Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-12-23

sone enc, unless We had some ostensible occu-
patton. Back half nile from here in the edge
Of the timber Is the abandoned cabin of shep-
herd herd. we can move INTO that eae,n lay in
milton and while playing hunters can work on
this old cable. IT the cable does not prove to
contain large amount of gold, nevertheless
shall hunt until L am perfectly satisfied that
there is nothing here"
I'm satisfied already" observed Heron,
that you win get mostly fooled; You are 50
made Of"
I" II is agreed then" said Berkeley. "If there
is nothing in the cable will not urge you to
stay longer. At present think we had hes.
hide what we have done here as well as we can
until we are ready to 90 to work in earnest"
showing the earth back into the hole the two
friends took their way back to their cabin.
The next day Berkley went to Pescadero and
obtained the necessary articles to fit them ont rs
hunters, and also what tools he thought he
would needto work at the cable; heavy ham,
meI, sledge. crow-bsr, cold chisel, etc.
They moved Immediately into the shepherds
cabin and proceeded at once to their work
They found it necessary to use the utmost eau
ton, fearing their real intentions might be dis
covered by Grey or some of his employees.
Their success as hunters was poor enough.
Had they depended entirely upon hunting they
would at times, have gone hungry to bed. Soon
as possible Berkeley commenced work on the
cable. He found 1t no small task to break the
tough links and il was several days before he
was able with his hammer and chisel, to seper-
ate three OF them from the chain. But at this
point new difficulty presented itself III he
should proceed to San Francisco with the metal
in that form, anu it should prove to be rich in
gold, the curiosity Of the broker or assayer
would be excited, and soon, perhaps the secret
Of its location might be discovered and he and
his friend be deprived of what he believed was
rightfully theirs. The safest way was to melt ii
into one mass before taking ii to the CITY. An
old oven, used by the shepherd for baking, was
the furnace Tom used for melting his cable
links. steady fire for two days give him a
rough, irregular mass, bearing no resemblance
With bag If quails and rabbits, mostly pur.
chased of strolling hunters, and a stout valise
containing the heavy chunk of metal carefully
rolled up in an old blanket, Tom Berkley started
for San Francisco.
The bag of game was conffded to the care of
the stage driver, but the valise Tom never per-
mtted to pass from his hands.
Time passed slowly with Heron during Berk-
ley's absence. He hunted little but had no
disposition to work at the cable. Five days had
passed and he began to get uneasy. Ii Berkley
did not return on the morrow he thought se.
riously of starting for San Francisco. On the
evening OF the sixth day Berkeley walked YEARLY
into the cabin, placed his valise in a corner and
asked for some supper. Heron looked in
quiringy in his face but could read nothing
there of disappointment or of success They
ate their supper in silence, except an occasional
remark about the trip of Berkeley to the city or
the success of Heron in hunting. Supper ever
and the table set aside, the friends drew up to
the fire, lighted their pipes and prepared for
their usual evenings enjoyment, long smoke.
"Well?" said Heron, looking at Berkley in
quiringly.
Well" responded Tom.
Chow did that chunk OF copper turn out?"
" Middling," said Tom, queer smile playi ng
around his lips.
"what do you mean? Out with it, I'm IN
hurry to know"
Berkeley went to the corner and brought for
ward the yalise. He unlocked it and took out
first two crucibles, carefully wrapped in cloth.
hen came mold for casting metal, then a set
OF dies for stamping, both figure and letters,
and finally heavy purse which he emptied
upon the tabe-gltterng double eagles that to
the ears OF Jim Heron had a most musical
sound.
"My GOd!" he exclaimed, staring in astonish-
ment.
~ suppose So" said Berkeley quietly. Its
the God OF most people a-days."
"Do yOu pretend to say that old chunk of
copper was worth that much money!"
Twice as much, jim; that isn't half what il
brought"
"My Godl"
"See here, ;" said Berkeley drawing from hi.
pocket several papers, Here's the certificate of
assay. One thousand eight hundred and fifty
of depOsite in the bank. One thousand two
hundred dollars. I've spent some, OF course
but guess there is something over five hundred
my God!" calculated Heron.
Berkeley laughed. Jim, never saw you so
devotedly before. Don't say all your prayers to-
Perhaps I'd better. But tell me all about
how you managed in the city,"
Easy enough, though the old German chap
who assaycd 1t for me, bored me terribly to find
out where got it and how it happened to me in
that shape. i answered all his questions, but 4
guess he knew about as much regarding it in the
end az he did at first. The broker who bought
it was sharper and had to be mighty careful
how answered him. think he found out moth
ing 1 thought il best however, to take il in diff
ferent shape next time. So got these crucibles
and his rnn into
these dies for stamping them with letters and
figures. And, Jim, If we can only keep things
dark our fortune is made"
"Give me your hand, Toni" said Heron
And, Tom, hope you'll pardon me for max
ing so much fun of that dream. I'll never do il
again. Lod bless We. You may dream all you
like after this. All night, yes, and all dav II
We want to. Look at them shiners!-My Cod,
Berkeley smiled and relit his pipe.
"Put EN- away, Jim, and let us fix on some
kind of a plan to work our mine and not excite
suspicion"
The two friends sat long at their pipes and it
was late before all their plans were perfected
and they retired to rest 1t was agreed that
Heron should work at the cable. In order that
he might not be discovered by the sound of his
hammer and chisel, it was deemed best that he
should work at night. sleeping through the day
of affairs, procure what provisions they needed
from Pescadero, hunt some, dispose of the
game, etc. He was also to proceed to San Fran
cisco with the bullion when tt was necessary
Berkeley made the trip generally twice a month
The metal being in regular bars, stamped with
numbers and letters, he had no difficulty in
disposing Of them without exciting suspicion
Their grandest danger was from the inhabitant
around Point Ano Nueyo. Had they not been
to purchase large quantities Of game from wan
dering hunters, they would doubtless have been
watched and their true occupation discovered.
The milkmen from Greys who occasionally
came into their cabin and found Heron in bed
were informed that he was suffering from q
severe attack of rheumatism.
Thus passed the summer away. The bank ac-
count of Thomas Bradley-Berkley was careful,
not TO give his name-grew rapidly.
Game was scarce, but the two sailor-hunter
of Point Ano Nuevo still pursued their humble
calling, though Jim Heron still suffered from
the rheumatism. The months of October and
November passed away and found them still
pursuing their work. Sometime in September
they had found q large link in the cable on
which was kind of Tablet covered with strange
characters resembling somewhat the syllable
writing of the Chinese. Not being particularly
interested in antiquarian research, Berkley
melted 1t up with the rest, and thus the only
clue for discovering the origin Of that strange
anchor and cable was lost.
No rain fell of any amount throughout the au-