Show the prospector and his burro A 4 V 14 by will C 1 I noticed as we came over the divide yesterday said the prospector to his burro that you were inclined to sneer and scoff at that old and very ancient burro we met on the trail indeed the beast was ragged and shaggy bowlegged bow legged and knocked kneed and generally run down at the heel but I 1 will venture to say that if this distant relative of yours were given a rest of a month or two and stimulated by a sack full or two of barley that she could travel as far in a day as you can and carry as heavy a load also I 1 regret that you have such crooked curves in your otherwise fine character but you still have some of the faults of youth chier among which is the thought and belief that when one gets grey and old the only place for that oin individual is the boneyard bone yard or the cemetery why some of the brightest minds and intellects of the age are to be found among the old and as for hard work they can call often make rings around younger folks who think more of having a good time than they do of making themselves useful as well as ornamental you say continued the prospector that wrecks and derelicts jar on oil your nerves and that a liori home ie far from the haunts of burros and men should be provided for them but in this you are wrong for many splendid things are often achieved by men and burros who have passed the prime of life and this calls to mind the great find made by old billy hawkins in ill the midnight range a few years ago billy came ot of good family was well educated and had made successes in ill business up to the time lie was fifty at that time lie he lost all that lie he had in a panic and then took to the hills and turned prospector he made two or three modest turns elou enough ii to keep soul and body together and lik he was past sixty when lie he discovered the pancake lode he built him a cabin near liis ills claim and started to work but within a month the vein pinched however lie ho worked along single handed confident that some lay day lie he would come into bonanza again years went by and abild still lie contin aed at his hi histel stil Z to toil j mining men and prospect tors would I 1 often visit him and go away wagging theli their I 1 heads and in course ot jl time poor billy was referred to as a nut with no more knowledge of mining and formations than tan ice cream vendor at a baseball game garner I 1 stopped at his place two or three times time and lie he treated mo me with great hospitality and I 1 found that lie he was well grounded in iii the mining game and when lie he took me over his property and explained the geology of the district and what might be expected when a certain contact was reached W I 1 felt convinced that lie he would make good if lie he could only hold out and I 1 often wished that lie he had more capital and assistance at his command indeed the last time I 1 was there before lie he made his strike I 1 offered to loan him a couple of thousand but lie he was too high spirited and proud to accept what lie he termed charity but offered to give me a sixth interest in his holdings for the money I 1 agreed to this as I 1 was anxious to help him and I 1 really had a pack load of faith in the success of his enterprise did he throw me down you ask none whatever for within six weeks lie he reached the contact having employed three or four men to help him and I 1 ajust inest tell you lie he opened up the largest and richest body of ore ever found in the midnight range oli oh it was a hummer and old billy was in clover from that time on inside of six months he was outputting at the rate of 2000 a day and within two years the mine was netting him every thirty days shortly after he sold out for half a million and like the honest soul that he was he made good to me and gave me my share rf of the earnings as well as of the purchase money and throughout the district ever afterwards lie he was referred to as mr hawkins instead of old billy the darned old fool and when he had shaved rigged himself out in a suit of store clothes and put on a ailed shirt he looked every inch a millionaire and as stylish and well put up as the managers of the hotel utah or the newhouse and all of the old croakers such as you are getting to be were unanimous in claiming that they always thought that mr hawkins would eventually win out and that they were always anxious and willing to help him 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector a man or a burro should never become chesty because of youth and a slick and fat appearance you will have to live many years yet before you become an exact picture of that old burro we met yesterday but believe me you will know more then than you do now and you will probably be able to do about as much work and with far less grumbling the old burro and the old prospector are not to be disposed dispi sed or relegated to the background you must have more respect for old age and after this when inclined to ridicule the burro of tripe old age hike back in your memory to the Iii astory story of 0 old billy hawkins hawking and there you are and then some |