Gold

by Stewart Edward White

  CHAPTER XXI

  WE LEAVE THE DIGGINGS

  There were nine of us--Bagsby, Yank, Johnny Fairfax, myself, Don Gaspar,Vasquez, McNally, Buck Barry, and Missouri Jones. We possessed, in all,just nine horses. Yank, Vasquez, Bagsby, and Jones drove eight of themout again to Sutter's Fort for provisions--Don Gaspar's beautifulchestnut refused to be a pack-horse on any terms. We took theopportunity of sending our accumulations of gold dust to Talbot forsafekeeping. I do not know just how much my companions forwarded. Ofcourse I could compute their shares; but had no means of telling justwhat deductions to allow for the delights of Hangman's Gulch. For TalbotI laid aside as his share of our entire product of four hundred andeighty-six ounces a total of one hundred and ten ounces. This includedthe half of my own share, as agreed. Roughly speaking, the value of apartnership third, after Don Gaspar's portion had been deducted, was atrifle over a thousand dollars for six weeks' work. There seemed to usalso an excellent chance to realize something on the two cradles. I wentabout among the miners, and without trouble got bids for a hundreddollars each. Johnny was by no means satisfied with this. He insistedthat late in the afternoon we drag the formidable engines up the trailto the town, where he deposited them in the middle of the street. Therehe proceeded to auction them; attracting the crowd by the simpleexpedient of firing his Colt's revolver. The bidding was sluggish atfirst, but Johnny's facetious oratory warmed it. The first cradle wasknocked down at one hundred and sixty dollars. The second was about togo for approximately the same amount, when Johnny held up his hand.

  "Gentlemen," said he impressively, "I do not think you quite realizethat for what you are bidding. This is no ordinary cradle, like theother. This is the very identical warranted genuine cradle into whichthat enormous lump of gold, weighing three and three-quarter ounces--thefinest nugget ever unearthed at Hangman's Gulch--was _about to be_shovelled by that largest and most enormous lump of a lad, the gentlemanat my right, when seized upon and claimed as private property inaccordance with the laws of these diggings. This is the very identicalhistorical cradle! Now, how much am I bid!"

  The crowd laughed--but it bid! We got two hundred and forty dollars forit.

  Our purveyors returned the second day after. They reported prices veryhigh at Sutter's Fort, and a great congestion of people there; both ofthose ascending the river from San Francisco, and of overlanders. Priceshad consequently gone up. Indeed, so high were all provisions that ourhard-headed partners had contented themselves with buying only somecoffee, dried beef, and flour. They had purchased also a further supplyof powder and balls, and a rifle apiece for such of us as already hadnone. The weapons were very expensive; and we found that our savings hadbeen much eaten into. We collected our effects, packed them, as many ofthem as we were able, and sunk to sleep in a pleasing tingle ofexcitement.

  Bagsby got us up long before daylight. The air was chilly, in contrastto the terrific heats to be expected later in the day, so we hastened tofinish our packing, and at dawn were off.

  Bagsby struck immediately away from the main road toward the north. Thecountry we traversed was one of wide, woody bottoms separated by rockyhills. The trapper proved to be an excellent guide. Seemingly by a sortof instinct he was able to judge where a way would prove practicable forour animals down into or up out of the numerous canons and ravines. Itwas borne in on me very forcibly how much hampered we should have beenby our inexperience had we tried it alone. The country mountedgradually. From some of the higher points we could see out over thelowlands lost in a brown heat-haze. Deer were numerous, and a species ofhare, and the helmeted quail. The sun was very hot; but the air wascuriously streaked with coolness and with a fierce dry heat as thoughfrom an opened furnace door. All the grass was brown and crisp. Darkerand more abrupt mountains showed themselves in the distance, with anoccasional peak of white and glittering snow.

  Until about three o'clock we journeyed through a complete solitude. Thenwe came upon some men digging in a dry wash. They had piled up a greatheap of dirt from a hole. We stopped and talked to them; and discoveredthat they were working what they called "dry diggings." The pay dirtthey excavated from wherever they found it piled it in a convenientplace, and there left it until the rains should permit its washing. Theyclaimed their dirt would prove to be very rich; but I thought myselfthat they were labouring in great faith. Also we learned what Bagsby hadknown right along, but which he had not bothered to tell us; that wewere now about to cross the main Overland Trail.

  We stopped that night near the road, and at a wayside inn or road houseof logs kept by a most interesting man. He served us an excellent meal,including real eggs, and afterward joined us around the fire. He was anItalian, short, strongly built, with close curly hair, a rollicking,good-natured face, and with tiny gold rings in his ears. Johnny and hedid most of the talking, while we listened. No part of the civilizedworld seemed to have been unvisited by this pair. Johnny mentionedParis, our host added an intimate detail as to some little street;London appeared to be known to them from one end to the other; Berlin,Edinburgh, St. Petersburg even; and a host of other little fellows whosenames I never knew before and cannot remember now. They swappedreminiscences of the streets; the restaurants, and the waiters andproprietors thereof; the alleys and byways, the parks and littleplaces. I knew, in a general way, that Johnny had done the grand tour;but the Italian with his gold earrings and his strong, brown,good-humoured peasant face puzzled me completely. How came he to be sotravelled? so intimately travelled? He was no sailor; that I soondetermined.

  The two of them became thoroughly interested; but after a time thenative courtesy of the Italian asserted itself. He evidently thought wemight feel left out of it; though I think the others were, like myself,quite fascinated.

  "You lika music?" he smiled at us engagingly. "I getta my Italianfiddle? No?"

  He arose at our eager assent, pushed aside a blanket that screened offone end of the log cabin, and produced his "Italian fiddle"--ahand-organ!

  At once the solution of the wide wandering among the many cities, theintimate knowledge of streets and of public places burst upon mycomprehension. I could see our host looking upward, his strong whiteteeth flashing in an ingratiating fascinating smile, his right armrevolving with the crank of his organ, his little brown monkey with thered coat and the anxious face clambering----

  Next morning we crossed the Overland Trail, and plunged into a newcountry of pines, of high hills, of deep canons, and bold, rocky ridges.The open spaces we had left behind, and the great heats. Water flowed inalmost every ravine, and along its courses grew green grass and wildflowers. Every little while we would come upon openings in the forest,clear meadows spangled with blossoms; or occasionally we would skirthigh bald knobs of rock around which was stiff brush. For some miles wecould journey at ease through clear woods, then would encounter a gashin the earth into which, at some expense of trial, we would have to finda way. At first every stream bed was dotted with the red shirts ofminers. They became fewer as we advanced, until finally the last pairhad been left behind. We camped that night at the edge of one of themeadows, beneath pine trees. The air turned very chilly. We builtourselves a fire of dried branches from the trees. In the meadow thehorses cropped eagerly at the lush green feed, their bells tinklingpleasantly.

  Nothing more remote could be imagined. Nevertheless Bagsby, Don Gaspar,and Vasquez were not satisfied. They consulted at length and apart; thenBagsby announced that sentries must stand watches. We grumbled at this,but Bagsby was firm, and as we had agreed to obey his commands we did sonow. Don Gaspar explained to us later that the Mexican thieves wouldtrail a party like ours for days, awaiting the chance to make off withthe horses. Bagsby also chose the sentinels, selecting himself, Yank,Vasquez, and Missouri Jones. Once wrapped in my warm blanket I foundmyself selfishly glad that my experience had not been considered worthtrusting.

  The third day we occupied in surmounting a tremendous ridge ofmountains. We climbed for hours, working our way up by zigzag and longsl
ants through the pines, the rocky outcrops, the ledges, and the stiffbrush that made up the slope. It was hard work; and it seemed to have noend. We arrived at last on a knife-edge summit. Here the trees werefewer. We looked abroad over the country we had traversed, and thatwhich lay before us--a succession of dark, dim, undulating ridges withcanons and valleys between, slanting from the great ranges at the rightto brown rolling hills and the heat-covered, half-guessed plains.Immediately below us, very far down, was a toy-like valley, with lowhills, and flat places, and groves of elfin trees, and a twisting bottlegreen river with white rapids.

  "Thar's the Porcupine," Bagsby told us briefly.

  We took a look, then plunged into the tangles and difficulties of thedescent. Just at sundown, our knees bending under us, we came off thatterrific slant to a grateful wide flat, grown with scattered oaks, andcovered with fine brown grass. A little spring stream wandered throughthe meadow toward the river on the other side of the valley.

  We camped right there, dumping the packs from the horses almost anyhow.After a hearty meal, we rolled ourselves immediately into our blanketsand fell into a grateful sleep to the tune of the distant rivermurmuring over the shingle.