Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XIII.

  AT THE GOLD-FIELDS.

  IT was with intense delight that all in the caravan noticed the gradualchange of herbage which showed that they were approaching the confinesof this terrible region; and when, at their first halt after leaving it,they came upon flowing streams, a general bath was indulged in by manand beast, the oxen lying down in the water, and being with greatdifficulty induced to emerge from it. The hunters now recommenced theirexcursions in search of game, for all were suffering from the want offresh meat, the children especially feeling the privation.

  Turk accompanied the party. The dog was now completely restored, andnothing could induce it to leave Frank's side. It was quite young, andFrank soon taught it to remain by his horse while he dismounted to stalkgame; while in pursuit on horseback, Turk often pursued and pulled downdeer who would otherwise have escaped.

  One day Dick and Frank had gone out alone, and had been led a longdistance from the line of march in pursuit of a herd of deer. These hadfinally gone up a narrow canon in the mountains. The hunters pursuedthem for some distance, and then, despairing of overtaking them, turnedtheir horses, and began to retrace their steps. Suddenly Turk, who wasin advance, stopped, uttered a deep growl, and its hair bristled fromits head to its tail.

  "What is it, Turk?" Frank asked.

  The animal replied with another low, deep growl.

  "It must be some savage beast," Frank said.

  "That ain't likely," Dick said; "any beast in this canon would havemoved away when we passed before. I think the dog must scent Injins. Aparty may have seen us entering the gap, and may be in pursuit."

  He threw himself off his horse, and listened, with his ear to theground.

  "It's Injins, sure enough!" he exclaimed; "I can hear the clattering ofhorses' hoofs on the hard rock. There's nothing for it but for us tomake our way up the canon."

  They turned their horses, and galloped forward, Turk, after one moregrowl in the direction of the Indians, following. Presently the defiledivided.

  "Shall we take the main branch, or the one to the right?" Frank asked.

  "Better keep straight on," Dick said; "the other may lead into somevalley from which there could be no getting out, and we should be caughtin a trap. See!" he said, as he halted, "the deer have gone that way. Doyou see some of the pebbles have been thrown out of that little stream?

  "Jump off your horse, and cut some bits off your blankets and tie themround your horse's feet. If the Indians see no marks going forward, theywill naturally suppose we have turned off here in pursuit of the deer."

  Frank did what his comrade suggested; but quickly as the work wasperformed, they heard the sound of the horsemen in pursuit, loud anddistinct, before they again set forward. Then, springing on theirhorses, they rode up the canon. After a while they halted; the sounds ofpursuit had ceased, and they had no doubt the Indians had turned offinto the other ravine.

  "It all depends how far that runs," Dick said, "how soon they will be inpursuit again. If it comes soon to an end it will not be long before wehave them after us; if it goes on for some miles we are safe."

  Winding between perpendicular cliffs of great height, they rode forward,mounting steadily. It was impossible to make rapid progress, foralthough in some places the bottom of the ravine was bare, smooth rock,at others it was piled with boulders.

  It was three hours before they emerged from it, and upon doing so foundthey were upon an elevated plateau. Before they moved forward, Franksaid, "Turk, do you hear them?" The dog stood with ears erect andquivering nostrils, looking down the ravine which they had just left.Presently he gave a low, deep growl.

  "They are coming," Frank said; "but they must be a good way off, forTurk did not hear them at first. Which way shall we go, Dick?"

  "We had better turn to the left," Dick said, "for our natural line leadsto the right. However, it does not make much difference, for they willbe able to track us; still, it may puzzle them. It will be dark in acouple of hours, and if we can keep ahead till then we are safe."

  They started at a gallop, and for an hour rode at full speed in thedirection which would take them down to the plain at or near the spotwhere they had halted the night before.

  DICK AND FRANK ELUDE THE INDIANS.]

  "Look out, Frank! rein up!" Dick suddenly shouted. Frank pulled hishorse back on its haunches, and but just in time, for at the brow of theswell up which they had been galloping, the ground fell suddenly away ina precipice two hundred feet deep, and the horse was barely a lengthfrom it when he brought it to a standstill.

  "We are in a mess," Dick said. "The Injins behind us will know of this,and instead of following will scatter to the right and left, as theywill know that we must turn one way or the other."

  "In that case," Frank said, "our best plan will be to go straight back."

  "You are right," Dick exclaimed, "that is the best thing we can do. Wewon't follow the exact track, as a few of them may have kept our line,but will bear a little distance off it, and hope they may pass usunseen; the sun is setting already, half an hour and it will be dark."

  Taking every precaution to conceal their trail, they rode back, keepinga hundred yards or so to the right of the line by which they had come. Aquarter of an hour passed, and then Turk gave his growl of warning.

  "Could not have been better," Dick exclaimed, "this brushwood is justthe place for us."

  They threw themselves from their horses, and made the animals lie downat full length in the low bushes, and laid themselves down beside them.

  "Hush! Turk," Frank said to the dog, as he laid his hand upon it's head."You must lie quiet, sir, and not make the least noise."

  The dog, who was quivering with excitement, lay down quietly, as if itcomprehended the need for silence.

  "One, two, three, four, five, six," Dick counted, peering through thebushes. "Six of them; we could fight that lot easy, but the sound of ourrifles would bring the whole gang down upon us."

  The Indians were not riding at full speed, for their horses were tired,having already made a long march before they saw the hunters followingthe deer to the canon, and they did not expect to overtake those of whomthey were in pursuit, believing that when they reached the precipicethey would make along it to the right or left, and so fall into thehands of one or other of the parties who had gone to intercept them.

  No sooner were they fairly out of sight than the hunters rose, and,remounting their horses, continued their way.

  "It's well-nigh dark," Dick said, "and I doubt if they will be able tomake out our back-track when they get to the edge; at any rate theycannot follow it."

  They rode on until they found that their horses could no longer carrythem, then, dismounting, led them by the bridle. They had been steeringby the stars, and presently found themselves at the upper end of theravine.

  "We won't enter this now," Dick said, "for some of them may take it intotheir heads to gallop back, although that ain't very likely. Anyhow thehorses can't go any further, and if they could, we couldn't make our wayover these stones; it'll be as dark as pitch down there. So we will moveaway two hundred yards, and let the horses feed while we get a fewhours' sleep. That dog of yourn will give us notice if any of thevarmint are coming this way."

  The night passed without alarm, and at the first dawn of light they wereupon their feet again. The horses were given a mouthful of water fromthe skins, and then the hunters mounted and rode down the canon. Therewould be pursuit, they knew well; but the Indians would not be able totake up the trail until daylight, and would be an hour and a halffollowing it to the top of the canon, so that they had fully two hours'start. This being the case, they did not hurry their horses, but kept upa steady pace until they emerged at the lower end of the ravine; thenthey urged them forward, and two hours later arrived at thehalting-place of the caravan. No move had been made, but the instantthey were seen approaching, Abe and his two comrades rode up to meetthem.

  "What has happened?" he asked, as he reach
ed them. "We have beenterrible uneasy about you, and I was just going to start to try and pickup your track and follow you."

  Dick related the adventure.

  "It war well it war no worse," Abe said. "That critter's sense has savedyour lives, for ef he hadn't given you warning you would have riddenslap into the hands of the Injins; you may consider you are quits withhim now, Frank. But it war a nasty fix, and I congratulate you both onhaving brought your har safely back to camp; that coming straight backon your trail when you was stopped by the fall of the ground was ajudgmatical business."

  "It was Frank's idee," Dick said.

  "Wall, he just hit the right thing; if it hadn't been for that you wouldhave been rubbed out sure."

  At the next halting-place they found that three or four of the caravanswhich had preceded them had halted, being afraid to move forward insmall parties, as the Indians had made several attacks. With theaccession of force given by the arrival of John Little's party, theyconsidered themselves able to encounter any body of redskins they mightmeet, as there were now upwards of fifty waggons collected, with afighting force of seventy or eighty men.

  They therefore moved forward confidently. Several times parties ofIndian horsemen were seen in the distance, but they never showed inforce, the strength of the caravan being too great for any hope of asuccessful attack being made upon it.

  It was nearly five months from the time of their leaving Omaha beforethe caravan approached the point where the great plateau of Nevada fallsabruptly down to the low lands of California many thousand feet below.Here the hunters bade farewell to the emigrants, whom they had so longescorted. All danger of Indians had been long since passed, and theywere now within a short distance of the gold regions.

  Very deep and sincere were the thanks which were poured upon them by theemigrants, who felt that they owed their lives entirely to the vigilanceand bravery of Abe and his companions. They expected to meet again erelong at the gold-fields, and many were the assurances that should by anychance better luck attend their search than was met with by the hunters,the latter should share in their good fortune.

  The change in the character of the scenery was sudden and surprising.Hitherto the country had been bare and treeless, but the great slopes ofthe Nevada mountains were covered from top to bottom with a luxuriantgrowth of timber. Nowhere in the world are finer views to be obtainedthan on the slopes of the Nevada Mountains. The slopes are extremelyprecipitous, and sometimes, standing on a crag, one can look down into avalley five or six thousand feet below, clothed from top to bottom withluxuriant foliage, while far away in front, at the mouth of the valley,can be seen the low, rich flats of California.

  On the lower slopes of these mountains lay the gold deposits. These werefound in great beds of gravel and clay, which in countless generationshad become so hardened that they almost approached the state ofconglomerate. The gold from these beds had been carried, either bystreams which ran through them, or by the action of rain and time, intothe ravines and valleys, where it was found by the early explorers.These great beds of gravel have been since worked by hydraulicmachinery, water being brought by small canals, or flumes, many milesalong the face of the hills, to reservoirs situated one or two hundredfeet above the gravel to be operated upon.

  From the reservoirs extremely strong iron pipes lead down to the gravel,and to the end of these pipes are fitted movable nozzles, like those offire-engines, but far larger. The water pours out through these nozzleswith tremendous force, breaking up the gravel, and washing it away downa long series of wooden troughs, in which the gold settles, and iscaught by a variety of contrivances.

  But in the early days of gold discovery the very existence of these bedsof gravel was unknown, and gold was obtained only in the ravines andvalleys by washing the soil in the bottom. It had already beendiscovered that the soil was richer the further the searchers wentdown, by far the greater finds being made when the diggers reached thesolid rock at the bottom, in the irregularities of which, worn by waterthousands of years before, large quantities of rough gold were oftendiscovered.

  There was no difficulty in following the track through the forest, andafter two days' travelling the party arrived at the first miningvillage. They chose a piece of ground for their camp, fastened theirhorses to stumps, erected a tent of blankets, and placed in it thestores brought on their baggage-horses, which had remained untouchedsince they started. Then, leaving one of their number in charge, theystarted off to visit the diggings.

  The whole of the bottom of the narrow valley was a scene of life andbustle. The existence of gold in the valley had been discovered butthree weeks before, but a rush had taken place from other diggings. Theground had been allotted out, and a number of tents pitched, and roughhuts erected. Men were working as if for bare life. The lots were small,and the ground was already perfectly honeycombed with holes. Generallythe diggers worked in batches of four or five, each member of which tookup a claim, so that the space for operations was enlarged.

  Two men laboured with pick and shovel, and the baskets, as they werefilled with earth and sand, were first screened in a sieve to remove thelarger portion of stones and rock, and were then poured into what wasknown as a cradle, which was a long trough on rockers; one man broughtwater in buckets from the stream, and poured it into this, while anotherkept the cradle in constant motion. The mud and lighter portions ofstone flowed away over the edge, or were swept off by the hand of themen employed in working it, the particles of gold sinking to the bottomof the machine, where they were found at the clean-up at the end of theday's work.

  The new-comers looked on with great interest at the work, askingquestions as to the luck which attended the operators. The majority gavebut a poor account of their luck, the value of the finds at the end ofthe day being barely sufficient to pay the enormous rate charged forprovisions, which had to be carried up from the coast some hundreds ofmiles away. The stores were brought in waggons as far as Sacramento, andfrom that town were carried to the diggings on the backs of mules andhorses. Consequently it was impossible for a man to live on the poorestnecessities of life for less than three or four dollars a day, and inthe out-of-the-way valleys the cost was often considerably more.

  Some of the diggers owned that they were doing well, but there was ageneral disinclination to state even the approximate amount of theirdaily winnings. The hunters found, however, that the general belief wasthat some of those who had claims in the centre of the valley, where ofcourse the gold would settle the thickest, were making from ten totwenty ounces per day.

  "That's something like!" Dick said. "Just fancy making from forty toeighty pounds per day. I vote we set to work at once. As well here asanywhere else."

  "Yes, I suppose we may as well begin here," Frank agreed; "at any rateuntil we hear what is being done in the other places. But you see wemust be ready to move off as soon as a report comes of some freshdiscovery, so as to get good places. Here, of course, we must be contentto settle down outside the rest. We will mark out five claims at once,turn up the ground, and put our tools there; they say that's sufficientto take possession. Then we will go up into the forests and cut down apine or two, and slit it up into planks for making one of those cradles.That will take us all day to-morrow, I reckon."

  As they sat round the fire that evening, talking over their prospects,Abe said--

  "I tell you what it is, mates, I have been thinking this here matterover, and when I sees what tremendous prices are being charged for grubhere, I concluded there must be a big thing to be made in the way ofcarrying. Now we have got our five riding-horses, and the threebaggage-horses, that makes eight. Now what I proposes is this: three ofus shall work the claims, and the other two shall work the horses; wecan sell the riding-saddles down at Sacramento, and get pack-saddlesinstead. We can begin by carrying for one of the traders here.

  "I hear that a horse can earn from five to ten dollars a day, so oureight horses will earn forty to eighty dollars a day. Now that's a goodsartin living fo
r us all, especially as we shall bring up the provisionsfor ourselves, instead of paying big rates here. Arterards we will seehow things go, and if we like we can open a store here, and one of usmind it. Anyhow the horses will keep us well. If the claim turns outwell, so much the better; if it don't, we can do very well without it. Iproposes as we take it by turns to drive the horses and dig."

  The counsel was good and prudent, but it was only adopted after somediscussion, for the sums which the more fortunate diggers were earningwere so large that all looked forward to making a rapid fortune, andwere inclined to despise the small but steady gains offered by the planAbe suggested. However, Frank sided with Abe, and offered to go with himon the first trip to Sacramento, and the others thereupon fell in withthe plan.

  The next day the cradle was made by Abe and Frank, the others setting toto dig and wash out in a bucket. At the end of a day of hard work theyhad got about a quarter of an ounce of glittering yellow dust. This wasnot paying work, but they were not disappointed; they had not expectedto strike upon good ground at the first attempt, and were quitesatisfied by the fact that they really had met with the gold which theyhad come so far to seek.

  That evening Abe made a bargain to bring up goods from Sacramento forone of the store-keepers, having previously found the rate which wascurrent. At daybreak next morning he and Frank started off on horseback,each with three horses tied, head and tail, behind the one he wasriding, Turk marching gravely by their side.

  The distance to Sacramento was upwards of seventy miles. On their roadthey met numerous parties making their way up the mountains. All carrieda pick and shovel, a bucket and blanket, and a small sack with flour andbacon. Many of them were sailors, who had deserted from their ships atSan Francisco, where scores of vessels were lying unable to leave forwant of hands.

  All, as they passed, asked the last news from the diggings, where thelast rush was, and what was the average take at the camp, and thenhurried on, eager to reach the spot where, as every man believed,fortune awaited him.

  Two days of travel down the mountains took them to Sacramento. Heretheir saddles were disposed of, and pack-saddles bought. The horseswere laden with sacks of sugar and flour, sides of bacon, and miningtools, and after a day's stay in town, they started back for the camp.

  Sacramento, but a few months before a sleepy, quiet city, mostlyinhabited by Spaniards, or rather people of Spanish descent, was now ascene of animation and bustle. Long teams of waggons, laden with stores,rolled in almost hourly across the plains from San Francisco, while thewharves at the river-side were surrounded by laden barges. Bands ofnewly-arrived emigrants wandered through the streets, asking eagerquestions of any one who had time enough to talk as to the best way ofgetting to the diggings, and as to the camp which they had better selectfor their first attempt. Dark-looking men, half Spaniard and halfIndian, went along on their little ponies, or rode at the head of astring of laden animals, with an air of perfect indifference to thebustle around them.

  Sounds of shouting and singing came through the doors of some saloons,in which many of the fortunate diggers were busily engaged indissipating their hard-earned gains. Men sunburnt almost to blackness,in red shirts and canvas trousers, walked along the streets as if thetown and all in it belonged to them in virtue of the store of gold-dusttied up in their waist-belts. In these, revolvers and bowie-knives werestuck conspicuously, and the newly-arrived emigrants looked with awe andenvy at these men who had already reaped a harvest at the mines.

  Shooting affrays were of frequent occurrence in the drinking saloons,where at night gambling was invariably carried on, the diggers being asreckless of their lives as of their money.

  "About ten days of that place would be enough to ruin any man," Abesaid, as they walked at the head of their cavalcade from the town. "Ireckon as Sacramento is a sort of hell on arth, and guess there's morewickedness goes on in that ere little town than in any other place itsown size on the face of creation. They tells me as San Francisco isworse, but at any rate Sacramento is bad enough for me."

  On the evening of the third day after leaving Sacramento they arrived atthe mining camp, and having delivered the stores they had brought up tothe trader, and received the amount agreed upon, they took their way tothe spot where they had pitched their camp.

  "Well, lads, what luck?" Abe asked, as at the sound of their feet theircomrades came out to greet them.

  "We have got about four ounces of dust," Dick said, "and our backs arepretty nigh broken, and our hands that blistered we can hardly hold theshovel. However, we have been better the last two days. I expect therehave been two or three hundred people arrived here since you left, andthey are all at work now."

  "Well, that's pretty well for a beginning," Abe said, "though youwouldn't have much of your four ounces left if you had had to pay forgrub. However, we've brought up another half-sack of flour, twentypounds of sugar, and five pounds of tea, and a half-side of bacon, so wehave got quite enough to go on for a long time yet. I have brought up,too, a good stout tent, which will hold us comfortable, and, afterpaying for all that, here's thirty pounds in money. I got five pounds ahorse-load, so with your earnings and ours we haven't made a bad week'swork; that's pretty nigh ten pounds a man. I don't say that's anythingwonderful, as times goes here; but when we hit on a good spot for ourdigging, we shall pick it up quick. Now let's pitch the new tent, andthen we will have supper, for I can tell you walking twenty-five milesin this mountain air gives one something like an appetite."