cumms extra dry or a barrel of bottled beer then too this is a sightly location and from the edge of the grove I 1 can command a view of a wide stretch of territory taking in canyons mountain peaks gullies and saddles and the formations with their indications of mineral can be as clearly seen as the saddle sores on your back it is evidently a great country for deer too and if we dont have venison for the frying pan before the week is out I 1 miss my guess and as for pine hens and grouse every laural patch is full of them oh this is an ideal spot and I 1 feel as if I 1 could stay here for years and if I 1 only had a skirt along I 1 know I 1 would be absolutely contented and happy you say continued the prospector that local conditions appeal to you also for the time being but that the environments are lacking for the maintenance of a steady and regular habitation for instance there seems to be a scarcity of garbage heaps and thirst parlors so necessary for your real enjoyment and it looks as if another burro could not be found for company anywhere within fifty miles and you want to know what the presence of deer and the absence of skirts has to do with successful prospecting all of which goes to show how ignorant you are of human nature and of the necessity that enters every prospectors life for a little coloring now and then it is all right for him to work like a beaver six days in a week but he be needs a little relaxation on the seventh either in the society of the gentle sex or with rifle in hand scouring the ridges or the sheltered places in the mountains for deer the greatest st of all sport As a general thing I 1 choose the last named amusement amu generally for the reason that I 1 am usually jn in a deer country and miles away from localities where the flutter of a skirt would attract me the hunting of deer also has its practical side as a good prospector while out for meat generally keeps his eyes peeled for mineral blossoms as well as for venison and many a good prospect has been discovered by the hunter prospector while out on one of his occasional jaunts of one such discovery I 1 can truly vouch for as it was made by myself and if you will not interrupt me again I 1 will tell you the story one day about ten years ago I 1 was camped high up in the sawtooth range I 1 w was s looking for gold and had found some fine looking float that evidently came from a ledge cutting through the country some half haf mile above for two days I 1 worked faithfully following up float flow and had just entered a little depression on the hill side when in soft ground I 1 found fresh deer tracks As I 1 was about out of neat meat I 1 decided to take a day off and have a good hunt all by my own lonesome so going back to camp for my rifle I 1 started on the trail and followed it for more than a mile before the deer flagged me As good luck luck would have it it did not see me and so I 1 began to creep up on it A closer observation disclosed the fact that it was a fine buck but I 1 was not near enough to risk a shot skirting a grove of quaking asps alps with the wind in my favor I 1 hoped to get within shooting distance when tomy to my great dismay a steep chasm cut off all chances of a nearer approach the buck was standing broadside near a ragged cliff and although it was a long shot I 1 decided to take it so I 1 let go and missed the bullet shattering the rock to the front of the deer for a minute he stood still dazed and surprised and before he could move I 1 pulled the trigger again at this shot he jumped straight up into the air and over the cliche went like a rocket instinctively I 1 tried to throw another cartridge into the barrel but the clicking of the mechanism showed that the chamber was empty I 1 was almost wild with disgust as I 1 supposed the rifle was fully loaded and I 1 knew that my days sport was spoiled however I 1 thought that possibly the deer might be dead or crippled on the other side of the cliff so by a circuitous route I 1 worked my way over to where I 1 had first seen him but he was nowhere to be found so I 1 gave up the chase and thought I 1 would look at the spot where my first shot had struck imagine my surprise when I 1 found that the bullet had broken off the top of a quartz cropping which was so weathered that no one would have taken it for anything else but country rock in my excitement I 1 forgot all about deer and venison for the quartz was full of gold and the cropping which was fully four feet in width and which could be traced for a distance of feet was chuck full of the wall street metal building a monument on my discovery I 1 returned to camp ands and had sowbelly sow belly for supper instead instead d of the fresh meat I 1 had anticipated in the mor morning ning I 1 took pick and shovel and hiked out tor for my new discovery the first thing I 1 did was to stake out five full claims and also put up a notice on a fine water right and mill site in the canyon a quarter of a mile below then for two weeks I 1 was engaged in prospecting my discovery it was a lulu all right and the making of a great property for a year I 1 worked it single handed taking out about in the royal metal the next year I 1 sold a half interest to an english syndicate who developed and equipped it and today I 1 am drawing down regular dividends from this chance discovery 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded I 1 the prospector a prospector who will not take a little recreation occasionally is destined eventually to sink into oblivion as a hermit but if he will break his regular routine now and then courting a skirt or hunting for deer he is liable to make a rich chance discovery and there you are and then some |