The Bungalow Boys Along the Yukon
Page 26
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE DEAD MAN'S MINE.
"How did you come into possession of this paper?" asked Tom, feelingan irresistible curiosity concerning the matter.
A look of cunning crept into Stapleton's eyes. His tone grewconfidential.
"It's as odd a story as ever you heard," he said. "Do you want to hearit?"
"By all means."
"Well then, it all happened some years back when I befriended an oldfellow in the Greenhorn Mountains in Californy. He was a prospectoran' had got himself chawed up by a bar. I came across him on the trailan' took him to my cabin and nursed him as well as I could. But I seenfrum the first that the old fellow was too far gone to get over hisinjuries.
"To begin with, he was too old and feeble anyhow, an' then again thatbar had clawed and chawed him till he was a mass of wounds. Well, Ineglected my work on the claim I had located there, and spent the bestpart of my time smoothing out the last hours of that old chap's life.I never knew where he came from or how he came to be a prospector, butbefore he crossed the Great Divide he gave me the astonisher of mylife. By his directions I took a package wrapped in oiled paper fromhis old ragged coat and laid it on the bed afore him.
"Finally frum some old letters and such truck he produces that thereplan I just showed you. He said I'd been so kind to him and cheeredhis last moments, so that having neither chick nor child he wanted tomake me a legacy. He said he'd make me the richest man in the worldfor what I'd done for him.
"Well, he explained before he passed away what all them marks andlines on the plan meant, and made it all as clear as print. Then hetold me the story of Dead Man's Mine.
"About thirty years ago a band of trappers found a rich deposit ofgold in these hills. But on their way to civilization with it, theywere drowned on the Yukon and only one escaped to tell the tale. Hewas crazy from his sufferings in gettin' back to civilization, andwhen he stumbled across a camp of Aleuts they took care of him, havinga sort of religious reverence for crazy people. He died among thosenatives."
"It's a gruesome story," remarked Tom, "but how, then, did the factsbecome known?"
"Hold on. I'm gettin' to that. Years later an Aleut told the story toa white hunter who had been good to him, and gave him the plan whichthe crazy man had drawn on a bit of whalebone in lucid intervals. Asyou may suppose, the white hunter was all worked up over it, as ascratched message on the whalebone said there was more gold left inDead Man's Mine, that's what the crazy man called it, than had beentaken out.
"Well, an expedition was made up by the white hunter to go after thegold, but the natives got wind of it and wiped 'em all out, only oneescaping to civilization, and that was the old man who died in my hutback there in the Sierras. He tried twice to get back to the mine bythe plan he had copied on to paper from the whalebone. But each timedisaster overtook him. Once his men deserted him, declaring he wasinsane. Another time, winter caught him napping and he got out to thecoast more dead than alive.
"He drifted down to the Pacific Coast and tried to get capital to backanother expedition, or somebody to grubstake him, but he couldn't doit, and at last he gave up in disgust. He was all alone in the worldanyhow, he said, and was too old to enjoy the money if he had got it.Then he wandered off alone, and the bear got him, as I said afore.Soon after he had told me this story and made me promise to try tofind the gold, he passed out, and I buried him back there on ahillside under a big pine above the Stanislaus."
"A remarkable story," commented Tom. "And you think that you havelocated the Dead Man's Mine at last?"
"Not a doubt of it. Seth and I have spent ten years looking for it,and _this is the spot_."
"How do you know?"
"It tallies with the plan in every particular. The gold is here."
Again came that strange gleam which every mention of the yellow metalevoked in Stapleton's wild eyes.
"But where's the lone pine that is pictured on the plan?" objectedTom.
"Oh, that. Probably some storm blew it down or it rotted away. Youmust remember thirty years have passed since that crazy man drew theplan."
"Hasn't it occurred to you that relying on a plan drawn by a manwhose sufferings had turned his brain is a rather uncertain business?"
"See here, partner,----" began Stapleton, but at this instant thesilent, sullen-faced Seth entered the cavern, and Stapleton, whoappeared to stand rather in awe of him, subsided into silence.
There was something on the mind of Tom Dacre which Stapleton's storyhad almost clinched into a certainty. Circumstances forbade his makinghis suspicions known to Jack, but he resolved to do so at the firstopportunity. It was a communication that must be made when they werealone. It would never do for the two men to hear it.
Tom had noticed that when Seth left the cavern he had carried a rifleand supposed it was for game. Now, however, he began to suspectanother reason when he saw for the first time that the man also had aspyglass with him. The boy decided to put a leading question toStapleton.
"Are you not afraid of anyone else coming to know your secret andfollowing you here?"
Stapleton's eyes flashed. Then he spoke in low, impressive tones.
"If we caught anyone doing that, we'd shoot him down like a mad dog!"
Tom's heart sank. The inference was only too plain. He was glad thatJack, who had gone to the mouth of the cave, had not heard Stapleton'semphatic remark. If the men felt like that, it was unlikely that theboys would be allowed to go, and this, with the other suspicionmentioned, had been gnawing at Tom's mind ever since they had enteredthe cavern. So sure was he that they were virtually prisoners, that hedid not ask any more questions. He dared not confirm his suspicions inso many words.
He joined Jack at the door of the cavern. It afforded an extensiveview. Below it, and to the left at the foot of a high conical peak,were plain traces of the miners' labors. Much of the work lookedfresh, and they noticed that numerous workings had been started andapparently abandoned. The work must have been going on for quite aconsiderable period, judging from the look of things, which indicated,also, that so far the searchers had not been successful in theirquest.
Tom glanced back into the cave over his shoulder. Rufus was busystirring the big stew pot. The two men were conversing with occasionalglances at the boys. Tom drew Jack a little aside and gave a swiftwhisper in his ear.
"Do you know that we are prisoners?"
"What!"
"Hush, not so loud. Those men are both as crazy as loons. I suspectedit some time ago. Now I am sure of it. It's a thousand chances to onethat this isn't the location of Dead Man's Mine, even if there is sucha place."
"Good gracious!"
"Even going by the plan, they are way off. But it would be likely tothrow them into a terrible rage even to hint such a thing."
"It looks as if we are in a mighty bad fix!"
"We are. You can be sure from what was said that they don't mean tolet us leave here till gold is found, which will never occur."
"You are sure of what you say?"
Jack looked sick and pale. Tom's face was grave and sober-looking.
"I'm not an alarmist. We are in the hands of a pair of maniacs. We andthat negro are the only sane persons in this camp. We must be verycareful or we may arouse them to violence."
"Then we are virtually _prisoners_?"
"I'm afraid there is no other way of putting it, old fellow. We mustbe careful and keep our eyes open night and day, for we are in justabout as bad a dilemma as we ever have experienced."