Nevada County picayune., 1890-04-02

blow they would spring forward al Il wilder pace. At last one of the MeXicans drew his revolver and fired at us. Jack looked back, measured the distance and said, gruflly;
 "lou'll never hit anything at that range"
 They wasted another shot and then fell to urging their horses again, shouting in Spanish. They were risIling everything by coming so close to town, and were furious, ap- parently, at the chance of our es- cape. So they shot again, and this time the bullet sang close above our heads. Jack turned, Ilooked at my horse, at the Mexican, who was about to fire again, and then at the roads ahead. As if convinced that there was no alternative, he rose in the saddle, held the package of gold up into full view of our pursuers and threw il deliberately in the road. Then he urged his horse forward as fast as before. For q moment l was completely astounded. Could this be Jack, the old-timer, the hero of dozen fights, giving up the gold without single shot;
 Then, like flash. saw what it all meant. Jack was not afraid on his own account, but on mine. He feared that, in the fusillade on horse back that must have followed if the MeXicans overhauled us, should he shot, and he had given up the gold to save me. For Il moment l was angry. In the excitement of the race. felt no fear, and was sure that no danger would have compelled me to abondon the treasure.
 The Mcxieans rode up to sack, refined in their horses at the exact spot, picked up the package, and rode back as rapidly as they came. But Jack kept urging his horse to- ward town without word.
 Again it flashed over me that had misjudgcd the old miner. He had abandoned it only for q time. He was assuming that my brother had arrived in town, and by the time we reached there would have collected a posse of men who would pursue the MeXicans. so we would not only re- cover the gold, but catch the robbers.
 1t happened just as we expected. My brother had been in town ten or fifteen minutes when we arrived, and had collected six or seven men on horseback, among them a deputy sheriff. Two of these offered me and Jack their horses, and in not much more time than it takes to tell it we were all back on the road over which we had just come.
 Jack rode well ahead, pointing out the Mexican,' tracks and explaining matters to the deputy sheriff and my hroiher. The McXicans had g,1c h!"N over the road to point within few mics of the mine, and had then turned sharply southward, toward Mexico. The deputy sheriff and his men followed the hot trail, but to my surprise Jack kept on to- ward the mine. My brother followed him and bcckoned me to come.
 was dumbfounded again. Did Jack expect to find the Mexicans at the mine, or was this short cut to head them off? We rode up to the cabin, dismounted and tied our horses. Everything was as we had left it. There were no Mexicans in sight.
 Jack lead Us straight into the kitchen. He dropped on his knees before the fireplace. and, raking back the ashes, picked out lump af- ter lump of blackened rock. As he rubbed one of these on his sleeve and showed beneath the soot the glisten- ing yellow metal, l slowly perceived that this was the very gold which he dug from the pocket that morning, and which l had been certain was on its way to Mexico.
 As l stood looking at him in amazement, he said to me with a twinkle in his eye; "Youngster, l never see Greaser yet that knew anything, anyhow"
 The three thousand dollars worth of ore had not been out of the cabin. While we and the Mexicans had been catching our horses after dinner, Jack had raked back the cOals in the fireplace, buried the gold in the ash es, and replaced the embers. He had then tied mp about an equal amount of ore specimens, of which the cabin was full, and it was this which he carried so carefully in our wild ride to town. When he threw this package to the Mexicans, they had been in too great fear of pursuit to examine it, and lad carried it away unopened.
 How long they carried it we do not know, They did not have it when they were captured next morning, just making camp after an all night ride.
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