Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-11-20

80 Poor ChinamanP Whines the big
'un again.
Don't want any, tell yew again.!
roars Zeph savagely; and the 'deppy
tation only holds their heads on one
side and smiles.
4" Air yew gwine to cut!' sez Zeph,
seizin' number one by the tail, when he
goes down on his knees, and others the
same, rubbin' their chests, and wag-
glin' their heads from side to side.
" Why don't you speak outp SEE
Zeph.
"Melican man lot poor Chinaman
washee washeeP sez the fat fellow,
p'intin' to the heap o. rubbish.
"' You want to wash that dirt over
againP sez Zeph.
"The whole party began to nod their
heads fast.
$50, nor sez Zeph; we don't want
yew here-oh, ladsP'
=" No, nor we all groweled.
"'Send 'em Off sez Tom Paggins
" But they wouldn't go, only smiled,
and at last Zeph seemed to be struck
with a notion; and the long and short
of it was that, if we'd allow 'em to
wash our refuse over again, the Chinese
ID make bit of a stream to lead water
up to our claim.
"Well, that's no good, Zeph,' l sez,
as soon as they were gone.
"' Wait q bit, lad, and yew'll see,'
sez Zeph, with a wink; and we sat there,
in the pleasant evening, smoking, while
there was evidently mighty commO-
ton in the Chinese camp, and before
long the deportation came back.
Z" Poor Chinamanp sez the fat chap
again.
80, yes; we know all 'beout thatp
SEE Zeph. Now, what is itP'
"'Melican man sellee claim two hun
der dollarsP' sez the fat-headed chap,
and all the others nodded their heads.
"'Will we sell you this claim for
SCOOP" sez Zeph.
They all nodded till you'd ha'
thought their heads d come off.
"CutP sez Zeph, catching hold of
the fat 'un by his tail and kickin' him.
"Yew mayn't believe, gents, but
them. same chaps came back twice be-
fore it was dark, and made fresh offers,
adVancin' hundred dollars each time,
and we swore at 'em, and said we
wouldn't sell, and if they warn't up to
time in the mornin' to see about the
water, they shouldn't be allowed to
wash the dirt.
Fust thing next mornin' them six
fellers were up again, just as we had
got good painful O. stuff in course O.
and l saw their eyes twinkle
as they caught sight O. the gold.
"Then they offered $500, and we
said we'd shoot 'em if they'd come
agen; but come they did, and offered |
$500, and as the mornin' went on,
seven, eight, nine--a $1,000.
g. Take it, we said, as they came
this last time.
"They'll give $4,000, 1 tell you.
I'm sure they will, sez Zeph.
"'But 81, 900 is enough to chisel the
oeggars out of, sez l.
YES sez Tom Paggins; and it'll
AXE till this time tomorrow sure to
get up to the two thousand
"' Eff [ Warn't so 'tarnal hungry, I'd
lold OUT sez Zeph, hesitatin'i and
hen, turnin' to the six Chinese as was
Taitin' fur our answer: Look hyar,
you cheatin' cusses, he sez, takin' UP
/ shoVelful of earth, in which the dust
we're a-sparklin' in the sun, this
,laim's worth $20,000p
"' No; only worth thousand dollar
laid fatty, shakin' his head,
"Shall we let 'em have it, boysP'
ez Zeph, turnin' to us.
"Yes, let 'em have it, sez. we
,an find plenty more
"'Come on then, sez Zeph; and he
nd two more went back with the dep
,ytatiOn to the tent O. their head man,
nd thousand dollars worth o. dust
nd nuggets was weighed out into
ag; Zeph put his mark to kind o.
in Chinee; and half an hour
fter, we went back to camp, leavin'
he smilin' Cinnamon to their purchase.
"' It's a darned shame to cheat the
oor inherent boobies like that, Isez.
"'Not it!' sez Zeph. It's only like
layin' poker with 'em, and winuin'.
,et's go and liquor
"We didn't expeck any row, for them
jhinese had to keep very quiet for fear
bein' sent off; and Zeph sed they'd
ut up with their loss, clear out, and 60
} some other gulch.
"But they didn't; for the next day
ON, who went up to see what they was ,
doin', sed they'd moved their camp !
p round the hole, and were Workin'
way like a swarm O. bees. '
"That night as we were sittin' smok- ,
+ at Bill's store, some chaps strolls in,
nd one of 'em says, in bit of tenn ,
er: r
"'Call this here free countryP' +
yes, stranger, dew,' sez zeph, :
Sttling some nuggets in his pockets; t
who sez it ain'tP' I
eel do, sez the newcomer. Here i
-e we, workin' like slaves for a few
Ollars' worth O. dust, and pack O. s
9athen cusses comes and settles down, I
Id grabs all the best on it!' +
"'Dew theyP' sez Zeph, winkin' at i
"' Yes,' he sez, 'they dew. There's :
at pack O. Chinese moved up higher F
the gulch, and they've hit on a big ii
,cket. They got two-pound nugget
1t on it this very afternoon q
"' Whatp roared Zeph, with his eyes L