The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-02-28
MY MOUNTAIN OF GOLD.

thing else than grizzly bears and centpedes IN
California. md INDUCING English travellers
T. make the circuit OF tine globe iy way OF
our lines instead Of going 60 and from Aus
tralia direct say while engaged IN tins no
hight task. and with what success let the land
testify. some onterprising no" papers d!scov-
cred tina, tho secrc. Of iuy life on Mount
Shasta among the sayagcs was not for the
lofty purposes of writing poetry from ma
ture, but for The purpose Of robbery and
plumber.
And did not deny it, SO far from that
took the facts, as furnished me by the news
papors Of the time, and wrote out full and
elaborate confession. But ] stopped short of
the secret source Of my wealth; the vast
wealth which paved my way to tho first steps
Of tho thrones Of Europe. And now again
these same enterprising historians of my
deeds are pushing their inquiries as TO the
source OF my present great fortune For
how indeed can man build castle and be
the lord OF 50 many acrcs in the suburbs Of
great city without a mountain Of gold, or at
least canyons Of buried treasure, at his back
Besides that another delegation Of old miners
and mountainccrs who got all their facts
from the same source have como down from
their snowy heights To gao Oh the secrets OF
"Tho Lost CABIN "Tbc Buried Treasure"
"The Mountain Of Cold"
Well. am growing Old; and remembering
the time and money that has hoel spent in
searching for the lost treasure Of Capt. Kidd
and his companioas, have resolved at last
to take up the narrative whcrc left OFT in
nv book. and give the Golden LA the story
OF the discovery OF Ey mountain G.. gold AID
every incident connected herewith up 10 the
Inst moment / bohe.d l.. Aud "a return fof
TINS secret ] only ass that You who under
take the perusal OF this narrative win read IL
u the end For all Tic point, al the pur
pose, all the real secret aud solid truth and
moral of the matter lies in Tho last para
graph, if not IN the last limo ia fact | feel
quite certain that if We cOald only get at the
true deathbed confessions oi some of our
greatest men-as the world estimates great
ness to-day--we would find something not
very widely different from this / have here
Set down.
But | know you are eager e. hear Of the
gold, and proceed at once. In my nara
tive heretofore published, after the escape
from the old adobe prison J record thc fact
that we TO % and rode night aal dry and day
and night nd were now near 20 the borders
Of the river in the dear OLD mountains Tho
Indian girl had brought the bet men Of her
tribe, also her father and her three brothers.
to aid in the escape and flight Do patient.
| pass hurriedly on over the bloody event
that left me entirely alone | must, see,
come at once TO tss7nountein Of gold
We met the q s,<scrs who had been set to
n 4 Ill
ing ~ d deep, wide river We DID no, at
tempt TO turn back on our weary and half
dead horses; but, dashing TO one side, we
leapcd desperate and reckless, down the pre-
cipitous bank and strucl, out bravcly for the
steep basaltic precipice that frownod TO the
very clouds on the other side.
And OH, tie rain Of deadly lead chat fol
lowed and that fell from the soldiers as they
stood on the high bluff above and tired down
upon our heads.
Weary, So weary Slow, so slow The
deep and the dark and the cold blue waters
from the eternal mountain Of waters before
us were SO cherries and so chilli The rain
Of lead from above the steep and inaccessl-
bic bluff before the deep, dark water below,
were n tomb TO many now. y shot would
strike a horse IN the spine, the back OF tho
head. anywhere, and he would then drift
silently down, the hot blood bursting from
the nostrils and reddening the blue waters
far around A shot would strike an Indian in
the back, on the head Hewonld slip from the
saddle silently, and down, down and away;
the great boughs Of the mighty pines and frs
and cedar and tamarack leaning darkly over,
And down, down, down, one after another.
under that rain Of deadly lead, till only
and the Indian GIRL AS If we had been too
small for death 10 lind there IN the dark,
deep waters-we alone survived as We neared
the steep and snow crowned bluff before Us
Another, Il last farewell, shot from the
soldiers on the bank behind us and climbed
out on the reedy, grassy, desolate and lonely
bank alone!
How wanted to diel To die and hoat
away IN the great watery tomb with those
who had silently died Tor me arose al last
and went to the water, and there saw two
little hands clinging TO the grass roots, two
brown bare arms reaching up from out the
water, too weak to climb up, too weak to
cling longer, just letting SO, the warm blood
making the waters red around her
caught herup and with all my strength
bore her back and up against the steep bluff
that was warm with sunshine gone away
| implorei her 20 speak But she could
only look at me, her lips quivering, her little
brown hands cutching, her lie blood trick
ling down Oh the grasses Be patient, i
come TO the gold scene Soon
AT length the curious moon came out from
the lofty tree tops ON the other side and
looked down at this child Of the woods in
plying wonder And then the stars, larger
than tiger lilies, they too came down to see.
For the girl was dead | laid her down on
the dry reeds, pine cones and drift wood, and
stood there alone, SO alonel
And my desolate lite widened and widened
there, widened away till il touched and took
In the shores OF death, and was even then
as an old man. Patience; come TO the gold
Soonl
But where nowf What next We had
drifted down, down, after having been forced
b. take 10 the river, far below the crossing I;
ana here stood face front 70 steep and
stupendous prccipice, where no human feet
bad ever trod
Only little spo. OF sand and stone, with
IT, drift of washed and whitened wood, the
pine cones, the kelp, the weeds, the thousand
curious bits VI bark and leaf and cast away