Show T ti ja W f at D ati EN N D A AYS Y S OF 9 4 40 9 11 3 7 TA Z Z 0 OP F ric ri c C A 1 af 0 R arla A V I 1 G G apol 11 copyright 1 BY LOE by bodd mca d co continued from last week before he be retired that sight nit linns partner had opened negotiations with a horse trader who promised to havo have a number of cf animals driven in to the corral for their inspection the first thing in the morning mor As the two partners strolled through the camps outside the fort that evening they almost ran into a 9 large coarse featured feature man who hesitated a moment at sight of thurston and then held out his hand in greeting with a deep scowl on his face and a mu muttered t curse the latter hurried on without paying the sli slightest beest attention to him or cr his outstretched hand the matter partner he asked dont you know the man dont I 1 know him answered the other almost fiercely yes I 1 know him and I 1 wish id put a bullet through hs his miserable hide the first cimei ever set eyes on him instead of helling save his life as I 1 did why pard kersburg keysburg Koys Keys burg seeing by the blank expression on Halste ads face that the name conveyed no idea to him thurston continued yes that there coyote is keys burg the cannibal ile he came out with a party overland in 46 that got snow oil ed up in the mountains when the rest of the men that were able came on ahead for help he pretended to be too feeble to move and stayed behind then he began to live oft off the bodies of them as had bad bein been froze to death atter after awhile he got to killing hilling the women and children for the sake of eating em that is everything seems to point that way though we it never could prove it against him it II we could hed been sent to cannibals hell long ago A party pa art of ofus us went out from this very fort and when we found the camp of death as named it only this skunk was alive there were dead bodies all around with pieces hacked off of 0 em and he was boiling human flesh in a kettle while the frozen carcass of a steer lay untouched in the snow alongside of him the boys allowed he was crazy and know what hat he was doing or wed strung him up then and there and shot him full of daylight who keysburg kersburg Keys burg is and it if he ever dares hold out his hand to me again one of us will have a claim on a six foot hole in the ground the cussell have to draw mighty sudden too or it wont be rag rae bright and early the following morning orning ni thurston and halstead visited the corral in which the trader had promised to have the horses ready for their inspection early as they were the horses and mules that they wished eato to examine were already on hand but the trader was nowhere to I 1 b found after waiting half an hour hour for fo r hiu hil they became very impatient and were about to look up somebody else who had animals for sale when from cut of a cloud of dust their raan man dashed up on en a mustang covered with sweat and foam its flanks were bloody from the cruel mexican Alex ican spurs that had ban mercilessly used and the animal showed every sign of having been ridden hard and far behind the trader on a second mustang that had evidently been just as hard bard pressed as the first rode rede an aa indian vaquero wearing a gay spanish serape and leading a young sorrel mare whose delicate beauty at once excited the admiration of our friends linn conc conceived elvea an immense fancy for the dainty maro mare and urged her purchase the trader frader was not inclined to part with this particular animal declaring that he valued her more than any three that he owned finally tempted ter apted by an offer of 1 1000 he let her go and at that price she passed into the hands of our friends and was thereafter regarded as the especial property of lin halstead her name was fanita and between her and her new cow owner there soon sprang up that warm attachment invariably existing between rider and horse who thoroughly under trust and appreciate each other for his own riding thurston selected a wiry v fry mustang with the look 0 of a devil in his eye and tor for pack animals they purchased two small but well conditioned mules the price of tha four our animals including saddles bridles and hair lariats lari ats was 2000 an hour later fanita having been carefully rubbed down fed and watered was again ready to take the road the two mules were packed and all was prepared for the start on what thurston Tn urston told his friend mcclellan was a little prospecting trip into the mountains one of the mules carried two hundred pounds ot of provisions tor for this load would be lightened dally and would weigh considerably less by the time they reached the more rugged portion of the mountains for which they were bound among those these provisions were flour bacon coffee sugar salt and ship biscuit each ot of the horsemen carried on his person or attached to his saddle a rifle revolver knife poncho or heavy blanket blanscet with a slit silt in the middle through which the head can be thrust a moderate supply of 0 ammunition and a horse li r lariat thus equipped and followed by tho the hearty good wishes of the McClel lans the two partners left Sut lers fort about nine and each leading one of the hie pack mules turned their r faces toward the white topped mountains that bounded the distant eastern horizon cl CHAPTER IX gold dig diggings ings and diggers A two hours ride brought our travelers to Sin clairs old ranch now occupied by a family named kelly here they rested for an hour and got dinner that night they camped near the log hotel and barroom bar room that rejoiced in the name of blue tent because the first occupant of the site had been sheltered by canvas ot of that color A few miles beyond blue tent the trail to be followed by the two partners left the more traveled road to tho south fork and continued up the main stream or of the rio Aneil Alneil cano when they were two days out from Sut lers fort they noted evidences of recent prospecting in freshly upturned heaps of red earth along the gulches and arroyos across their road lay these increased in number and extent until shortly before noon they came to the settlement of bad I 1 mans bar where for the firs first time in his life linn halstead saw a gold mining camp in full operation the treasures ot or bad mans gar dar lad had only been discovered late the year before and in a few weeks many thousand dollars worth of gold bad been taken from it soon after the arrival of the partners at dad mans bar i t clanging bell from the log shanty that contained beneath its root roo the principal bar cocin and only hotel in the I 1 camp announced the noon coon ho hour ur and dinner time tools mere dropped at the sound as though they burned the hands that wielded them and instantly there was a stampede towards the hotel boarding houses and cabins whose occupants found themselves in grub of dripping and mud beepat miners As they did not care to the mules and attempt to prepare a meal for themselves at that time our prospectors gained access to the hotel table by paying paving three dollars ars each and joined in the rush for seats seas for a moment sat sai less with astonishment nt at the scene presented by that dining table with the next instant perceiving that he was about to get left he followed the example of cf those about him including thurston and reached for the nearest dish the contents of which he transferred to his plate they proved to be onions and as everything else had been swept away linn would have been compelled to make his dinner from them or to have gone hungry g ry had it not been for the superior skill and activity of his partner lie had efured a fried beefsteak as tough as leather leat bor and swimming in tease grease a I 1 dish ieh of watery po potatoes tats and a nother another 0 of soft bread so called called to distinguish it from the file hard tack or ship biscuit more common in the diggings all of these he divided with halstead in exchange tor for a portion of 0 his onions and from this coarse ill III cooked fare sea seasoned zoned with the exquisite sauce of ravenous appetites they made a most hearty and satisfactory meal in less than halt half an hour from tho the first clang of the dinner bell elhat that important meal had been disposed of ard the various mining operations of the camp were being pursued as actively as though no interruption had occurred in the meantime fanita faaita kanga root as thurston had named his mustang because he was such a jumper and the tha mules had been provided four quarts of shelled corn for which their masters had paid four dollars and had also been given an armful of wheat straw while they were eating their midday mid day meal much more deliberately than the human animals of the camp had bad theirs halstead and thurston tilted back la in armchairs in the barroom bar room waited tor for them to finish it with them sat eat and talked a stranger nho with the usual freedom of such a place had entered into conversation with them without the formality of an introduction this mans dress and appearance bore out his claim to have been in tho the diggings for some months and he laid himself out to produce a favorable impression upon our friends without making any inquiries as to their business or destination he be seemed to take it for granted that they were prospectors acting upon this supposition he be informed them that he too was taking a little turn through tho the mountains to see it if lie ho could not find something in their unexplored valleys bettor better than had yet been discovered when they were ready to resume their heir journey they found their acquaintance of the barroom bar room also in tho the act of mounting his horse seeing them he proposed that so EO long as they seemed to be headed in the same direction as himself him they should travel in company until their paths separated although neither halstead nor thurston particularly fancied tho the mans appearance or manner they could not at the moment frame a reasonable excuse for refusing his bis company p tny and so BO when they left bad vl mans an dar bar royal lloyal bowers as ho be save gave his name rode with them on the second day from dad bad mans bar they had bad left all traces of wagon tracks nor had they met or passed an any other travelers since leaving that place thief 0 re who when n 1 II 11 alstead s t e ad who had lingered behind for one more look from a commanding eminence at the panorama outspread below him hurried up anh and reported that he had caught a glimpse of horsemen fell following 10 them thein though at a great alsta distance ce there was some speculation as to who they might be In juns perhaps remarked thurston what do you say eay to stopping and having a look at em cm 1 I dont believe it would pay objected mr air bowers they might go lor for us then wed naturally have to clean em out and im that tenderhearted that I 1 dont hanker banker after killing in no human not even an injun unless im riled ailed to it not long after the sighting of the pursuing horsemen as the three pios descended to a small oak c cov 0 V ered flat that looked out on the river thurston suddenly exclaimed theres now sure enough what he be saw BOW was a small group of 0 round topped huts built of branches branch es and rushes deftly woven together almost hidden among the trees close to the river bank they were found to be in possession of a few women and cn naren the me men all being away salmon fishing although tho the squaws squads were much frightened by the appearance of tho the white men thurston fiva finally ally succeeded in quieting their apprehensions and in purchasing from them a fino fine fresh sa salmon linon of which they had a number camp was made that night about two miles beyond the rancheria ranc herla in a small valley through which a brook ran kenily down to the river here after supper as the three men sat around the fire in front of the little tent their conversation turned from indians and their ways to gold digging and they speculated upon the amount of gold that would yet be found in that region sir mr bowers was inclined to think it would bo be discovered in such quantities as would rapidly y depreciate preci ate its value in attempting to prove his theory mr cowers bowers became quite excited and finally exclaimed why gentlemen apu never hear tell of the golden valley located in these hero here mountings what about it asked thurston what about it why nothing at all only its just paved with solid gold and theres so much of it that all the miners in Call forny nor that ever will be here pack it away where is this here valley asked thurston TS urston innocently whar is it do you say sar wal of et I 1 knowel eo 60 you think id bu be a settin here like a hen atop of duck eggs nobody knows the precise spot in which she are planted but theres plenty ez hez their suspicions to tell the honest hard pan truth gentlemen I 1 was in hopes on first meeting up with yea that you was bound for the valley yourselves and mind letting a pore man help himself to the leavings after staked out your claims well answered thurston ahyou as you state the facts so clear aaa describes the diggings so plain maybe well take I 1 a casear that way some day when we faint nothing better to do linn halstead was a as first puzzled as he listened to the foregoing fore goin g conversation to discover its meaning but he h e soon P perceived erce ived that each of the men was trying to obtain some information from the other without giving any in return As his partner afterward expressed it i we was playing a bluff game and standing on the deal nary one of us dast to discard nor yet draw being scared that the other might size up his hand dut but I 1 held over him pard and I 1 belleve believe lie he knowd it or ho he have weakened so sudden like he be did this remark was made the following morning when upon crawling out or of their tent our friends discovered cd that mr lir bowers who had bad slept outside near the camp flie file was nowhere to be seen they talked of him as they prepared and ate their simple breakfast agreed that there was something suspicious about the man and told each other that it if he be had not thus taken himself oft off they would have been obliged upon one excuse or another r to get rid of him before going muck farther continued next week accidents will happen but the lest best regulated families keep heep dr thomas electric oil for such emergencies it subdues the pain and heals the hurts mr W II 11 rowe of 0 the dear bear river valley is making a splendid success of ling hog glowing owing gi mr rowe utilizes his alfalfa to glow the hogs and finishes them off with corn and barley he has the matter figured out and knows exactly what liis its expense and income from this source is and is enthusiastic over the business to T o deseret farmer has repeatedly said that there is no state in the union that otters offers better opportunities along the lines of hog growing than does utah deforet farmer |