On the Frontier

Home > Other > On the Frontier > Page 14
On the Frontier Page 14

by Harte, Bret


  Happily unconscious of the previous excitement that had provoked this spontaneous unanimity of greeting, the Old Man, equally relieved, at once broke into a feverish announcement of his discovery. He painted the details, with, I fear, a slight exaggeration of coloring, due partly to his own excitement, and partly to justify their own. But he was strangely conscious that these bankrupt men appeared less elated with their personal interest in their stroke of fortune than with his own success. "I told you he'd do it," said the Judge, with a reckless unscrupulousness of statement that carried everybody with it; "look at him! the game little pup." "Oh no! he ain't the right breed, is he?" echoed Union Mills with arch irony, while the Right and Left Bower, grasping either hand, pressed a proud but silent greeting that was half new to him, but wholly delicious. It was not without difficulty that he could at last prevail upon them to return with him to the scene of his discovery, or even then restrain them from attempting to carry him thither on their shoulders on the plea of his previous prolonged exertions. Once only there was a momentary embarrassment. "Then you fired that shot to bring me back?" said the Old Man, gratefully. In the awkward silence that followed, the hands of the two brothers sought and grasped each other, penitently. "Yes," interposed the Judge, with delicate tact, "ye see the Right and Left Bower almost quarreled to see which should be the first to fire for ye. I disremember which did"—"I never touched the trigger," said the Left Bower, hastily. With a hurried backward kick, the Judge resumed, "It went off sorter spontaneous."

  The difference in the sentiment of the procession that once more issued from the Lone Star cabin did not fail to show itself in each individual partner according to his temperament. The subtle tact of Union Mills, however, in expressing an awakened respect for their fortunate partner by addressing him, as if unconsciously, as "Mr. Ford" was at first discomposing, but even this was forgotten in their breathless excitement as they neared the base of the mountain. When they had crossed the creek the Right Bower stopped reflectively.

  "You say you heard the slide come down before you left the cabin?" he said, turning to the Old Man.

  "Yes; but I did not know then what it was. It was about an hour and a half after you left," was the reply.

  "Then look here, boys," continued the Right Bower with superstitious exultation; "it was the SLIDE that tumbled into the creek, overflowed it, and helped US clear out the race!"

  It seemed so clear that Providence had taken the partners of the Lone Star directly in hand that they faced the toilsome ascent of the mountain with the assurance of conquerors. They paused only on the summit to allow the Old Man to lead the way to the slope that held their treasure. He advanced cautiously to the edge of the crumbling cliff, stopped, looked bewildered, advanced again, and then remained white and immovable. In an instant the Right Bower was at his side.

  "Is anything the matter? Don't—don't look so, Old Man, for God's sake!"

  The Old Man pointed to the dull, smooth, black side of the mountain, without a crag, break, or protuberance, and said with ashen lips:—

  "It's gone!"

  * * *

  And it was gone! A SECOND slide had taken place, stripping the flank of the mountain, and burying the treasure and the weak implement that had marked its side deep under a chaos of rock and debris at its base.

  "Thank God!" The blank faces of his companions turned quickly to the Right Bower. "Thank God!" he repeated, with his arm round the neck of the Old Man. "Had he stayed behind he would have been buried too." He paused, and, pointing solemnly to the depths below, said, "And thank God for showing us where we may yet labor for it in hope and patience like honest men."

  The men silently bowed their heads and slowly descended the mountain. But when they had reached the plain one of them called out to the others to watch a star that seemed to be rising and moving towards them over the hushed and sleeping valley.

  "It's only the stage coach, boys," said the Left Bower, smiling; "the coach that was to take us away."

  In the security of their new-found fraternity they resolved to wait and see it pass. As it swept by with flash of light, beat of hoofs, and jingle of harness, the only real presence in the dreamy landscape, the driver shouted a hoarse greeting to the phantom partners, audible only to the Judge, who was nearest the vehicle.

  "Did you hear—DID you hear what he said, boys?" he gasped, turning to his companions. "No! Shake hands all round, boys! God bless you all, boys! To think we didn't know it all this while!"

  "Know what?"

  "Merry Christmas!"

  End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Frontier, by Bret Harte

  *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE FRONTIER ***

  ***** This file should be named 2574-h.htm or 2574-h.zip *****

  This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:

  http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/2574/

  Produced by Donald Lainson and David Widger

  Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions

  will be renamed.

  Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no

  one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation

  (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without

  permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,

  set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to

  copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to

  protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project

  Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you

  charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you

  do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the

  rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose

  such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and

  research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do

  practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is

  subject to the trademark license, especially commercial

  redistribution.

  *** START: FULL LICENSE ***

  THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

  PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

  To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free

  distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work

  (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project

  Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project

  Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at

  http://gutenberg.org/license).

  Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic works

  1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to

  and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property

  (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all

  the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy

  all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.

  If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the

  terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or

  entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

  1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be

  used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who

  agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few

  things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works


  even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See

  paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement

  and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic

  works. See paragraph 1.E below.

  1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"

  or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the

  collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an

  individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are

  located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from

  copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative

  works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg

  are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project

  Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by

  freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of

  this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with

  the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by

  keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project

  Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

  1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern

  what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in

  a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check

  the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement

  before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or

  creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project

  Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning

  the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United

  States.

  1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

  1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate

  access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently

  whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the

  phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project

  Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,

  copied or distributed:

  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

  almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

  re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

  with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

  1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived

  from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is

  posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied

  and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees

  or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work

  with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the

  work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1

  through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the

  Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or

  1.E.9.

  1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted

  with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution

  must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional

  terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked

  to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the

  permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

  1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this

  work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

  1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this

  electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without

  prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with

  active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project

  Gutenberg-tm License.

  1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,

  compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any

  word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or

  distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than

  "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version

  posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),

  you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a

  copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon

  request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other

  form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

  1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

  performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works

  unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

  1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing

  access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided

  that

  - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from

  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method

  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is

  owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he

  has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the

  Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments

  must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you

  prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax

  returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and

  sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the

  address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to

  the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

  - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies

  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he

  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License. You must require such a user to return or

  destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium

  and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of

  Project Gutenberg-tm works.

  - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any

  money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the

  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days

  of receipt of the work.

  - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free

  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

  1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set

  forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
/>
  both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael

  Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the

  Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

  1.F.

  1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable

  effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread

  public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm

  collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic

  works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain

  "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or

  corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual

  property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a

  computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by

  your equipment.

  1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right

  of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project

 

‹ Prev