The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-01-10
BY HORsLEY BROS. & FIGUERS.

with this solitary concession to pru-
dence, must have sought to reach that
portion of the country which both ru-
NOR and the geological outlines of the
earth's surface indicated as gold-bear-
ing. Careful inquiry had put us in
possession of these latter facts, and we
too turned to the southeast, but at no
great angle from the stage-route.
Our progress was slow, torturous. and
at times unutterably difficult. Hewing
a trail through woven thickets, scram-
bling over miles of fallen timber, lost
In the twilight of labyrinthian canons.
straining toward the summit of some
rocky divide-where the Summer sum
shine burned like fame-across turbu-
lent rivers, and by the still margins of
unknown lakes, where the great frs
shadowed themselves in somber solitude
what road to fortune!
We were generously armed, and had
no great fear of personal danger, for
the fierce tribes that had formerly hung
upon the footsteps of the hunter and
gold-digger, here, and had disputed the
encroachment of civilization in the
bright valleys far out to our right, had
ceased from troublipo," long since,
and were agriculturally crest" upon
government reserves.
We knew, however, that a few un-
manageable bands had refused to accept
the arbitrament of Christian rifles, and
were still abroad somewhere-in their
native haunts-from Klamath to the
sea-cOmmitting theft, arson, and an
occasional murder.
But our hearts were fired by the " ac-
cursed lust for gold" aud we were not
to be deferred by idle fears We were
possessed of spirit that toll could not
exercise, no peril quell
Weary weeks had elapsed, when, one
day, We reached the base of a precipi-
tous chain of mountains tending west
ward, and directly in our course. A
few miles to our left we found an acces-
slble pass; but, surveying the range
with our glass for great distance on
either side, could see no other depres-
sion in its clear-cut line. This, then,
was the only gateway to the south
eartern country beyond, and through it
the Wilson party must have passed,
without a doubt. At the entrance Of
the pass we found the dim vestage of
campfire, and began to hope that we
were right. Further on we found
there, and knew that we were in the
footsteps of white men. Was it the
Wilson trail?
James Wilson, in his letters to Har-
per, had spoken of a lofty rocks bearing
a rude resemblance to an hoUrglass, at
the base of which was a mineral spring
1t was there that the separation had oc-
CURED, and the main party turned back.
llanr
sunset gold, and our days march was
nearly done, when, Unexpectedly, we
halted before a lofty boulder, shaped
like an hourglass; and, at its base,
staining the rocked over which it flow
ed, we found a spring-bitter with min
eral constituents.
By that token the battle was half
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 southeast, and toiling
on. The scenery grew wilder and more
rugged. We were III the region of vol
canic agonies-of fierce upheavals and
lava foons. Interminable difficulties
rose before us; but they were met with
heroic resolution, and finally overcome.
Harper became moody and ATTRACTED;
and the stress sustained anxiety had so
worn upon my spirit that even in slum-
ber the troubles of the day were repeat
ed. The boundary between my sleep
ing and waking thoughts ceased to be
clearly defined, / think, and this abnOr-
NAL condition of the mind may account
for what is otherwise inexplicable in
what 1 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 a roll of blankets. For the hun
dredth time [ had drawn the unfinished
letter from my pocket, .and sat, with my
back against the tree, perusing it
dreamily-with lead-pencil, which
had fallen ont in getting the letter, also
in my hand. / remember wishing that
some spirit hand would seize the pen
Gil and complete the letter, when, to
my infinite surprise, shadow, like
that of sudden twilight fell upon all
things around. [ was somehow con-
scious of a preternatural presence, and
looking up, beheld, Immediately in
front of me, man, or the shadow of a
man, tall and muscular, with a brown
face and bushy aeard. He wore miners
gray flannel shirt-without coat-and
had a revolver belted to his side. I
seemed to be utterly without the power
of speech or motion, and looked into
the sad and sympathetic eyes he turned
upon me, with a sense of awful fascina-
ton. could see Harper dimly through
the emi-darkness, but the quiet of
slumber still laid upon his weary face
Then night seemed to close down, and I
awoke with a start, to find that the
evening had advanced, and my compan-
ion was kindling a fire I turned to
look for the paper, and found it at the
foot of the tree against which 1 had re-
clined; but what did I see? In the
blank space, below the ink-blot to
which have referred, was a rude draw
ing in pencil! Il seemed to represent
two ranges of Mountains, intersecting
each other at right angles. In the cen
ter of the rectangular space on the
lower side was a small diagram, resem-
bling the large one in shape. I took it
to the tire-light for a closer examination;
it was the representation of a miners
pick.
Who had done this, and what could
it mean? Was it the idle and unmean-
ing tracery of my own unconscious
hand, or was it the effort of some supe-
rior power to direct us in our search for
the lost cabin? At all events, / could
make nothing of the mysterious SYM
bolism before me-pregnant though it
might be with precious revelations-and
thought best not mention the circum-
stance to HARPER
In the afternoon of the next day we
were at the foot of another mountain
wall, spiked with the gray shafts of fire
scathed frs, and with here and there
rocky peak towering high in the smokey
tinged atmosphere. Through a system
of canons, hewn in these mighty rocks,
we penetrated the range, and halted for
the night upon an open spot where grass
was abundant: and, after refreshment,
forgot in the narcotic languors of the
pipe all physical WEAKNESS and mental
strain.
On the morning following we climb
ed lofty eminence that shot into the
sky like the spire of some Titanic tenn
pie, and with our telescopes swept the
unknown country before rs, serene and
beautiful under the fattering tints of a