Show THE prospector AND IUS I US BURRO A it i by will C higgins we had now been at fairview fail view about six months said the prospector to his burro and yet we had really done but little in the way of actual mining operations our experience during this time had been many and at times exciting often attended with danger and in some instances amusing we had made a number of wonderful discoveries any one of which would have made us independently rich for life and yet we were now confronted with the problem of selecting some one point upon which we could concentrate our energies for the carrying on of active mining operations As for me I 1 was in favor of beginning at the scene of our first exciting adventure and suggested that we begin work in the upper tunnel where connection was made with the big cave in through which lueta had fallen soon after our arrival on the mountain there might not be such an abundance of gold in that locality but it offered us a chance for real work and this was what we men folks needed more at the time than we did any amount of gold for we now had so much of the yellow metal that we did not know what to do with it art wanted to begin operations in the crosscut in the lower tunnel not far from its face and the open fissure through which art had fallen as the ledge there was larger and richer thompson wanted to rig t up some substantial ladders and more thoroughly explore the cave that had bad been discovered leading from the open fissure and where stalagmites mites and stalactites more than half pure gold had b been een found arguing that it would be easy to melt them down to the purity of the wall street metal jim according to his way of thinking thought it would be a good plan to make a more thorough examination of the latest discovery the great cavern in the heart of the mountain where we had found the old sluice boxes and the remains of an ancient and he offered the suggestion that the exploitation of that locality might lead to the discovery of other wonderful things we argued on abe these e differ different ert prepositions for nearly a whole day but bint could not agree even when we resorted to taking a ballot on the different questions top feather passing the hat and lueta acting as umpire for the results were always the same one vote each on the four different propositions there was no in our proceedings for we were all desiring that which was best the only difficulty in the way of unity being the difference of opinion existing among us with the matter still unsettled we retired for the night and in the morning were no nearer to a satisfactory conclusion by noon we were still in a deadlock and then it was that the old chief father who had been patiently listening to our arguments for the past two days suggested that he be allowed to express an opinion to this we heartily agreed as we all thought a great deal of the old indian and knew what he might have to say would be worth hearing for several minutes the redman sat in silence and then he spoke as follows it is a pleasure to follow the desires of the heart this is right when the desire is placed above selfishness above petty greed and unholy ambition for the great father has planted in the breast of every child of his an individuality vi which should be nourished and strengthened and this individuality grows and waxes strong by following out individual ideas and individual views all four of you have ideas and opinions according to your individual views all are good all have merit the good of this party does not depend upon united effort to secure more gold for eyen now you all have enough and to spare therefore as each one has his ambitions and desires concerning where systematic work should be started I 1 would suggest that each one have the privilege of following his own inclinations that the results of these individual efforts be equally divided and that in everything else the party maintain its unity of action and living I 1 will return to my camp on the blue mountains but will leave with you four of my followers strong bucks who will assist you one to each man and whom you can care for and recompense according to the dictates of your hearts the proposition appealed to us strongly for the plan gave us both individual and uni unity ty of action and so we agreed to follow the coonc councils ils of the chief I 1 was to work in the upper tunnel art would confine his efforts to the lower tunnel thompson could do his will in the cave w where here he had found the stalagmites mites and stalactites while jim could follow his desire of still further solving 1 ng the mysteries of the great cavern along the edge of which flowe flowed d the underground stream bac each h of us to have an indian as liel helper per while Top feather feathe r was to be camp tender hunter and guard and to have a fifth of whatever might be found or recovered e red and this suited him right well vell for he was no miner and care cared d but little for underground der ground labor or exploration with the exception of thompson we each had easy access to our different fields of labor I 1 could go direct into the upper tunnel from our camp art had but little further to go to reach the mouth of the lower tunnel and jim could make his way to the great underground cavern through the newly discovered opening near the old forge As for thompson his problem was more difficult for he had to devise some way by which he could easily and with safety reach the opening to the cave existing about feet fact below the lower tunnel level in the open fissure and this would mean the exhibition of considerable ingenuity on his part As it was the plan pleased us all for it was evident that the carrying out of the program would result in creating considerable friendly rivalry and as the old chief had put it would give an excellent opportunity for an expression of individuality so dear to the heart of every man who has an ounce of red blood in his system at the end of two months however we four were to hold another conference and results were to be submitted and it was agreed between us that the one who had made the greatest success should be selected to superintendent all operations in the future and that all action should then be united felt mighty happy over the satisfactory is termination of our discussions continued continued the prospector and decided to have a great feast before entering upon ours our different grammes programmed pro art and Top feather went out the next morning after wild game and returned in the evening with two fat bucks and a number of pine hens jim and thompson made a trip down the canyon and came back loaded down with a big catch of fine mountain trout while the four indians the chief had left with us explored sheltered places on the mountainside and were successful in finding wild strawberries plums raspberries rasp berries and blackberries with the squaws squads I 1 went up to little eldorado and assisted in making butter and cheese from goats milk and believe me we had a great spread ready when twilight came and we had one of the biggest feeds of our lives that night and were lighthearted light hearted and in fine spirits for the four of us expected to begin work in earnest in the morning and each was filled with the spirit of friendly rivalry and strong in the determination to make a showing such as would prove that opinion advanced ad danced as to he was right in the the best method of proceed ure it was now getting quite late and the men of the party were enjoying the s smoke moke so much appreciated after partaking of a hearty meal all felt a slight when to our surprise we from below us u s come tremor that seemed to tt it was waa so slight however ilo wever that we paid but little attention to the I 1 mccurr occurrence ence and had almost forgotten it when the earth seemed 0 o rise sharply and we w e were all sent sprawling on the ground in an instant we were on oil our oar feet and we began to realize our danger when rocks from the cliffs above began falling almost in gur our very midst then we felt another shock and 0 realized the mountain was being visited by an earthquake we knew we had not a moment to lose if we would save our lives as already a great crevis had opened between usand us and the mouth of the upper tunnel while the stone cabins had been razed to the ground without waiting a minute to save anything to meet our future needs we all rushed wildly down the mountainside pursued by flying rocks and boulders top feather carried the and held tightly to hand while jim assisted his faithful squaw down into the canyon we went and did not stop until we were well out into the valley leading to the blue mountains here we rested until morning and when daylight came we looked back towards fairview and were surprised to see that the great cliffs had been leveled and that the plateau had vanished from view while clouds of dust still hung over the area of devastation we were a sorry looking lot believe me and when we started on our journey towards the habitation of the chief and his following one could hardly imagine that only a few hours before we had been happy wealthy ve althy and contented we thought we would perish as we trailed along on our journey to the camp of the chief and our condition might have become most deplorable had we not been met by a party sent out by the staunch old indian who had seen the clouds hanging over fairview and could well conjecture what had happened to us the rest of the journey was made in comparative para tive comfort and that night we received a hearty welcome from our host and we were all thankful that we had escaped with our lives 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector it is mighty nice to have plenty of gold and to feel that one is well fixed for life but when it comes to a question of losing this worlds riches or saving ones life the choice comes quickly for life is dear and sweet and I 1 felt no disappointment when safely lodged in one of the wicki ups of the old chief and there you are and then some |