The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1888-11-09
STORY OF A NUGGET.

4
Lying snugly on an ebon-hued velvet
cushion in the cabinet which occupies an
alccve in the library of one of the most
elegantly appointed and substantial man
sions of san Francisco, there is a memen-
to of the California of forty years ago-a
silent remainder Of days when the yellow
idol, whose shrine was In the old river
beds and among therocky sides
/ Of the then new land, counted his fercely
eager devotees by the Thousand.
Several days ago business matters
called a reporter 90 the residence in ques-
tion and necessitated lengthy interview
with the genial gentleman whose home
| it is.
| The reporter had risen to GO when his
! eyes chanced to catch dull, yellow gleam
| from a glass-covered case close at hand.
| Another glance disclosed as the object
which had attracted attention, q solid,
massive nugget that bore every appear
ance Of being virgin gold, and that GER
tainly must have weighed enough to
| make its value seem a small fortuue to
the average man.
Considering that people, even wealthy
ones. do not, as general rule select such
| articles for bric-a brac ornaments, curl
| osity was pardonable, and the reporter
| asked, with a quasiapology for his. in
! quisitiveness:
Would you mind telling me- Mr. -
why and how you choose that monster
| nugget for the place of honor IN your
\ cabinetf"
| The response to the interrogatory was
I delayed for moment, as the nuggets
/ possessor mused in silence.
1 We'll, IL is not "A story that often tell
because it makes me live over again the
/ days that were oftGn too bitter to make
pleasant recollectiOns. but I'll waive NY
scruples this time, young man, and tell
| you little piece out of my life that that
lump of gold was connected with. Sit
down again and take cigar, and I'll sat
tisfy your curiosity. Only / want it uu-
derstood that if you make a yarn out of
this tas you probably Wild you call Nc,
names"
The condition imposed was not OBJ
nOHious, and the reporters assent to it
was willingly accorded.
Mr.. -, who is, by the way. one OF Sau
FEancisco's Oldest and best known resi-
dents, genuine pioneer, now rich,
respected and bonored, settled himself for
q comfortable talk, and thus began:
You most likely know what a motley
crew il was that swarmed into California
ln the good old times as they called
them. We were the representatives Of
nearly every grade and condition OF
society. Scions of the bluest blood aris-
tocracy rubbed shoulders with gamblers
and thieves from the slums; white handed
professional men, doctors. lawyers and
elergymen swung their picks and rocked
their cradles in the same claim with
! burly roughs who couldn't read nz
write.
L was n healthy young chap: had been
nicely brought up, WAS fairly weil educa-
ted. and was used to better pickings; hat
| rowing strain in my blood, and "A pater-
| nal purse that refused, from necessity. to
| respond any longer TO my sometimes
| heavy demands, were responsible for my
| coming out here.
Passing over the first few months, In
which / learned what faro and monte
| were, at an expense that left me absolute
| Iy without n cent in the world, III be-
gin with the time when ! tlrifted some-
| how up to Carter's Bend, on the porth
| fork of Feather River.
| when l walked into tho place 7 was
the dustiest-looking out-at-eIbozs tramp
that ever trudged a California road
| dead broke, not enough dust to buy n
short drink, no tools TO work with, and
! desperately hungry. But the bows were
too open-hearted in those days TO let n
| poor fellow starve, and / was as happy as
king that night after I'd stuffed myself
with fried bacon and pancakes, and had
rolled myself up in an old army blanket
in the corner of n good-natured miners
shsnty.
Next day the boys Clipped In and
gave me enough OF an outfit 70 make
work possible. The diRgings were new,
and had no difficulty in getting claim
that at least paid for my daily neces-
sities.
1.-TWO or three weeks later strrox 10
rich and took enough ont the first day to
make me begin to think of home aud q
| big bank account some day soon. / was
only voungster, and had worked myself
sick already, and l was fool enough to
tell all over camp about my good luck
Early the next morning started for my
holo and found it had been jumped
| The two rcughs who were profiting by
my find wero not disposed to be at all
gracious, and, in n word, / was soon lying
on the ground, with my head split open
| with n blow from pick handle.
when / came TO my senses Twas in the
cabin OF q queer old fellow who had been
| more than commonly civil TO me before
| The effects Of the thrashing / had re-
ceived, and my previously weakened and
exhausted conditions, left me an easy prey
TO tho fever that followed. For three
weary months Jim (Jim Willis was my
benefactor's rame) rursed mo as though
1 were his own child. He oven fed me
4 "ANh h4S oNu manu. ana WDen was oJ the
worst, for days and days he left his work
untouched and sat by me, bathing my
poor aching head.
| Twice be rode seventy miles over the
mountains, and ont of his scanty savings
paid for a doctor TO bring me the medi-
cine that pnllcd me safely through the
crisis or thc disease.
"Wss l. at all strange that grew to
look upon Jim as my best friend in the
world, or that / loved him-yes, loved
him-bctter than anybody or anything on
earth' Why, / often thought that L
would have died, and died gladly, for
Jim. God bless the dear old fellows
memory There never breathed 4 tFuer
or a nobler gentleman than Jim.
FINALLY, when i got TO DC strong
enough to do something for myself, Jim
came to me and said:
a"'Walter, my boy, we're on our last
legs about. The claims cleaned out, and
there's not half dozen ounces in tho
| sand
ITO make a long story short. vo wero
relocated "A few days later in n place somo
twenty or twenty-five miles distant,
where some big finds were being made.
| Our luck was almost phenomenal. Every
night the bucksEin sack in which wo
stored our treasure was made consider
ably heavier. This went on until we wcrc
both sure of realizing our utmost hopes
| OF fortune.
"Oae morning, the first thing after
jumped INTO the hole, l turned mp n mug
| get, y b7vlder of pure gold that fairly
took my breath away.
81 just knelr down and kissed its yel-
low sides aud cried over il and acted liko
q crazy msn. When Jim SAW it he, too
| Ivo't ~.',' W.. il was such big one
We didn't WORK any more that day. but
laid out under the trees with the nugget