American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-11-23

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: rest" upon government reserves.
: We knew, however. that few unmar
e ageable bands had refused to accep
| the arbitrament of Christian rifles, an
were still abroad somewhere in thei
native haunts-frOm Klamath to the sea-
committing theft, arson, and an occas
ional murder
r But our hearts were fired by the lac
/ cursed lust for gold" and we We're not t.
2 be deferred by id fears. We were pos
sessed OF a spirit that toll could not exOr
else. nor peril quell!
| Weary weeks had elapsed, when. on
. day, we reac' ed the base of precipitou
chain OF mountains trending westward
and directly in our course. A few mile;
, to our left We found an accessible pass
but, surveying the range with our glasse
for a great distance on either side, coul,
see no other depression in its clear-cut line
This, then, was the only gateway to tn,
through it the Wilson party must have
passed without 4 doubt. At the entrance
of the pass we found the dim vestige.
of a campfire. and began to hope that We
were right. Further on we found where
an axe had been used here and there, ant
knew that we were in the footsteps Of
White Men. Was it the Wilson trail?
James Wilson. in his letter to Harper
had spoken ola lofty rock. bearing IA rude
resemblance to an hour-glass, at the base
of which was mineral spring. 1t was
there where the separation had occurred
and the main party turned back. The
| western peaks were crowned with sunset
gold, and our days march was nearly
done, when, unexpectedly, we halted be-
| fore lofty bowlder, shaped like an hour
glass and. at its base, staining the rock
| over which il flowed, we found a spring
bitter with mineral constituents.
By that token the battle was halt won.
and dismOunting, we unpacked our tired
and dispirited horses, and went into
| camp for two days, in order to gather
strength for the final struggle. Then
we were again in the saddle, with our
faces still to the southeast, and tOiline on
| The scenery grew wilder and more rug
ged. We were in the region of volcanic
| agonies-of fierce upheavals and lava
| floods. Interminable difficulties rose be-
| fore us; but they were met with heroic
resolution, and finally overcome. Har-
| per became moody and distracted and
the stress of sustained anxiety had so
| worn upon my spirit that even in slum-
Der the troubles of the day were repeated.
The boundary between my sleeping and
waking thoughts ceased to be clearly de-
fined, think, and this abnormal condi-
ton OF the mind may account for what is
otherwise inexplicable in what am about
to relate.
We had encamped for the night, and it
was near sunset. Harper, overcome by
fatigue, lay asleep, with his head upon
roll of blankets. For the hundredth time
had drawn the unfinished letter from
my pocket. and sat, with my back against
Il tree, perusing it d-eamily-with a L. ad-
pencil. which had fallen in getting the let
ter, also in my hand. / remember wish
ing that some spirit-hand would seize the
pencil and complete the letter, when, to
my infinite surprise, shadow, like that
of sudden twilight, tell upon all things
around. L was somehow conscious OF a
preternatural presence, and. looking up,
beheld, Immediately in front of me. a
man, or the shadow of a man, tall and
muscular. with brown face and bushy
beard. He wore miners gray flannel
shirt-withOut cOat-and had a revolver
belted to his side. l seemed to be utterly
without power of speech or motion, and
looked into the sad and sympathetic eyes
he turned upon me, with sense of awful
fascination. l could see Harper dimly
through the semi-darkness, but the quiet
of slumber still laid upon his weary face.
Then night seemed to close down, and
awOke with start, to find that the even
ing had advanced, and that my compan-
ion was kindling fire. l turned to look
for the paper, and found it at the foot of
the tree against which [ had reclined
but what did l see? In the blank space,
below the ink-blot to which l have refer
red, was a rude drawing in pencil, 1t
seemed to represent two ranges of noun
tains. intersecting each other at right-an-
giles. In the center of the rectangular
space on the lower side was a small dia-
gram, resembling the larger one in shape.
| took it to the freight for closer ex-
animation: it WAS the representation of
miners pick.
Who had done this and what could it
mean? Was it the idle and unmeaning
frnR N INV i0,Ie hon
was it the effort of some superior power
to direct us III our search for the Lost
Cabin? At all events, | could make moth +!
ing of the mysterious symbolism before |
though it might be with
precious revelations and thought best
not to mention the circumstance to Har-
per.
were at the foot of another nlountain-wall |
spiked with the gray shafts of fire-scathed |
frs, and with here and there a rocky peak |
towering high in the smoke-tinged atmos- |
phere. Through a system of canons,
hewn in these mighty rocks. we penetra- |
ted the range, and halted for the night |
upon an open spot where grass was ADAM
dant; and, after rerreshment. forgot in
the narcotic languOrs of the pipe all phys
ical WEAKNESS and mental strain.
On the morning folio wing we climbed
lofty eminence that shot into the sky like |
the spire of some Titanic temple, and with |
our telescopes swept the unknown coun-
try before us, serene and beautiful under
the f1attering tintS of summer sun. To |
the right, and running nearly north and
south, laid another range of mountains,
at right angles that |
through which we were passing
the drawing below the ink-bloti There
upon the great face of Nature, was the
realization of the pencil-sketch and its
symbolism was rs clear as light; away in
that central region to the south the mys-
tic emblem of the pick marked the locali-
ty of the vault of gold With the agita-
ton consequent on so sudden revelation,
l turned toward Harper, with this inter
probation of the secret l then divulged
and he, too, was stirred to the inmost
depths of his imaginative nature.
On-On we went in dream of wonder
and future wealth, and nothing impeded
our progress now, until. at last, we en-
tered a narrow valley, walled in by pre-
cipitous mountains, and bOrdered on each
side by a beautiful stream. We knew
that we were upon sacred ground and
along the shadOwy fringe of the forest,
where the fretted waters sang a barbaric
rune, we rode, silent as specters. re-
sistless magnetism drew us on, and not a
word was spoken. Our very heart-strngs
might have snapped with their terrible
tension. We turned a projecting angle of
wood, and square, black object, half
buried in rank tangle of weeds and
grass. was before us. We had found the
Lost Cabin nothing now but an empty
pen of scorched and bIackened logs.
Idisentangled a pick from one of our
packs, and stepped within the enclosure.
1t, too, was choked with weeds; and,
bending them aside, saw, grinning upon
l. 4