The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-09-06
LUNG.SING AND THE INDIANS.

Chin.Lung3 and How 1t was Raised.
When Boston Town, in the Black
Hills, and about thirty miles from Dead
wood, woke up one morning, and found
a Chinaman walking with his kit on his
shoulder, every old miner was dumb
founded. 1t had been given out, and
was generally understood, that Boston
Town wouldn't wait minute before
shooting the first Chinaman who dared
to show his head in camp, and this
traveller ought to have been posted. He
coolly walked about trying to discover
whether the diggings were rich or poor,
and nodding familiarly to every miner
who showed his head. 1t took the camp
Just four minutes to realize the situa-
ton, blow the rallying horn, and re-
solve:
"That there is one of them blamed
Chinese in camp, and it is our duty to
teach him great moral lesson"
Lung-Sing went out O. there like
tornado, his sheet-iron frying pan bang
ing the back of his head at every Jump,
and his heels digging up a perfect
shower of gravel. None of the bullets
fired at him took effect. and breakfast
was hardly eaten before tine incident was
forgotten. The Chinaman was out there
to make O stake. He knew all about the
Indians, but when chased out of Boston
Town, he pushed right ahead over the
frontier and up the hills, and when he
"struck yellow he was four miles in
advance of any camp. Lung-Sing wasn't
one of your dirt washers or gravel paw
ers, but he struck for quartz rock, and
he kept loose eye squirting around for
nuggets. He halted where he did, be-
cause it was far enough from white
miners, near enough to the Indians, and
the place offered a secure retreat. It
was cave extending into the hill or
range since christened Baked Potato.
The hole was large enough for three
men to enter abreast, and the cave was
cut up in curious shape. Back twenty
feet from its mouth it split into three
caves, each winding around in half
circle, and after short time Lung-Sing
discovered that each of the three had an
outlet ON the hill, but not within half
mile of each other. "Alle light" he
unused, as he made ready to take possess
sion in the name of the Celestial EN-
pire, "alle light; Injun man come if he
wantee, Lung-Sing no faid."
There was rich quartz rock in the cave.
In one month after being occupied by
party of six white men it panned out
$17. 900. Lrng-Sing knew that lie had
struck big thing, and his mind was
made up to stay there, Indians or no In
dians. In the afternoon of the second
day after he began work the Chinaman,
who was working by torchlight, felt
twist at his pig-tail, and he glanced
around to discover an Indian warrior be-
side him. Some Cinnamon would have
"played calf at once" but Lung Sing
was working for 5000 per day. At the
second jerk on his queue he seized his
torch, and thrust it in the face of his cap
tor. The next instant he was rattling
his canoe-toed shoes down the dark pass
age with a noise like horse galloping on
plank sidewalk. When he climbed out
on the hillside and looked down, he saw
a score of Indians around the mouth of
the cave, and one of them was hopping
around, as if he didn't feel well. Lung
Sing sat there behind a bush and chuc-
kled and grinned for an hour. and when
the redskins departed he went back to
his work, sagely musing:
"f Injun nance fink I'm fool he
find outee."
They were certain to come again. He
had no arms except light shot gun and
a .hatchet, but he had come to stay. The
idea of his busting out of that Just be-
cause few hundred Indians might OBJ
ject to his presence was too absurd to
contemplate. He stretched score of
bark strings across the mouth of the cave,
and then connected them with single
string running back to his work. This
last string ran along the roof and over a
stone splinter, and held up stone which
must fall to the floor if any one attempt
ed to displace the strings across the
mouth of the cave. When he had finish
ed this work and satisfied himself that it
could be depended on, the heather drew
down his left eye, slanted his hat over
his left ear, and quoted Confucius.
The redskins weren't at all pleased at
the way they had been cheated, and next
whole car load of them re-
turned to the cave, having torches to ex-
plore it. When they saw the bark
strings across it's mouth they suspected
a trap, and fooled around for two 6r
three hours. Meanwhile Lung-Sing was
plying hammer and pick, bringing down
ninety per cent. of gold with every ten
per cent. of stone. He had struck it
rich. "Spat!" came the stone which
he had fixed up for signal bell, and
the long-eyed heather scored for start
and get away in fine style. The Indians
halted in the mouth of the cave to peer
around and light their torches, and DUR
ing this delay Lung Sing wasn't stopping
to play marbles on the floor of the cave.
He emerged from the same cavity as
before, little damp under the collar,
but in prime condition. He was making
his left eye wink cutely at his right, and
figuring up the profits of his mornings
work, when he heard the Indians coming.
They had divided into three bands and
followed the three passages. He got.
Instead of making for Boston Town or
Measles City, he slid down the mountain
side and entered the cave by the front
door. The Indians had brought along
almost wagon load of dry grass and
weeds, expecting to have to smoke him
out There was strong draft through
the cave, and when the heathen dis
covered the grass, and that none of the
savages had remained behind, he nearly
wrenched himself to pieces to carry out
a suddenly conceived plan. In the
course of seven or eight minutes he had
carried the grass to the point where the
cave split, and he choked each passage
as far as the material would go. Then
he pulled out his match box and listened
and waited. He reasoned that the In
dians would return by the same routes
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