"He did it to protect us, uncle," said Katy smiling. "I think it was very . . ."
"Smart!" said Johnny.
"I think it was a big waste of time," said Clare. "No one would be foolish enough to attack us. More like before, when they come sneaking around in the dark."
"That's why we have to guard," said Lance. "We have to keep Katy and Johnny safe, too."
"What I want to know is when you're going to help us dig?" asked Fast Eddy.
"This was our best day yet. We found nearly an ounce of gold. The deeper we go into the stream, the more we find. Too bad we didn't bring boards to build a rocker."
"Lance, will you help us mine tomorrow?" asked Katy. "You can't come all this way and not look for gold."
"All right," said Lance. "But while I'm digging, Clare or Fast Eddy have to guard."
"I can do the guarding tomorrow," said Katy. "You know I can shoot and give warning just as well as they can."
That night Lance stood guard to midnight and then woke Eddy. The big man turned in and as tired as he was, he did not fall asleep for some time. Just like the Colonel had told him, there were thousands coming to the gold fields on ships and by land. There was no law and nothing to keep armed men from taking what they wanted. That poor fellow with the horrible wound had warned them. Lance lay in his bedroll and worried. He would never forgive himself if something happened to Katy or little Johnny.
At dawn, Lance was up and checked with Clare who had final guard. There was nothing to report, except a party of miners who went by before daylight. They had breakfast and as the sun rose, Lance used his enormous strength to move gravel and mud. Since they had no Long Tom or gold rocker, Lance simply piled what he dug up on the shore of the stream. Here, Johnny, Clare, and Fast Eddy could fill their pans, and wash for gold. Lance chose one spot in the gravel next to the shore and began to dig deep. Soon he had a hole several feet down and the cold water rushed over his legs. He worked until he could no longer stand the numbing pain.
"Look what we got with those last few shovelfuls," exclaimed Clare, showing Lance a pan with yellow color all across its bottom.
Carefully extracting the gold from the pan and placing it in a bottle, Clare picked up the shovel Lance had been using and rushed into the stream to begin digging. Clare worked enthusiastically for nearly half an hour, and then exhausted, shivering with cold, he came out of the water to sit on the bank to rest and warm his numb body.
It was like that the rest of the day, Clare, Fast Eddy, and Lance digging in the cold stream and depositing each shovelful on the shore for them to take turns washing for gold. Johnny did his part as well. Most of the gold dust came from deeper shovelfuls of mud and gravel. At the end of the day, due to Lance's enormous effort of moving dirt, they had more gold than ever before.
"I'd say we got two ounces," said Clare, "maybe sixty dollars worth. If we do that every day, in a month, we'll have some real money."
"That would work out to about eighteen hundred," said Fast Eddy, figuring it in his head.
"Sure is a lot of work," said Johnny. "The water's so cold, I couldn't stay in it as long as the three of you did."
"Lance did the most work," said Katy. "I was watching."
"He does as much as the two of you," said Johnny pointing to Clare and Eddy.
"Watch your manners, kid," growled Uncle Clare.
"He's right," said Katy. "I never thought gold mining was so much work."
"Just think," complained Clare. "If we only had a Long Tom to wash the gold, how much faster we could work."
"We'll stay another week," said Lance, "and then we'll go to Moke City and find the mayor. You know, that Colonel Stevenson. The way I got it figured, we can earn a lot more money carrying freight than we can standing in a cold stream all day. More than eighteen hundred a month."
"I'm staying," said Clare. "We just started finding color."
"Uncle Clare!" exclaimed Katy. "You wouldn't break away from us? Not after all that we've been through?"
"We finally make it here and find gold and you want to leave?" exclaimed Clare. "I'm working this claim until there's no more gold to find."
"That'll take two years at this rate," said Fast Eddy. "Clare, why don't you stay and watch the claim and let us return with boards to build a Long Tom, then you can really get some work done."
"I don't think it's safe here," said Lance. "I got a bad feeling and I want to take Katy and Johnny to town and talk to the mayor. I've been thinking on it. I want the two of them where there's some law, or soldiers to watch out over them."
"Shouldn't you discuss that with us first?" asked Katy. "We're just as safe as . . ."
"That's it," replied Lance. "I don't think any of us are safe out here. There's not enough of us to stand guard. Not with thousands of dollars worth of mules to steal."
"I think you fret too much over nothin'," said Clare.
"I don't know," said Fast Eddy. "Lance and me have been through a lot and if he doesn't think it's safe I think we ought to listen."
"Whether you go or not, Clare," said Lance, "in another week we'll pack up and head to Moke City. I still say there's not enough of us to fight off an attack."
"Then go!" shouted Clare. "But I'm not leaving this claim!"
The rest of the week the men divided their time between guard duty and mining. Everyone worked hard and due to the back-breaking work and lack of sleep, each of them lost weight. The strain showed on their faces and they began to take on the appearance of the many bone-weary, sharp-eyed miners they first saw. And each time a party of men passed by on the trail before them, they held rifles at the ready.
As before, the more dirt they moved and the deeper they dug, the more gold dust they found. Occasionally there was a nugget or two. Then in mid-week, while Johnny and the three men were at the stream digging and panning for gold, a shot rang out. The sound of galloping horses approaching from the trail could easily be heard.
"To the wall!" shouted Lance, and without waiting for the others, he gathered up his guns and ran.
The big man hurried toward the sound of the single shot and he saw Katy standing near a tree trying to reload her rifle. Men on horses were not more than fifty yards distant and they began shooting. Lance ran calling for the young woman.
"Katy!"
She looked toward him but kept reloading. Lance continued running and he bent down and with one arm scooped up the woman he loved and turned and ran back in the direction of the wall. Katy still had a firm grasp on her rifle but had dropped her powder horn and bullet pouch.
"Look what you made me do!" exclaimed Katy.
Unceremoniously, Lance dumped Katy into the trench behind the barrier. Going to a gap in the stone wall, Lance laid down two holsters with Walker Colts, raised his rifle, aiming at the leader, and fired. The thief was struck, and he bent low on his mount. The galloping horse veered sharply and the man fell. By now, Clare and Fast Eddy were behind the wall with Johnny, and they each fired a rifle. Katy moved near to Clare and using his powder, shot, and percussion caps, began to reload. Both Eddy and Lance raised their heavy .44 Colts and continued firing at the mounted men as they charged towards the wall. Too late, the thieves recognized the significance of the barricade. The charging riders turned to either side. Lance fired steadily at the men before him and Fast Eddy did the same. Shooting at the armed men on running horseback was not an easy task. Men were struck, others they missed, and as quickly as the attack started, it was over. They could hear horses running down the trail and away from camp.
"It was the Colts that did it!" exclaimed Fast Eddy, kissing the barrel of his pistol. "Without these beauties, we would have been goners for sure."
"Katy!" shouted Lance. "What were you thinking standing behind that tree? Why didn't you run for cover?"
"I thought I had time . . ." began Katy.
"I saw it," said Johnny. "Lance picked you up and . . ."
"Everybody pack up!" ordered Lance. "We're leaving right now."
>
"Don't you want to see who we shot or if there are any wounded?" asked Eddy.
"Everybody reload your guns," said Lance. "Eddy, you go check. Clare, Katy, keep me covered while I go get the mules and horses."
Without waiting to see if his orders were being followed, Lance grabbed his second Colt and holster and buckled it around his waist. Then he headed straight for his tent. Inside he picked up some halters and rope and ran for the corral. As he came near the enclosure, he saw a mule lying on the ground. Moving quickly toward it, he saw crimson on the animal's back. It had been shot through the spine and was dead. The other mules and horses were huddled together at the far end of the corral. Lance moved forward and with some difficulty finally caught and haltered one animal. Using the lasso, he continued catching and haltering the mules. He would bridle the horses after the mules had their packs loaded and tied down.
It took time to clear camp, take down the tents, load supplies, and tie the mule train together. Clare saddled the horses and hitched the remaining mules to the wagon. Fast Eddy had time to search the dead. He came back to camp holding a heavy money belt.
"This is off the leader you shot," said Eddy. "Tonight we can count it."
"How many?" asked Lance.
"Two dead men, and one dead horse," explained Fast Eddy. "Plenty of blood from the wounded. I'd say they won't be back any time soon."
"Doesn't matter," replied Lance. "Soon as you help pack up, we're leaving."
Not to the surprise of anyone, Clare helped with the packing. When they were ready, it was Clare himself who climbed up on the wagon and led the party away from the mining claim. This time Katy rode in the back of the wagon. She had the money belt and counted gold and silver coins. It was a little over five hundred dollars.
The further they followed the Mokelumne River towards the town of Moke Hill, the more miners they saw. Coming to high ground they looked down and before them was a veritable city of tiny hovels on both sides of the stream. Thousands of miners were packed close together, on small placer claims. They labored intently at pulling mud and gravel from the streambed and washing it for color. As Lance's party advanced down the trail they passed by miners from many different countries, all laboring under the hot sun. Traveling through the large encampment, they saw tents, little shacks built of stone, wood, and sticks. There were open fires burning. Pots, pans, and kettles were cooking food, and smoke and various aromas wafted in the air.
Men, women, and children of many races, dressed in subdued colors, blended together as they toiled over their mining claims. The well practiced labor of thousands created a constantly moving scene for Lance's party to behold. There were groups of Chinese in their strange clothing, wearing round peaked hats, working oddly shaped wooden rockers. On one side of the river, opposite the other miners, were families of blacks digging and mining gold. Close to them was another group of men speaking in a strange language. As they passed by, some of the miners looked up and stared, while others kept at their work without notice. Sunlight gleamed off the stocks and steel barrels of weapons each miner kept within easy reach.
Coming to the bottom of the stream they came upon a group of white men, roughly dressed and heavily armed. Some of them had whips and they were cracking them and shouting at a long line of Indian women and children. The slaves were laboring to carry baskets of ore and dump it in a very large Long Tom, placed in the rushing water. Some of the women had steel shackles and chains attached to their wrists, and when one of them didn't move fast enough; a white guard came forward and cracked his whip at the unfortunate.
Every available space up and down the river was filled with miners, and it was a surprising sight to see so many laboring to dig yellow metal from the rushing river bed. Katy and Johnny both watched the slaves, and they were shocked to see whips used on the Indians. Thankfully they passed quickly up the trail and into the town of Moke Hill. This place, too, was crowded with humanity. Lance, leading the group, stopped the mules in front of the Mayor's office. He climbed down from his horse and stretched his cramped muscles.
"Katy, Johnny, maybe it's best you come with me. Eddy, Clare, stay and watch the animals."
Katy and Johnny climbed down from the wagon. Before they had a chance to enter the building, the Mayor came out onto the boardwalk. Two uniformed soldiers followed him, the same two soldiers Lance had seen on the desert trail weeks before.
"You've come!" said the Colonel. "Now let me recall . . . Miss Katherine and Lance."
"You remember, Colonel Stevenson," replied Lance.
"Who could forget so charming a lady and so large a man?" said the Colonel. "Suppose you call me Mayor Stevenson, in that I have given up my commission. I see you still have the mules."
"I'm afraid we're one short," replied Lance.
"Did you have trouble?" asked the Mayor.
"We did."
"Mayor Stevenson," said Katy. "Back there, we saw women chained and men with whips."
"A terrible thing, this slavery of Indians," replied the Mayor. "It's Spanish law and now that this territory is in US hands, I'm afraid there are certain white men pushing to pass a law allowing it to continue."
"But they were women and children!" exclaimed Katy.
"Yes, I have seen it with my own eyes. At the present, ma'am, I'm afraid there is nothing the soldiers can do to stop it. You see, California was just taken over from Mexico."
"It's not right," said Katy.
"Slavery is never right," said Lance.
"No, but for the moment, it remains legal," replied Stevenson.
"Mayor," said Lance, "we came to ask about freighting."
"You've come to save the day, sir," said the Mayor enthusiastically. "All those miners you passed on the way into town are virtually starving. The food supplies are used up and we're in desperate need. Come into my office and I'll give you a map to Stockton, and I personally will hand you gold to help purchase as much as you can pack and carry back here. Prices are rising every moment we speak. You will be hard pressed to find, and afford to pay for, supplies. Ships that were supposed to haul goods arrive, and crews desert to the gold fields before they are even unloaded. Without sailors, the ships lie and rot in the harbors or are taken over by the town and used in various ways. Thousands are coming by land and sea and we can't keep order."
"Will I have guards?" asked Lance.
"No, sir. I can't afford to go without the few soldiers we have here. But I'll tell you this, if you make it back with supplies, you'll be handsomely rewarded."
Lance and Stevenson went in the building and when they came out, the big man was holding a canvas bag of gold, a paper supply list, and a map showing the way to Stockton.
"What about Katy and the boy?" asked Lance. "Could I leave them here under your guard?"
"Why, certainly," replied the mayor. "We would . . ."
"Johnny and I won't stay!" said Katy firmly. "I am going wherever you go. Whatever happens, we want to be with you."
"Katy," said Lance. "It's not safe."
"I think," replied Katy, "we'll be safer with you than anyone else."
Within an hour of arriving at Moke Hill, Lance's party changed direction and were soon headed west for the town of Stockton.
Chapter Eleven
Fast Eddy and Lance had spent enough time with the frontiersmen Horse and Horntoad Harry to know that a guard should always be posted. No matter how tired they were, there was no excuse not to do what was necessary. It was Clare who was awakened by Eddy in the early morning hours to finish guarding, and he failed to stay awake.
When Lance finally awoke, he reached for his holster and belt, which lay close beside him. When he pulled it near, there was no weight to it, and his heavy Walker Colt was gone.
Abruptly Lance sat up in his bedroll and before him were three armed men, and one of them was Blacky.
"Looking for this?" asked Blacky.
Yellow teeth flashed as the grinning thug pointed Lance's Colt directly at him.
The loud call woke every member of the camp. Fast Eddy sat up to find himself staring into the barrel of a rifle. Clare, who had been sitting on a keg, had fallen asleep with his back against a tree. He awoke and there was a tough outlaw pointing his own rifle at him. Katy sat up from her bedroll, and seeing the three armed men, immediately reached for her son who was sleeping beside her.
Clare knew he had violated the one rule of guard duty, never to fall asleep. These were tough-looking men and it was his fault they had entered camp.
"Give me my rifle back!" demanded Clare.
The outlaw before him swiped down with the rifle barrel and it struck Clare hard on the top of his head. It knocked him from the keg he was sitting on and to the ground. The blow was hard enough to break open his scalp and blood welled up. He remained on the ground holding a hand to his wound.
"Do you know how long we've been here?" asked the dark-bearded man. "You folks sure do sleep sound."
"What do you want?" asked Lance, shoving back blankets and coming to his stocking feet.
"Careful," said Blacky. "We don't want that pretty lady over there to be harmed before she has to . . ."
Lance launched his entire body at Blacky. Taken by surprise, the tough man reacted too late. Lance was upon him, one large hand clamped down on Blacky's wrist. He squeezed hard and the revolver fell from the brigand’s hand. Blacky roared loudly and took hold of Lance's shirt. Reaching down with his left, Lance grabbed the man's belt and lifted him into the air. When he was shoulder height, Lance threw him. Blacky, still holding the shirt, ripped it from Lance's body revealing rippling muscles, large biceps, and a massively scarred back.
The outlaw next to Clare turned to shoot, and Clare, stone in hand, rose up and crushed the man's skull. He was dead before he hit the ground. Clare picked up the fallen rifle but was too late. The other outlaw fired his weapon and the bullet grazed Lance's left side. A long stripe of red appeared and blood gushed. Then Clare aimed and fired, and the second gunman was struck in the center of his chest and he fell. Fast Eddy, on his feet now, ran to aid his friend. Blacky was already standing and advancing on Lance, knife in hand.
West of the Big River: Boxed Set of Eight Western Novels Page 55