Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-21
CHAPTER K
DEATH

Hillyear, had cOmpisteu HNh
/ saw starting out one morning with morn
and hammer. ] knew by these tools he was
after quartz. Hillyear remained behind 10
work the bank near them, probably to make
expenses.
Ouartz prospectors used to carry a bit OF
cows horn, so cut as to form an elliptlcaI
sbaped bowl. 1t was better for washing pull
yerized quartz than the larger gold pan
Pratt took a route through the chapparal
near the base of the mountain on the side
whore Law our Bank" worked a couple
Of bours in a miserable state Of mind and
then betook myself to the Bank intending
there TO stay all day and guard it. In I'M
ANIMATION l saw Pratt already there gloating
over the rich find. ! composed the words In
which l should first address him. | framed
his answer and attitude toward me. l pic
tured our gradual working up to actual hos
tilities, and them 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 a Knocked at and diregarded for
mality.
| was not a fighter. I dreaded the last
resort" Idespised myself as a physical COW
ard. / longed for something in my conn
position which would make Inc face a pistol
or go into a row with as much apparent zest
TO take the chances" as had known some
men TO do. l admired such men for this
r. -s.l .L1,AnAf FnaY. ~. in
sensibili.y to results l know not and depre-
Gated, aye, loathed myself, because | did not
have it. l 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 q man who was ION the shoot'T
desperate character.
True, | had struck Pell, the second officer
of the Ann Mary Ann, and quite surprised
and even gratified / was to find / could strike
OH occasions. But that was done Oh the
..spur of the moment" Had / gone down to
the ship expecting such an affair, revolving
it, living it over i'll mind, | would not like To
have had much wagered on me as to whether
| should have gained the To Inc longed-for
mood of physical combativeneSS.
| arrived at the Bank" All was silent
and undisturbed. | remained there several
hours, hearing in every sound the new pros
pector's approaching footsteps. He did not
come. | wished at times he would, and end
the waiting and suspense. / wondered where
he might be. Finally, my anxiety becoming
uncomfortable, | resolved 10 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 a pick.
Creeping through the brush l saw 1t was
Pratt. He dug TO the ledge, here but a few
inches from the surface, filled his horn with
the red dirt and trudged down to the river to
wash it. Icrept softly after him. Washing
the dirt, with what results I 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. lie then
Travelled a thousand feet further up stream,
assembled the mountain again, dug a horn
full Oh 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. IL chap
paral was more open where he worked, and
could plainly sec 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
vanccd. Pratt ceased work aud took his
way home. So did |.
1t was some satisfaction for me to find that
Pratt had not lit directly on the Bank.
Pondcring over the matter that night after |
had retired, | drew for a time some comfort
in the hope that he might drift i'll his work
away from it. This gave me some mental
rest until a tiend 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 mean! In a 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 color washed from it by the cle-
mental wear and tear of centuries would not
be found at the base of the mountain much
beyond IA line four or five hundred feet in
length. Outside of this, at either end, the
soil would he barren Of gold. Inside of that
number Of feet il would yield the color, and
this Color-yielding ground would narrow rs 1t
vent up the mountain until it reached the
lead it had rolled from-the fountain head,
the Bank" Roll a bag of shot down an i'll
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 a mountain side as the top of the
vein rock has rottcd away and left the metal
free" Pratt was on the true scent. Day
by dav, narrowing as he went up. was he
tracking the game to its den. | had, then,
To STAY 10y the claim and watch the enemy'S
gradual approach.
Next morning l reloaded my six shooter,
previously firing the old charges, which |
feared might he damp. a few minutes after
! heard Plntt banging away, obviously SINH
larly occupied. | 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, il
you please forcing me thus to prepare for
war, while | was sick of war and all that ap.
pertained to 1t,
BY ten o'clock l was ON guard again,
watching Pratt. The enemy was gradually
advancing and Converging on our works.
He was already one hundred feet higher up
and so much nearer the Bank" His pros
pect holes now covered only all area of three
hundred feet.
Bynoon he had left off the drudging ascents
and descents of the mountain to the river 10
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
hal found gold. Uttering a joyous "Whoop-
ee!' he put a chunk of the quartz in his
bag, and then another and another. His
feelings and mine at that time were certainly
in strong contrast to each other.
He Crawled up gradually toward the shelf
on which lay the Bank" It inclined some
what toward the river and then jumped off
abruptly, making a perpendicular face four
or five feet in height. Pratt could now see
that the quartz had rolled from this shelf,
and that the vein must be somewhere at or
near its top.