Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-04-01
CHAPTER x.

CHAPTER X.
DEATH
Within three days Pratt and his partner.
Hillyear, had completed their cabin. Pratt
| saw starting out one morning with horn
and hammer / knew by these tools he was
after quartz Hillyear remained behind to
work the bank near them, probably to make
expenses
Quartz prospectors used to carry bit of
| cows horn, so cut as to form an elhptical
| shaped bowl 1t was better for washing pull
verified quartz than the larger gold pan.
Pratt took "a route through the chapparal
pear the base of the mountain on the side
| where lay our Bank" l worked a couple
| of hours in miserable state of mind and
| then betook myself to the "Bank" intending
there to stay all day and guard it. In inn
agination l saw Pratt already there gloating
aver the rich find. ! composed the words in
which | should first address him. l framed
his answer and attitude toward me. pic
tured our gradual working up to actual hos
tilities, and then-l stopped in a slough of
indeciSion
These were days when all disputes, es-
pecially those regarding property, had, in
nine cases out of ten, but one mode of settle
ment. That was by knife or pistol This
was the unwritten law of the land and
stronger far than the written, which was
generally Knocked at and diregarded for
nality
was not a fighter | dreaded the 'last
resort. despised myself as physical cow
ard. | longed for something in my COM
position which would make me face a pistol
or go into a row with as much apparent zest
to take the chances as had known some
men to do | admired such men for this
quality whether a real absence of fear or in
sensibility to results | know not and depre-
Gated, aye loathed myself because | did not
have it. / saw in Imagination everything
tending to such termination between my
self and Pratt Whether he would fight
or not never asked put him up uncon-
sciously as a man who was ION the shootr-a
desperate character
True, had struck Pell, the second officer
of the Ann Mary Ann, and quite surprised
and even gratified was 10 find could strike
on occasions. But that was done on the
''spur of the moment" Had gone down to
the ship expecting such an affair, revolving
it, living it over in mind, l would not like to
have had much wagered on me as to whether
/ should have gained the to me longed-for
mood Of physical combativeness
| arrived at the Bank All was silent
and undisturbed. / remained there several
hours, hearing i'll every sound the new pros
pector's approaching footsteps. He did not
come. | wished at times he would, and end
the waiting and suspense. l wondered where
he might be. Finally, my anxiety becoming
uncomfortable, | resolved to try and find out
Softly let myself down the mountain side
through the chapparal toward the river
] had gone down about three hundred feet
| and heard near by the sound of pick
Creeping through the brush | saw it was
Pratt He dug to the ledge here but a few
inches from the surface filed his horn with
the red dirt and trudged down to the river to
wash it, | crept softly after him Washing
the dirt, with what results | could not tell,
from his manner, he struck up the mountain
again and dug another horn full, about one
| hundred feet to the north of the first. The
result of this washing seemed, judging from
his manner, more satisfactory. He then
Travelled a thousand feet further up stream,
assembled the mountain again, dug horn
full on a level with the first He washed it,
and shook his head. presumed he did not
get the color" He dug another horn about
two hundred feet nearer the first The chap
paral was more open where he worked, and |
| could plainly see him from my place of con-
cealment Evidently this prospect did not
satisfy him. The next, taken within one
hundred feet of the last, seemed to yield
something. The afternoon was now far adj
vanced. Pratt ceased work and took his
way home So did l.
1t was some satisfaction for me to find that
Pratt had not sit" directly on the Bank"
| Pondering over the matter that night after
had retired, | drew for time some comfort
in the hope that he might drift in his work
away from it. This gave me some mental
rest until fiend dropped into my head-a
new and most alarming theory, based on his
motions as seen that day. Pratt's little pros
| pect holes, | noticed, were dug over an area
broad at the base of the mountain, but mar
rowing more and more as he went up What
did that meanl In flash l saw what, and
| jumped out of my blankets with the shock of
the discovery. He was horning gold which
had washed down from the Bank" The
''Bank" did not cover much ground. Prob
ably the colors washed from it by the ele-
mental wear and tear of centuries would not
| be found at the base of the mountain much
| beyond a line four or five hundred feet in
| length. Outside of this, at either end, the
| soil would be barren Of gold Inside of that
| number of feet it would yield the color and
this color-yielding ground would narrow as it
went up the mountain until it reached the
| lead it had rolled from-the fountain head,
the Bank" Roll bag of shot down an in
| clined plane and you have the idea. The
farther the shot roll the more will they
| spread. So with gold rolled from any quartz
vein on mountain side as the top of the
vein rock has rotted away and left the metal
| free" Pratt was ON the true scent Day
| by day, narrowing he went up, was he
| tracking the game TO IFS dem | had, then,
| to stay by the claim and watch the enemys
| gradual approach.
Next morning l reloaded my sx-shooter,
previously firing the old charges, which |
! feared might be damp. A few minutes after
heard Pratt banging away, obviously SINH
LARRY occupied 1 prepared my weapon for
coming possibilities with a very faint heart
| did So only because it was the thing to do
| the custom of the country. | felt the whole
moral influence of the time Tor immoral. if
! you please,) forcing me thus to prepare for
war, while was sick of war and all that ar,-
| pertained to it.
By ten o'clock | was on guard again,
watching Pratt The enemy was gradually
! advancing and converging on our works
BE was already one hundred feet higher up
and so much nearer the Bank His pros
pect holes now covered only AN area of three
! hundred feet
By noon he had left off the drudging ascents
and descents of the mountain to the river to
wash his prospects. He was occupied en-
tirely with the float quartz" here thickly
scattered about as it had rolled from the
vein. knocking the fragments to pieces. He
had found gold. Uttering joyous "Whoop-
| eer he put chunk of the quartz in his
/ bag, and then another and another. His
| feelings and mine at that time were certainly