The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-02-09

out between the logs, that could bt
closed with wooden plugs in darkness
or danger. Let these cabins not be de
spised. Their builders have done more
for the commerce of the world than il
supposed. Some day some cunning and
earnest hand will picture them faith
fully, and they will not be forgotten.
1t is to be admitted that the dead
man did not look SO terrible, even in
death, as the mind had pictured him.
His Enclosed eyes looked straight at
those who came only to approach him,
and wonder where his money was
buried, till they were abashed.
Standing there, the jury, under the
direction of the coroner, gave verdict
OF "death from general debility Some
one tried to bring the coroner into con.
tempt again, by afterward calling atten.
ton TO the fact that he had forgotten 10
swear the jury, but the officer replied,
1T is not necessary in such cases by
the law made and provided" and so was
counted wise and correct.
They bore the body of the last man
of Mexican Camp to the graveyard on
the hill-may be little nearer to
ho"'oh' hoW ouu .iaI all SraVeyarus
are on hill. The places of chief
mourners were assigned to Forty nine
and the dog. Whether these places
were given because Forty-nine was the
only present acquaintance of the de.
ceased, or whether the dog asserted a
right that no one cared to dispute, is
not certain. Most likely it was one of
the things that naturally and therefore
correctly, adjust themselves.
When these bearded men in blue
shirts rested their burden at the open
grave, they looked at each other, and
there was an unpleasant pause. Per.
haps they thought of the Christian
burial service in other lands, and felt
that something was wanting. At last
Forty nine stole up close to the head of
the grave, hesitated, and lifted aside
his old SLOUGH hat, and looking straight
down into the earth, said, in a low and
helpless way:
:" Earth to earth and dust to dust p
hesitated again and then continued
"The mustard and clover seed are but
| little things, and no man can tell one
from the other; yet bury them in the
uttermost parts of the earth, and each
will bring its kind perfect and beautiful,
and-and man is surely more than a
little seed-and-and-" here he broke
down utterly, and knelt and kissed the
face of the dead
The men looked away for awhile, as
if to objects in the horizon, and then.
without looking at each other, or break
ing silence, lowered the unshapely box,
caught up the spades, and found posi-
tive relief in heaping the grave.
Then the coroner, as in duty bound,
or, as he expressed it, "as required by
law in such cases made and provided"
directed his attention to search for the
buried treasure.
Yeast powder boxes, oyster cans and
sardine boxes, old boots and quicksilver
tanks, were carried out to the light and
inspected without results. Sin the
straw Of the bunk" said the coroner,
and blankets, bunk and straw were car
ried to the sun but not an ounce of
gold. To make sure against intrusion
of the ill-disposed, the unwearied coro-
ner slept on the spot. The next day,
the hearth was taken up carefully, piece
by piece, but only crickets clad in black,
and little pink eyed mice met the eager
eyes of the men. At last some one
suggested thatas the hard baked earthen
floor was the last place one could look
for hidden treasures, that was probably
the first and only place in which the
Gopher had hidden his gold. The
thought made the coroner enthusiastic.
He sent for picks, and, if | must tell
the truth, he sent for whisky also. BY
sunset the entire earthen floor had been
dug to the depth of many feet and
emptied outside the door. Not farth-
ings worth of gold was found. The
next day the chimney was taken down.
Lizards, dust of adobes, but nothing
more. | am bound to say that about
this time the memory Of the man Just
taken TO the hill was held in but little
respect, and that good or bad name,
so far as the over-zealous coroner was
concerned, depended entirely on the
results of the search. But one more
thing remained to be done, that was to
remove the cabin. Single by single,
log by log, the structure was leveled.
Wood rats, Kangaroo mice, horned
| toads, "a rattlesnake or two that had gone
into winter quarters under the great
| logs, and that was all. Not an ounce OF
gold was found in the last cabin of Next
can Camp.
The fiat was then staled off as min
ing ground by enterprising strangers,
and they began in the center to sluice
it to the bedrock. They sluiced up to
the gulch for month, until the whole
hillside was scalped, as it were, to the
bone, and the treasure-hunters were
bankrupt, but not even so much as the
color of the dead mans gold was
| found.
Hogem was disguised, and The Gopher
was voted worse man dead than
| living.
1t began to be noticed, however, that
Forty n ne had mended somewhat in his
personal appearance since the death of
the Gopher, and it was whispered that
he knew where the treasure was. Some
even went so far as to say that he had
the whole pile of it in his possession.
"Some of these nights he'll come up
missing" said the butcher, striking saw
agely at his steel across his block. In
justice to Hogem it must be observed
she was not without grounds to 20 upon
| in bar euSnicions For ,yas not Fort ".