Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-09-01

The words came from him in a feeble,
whining tone:
'No, no! not that way. The leads higher
up-mighty rich, tool"
i managed to get him off the shelf. Fur
ther could not. The only accessible route
home wound in places about projections OF
the mountain several hundred feet perpen-
dicular above the foaming river, where
sound man needed all his strength and nerve
to keep sure footing.
"Them mint fellows are sharp. Jack Hill
year, mind you bake your next batch of
bread clean through. Run straw through
dough sticks if faint done; don't put pork
In till beans be boiled so you can squash
'em-else hard as rocks"
So he rambled on. His words concerning
the mint people suggested to me Broener's
remark as to their curiosity regarding his
quartz assays and their whereabouts. Pratt
was evidently delirious I thought to utilize
this wit wandering and said:
ibid the mint people send you up hereF
"Put fresh salt on birds tail, an you'll
catch weasel asleep" was his reply Then
his mind seemed to leap into the old channel
ats rich-mighty rich-and they can't hold
it ALL"
The thing to be done was to get Pratt to
his cabin. Evidently his brain was affected
by the wound / left him and hurried to
Hillyear.
Their cabin was built as thousands were in
those days-an envelope of cotton drilling
about light wooden frame. There was no
wooden door to knock against, or any other
method to rouse the inmates save by calling.
Call I did, but Hillyear seemed sleeping the
sleep of the just. At last, out Of patience, l
pitched q rock into the frail structure. 1t
tore through the cloth. Hillyears reply was
shot, which was not to be wondered at.
"For heavens sake, Hillyear, don't fire! It's
me. I've found Pratt He's hurt badly"
criod
Who's me!" asked Hillyear, after one Of
his periods Of silence.
I heard him cooking his pistol "It's l.
Holder. Come and help me get Pratt down
of the mountain. He's lying there with o
cash in his head"
Mr.. Hillyear now relapsed into silence l
knew not whether he was trying to frame an
idea into a sentence or peering out to get an
aim at me.
"Ain't you coming!" cried at last "Are
you going to help me get Pratt down. He'll
die before we get to him"
''How-did-you- -find-him"
came at length from Mr. Hillyears lips,
with sort Of clownish judicial gravity.
"Good heavens" l said "Will you stay
there all night and ask questions while your
partner is bleeding to death' Do you sup
pose I'd get cut of my bed to stand and call
here like fool for nothing"
'What's the muss!' cried a voice in the
darkness. It was Bill Setter, who lived
about an eighth of mile distant. He had
come, reused by the shot and the sound Of
voices
"I've found Pratt badly hurt on Scrub
mountain, and am trying to get Hillyear to
help me down with him Hillyear won't be-
ieve me, and that's what's the matter"
"Hillyear, get up! Don't be FOOL" said
Setter.
Hillyear finally replied: "All-right! I'm
comm - with an expression as if he had
had no doubts as to the genuineness Of the
news, and had but momentarily heard Of it.
Our party reached Pratt, where had left
him. With great difficulty we managed to
carry him down the mountain. His utter
ances on the way down all bore vaguely on
quartz hunting and the last scene Of which
he had been conscious while in his right
mind. To Setter, they were puzzle. To
Hillyear, knew not how much or how little
meaning they conveyed. To myself they
were source Of great uneasiness They
bore first on the secret of our claim. Next,
they might confirm suspicion, which, if not
already developed, knew was likely to be,
through the singular circumstances attend.
Ing my finding Pratt so far up Scrub noun.
tain in the dead of night. 1t needed but q
word of his delirious utterance to make
known that we had auarreled.
We left Pratt in his cabin. Setter, whose
curiosity was evidently much aroused, said te
me, just what expected he would:
'How did you come to find Pratt away uI
theres'
told Setter that heard Pratt's voice ir
the night up the mountain, which was true
but not in the sense I left Setter to infer
held that evasion was justitiable under the
circumstances. It's not so much what We
tell that may damage us as the construction
| placed on it by those it may be told to- The
only way know of when certain questions
are asked that many people will ask, to avoid
evasion or untruthfulnesS, is to say Its none
of your business" That, as society is now
constituted and complicated, would lie quite
impossible.
II wonder who shot hing continued
Setter
"Shot himself, maybe" Ireplied.
"Queer business, anyway" was Setter!
final remark, as he trudged off home
saw by his manner that he was full o.
curiosity, and being full of curiosity woult
be soon full of theories as to tn. cause OF
Pratt's hurt, and that as curiosity ant
theories are contagious, he would in a shor
time inoculate all Bull Bar with them.
Next day visited Pratt. His head hae
been hurt both by the ball and the fall. Th'
bullet had gashed the etemple-not very deeply
The conclusion from the fall seemed to hav,