Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-06-13
THE HILLSIDE POCKET


foot she broke right through into the soft
rock, and the first charge of powder laid
open Just the prettiest little pocket you ev-
or see But it wasn't nothing but pock-
ct ~ he added sorrowfully. That there
on the table is all we'll ever get out Of it.
1 cleaned that up in less than fifteen min
utes, and then l worked two hours longer
without seeing so much as a color"
What did we care if it was only pcck-
ct In the mass of quartz lying before us
there was at least three thousand dollars
and even if there we're no more gold in
that particular spot, there was reason to
believe that a mine which had one pocket
would have others
was only eighteen years old, and had
come TO Arizona but lately. My brother, a
mining engineer, had been working the
Hillside mine for several years. 1t had not
paid very well, and he had gradually re
duced the force of men until there were
left only Chloride Jack, who was the fore
man and an "old timer" in this western
country, and the two Mexicans, Antonio
and Chono.
Only the day before we had talked Of
shutting down the mine permanently. Now
there on the table lay hope and encourage
ment. We laughed, whistled and sang,
0
he took the matter 30 coOlly.
When the Mexicans came up at noon, we
showed the find to them. They had seen
it once by candle-light in the mine. As
they looked eagerly at the gold, they con
graduated "the most fortunate seniors"
But when dinner was over, we suddenly
noticed that the Mexicans had not gone
| back to work in the mine, but were talking
excitedly together on the other side Of the
shaft When Jack went out to ask the
reason, they muttered something about NE
worka on fiesta day" and moved away.
We began to recognize the gravity of the
situation. In the cabin was three thousand
| dollars almost as pure as bullion. The mine
was twenty-five miles from Antelope, the
nearest town by the road across Antelope
desert, with not house of any kind until
within sight of the town. We had our
horses, it is true, but the Mexicans had
theirs The horses we're all feeding now
on the mesa in sight of the cabin.
We had arms, but so had they The bor-
ders of Mexico were less than a hundred
miles away. They had worked for us and
| lived with us for more than a year. They
were good workers, and always courteous :;
but now, with three thousand dollars in the
cabin, could we trust them9
noon was certainly suspicious
As my brother and l began to perceive
that it might be necessary to defend the
gold with our lives, we almost wished that
we had never seen the pocket or even the
mine. My brother finally said
Jack, I'm afraid that we are in pret-
ty bad box. You know this country and
the Mexicans better than we do, and we
shall have to depend on you. What had
we better do I"
He had evidently been thinking as fast
as we had, for he said
"Boys, I've been in worse scrapes than
this many a time. and I've always come out
alive so far. Now you do just as | tel
you You take your guns and go down
and bring in our horses. I'll be doing NJ
the gold, and if them greasers make move
ON me in the cabin, you must drop then
quick as lightning. They won't touch yor
nor the horses"
We strapped on our revolvers, and walked
briskly toward the mesa, half a mile away
The Mexicans did not move toward thu
cabin. Perhaps they knew Jacks aim to,
well at any rate, after little hesitation
they followed us slowly toward the horses
We looked at the Mexicans' horses, anC
then regretfully at our own. The Mexi
cans ponies we're fine animals, which they
had brought with them from. northern
Mexico. They are wiry and enduring be
! yond any breed of horses in the world
We had one good horse and two poor ones
One of these, "Old Baldy," was fit only t
haul ore from the mine.
We caught our own animals while tn
Mexicans were chasing theirs, and hurrie
!. back to camp. By the time we had sad
died, Jack stood in the door ready to start
4 with the gold tied securely in gunny sack
Without explanation, he told my brothe
. to take the best horse. He himself mount
d ed the second best, and gave me, as tn
lightest man, the weakest of the horse:
i Old Badly. We started at one, and at tn
= foot of the hill broke into a long, swingin
( lope.
e As we rode along Jack hurriedly outline
4 his plan. Ny brother on the best hors
e and without the gold, was to take the ira
u shorter by several miles than the regula
o road-hurry into town and arouse poss
Il of officers. Jack and l. carrying the golC
t were to take the road, and make the bet
u time we could.
S 81 never knew a greaseT yet that reall
knew anything, anyhow" said Jack TO m
S brother. "When they see that best hor;
: has turned off by the trail all alone, they
- be dead sure he carries the gold. You'll
n light enough without the ore to outru
a them, l reckon and if you can't, VIII!
surrender Wen have the gold, and
II get into town before they can get back
& the road after u.s."
a The trail turned off about three mill
d from camp, and following wash" whiC
y was a little too rocky for a road, save
Il about four miles out of the twenty-fv
> When we reached the fork, my broth'
9 turned his horse into the trail and boundt
a away from us.
II We had not seen the Mexicans since v
it left camp. Indeed, we had not much re-
2 son to think that they would follow us
ALL Still, it was better TO run no risk
J. and we kept on at a good pace Jack wi
t. in the lead while Old Badly followed clio
p behind breathing heavily, but, inspged
IF the horse in front was keeping up well,
We rode mile after mile without spea
ing a word. All this while the horses ne
er broke from their steady lOpe. But thu
E. were going much more slowly. was fe'
m ing the strain of the long ride, too, nc
il that the excitement was lessening, whe
ne at the top of long rise, Jack looked ba'
a and said, sharply;
T. They're after us, sure enough Wei
SO in for it now"
of looked back. At the top of the farthS
~ rise in sight there was little clOdd OF dus
As at appears that there are some grease
in who knew something this time, sal
ad painting, TO Jack. He made no reply. v
he topped the hill and went swinging dOV
o. the slope at freshened pace. At the
IN Of the next hill we could see two black I
IS ures in the cloud of dust. The race h
e- begun in earnest. We we're fully eig
to miles from town and the Mexicans we
tn not more than a mile behind us. ia
Is looked very grave. Could we beat thu
op ON our tired horses, one weighted do'
k with the gold, and the other old aud wea
he We urged the poor beasts to new efforts.
ny The Mexican horses we're giving I
th proof Of their blood and tOughness.
to they gradually closed in on us, we col
le see their riders strike them at interva
and at every blow they would spring {
ward at a wilder pace. At last one OF
Mexicans drew his revolver and fred at
ow Jack looked back, measured the distan
Sis and said, grimly;
'on You'll never hit anything from 4
'nd range"