Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1872-01-16
TIE LAST MAN In MEXICAN
CAMP.
pY JOAQUIN MILLER
IContinuedl
(Continued.)

Ing his loss, crouehsd close TO the old mans
legs |
A new commotien in Hogsm. Say what
you will Of god, whenever any one shuts
his eyes aud turns forever from il, as II 10
contempt, Tor . day at least, be assumes q
ms ssty proporlionats with the amount
no has LETT behind him aud seems 10 des
piss.
The Coroner, who was candidate for .
higher office, msrsbsllsd the !sAdiag spirits
As HSgem, aud proceeded TO the cabin |
where tho dead man lay. he felt that his
reputation wss at stake, aud, entering the
cabin, said 10 . solemn voice, an the nam- |
or the Lag take possession Of this premi-
sss" Soma one at the door, evidently not
. friend Of the Ooroner's political aspra.
tons, called out 10, what hall" The
officer was no, abssbed, but lowered up till
his tall hat touched the root, and repeated
"In the name Of the Law take possession
Of this premises" This time there was no
response or note Of derisiou, and it was
quietly conceded that The Gopher and all
his gold we're in The hands OF the Coroner.
Standing there, the jury, under direction
OF the Coroner. gave verdict Of "desth
from general debility" Some one tried to
bring the Coroner into coutempt again, by
afterwafd calling attention 10 the fact that
no had forgotten to swear the jury bat the
officer replied: TT is not necessary 10
suoh cases By the Law IN ade aud provided"
and 90 Was counted wise and correct
They bore the body Of the last man Of
Mexican Camp 20 the graveyard on the
hill--msybs q little nearer to heaven. How
odd, that nearly all grAveyards are on q
hill. The places Of chief mournsrs we're
given to Forty.niue and the dogS Whether
these places we're given because Forty-nine
vas the only present acqusiniAnce OF the
deceased, or whether the dog quietly as
serted = right that no one cared W dispute,
10 not certain. MosI likely il vas one Of
those things that naturally, and therefore
correctly, adjust shem'sl'es.
When these bearded men in blue shir,s
rested their burden At the open grave, they
looked at each other, and there was an un
pleasant pause. Perhaps they thought Of
the Christian barisl service 10 other lands
aud felt that Something Was wanting. Al
last Forsy-nins stole up close to the head
OF the grave, hssitsted, lifted, aud laid
aside his old SLOUGH hat aud, looking
straight DOM into the earth, said, in q low
and helpless way:
"Earth to earth. and dust TO dusI' hesi
tAtsd again, and then continued. "Tht
nustNrd aud the clover seed are but lul-
things, and no man eau tell the one from
the other; yet bury them in the utmost pArt'
Of the sArtn, and each will bring forth IT.
kind perfect and bsau,iful-snd-snd-
man Is surely more than = little seed and
and " here he broke DOM utterly, and
knelt and kissed the face Of the dead.
The men looked away for awhile, as i
TO obisots IN the horizon and then, without
looking ct each other, or breaking silence
lowered the uushSpely box, caught up the
spades, and found q positive rslief in heap
ing the grave.
Thea the Coroner, as ia duty bound, or
ss he expressed it, "As repaired by law II
such cases made and PROVIDED directed
his attention to . search Tor the buried
treasure.
YsAs.-powder boxes, oyster cans, sno
sArdiue boxes. old boots, aud quicksilver
tanks, were carried ouI to the hgbI aud IN
speoled, without results 'ln the straw o
the bunk" said the Coroner and blankets
bunk aud straw were carried out TO the SUI
but not an ounce Of gold. To make sur,
against the Intrusion of the iil.dIsposed, tn'
nnWsaried Coroner slept Oh the spot. TIL
next day, the hearth was taken up careful
ly, piece By piscs, but only crlckets clad II
black, aud litle pink-eyed mice, met tb'
eager eyes Of the men. Al last some GU,
suggested that, rs the hard baked earther
floor was the last place in which one WoulC
look for hlddea treasures, that was probs
bly, the frat and oLly place in which TIT
II I'd k,a oh
made the Coroner enthusiastic He sen
for picks, aud il mus. tell the truth, AnC
the whole truth, he sent for whisky b.
sunset, the entire earthen floor had beer
dug to the depth Of many feet and smpIiet
outside the door. Not EARNINGS WorIh o
gold had been found. The next day III
chimney was taken down. Lizards, dust o
Adobes, but nothing more. | am bound 4
say that, about this tine, the memory Of tn
man jnst taken up the bill Has held in bu
little respect, aud IbAs good or bad name
so far as tine over-zealous Coroner was con
csrned, depended entirely On the results O
the search. But one more thing REMAINED
TO bs done; that was to remove the cabin
Single by shiusls, log by log, the s,ruC
turs was leveled. Wood.rAts, kangaroo
mice, horned IOads, q rAttlesnake or tw
that had gone into winter quarters unde
the great logs, and that was all. Not q
ounce Of gold vas found in the last cAb
of Mexican Camp.
The fat was then stakPd Oft as mimi
ground by some enterprising stranger, an
they began in the center 10 sluice It to th
bedrock. They slaiced up the guch for
month, and then down the gulch for
month, until the whole hill side Was scalped
As it we're, to the bone, aud the teasur
hunters we're bankrupt, but not even g
much ss the color Of the dead mans gol
was found.
Hogem was Disguised, aud The Gophe
was voted . worse mau dead than living.
IL began to be noticed, hoWtver, tina
Forty-nins had mendsd somewhat in hi
personal appearance STAGE the death Of Tn
Gopher, add i; was Vhisperei that he kne'
where the treasure was. Some even wen
so far as to say that he had the whole pill
of il in his possession. 'Some Of thes
nights he'll come mp A-missing,' said tn
butcher, striking sAvagelV at his steel acros
his block. 10 justice TO Hogem it must b
observed she was not without grounds to q
upon in her suspicious. For was not Forty
nine near the man At his deAlb2 And, !
No Souiu kot MS uVbf WY hVs 60 NE bS'
also
One night Forty-rine, bo' ling tight to
tow-string, shuiflsd up TO me in tho saloon
and, timidly pluokinR nv sleeve, said:
"Goinz away, hear ~
ayes
"To the Ssatss7''
"Yes."
"NsAr 10 Boston ?"
"May be-"
swell then, look here; come with me J
and, -th the old dog humping his hsA
against his heels. he led the ~ay out Of tn
door down the guleh TO his cabin. He julie
the latch,sIrlng, ent-Tsd. and hnAlly strue
light. Sticking the candle ir = -hlskJ
bottle thai stood 90 the greasy table 10 n
center OF the 4 ior, be picked up the too
string, and pointing 10 the bunk 10 III
corner, we sat do~n ioga,hsr and the oil
dog rested his nose bst~een the Old man
legs
After lo1kiag Ab,rt the cabin 10 n4rvou
silence for tim. FI-ty-nins arose 18th
lank ~ II a..