Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-12-07
he was able to count at least dol.

unless ne wa able to count at least dol
lar for dollar with her. Your business
talents are exceptionally good; l expect
to see You worth q million, but when
you are worth fifty thousand of it l will
cheerfully consider your proposal"
He said a polite Goodnight" as he
left the office, a courtesy which Tom
found himself quite unable to return. If
the mar had been angrYAnd uttered all
Kinds OF hard words, Tom could have
borne it better. He had a salary of n
hundred dollars a month; if he was to
wait for Alice until he was worth tifty
thousand, tne probabilities were hardly
worth counting. Besides, there was
that covert threat of dismissal. That
would ' do; he must resignh his desk
voluntarily. He saw very we'll that
Mr.: Scott would never like him again.
and Toms open, candid nature instinc-
tlvelydreaded a..dislike which wouidyeil
itself under polite forms and "disagree-
able necessities"
He was so excited that he could not
endure the tedium Of the street cars; he
got out of them, and walked rapidly up
broadway until he struck Eighth street.
He generally crossed to the east side of
the city by this route, and he took it
naturally, but at the Cooper Institute
reading-room he paused a moment. He
had not yet thought of what he should
say to his father and brothers. He went
upstairs n drew a paper toward him.;
ne had no ideaof reading, but he wished
to think without attracting observation.
Vacantly at first his eyes wandered
over it, but at length he began to read
with a curious avidity. He followed a
certain column to its close, read it again,
and then looked at the heading Of the
! paper. ltwas the Rocky Mountain News.
In those few minutes Tom had been in
oculated with the gold fever, and he
vi sure that he now saw a clear and
sure road to Alice. True it might be a
rough one, but all the same he was
quite determined to take it. He was
only impatient now of delay, and he en-
tered the little homely sitting-room as
elatedand positive ash the Rocky "houn-
tains were somewhere on the line Of
street cars, and his mine as perfectly To-
Called as the United States Mint.
II am going to the Rocky Mountains,
father" he said, with that impetuosity
which often characterizes enterprises
about whose wisdom we are doubtful.
"You have been in some very nee
place already tonight. Tom, to make
you talk in such . daft-like manner"
His brothers looked curiously into Toms
face, while the women-folks present
paused in the midst of their chatter and
work for the same purpose. The men
evidently thought Tom had been drink
ing; the women OWNED at once his alb
solute sincerity. The pause was fol-
lowed by a long and angry discussion,
in which there was no lack of hard
words, but the end had been determined
in Toms mind before it began, and in
a weeks time he found himself cross
ing the dreary plains which guard the
approaches to the treasure-houses of the
mountains.
But alas! Tom soon found that the
keys to these treasure-houses were cum
ningly hidden from him. His industry
and business tact were of no avail here.
Labor led to nothing, and simple luck
seemed to laugh science and probabili-
ties to scorn. Yet though he had no
luck, it was curious to see how the mine
madness ruled him. He knew men who
had searched for ten and even twenty
years. and then found in q moment mil
lions of treasure. He knew a man who
had wandered w Nevada, and sifted
the Black Hills for nothing, and then
just stumbled over q Rocky Mountain
silver mine that made him a. modern
Crnsus. Such tales We're in every
camp, and in hunger, cold and wretch
n1nnsS nf nvn,u LIND fhoy l-o,>t To,o1,
courage high.
Yes, though he was lockedu up in those
dreary Businesses, and heard only at
long intervals of the world outside
them. In fact, the outside world after
the first two years had little interest for
him. He hc1 not written home at first,
partly because ''his head was under
water" and partly because it was really
a difficult matter to post a letter, and
still more difficult to get at the reply;
and then gradually his whole being be-
came absorbed in one idea. The noun
tains held him in their spell, and he
knew that nothing but the discovery Of
some rich lode would break it.
One night, after four years of this
strange life, he met a little party in the
lldUlC SIllNO1 VIM ua 1OSG GliClI way,
and were in the greatest extremities.
Tom guided them back to safety, and
made q warm friend of their leader-so
warm that the man offered him a share
in u large smelling and ~assaying work
which he vas going to establish near
the Silyerton Mines. Tom happened to
be unusually hard up, with q long win
ter before him, Il he accepted the
offer. OF course he told himself that
just as soon as the melted he
should begin his prospecting again;
but he did.
In the stir, hustle and method Incl
dent to the conduct OF a great work, his
old business habits re-asserted their
power. He found himself making
money SO rapidly that he resolved to
90 on making and saving until he could
buy Il mine, for to be the possessor of u
veritable gold or silver mine still
charmed and ruled his imagination.
Thus the years went by. Few peo-
pie would have recognized in the stall
wart, bronzed. bearded man, clothed IN
leather and flannel, the once stylishly
dressed and sc%rupulously shaved and
glovcd member OF the great firm. OF
Scott & Donaldson, Water Street, New
York. For full ten wears had passed