| Show TIE THE GOLDEN EN DAYS AYS OF 49 n i CAlIF 1 1117 I OF THE I 1 1 MUNROE OE SY BY Tco I 1 by ByJ dodd kicak co continued from last week to his amazement instead of answering this simple question ills his eccentric companion sprang to his feet dropping his pipe and said so yo ye too took me for a goold digger well sir I 1 scorn the imputation I 1 have gayther the qualifications nor the inclination let alone the time to upon it for the pur shoot id have yo to understand sir that oreilly AT D of the royal college of oe physicians has devoted his life to science and to the invests investigator in vesti aton ot of natural problems that laves him no time terao for the acquirement of filthy lucre he continued in the same strain for nearly an hour without once pausing or allowing his guest an opportunity to speak halstead thus learned that while dr oreilly ORe llly scorned california as a mere gold producing country he regarded it as one of the richest fields in the world for natural research he had crossed the plains some months before with a company of emigrants he had gone as tar far as fort where his horse a valuable animal brought from the states had been stolen this so disgusted him with the class of adventurers found in that part of tile the country that as soon as he had procured another animal he had returned to the mountains where he could share the peaceful life of ills his indian friends and pursue e his favorite studies undisturbed by the turmoil of the diggings lie ile was extremely bitter against the thiet thief who had stolen his horse which he called erin and uttered many dire threats against him in case he ever again met him the next nest day halstead was greatly interested in the indians who came to visit and gaze curiously at him he gained strength so eo rapidly thanks to the Irish mans devoted care and nourishing food that ou on the following morning he felt able to ride and was most impatient to start back toward the valley he was amazed when the horses were led up in front of the hut by an indian vaquero to discover in the one intended tor for his use his own mare fanita although he was of course glad to have his own horse her unexpected appearance troubled him greatly for it seemed to indicate that iome something thing had gone seriously wrong in the x alley As the doctor proposed to stay with the partners so long iong as they should remain in the valley where he be was desirous 0 of making some scientific researches he had caused all his effects to be packed upon a spare pony and was therefore ready tor for a journey of any length during their ride halstead wondered at the che traces all sides of the terrible devastating power of the recent storm and failed to understand how he had bad escaped with his life front from its awful fury at length they reached the vicinity of the valley and turned toward the place at which they expected to ester enter the tunnel it was with the utmost dif that they made their way over fallen trees tasted ind torn in every conceivable fb manner anner and among great to boulder ulder 3 that had been hurled buried down the mountain side to fo the trough lik aliks ke depression they found the pace where it had been but the depression no longer existed it was filled to overflow aug with huge rocks and aad beds ot of gravel with a feeling of horror linn hal estead realized that the entrance to the golden valley was closed and sealed as Fecu securely rely as though it had bad never been opened 1 for a long time they could discover no nt tract of cf him whom they sought at last after they had followed toll owed along tho entire length of the northern boundary they caught a momentary glimpse of 0 a human figure in the bottom ot of the valley apparently standing still and yet borno swiftly along As they watched it 11 it disappeared in the dark yawning yav ning mouth ot of the narrow canyon through which the stream from the golden lake round found egress they realized that thurston had taken the awful risk of his bis only chance and was malting making his one desperate effort to escape from his i pilson CHAPTER XV A De defate escape when thirsty thurston realized the terrible fatme ol of his position as a solitary prisoner in the cliff enclosed valley ills his f first Impi Imp ilse Lilse was to return to the me little camp and fling himself rown in utter despair ile he could imagine no possible chanco chance of escape unless his partner should be alho anil and at it liberty beyond those 11 Tr owning 1 walls walla of rock there was but little possibility of this still it was something to think about and when my pard does docs come cried thurston he shant shan t ind flad me snivelling sni velling round here like a whipped tv boyear old no siree grizzly it I 1 aint already out of this hero here gulch hell find me put tir in ili some solid ticks licks tor for freedom IN 0 ever heerd of 0 a live yankee who is likewise a call fernian tor for nian being euchred by a blamed rock k wall they was never made for jugs nor yet jugs tor for them give the yank the use of his hands and let him alone and ill back him with all my pile again the wall he shouldered his pick and started toward the place where he and ills his partner had worked so cheerfully and hopefully together As he reached linn hill he saw that the new deposit ol of gravel covering it fairly gleamed with gold but what did he care for gold now As he dug with mighty blows into the mass that had crushed the shrubbery and now concealed the face of the tunnel he scattered the lumps ot of precious metal right and lett left only thinking ot of them as something to be removed as quickly as possible because they lay between him and liberty after two hours of tremendous and incessant labor he had cleared a narrow path through the debris of sand gravel and gold geld to the face of the rock curtain that hung huas above the former entrance to the tunnel behind that curtain the tha aperture was ailed with great rocks apparently cemented together so solidly were they packed the blows of ills his pick glanced from them as though they were adamant ile he had nothing to hope tor for in this d direction and hp he knew it having discovered that lie he could by no possibility leave the valley as he be had entered it nor scale the cliffs that sir surrounded rounded it and having made certain that no path led front from it thurston bent his steps toward the one exit through which all beings not net possessed of wings must pass beyond its con confines fires it if ever they left it this was the deep cana can on at the lower end of the valley through the narrow limits of 0 which the aulet ot of tile golden lake poured its waters swimming was put of 0 the question ile he had no boat nor the material from which to construct one even had he known how to do so clearly the only thing was a raft having decided to commit himself and his for fortunes to a raft the buil building din 0 of it occupied two whole days for dry cedar logs had to be found cut into proper lengths and laboriously dragged to the waters edge ile he knocked to pieces the cradle that he and his partner had spent so much time and labor in making and which he had jokingly valued at with Us beards he be laid a above the logs ot of the raft to corn com pleto it he hewed out from the thick limb of 0 a tree a rude steering oar or sweep until lie he launched his bis raft and saw how bow buoyant it anas ss thurston thursta n had in tended to take only hia rifle with him bin on his p perilous filotis voyage now however finding that it would easily bear him besides an additional weight equal to his own without sinking too deeply he bethought berti ought himself of the two sacks of gold burled buried beneath the fireplace ot of the camp in case I 1 should come out of this scrape right side up with care it might be handy bandy to have a little dust lying round loose he said to himself and I 1 can shove era em overboard at any time if ft I 1 find em in the way then the time came for his departure and with a heavy heart he walked toward the raft ile he had built it at the lower end of the lake so that he had a mile mie of smooth soiling sailing before entering the unknown canyon anyon he could not believe that a mile had been tra versed when he saw the dreaded canyon opening darkly earldy before liim him anft ana knew that in another minute he would have an irrevocable plunge beyond the pleasant sunlight and from the security with which he be now floated lloa ted into the gloom anil and uncertainty that lay beyond be yoal he scanned the cliffs with a last lingering look an and d was just in tinie time to catch a glimpse of two horse men on their very edge tar far above alm ilm when n his rait raft was swept in behind the envious walls walla ot of rock and they were lost to his h Is lievi ile he felt almost almo st certain that one of 0 them was its his par partner Liler and he slimly wondered at the cruelty ol of the fate that had bad brought a chance ot of rescue at the very moment when lie had given up all hope ot ol its coming and had ad passed beyond its reach this thought was but momentary lor for his attention was instantly anci and fully occupied with his immediate surroundings s ur roun dings and with the dangers that sprang up like ai to oppose his hia passage at times the raft spun round and round as though in the vortex of a maill maelstrom strow and he had no strength th to guide or propel it through the whirl of waters lie he no longer thought he merely acted ills eyes were fixed upon the rocks that came and went and ant that he mechanically avoided ile he saw nothing else and know knew of nothing else at last there came a roaring sound so nuh much louder than any anything taing that had preceded it that it startled even the numbed brain into activity and the man looked up lie ile saw a smooth leach ot of black waters upon which sunlight was vas hashing flashing rushing onward in one unbroken sweep between the grim walls in front of him As straight and swift as an arrow they sped to a certain point avid and then vanished tho the mans mails brain woke roko into instant activity lie knew what was wa before him and what he had to expect ilo ii stood on his raft erect rigid and watchful the next minute the van ihring point of the torrent was i 1 cached the raft seemed to poise foran tor an instant instant on the narge M 0 rge of 0 the fa ial 1 I and then it went down dor n bilth the tum tumbling abling waters at the moment of its hesitation lie bo tore fore taking the final plunge the man leaped A wild cry from below bad grit greeted eted appearance and when a minute later his breathless body was tossed aloft on the yeasty billows a strong swimmer seized it and together they were drawn ashore CHAPTER XVI drawn from a whirlpool As linn halstead and his companion reined up tip on the edge ot of tae t e cliff clatt and far below them discovered the man tor for whom they had been searching only to sie see him vanish the next moment between the black jaws of the canyon the former uttered an exclamation of dismay and cried what can he be thinking of lie ile can never got get out of that place alive hes doubtless thinking of setting getting out of that blisset valley and hes gono one through the only door left open to him said cesar oreilly OTi Cilly ills chance Is slim enough but come man mail to take one more mere look at your partner yeve got to ride like tarn tam 0 himself it if we can can rache the black fall before him well maybe have the sad consolation of seeing the last os of him casar oreilly OU eilly knew that the stream from the golden valley could only br be reached by human beings at one point this was div five e miles from where they stood at the foot of a cataract that tha t he had named the black fall on the northern side of this was a narrow strip of bottomland bott bottom land here by the exercise of great care a man and even a sure footed horse might descend with safety to the waters edge on any other horse but the wise and sure tooted footed little mare that bore him so swiftly and yet so carefully halstead must lave come to grief during the furious ride that followed there was no trall trail but the doctor seemed to know by instinct where he was going as he dashed forward in a straight course from which he never deviated at last they came to the point where the descent into the canyon was to bs be made and in its gloomy depths they the dull roar of the black fall rushing downward in a cloud or of oust dust leaves and sticks accompanied by a mass of gravel and rocks it seemed to halstead alstead II as though be were indeed riding on the back of an avalanche accompanied by a whirlwind when he finally found himself standing safe an and sound on the narrow strip of bottom land besides his panting mare 11 he could no more lave bave told now how lie he kot got there than he ha could have explained the law of gravitation ile he only knew that before him tell fell and roared the cruel sheet of water over which his beloved partner must inevitably plunge it if indeed lie he had not already done so and his heart sank within him like lead as he gazed upon it As for baisar oreilly ho he apparently had bad no time tor for gazing at waterfalls or anything else at the moment he was hurriedly divesting hini himself zelf ot of his bis big boots his great hat ills his tattered buckskins and in tact fact of everything in the way of apparel or personal adornment that he wore next he knotted the two carlets together and leaving one end of the rope thus made fast to its ring on randia s aiu passed the noose at the other end over his body and secured it under his arms then he shouted to linn now lad slip into your saddle and kapo kape your eye on me when your partner comes salling sailing down this way 11 hell e 11 alther ith e r go down wid the fall in which case cas e ye yell il be left to flud find another tor for yell yeii see him no more or hell lope lape II if he does oes that 11 and lapes wid tho the lope lapo or 0 alt h hell ho drap somewhere about here here the doctor tossed a r stone to into the tumbling waters to th the spot then thell it if lies hes light and weighed himself down wid the goold good bad luck to it ft liell hell be tossed to the top lop wanee before the nixies pixies try to dral drag him under tinder the rock yonder dut cut it if all goes well op eilly 11 have him hia then and pull as they like not get him at that moment do you clap spurs to your harse and drag us out for if IE ye dont the fishe sll ate us its afore ever wa vis tread mad dry land again halstead alstead II nodded his comprehension of these instructions and mounting his horse fixed ills his eyes on tb the a doctor who standing on oil a large rock at the edge of the wb whirling irling waters gazed steadfastly at the top of the tall fall ho knew what was coming ho he dreaded to see it and yet lie he longed to have the awful moment over and lone done with ten minutes massod and still the nude nuda figure on oil the rock stood motionless and alert in the blazing sunlight never A ang his c 1 r arki the gLis glistening lab Dair cirit fitted t homr ant SQ alsie overstrained over strained nerves must have given way ana no nc would have dashed up the tace face of the acclivity regardless ot of consequences or done something equally mail mad had not that tor for which they watched and yet dreaded to see sec suddenly appeared for an instant the human figure seemed to hesitate on the awful I 1 brink ink then the it shot hot forward and with a great leap was launched into space As the man who had come down i the canyon leaped from the brink ot of the black fall so did the figure at the edge of 0 the pool below spring fa far out over its boiling surface and they sank from eight at almost the same instant of 0 time when thurstons Thurs tons breathless body rose to the surface tor for its momentary respite |
