Show THE prospector AND HIS BURRO Y J by will C higgins we remained in camp for a week after rescuing art and Top feather continued the prospector and believe me they were in as much peril for their lives as if they had been gassed on the chateau thierry front by some hun and it would have been well if they had had gas masks on only we did not know anything about gas and gas masks in those days and had bad not the least idea that any such danger as escaping poisonous fumes could come out of a mountainside like a spring of water we were more on the alert for such unseen dangers the rest of our journey but never met up with such a happenstance again by the end of the week however we were all in good trim again and even the baby burro was frisky and full of life and so we set out on our journey Top feather taking the lead followed by art I 1 came next in line with jim lueta and jims squaw being in the rear with the pack burros at noon we camped under some quaking asps alps in a little draw or arroya where we found a nice spring which was surrounded by a fine grassy patch where the burros could feed and while the squaws squads were preparing the meal jim and art went out and succeeded in bagging a fine deer they kept near camp however and analyzed every peculiar smell encountered not intending to be caught in any gas deathtrap death trap again and when they came back with their game we all had fresh venison steak on our bill of fare and believe me it was tender and delicious that night we went into camp near the summit of the range on a little plateau that was covered with a heavy growth of pine and fir and we were much pleased when Top feather announced that we were in the near vicinity of the lost mine he had been telling us about indeed I 1 was ready to believe him for on almost every hand during the afternoon I 1 had noticed evidences of strong and had picked up several pieces of float which I 1 knew to be gold bearing As a matter of fact we were all somewhat excited over the prospects and even art was glad that we had not stopped to develop the gold placers we had discovered down in the valley during the night continued the prospector it began to rain and the storm grew in intensity as the hours went by A terrific wind accompanied by outbursts of thunder and lightning swept over our camp leveling every tent and scattering our belongings in almost every direction and we were all compelled to cling to small trees to avoid being carried away by the fierce blasts we were a all 11 wet through and in a deplorable condition when a giant pine uprooted by the tornado fell with a mighty crash almost into our camp barely missing Top feather and lueta as they clung to some overhanging bushes not far from where I 1 was hanging onto a small pine for dear life and this terrified us all the more for we did not know but that the whole forest would come down upon us As morning advanced the storm subsided and by daylight it was as calm and balmy as a morning in june one by one we gathered together and were more than pleased to find that no one was missing and also that no one had been hurt hurab aside from a few scratches and bruises our camp equipment however had vanished and the burros were nowhere to be seen we were a sorry looking lot but were happy in the thought that we had escaped with our lives we had no food with the exception of the carcass of the deer which had been blown from its fastenings on the limb of a tree but which had been lodged against the base of a distant stump from this we appeased our hunger for the moment although we had much difficulty in starting a fire after eating we began gathering together what we could find of our belongings which had been scattered all over the mountainside for a mile or more and it was while trying to get our effects together that we discovered that our burros had taken refuge behind a cliff some hundred feet or more below our camp and we were rejoiced to find that they were safe and uninjured although they were badly scared owing to the fact that a mountain lion was looking greedily down at them from the top of the cliff evidently intending to make a meal of them as soon as he could make his way down to their place of refuge by noon we were all back to camp having recovered a large portion of our camp supplies that were not perishable and our wet baggage and clothing was strung upon ropes stretched from tree to tree and it looked as if we had had one grand wash day while we were thus engaged art thought he would take a look at the mammoth pine whose fall might have annihilated the whole bunch of us and we were considerably surprised when he came running to us with chunks of rock in his hands for we could not see anything to be excited about As he neared us however the afie sparkle emal emanating rating from what first appeared to be nothing more than common stone soon convinced me that art had made a gold discovery of importance and upon close examination I 1 found that the quartz for such it was was literally loaded with native gold some of the yellow metal existing in grains and nuggets ranging in size from a kernel of wheat to the agate marbles I 1 used to play with when a boy of course we all nearly went into hysterics and when art began to realize what he had really found he became somewhat looney and he had cause to be for I 1 never saw richer quartz and I 1 knew there must be lots of it where the fine specimens came from art led us to the spot where he had picked up the quartz and we found that the giant pine when uprooted by the cyclone of the night before had disclosed the existence of an exceedingly cee strong vein of quartz which owing to the debris on the surface might well have been termed a blind ledge the hole made by the uprooting of the pine was all of ten feet in diameter and at least five feet deep and the sight that met our eyes was almost dazzling for the whole mass glistened with native gold and the fortune of a rothschild seemed to be spread before us we were all spellbound for a few minutes before we began making an examination of our wonderful discovery in the bottom of the pit lueta saw a piece of quartz that seemed to be nearly half gold and without a moments hesitation she jumped down to get it her feet had hardly touched the bottom of the hole however before the ground caved in under her and with a 2 despairing appeal for help she disappeared and was lost from view for a moment we were dumb with amazement and stood looking at the cavity with our mouths wide open and bereft of speech it was only MO m menta rily however that we felt helpless and powerless and then we had all we could do to prevent Top feather from leaping into the pit to rescue his squaw indeed he w was fairly frantic and behaved almost like a white man would under the circumstances but we prevailed upon his to wait until we could fetch a rope and it was not ion long b be e fore we had stripped our clothesline clothes line of 1 its burden and had tied one end of it udde and DIP m Top feathers arms when jim art self lowered him gently alth although ough raw rather rapidly into the yawning cavity at a depth dep of fifty feet the weight on the rope was re lieveld and leaning over the pit we could co were hear Top feather calling to us and we greatly cheered to learn that lueta was call alive although unconscious another re r the and we were asked to haul up on and its burden to we the sur slowly we lifted to face finding that we were bringing bringing of 0 bodec bodal daylight and safety the senseless squaw whom we all loved so well w Y e into arms reached her as she came of bed and she was tenderly tenderly car carried ried to a blankets every restorative resto and leaves where we had with us was applied within half an hour she began to revive and soon was fully conscious of her surroundings and we found the only injury she had sustained was a broken arm which was soon set and placed in rude splints meanwhile we had hauled Top feather to the surface and we were astonished toni shed when he told us that the cave had been caused because of the existence of a tunnel running in from the direction of the big cliff behind which the burros had taken shelter during the storm of the night before and we were convinced that it was one of the workings of the lost mine Top feather had told us about and for which we were searching and we felt certain that if we had camped under the cliff upon our arrival instead of on the little plateau amidst the pines we would have found the entrance to the tunnel shortly after our arrival we gave ave the matter but little thought at the time however knowing 0 that we could make our investigations at any time in the near future when we had more leisure for all our thoughts were then concerned with lueta and with the hope of her speedy recovery from her injuries at our next I 1 will tell you all about our discovery of the real mine for it is now time ro 0 o hit the hay for this is the curfew hour and the trade rats are waiting for us to retire before beginning their regular nightly activities 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector we had had a most exciting and heartrending time for many hours and when I 1 made down my blankets that night I 1 rejoiced more because lueta had been rescued than I 1 did because because we had made a wonderful gold discovery and there you are and then some |