Show continued ri from oni last week CHAPTER XII sa barred out there was no possible os sible doubt that thai the smiling ig valley nestled so cozily among the grim mount mountain tin peaks was the very one cue for which tho the partners had searched so anxiously and of which halt half the miners in tho the california gold region were talking or thinking about at that time As it was growing late and they were evidently not to sleep in the golden valley that night they hunted up a place in which grass wood and water were abundant and made camp in a grove of sweet scented cedars close beside it it dy by sunrise of the following morning in they had prepared and eaten breakfast packed their camp outfit and were ready to start on their impatient search tor for a gateway through which they might enter the val doro they traveled slowly and scanned closely every point that offered the slightest test indication of an opening only to meet with one disappointment after another after rounding founding tho the upper end they could scan tho the bare face of the cliffs above which they had camped in that pure atmosphere they coald discover in every crevice and line as though it were vero but a few rods from them but it was vas sternly forbidding and promised them nothing foot by foot almost inch by inch they examined the ground with so 1110 better success than before and at nightfall they reached rea the campa ground they had left in the morning completely discouraged and disgust ed its ts no abse use cried halstead gloomily as they wearily unpacked their animals and prepared to make camp weve only been wasting our time and we might as well go bad bach to the diggings that can bo be got at as fast as we know how it if this valley was paved with gold as dowers bowers said it do us any good I 1 never want to see the place again anyhow and I 1 move that we ave lea leae e it at daylight tomorrow to morrow morning its a fraud what the golden valley is all AH right pard answered thurston well take a sleep on it aad ai cl it if you feel in the morning same as you do row now why well just pack up and mosey along back linn alstead II d awoke the next morning as fully convinced as he had m n on oa the night before that they iad been on oa a wild goose chase and he be sooner they retraced their steps to some more promising locality tho the better it would be for them so they packed their camp outfit and made ready for a start F alstead was so impatient to be off that he was greatly put out when thurston who aho had r gone or e to bring in the animals came back and reported that his mustang ng kangaroos Kaag Kang aroot had succeeded in drawing his picket pin pia avd aad was nowhere to be seen As it was still too dark to follow his bis trail they ate breakfast while waiting for the sun to rise at last it appeared the two men watched it in silence until suddenly thurston Thur slon who was gazing longingly down at the place of so many ond fond dreams uttered a great exclamation of rain min eed surn surprise rise and delight snakes and grizzlies grizzlier grizz lies pard ho he cried it if there aint that hoss boss that ar blamed bittle little kangaroos Kang aroot and another hoss boss with him ca round as big as life and twice as natural down in the bottom of the valley hooray for ilin linn lien halstead at once forgot that they had even tallied talked of 0 going back and was quite as eager as thurston Thur slon to renew their search for the entrance to the valley that teat they had bad so signally failed in finding the day before the iron picket pin that dragged behind the runaway had made a plain 1 l trail by breaking a twig hero and tearing up a bunch of grass there besides this tho the animal had fr frequently equen stopped to teed feed as was shown by the cropped herbage for this reason their path was erratic and turned la in every direction even crossing itself several aimez following it was like unwinding a tattled skein but they traced it with infinito infinite patience realizing that in it lay jay their surest 1 if not their only hope of 0 discovering alie entrance finally it took a straight course directly away from the tha valley and toward too the belopa pe ot of a mountain that thai bounded tho the plateau on oil tho the cast thurston Thur Blou said that at that point tho the mustang harl hal probably seen been or scented the other oilier horse now with him in the valley and whose presence pre becce bad afforded them subject lor for much speculation then the double trail proceeded directly toward a trough like depression in the bottom 0 of which h flowed a small stream entering this their guiding led then them to the light or again toward the valley along a narrow ledge edge that bordered the rivulet As they advanced the depression grev P leeper and more trough like illic all at orce once it entered a high but vory very narrow archway liko like a gigantic gothic win window clow through which the I 1 explorers could see a distant g limmer glimmer of light tiie the light in front of them rapidly increased in brightness as they advanced full of 0 amazed amazement ent at tho the place but it seem ed cd to como come from low down as though under a curtain so indeed it did as they quickly discovered but the curtain was of rock many feet feel in thickness and it hues to within a few yards of the wet path pathway ivay they were treading with feel lugs of mingled wonder pwe awe and curiosity they passed beneath it and found themselves in a thicket ot of busies bushes bathed lu in the full glare ot of sunlight the little brook flowed through there and following it a few far paces farther they stepped from th the e thicket and stood in thle the glo glorious ilous rock walled amphitheater of the golden vp V iley ther their first impulse was ta grasp each others hard then thurston said pard will you kindly hit me or kick hick me or do to wake ma ing out it of c tills this here dream cream but in ia the ryll fullness ness of his joy llna linn halstead d only laughed aloud noy nov that they were really in tho the valley the partners saw that it was nasi beautiful beyond any aay idea they had gal gained of 0 I 1 it from the top of the cliffs T tho bl e little stream they had bad followed in entering was completely hidden by t tail 11 rushes and other water lovin loving plants which explained why they had net ct noticed it in look looking ing down from above they had bad gone but a short distance when thurston urston suddenly stopped and interrupting Halste ads exclamations tl ars of delight ard and ar d wonder said theres one thins thing weve got to do right away pard before we go a step farthur and that is to put up the bars of this here corral wo we want meat mighty bad and theres plenty of it running round loose down here likewise wo we want that mustang and tle the hoss hes mated with and wo we know weve got em corralled now but how long do you reckon stay tio HO x v I 1 han cn once we be begins ins to hunt em it if wo we leaves the bars down jast t light out the way they came in arid aad soll our meat and we wont have nothing left to live on but thin air and a d sr scenery enery when this had been satisfactorily accomplished they again started in hi the iha direction of the he lake which they soon discovered and on the shore of 0 which v alch they decided to make the taci camp after a hasty lunch of hard bread and unsweetened coffee they resumed work upon their camp toward sunset thurston started oil oft on foot to try and secure somo some fresh meat for while halstead alstead II remained in caknip to get things comfortably arranged for the night in a few minutes he heard the report of his partners rifle and according to previous arrangement he mounted fanita and went out to brins in the game he found the hunter loss less than a quarter of a mile mild from camp engaged in dressing a fine bud buch elk and it was with an intense satisfaction that they sat down an hour later to a supper of 0 smoking steaks the next day they comp completed eted their carlp by electing a barrier of h heavy eavy logs breast high behind it they tool too these precautions tor for defense E 1 possible enemies because they were vere only two men in tho the heart of a wild country far removed froni from ary any chance of cf assistance in case ottrous ble although they talked constantly of the gold they expected to find an and d indulged in all manner of speculations P la t llo concerning the places roost most likely to contain it as well as the form and quantity in which it would be discovered they wisely refrained ef rained from searching for the precious metal until their camp should bo secured and provisioned they therefore spent three days in hunting bunting alic and deer and in jerking or drying after it was cut into thin strips the meat thus obtained in this way v ay they laid in a two months supply of food at last the day dawned when everything ha having ing been done to secure their safety and comfort that could bo be thought of they were at liberty to begin the search they so longed to make they decided to try the shores of ct the lake first and po fo carrying tho the washing pan pick shovel and their lilies they anent benl enl down to the valera aters edge cas here feic halstead aiu received in ills his 1113 first cas feic aiu in 1113 practical lesson in gold was washing bill anil anle was delighted when with tho the black sand to which lie ho finally reduced the mass of earth he had scooped up I 1 in lit his pan te be sav several glittering c lt p particles tl eles pal and L ical that they were gold thurston Lovo vcr was vi aa greatly all appointed for lie he sav that 1 altogether these shining bits lud did not net amount to more than ten cents worth of 0 gold and lie he had confidently expected the ho pan to yield at least an ounce then he tried a of earth in another place with no better and they gradually moved along tho the shore until they had gone entirely around tho lake and reached again their point of s starting ajr t I 1 n g they had thus occupied several hours and the combined results of their labor did not amount to more than three dollars As they sat down to eat cat lusch lunch halstead Hals toad remarked ked gloomily it seems to me that washing for gold Is about as hard work as I 1 ever tackled and that the pay Is mighty poor well the wet diggings about abou t here bere dont seem to amount to much so far a fact reflected thurston but pard you cant never tell when a streak of 0 luck is going to strike you yon in this business being doirs as we aint made our board today to day I 1 bo be one mite surprised it if wo we in a pile pila tomorrow to morrow morro iv the afternoon was devoted to what thurston cn railed called their dry diggings they visited a rumber number or of ft t points alon along g the sides ot of the valley dug a ot of earth at each mac place e ant anil dairying can cair ying it to the lake t there h c washed it in this way they had even less success than with their expert experiments of the morning and finally throwing down his pan exclaimed thirsty old man laan ive enough anoush of cf this business and you are arc welcome to my share of all the gold there is in this golden colden valley I 1 dont believe theres anything golden about it out fide elds of its rame came more than there Is 13 I 1 in any oth other r part of california nor aa much as wed fird find most anywhere else so I 1 guess ill so go back to camp fud f ud set get supper ready the youns young man would not have ninde laabs this had ad ho he not been bitterly disappointed disappoint cl at having his high hopes ard ana eager anticipations of the morning so thoroughly thorough ly dashed agthe as they y were vore by the insignificant results of their days cays hard worl work ile he had fully expected to make at the very least by this time and had made 1 barcly two his feelings and words were perfectly natural under the circumstances cum stances and the old minor miner undo under r stood this when he answered pleasantly all A I 1 right son run along and dent bother with the stuff any more ill stick to it awhile longer and when I 1 strike pay dirt ill let you know by the way dont you think bettor better take the ciare and mako mahe a try to tc round in the stock before dark saying that he would do this halstead wont lent back to the camp for fanica lie he had little trouble le I 1 in j I 1 catchin catching 9 pad and securing the mule but when aft after or a long search he discovered the mus tang taig and its inse inseparable parable friend the wild horse which they decided must have escaped months before from some emigrant train the animals started off on a run toward the head 0 of the valley continued next |