The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-07-08
The Great Gold Secret.
CHAPTER 1.

I'm a gold digger-thRt's about
what / am. You wouldn't take me
for an Englishman, would you now ?
| No, nor yet any one else that knows
me but am, though.
How old, about, should you take
me for Fifty-fve, eh ? Well, they
all guess some where near that but
Pm just thirty-seven last month. 1
dare say you don't believe it; and
perhaps wouldn't believe it, either, il
1 told you that all this wrinkling and
turning grey was done in one week.
Well, it was, and when / think over
it all now, and think that here 1 am,
alive after 1t all, 1 can hardly believe
it myself. Would you like to hear
about it Well, sit down and make
yourself comfortable, and I'll tell
you.
It's nine years ago last Valentines
Day Il remember all the dates well
enough, / warrant ye) that 1 was at
Frisco with Yankee, by the name
of Seth Hickman. We'd met down
in Denver, and stood by each other in
row that happened there, and OF
course that drew Us together and
"share and share alike"
Seth was sharp fellow and knew
all the likeliest spots, aad I could do
days work with any man in those
days, though amt much to brag of
now and the end of it was we made
pretty good haul.
When we got to Frisco l thought
OF nothing but banking some of the
stuff for q rainy day and having a
spree with therest, and then starting
off again, but Seth didn't seem to see
it at all. 1 noticed that ne looked
serious like, as If he had something
on his mind, for the first two days
after We got into town ; and on the
second evening, as we were sitting
over our grog, he spoke out:
'tJim, old hos, Pm gwine TO tell
yew something that nary soul in Gre
alton knows about but myself; for if
yew hadn't been some smart with
your Derringer when them three
skunks went for me down in Denver
they might ha' wrote Gone up over
this child T; aud no man ever did Seth
Hickman a good turn, nor q bad turn
neither, but what he has got oocoanut
fer you Tit for tail, yew bet yure life
on that
eWhen I was in africa last year I
went up the country q bit with my
rifle, and thar happened on an old
Injun critter, as old as George WASH
ingtOn's nurse, iivini in a hut all by
himself among the spurs o. the An
des, and camped in his hut for the
"WoI, the aguardiente (whisky) in
my flask war q leetle tew strong
strong for him, and he got Ieg'lar
slowed and when his tongue got
loosened by the Ticker he kim out wiz
stitch 8 yarn as whipped everything
in Prescott all to fits. He said that
when the Peruvian chiefs stampeded
from CuZoo a'rter Pizarro took it, q lot
on 'em got up among the mountains,
carrying their gold with 'em till they
kim out on the plateau of Lake Titi-
caca /; and thar, fndiA' the Spaniards
close on their trail, they chucked all
the gold into the lake and skedaddled
nobody knows where. And he said
il anybody took the trail from his hut,
north and by east, till the southern
end of the lake, and then looked out
for big three-ccrnered rock like 8
pyramid upside down, they'd Jest got
W 6COOB NAAC vi InC 4ahC " nal
that rocks shadow fell on at SUM-
up all Wall street. Now, we've got
money enough to put that job through
snd If yew feel like tryin' il, Pm in. -
l said "done" ut once, and we got
orr money together, and slipped
down the sosst to africa as fast as the
Pacific steamer could carry US. The
minute we got there Seth went off in
to the hills to try and get hold Of his
old Indian for guide, while I hunt
ed about for wOrkman-for this was a
job that needed more hands than our
own. at last 1 got hold of two
Spsniards-twO steady fellows they
were, and honest enough as Span-
iards go-snd then q Portugee and
two niggeIs. We weren't long of
buying our stores and working tack
lie. and by the time Seth came back
with his guide all was ready and
away we went.
Seth wss much too knowing a bird
to let on what his real game was as
long as we were within hail of the
town, for il you say "goldn there onlv
in whisper those blessed Gambusi-
nos (gold finders) will hear it q hum
dred miles of.
So that all we told our gang was
that we were going prospecting among
the lower ranges, as lots Of fellows did
every day; but when we were past
the old Indians hut and well up
among the hills, 80 that our chaps
couldn't easily turn back If they
wanted, he up and told them the
whole story. They were rather ia
ken aback, as well they might be, for
Lake Titicaea's a good many days
journey to the nOr'-east, among some
very awkward mountains and q good
thirteen thousand feet above the sea
IL it's an inch. However, q Spaniard
! Tor any other man, for that matter,
will 60 pretty nearly anywhere If he
once gets on the scent of gold so
our fellows they spoke up stoutly
enough, and said they were ready TO
go up to the lake, and down to the
bottom Of it into the bargain, after
such haul as that T; and of we set
Rgain.
I've seen good many wonders in
my time, knocking about the world
as L have done but anything like
that climb up the Andes I never saw
yet. Rocks that seemed to 90 IN in
to the very sky, straight as a plumb
line (; beds of moss three or four feet
deep, and soft as q velvet cushion :
fraaa frDO hnndrad faof hfuh Ill -,