| Show THE prospector AND US IUS I BURRO V if by will C higgins it was rather late the next morning said the prospector to his burro when we all gathered together for breakfast and you may be sure that we did more talking than eating although mrs jenkins and the squaws squads had prepared a most appetizing repast mrs airs jenkins had almost fully ered from the rough treatment accorded her by the outlaws although there were still welts on her arms and ankles where she had been so cruell bound by the roughnecks rough necks but she was cheerful and happy to be with her husband again was now able to toddle around and afforded us much merriment as it played about the camp we were all pretty sore from the effects of our rough ride after the renegades rene gades who had captured mrs jenkins but it was not long before we began a discussion regarding means for our further safety and we finally decided to build a log fort to which we could all gather together in case of any approach of danger arriving at this decision it was not long before the men folks of our party began work which was rather tedious as we only had two axes with us we managed fairly well however as art and jenkins were expert woodsmen woodsman woods men we selected straight pines about eight inches in diameter and these we cut into eighteen and twenty foot lengths hauling them to the building site with the help of our burros one corner of the structure covered a little spring so that we knew we would not lack for water we made the fort two stories high building the bottom story about ten feet high the second story was built by criss crossing the logs so as to give us an angle from which we could have an unobstructed view in every direction As a matter of fact our place of refuge was like a blockhouse block house in almost every respect we cut port holes in the logs so that we could defend ourselves with our rifles and when completed we had a dandy place in which to make a stand in case we were ht attacked tacked this work occupied our time tor for at least two weeks during which time Top feather and art were busy with their rifles supplying the party with an abundance of fresh meat and also bringing in a number of fat deer which the squaws squads dried in the sun and stored in the fort in case of any emergency or for winter use one day art had a most thrilling experience he had shot a pine hen and when it dropped it fell into a deep depression between some huge boulders the bottom of which was covered with debris and underbrush without any hesitation art jumped into the pit to get his game he had bad laid his rifle down at the edge of the depression and had no weapon with him ec excepting epting his knife he had not thought of danger but he had hardly landed in the pit and reached down to grab the pine hen when he was much alarmed to see a big rattlesnake coiled before him and ready to strike he did not lose his head however and took a step backward only to tread upon another snake which at once coiled around his left leg it would have been useless for him to call out for Top feather was out of hearing what to do he hardly knew and was pleased beyond measure because he was wearing heavy top boots very quietly however he drew his long hunting knife and with a quick movement so dexterous was he that almost in the quiver of an eyelid he severed the head of w the snake fr from orn its body at the same instant the first snake struck burying its fangs in the leather of one of his boot tops then before the snake could recoil arts knife came into play again and its head was soon flying in the air not waiting for any more attacks art leaped up to the surface safe and sound feeling somewhat shaky but overjoyed over his narrow escape while waiting to recover from his excitement Top feather joined him and he too felt glad over the escape of his comrade at his suggestion some dry wood was gathered a fire kindled and the mass of flame was tossed into the pit on the top of which more fuel was added then to arts astonishment the place seemed to be fairly alive with snakes which came crawling out of the pit hissing and with their rattles buzzing like live wires they killed at least twenty of the reptiles for art had accidentally stumbled upon a regular rattlesnake nest the two men continued to pile more wood upon the flames so as to drive out any of the snakes in the crevices and cracks in the rocks and such a smoke arose that it was noticed in our camp of course we could not account for this strange 0 occurrence and could hardly determine whether it was a signal or the starting of a brush fire we were all somewhat alarmed continued the prospector and so we decided to investigate so jim and I 1 set out leaving jenkins to guard the camp we moved along cautiously until we were not far from the fire and when we saw art and top feather standing near the blaze and apparently uninjured in any way and evidently in a normal frame of mind we joined them feeling relieved that they were in no danger and rejoicing over arts narrow escape for some time we talked the incident over and were about to return to camp when a heavy shower came up the downpour being so heavy that we were obliged to seek shelter under the spreading branches of a large mountain cedar here we remained for an hour or more or until after the storm had subsided then as we were leaving for camp we passed by the pit into which the surface water from the storm was pouring the pit was nearly a third full and was boiling like a caldron of hot water for the bottom and side rock had become because of the fire which had been raging within it As we stood watching the rather unusual sight a cracking sound was heard and pieces of rock came spurting up through the seething mass flying here and there and landing in the bushes around us quite curiously I 1 picked up one of these pieces and much surprised to find nodules of gold sticking out on them in great profusion art and jim also picked up similar pieces which were also fairly covered with the yellow metal we waited for more fragments to come from the hole but as the heat subsided there was a discontinuance of the golden shower and it was in a state of wonderment that we left for our camp knowing that the balance of our party would be worrying because of our prolonged absence of course were joyfully welcomed and the womenfolk women folk were considerably worked up over arts narrow escape in the rattlesnake den and could hardly keep away from him so solicitous were they over his welfare jenkins was somewhat surprised when we showed him our specimens of gold rock which he at once pronounced a tellurium ore the gold in which had been forced to concentrate from the heat of the fire while the water pouring in on the red hot rock had caused an explosion which sent fragments flying in every direction of course we considered this as being a most valuable discovery and located the lode accordingly but we were not prepared at the time to take advantage of this newfound new found sources of wealth which would keep until another time and decided to make arrangements to work our recently found gold placer deposits in the gravels of which we had already found a large number of nuggets as large as our fists just how we succeeded in this pleasing occupation I 1 will tell you in our next conversation for I 1 heard an owl hooting a few minutes ago and that is curfew for me 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector if I 1 should live to be a thousand years old I 1 never expect to find such a wonderful gold bearing country again for it seemed as if everywhere we turned we made discoveries of the wall street metal such finds would have turned the head of a tenderfoot but we were all old veterans in the mining game and we turned in to our blankets that night as unconcerned as if our mothers were tucking the clothes around us and there you are and then some |
