San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-09-27

of more value than that of the old miners,
| for, instead Of changing his position, he
| seemed to work all the harder in his mine
| From the first he was very reserved in his
| actions and words, and he seldom associated
| with the other members of the camp unless
| business demanded it, No one objected to
| this particularly, for the motto Of the place
seemed to be, Leave alone, and to be let
| alone" About two weeks after the strangers
advent, the first excitement for years was
| created by the announcement that gold had
been struck. The news ran from mine to
| mine like wild fire, and in half an hour all
the men We're surrounding the lucky finder.
| 1t was the youthful looking, beardless
| stranger, who stood in the center of the
| group, and explained how he had made the
lucky stroke. A few doubted the genuine
ness of the gold at first, but several nuggets
were handed to them to examine, the stranger
showing delightful ignorance as to its quality
and value, which caused more than one
| grizzly miner to smile pityingly at the
flushed, handsome face of tie owner of the
gold
cts the real stuff" muttered one burly,
red flanneled individual, slowly weighing the
nuggets in his hand "An' We can depend on
it, stranger, thar's plenty more where this
cum from. These yellow nuggets never go
alone"
"An' tibet mine O. yers ought ter be wurth
anywhere from fifty ter one hundred thou
sand, clean cash." interposed second repre-
sentative of Silver Camp.
"Whata Fifty thousand dollarsg" ex-
claimed the beardless youth, his eyes show
ing his surprise as much as his words. "Then
all my misery and waiting are rewarded at
/ l. - d.. =. H. 4
to believe. Where can get half that price
for it?-who would give me thirty thousand
dollars for itg'
The stranger looked around upon the group
of faces about him, and seemed to wait for
an answer.
"Well, stranger" remarked the first speak
er, after little pause Il don't want ter take
advantage of yer ignorance. Tain't my
natter to be adoin SIGH underhanded work.
But eff $50 0UO is yer price, reckon my pard
an me will buy tibet claim Of ye. I'll tell ye
beforehand, though, tibet ye can get double
tibet price eff We wait long enough; but eff
cash is any object ter ye, We can hcv it ter
night in as good gold as thet ye Dig out Of
yer mtno. Ef It's a 60 jes' say the word, an
we'll walk up ter the cabin, an settle it afore
uiChtfall."
The face of the stranger still wore a doubt
full expression; but it soon cleared up as he
turned to tie bidder for his gold mine, ard
said
Men, don't know much about these mat
tiers, for have never followed the business for
any length Of time; but this CcntleIuan's
offer is fair one, and think will take it.
came here to make a fortune so that l could
malTy-could go into business in the east"
The face of the stranger 1ushedup quickly,
Us he unwittin2ly revealed his secret, and
knowing look passed across the cOuntenances
f the miners. One or two whispers could
be heard about "a sweetheart in the case"
"a rich fatheT-inIaw, an poor son-in-law."
Although not intended to reach the ears of
the speaker, these remarks were plainly audi
be, and they merely served to confuse tie
youug man more than ever. But a moment
later he recovered himself, and, turning to
the miner who had offered to buy his claim,
he said:
Il viii accept your cce-. reed tho cash,
and wait 10 start for the cast as sool as
possible. Keep out enough from tie thirty
thousand u pay for youE best horse. can
then start for bone ct once, where such
welcome VIII meet RE Cs you men never
lreanI Of"
The Young 'uu is half intoxicated with
joy" lauCLaI one Of the miners, as the
straY ger and the buyer Of his mine slowly
sau2to1cd away from the group toward the
Iatte:'5 hut. Tie sight OF such Innocent
happine;5 Oh tie part VI Tie beardless youth
pleased the hardened miners, and they re-
turucd to their work again in q happier
mood.
All that evening "the new find" was dis
cussed by groups Of men all over the camp,
and there were many hopeful hearts in the
crowds The streak of i'll luck was now about
to pass away, and no one could tell who
would be the next one to make a lucky
stroke. The stranger had already deserted
the camp for parts unknown, taking with
him the blessings and good wishes Of those
whom he left behind, and Bill Saunders and
Jake Whites, the two purchasers of the mine
were now the center of curiosity. To the
oft repeated query, "How does it pan out
parGs?" they always replied: "Furst rate.
Even better'n l 'spected."
For the next two days small golden mug
gets were found in the strangers mine, and
the two grimy miners were convinced that
their bargain had been a good one. Then
they suddenly ceased to find any signs of the
golden metal. Probably the vein had taken
another course, and they changed the direc-
tion of their excavations, but all to no pur
pose. The farther they dug into the sides Of
the mine the less of the precious substance
they seemed to find They returned to their
hut that night down hearted and crestfallen,
but neither communicated to the other what
was passing through his mind. The next
morning they began their work as usual,
and kept at it until late in the afternoon;