The Colfax chronicle., 1891-05-23
A CASE OF HARD LUCK.
The Gruesome Tale Of m Unfortunate
Prospector.

The Gruesome Tale Of IN Unfortunate
ProspectOr.
A party of prospectors had located
their dry camp on the headwaters OF
the Meadow last summer and were
having rather Indifferent luck. 1t is
broken up country, and its redeeming
feature is the abundance of game of all
kinds. While il may be termed hunt
er's paradise, it is certainly a miners
sheol. Flour and bacon and beans had
run low, and the boys had begun to
''cuss" the country.
They were sitting around the fire one
night smoking, when visitor, q
stranger, with about as little ceremony
as Poe's Raven, made his way into the
circle and perched, not on bust of
Pallas, but on a busted Arapahoe. For
For about two minutes the remarks
were about as extended and interesting
as were those of the famous Forty
miner. Finally he was induced to chew,
and then he gave an account of him
self. He was as near a nobo as a pros
pector can ever become; that is, he
was making no attempt to better his
condition, making his way afoot from
one prospector's or trapper's camp to
another. He was an old man, bowed
and wrinkled. 1t was evident that the
end of the rocky trail of life that he
was travelling was not far off.
In the course of the evening one of
the boys happened to speak of the old
mans condition. The old fellow
Strengthened up, adjusted one mocca-
sined foot under him "Injun" fashion,
and remarked: 'It may seem little
tough to you fellers to see me knockin'
round this way when ought ter be a
respectable member of sassiety, holdin'
my own with Mackey, Flood, Hearst,
and Lucky Baldwin. l used to train
with them fellers. I'm '49er, / am,
and might right now {be millionaire
if it wasn't fer a piece of hard luck
struck way back in the SOS.
81 struck out one spring mornin' in
Californy with mule packed with
plenty of grub and good prospectin'
outfit. i had two dogs, cross between
bull and shepherd, along for company.
packed with me tin horn that
called 'em up with when they got too
far away.
81 was maxim for the Mokelennne
Hill district, which hadn't been pros
pected hardly any yet. made burned
good time, considerin' all things, till on
the second week that gosh blamed mule |
got sick. The son of gun begun to
swell. He got down and rolled. Well, |
he kept swellin' and rollin' and groan-
In, and l thought every minute he'd |
bust"
The sweat stood out on the old mans |
brow as he related this. He paused |
while, reflected. and continued.
''The way 1 iggered it out was that he |
had collie. couldn't think Of anything |
to give him but the soda used to cook |
with. I'D heard it was good fer the |
stomach, 80 I fixed up drench Of soda
and water. stuck the dinner horn into |
his throat, and commenced pouring the |
stuff inter him. It skeart him. He |
sneezed and snorted all at wunst, and |
spit out the drench. And. when he |
snorted he blowed that ere horn. He |
seemed surprised to find that he wuz a |
IuuSlCidu. I1ib tdIS Ill., oH uC PIduCCQ
round an footed that derned horn. The |
dogs heerd the tootin', and, true to their
trainin', they come along head an tail |
up. That burned mule KEEP tootin'
that ere horn, all the time tootin' the
wind off'n his stomach, and all at once,
by gum, he struck out a tootin' that |
horn like blazes, an the dogs follerin'.
81 wuz left thar 800 miles from no
whar, with no grub, mule, dogs, nor
nothin'. wandered back to the near
est camp, and sence then I've been .
wanderer, with no aim in life but to |
find my mules an dogs. For forty years
I've been chasin' the cussed varmints.
I've seen lots of mules, but none uv'm
he'd er tin dinner horn in his mouth, nor
two brindle dogs follerin' him. Have
any of yon fellers seen a stray mule
around here?"
The old mans story created a pro-
found impression. The boys unani-
mously elected him grand patriarch
and assistant cook for as long as he
cared to lay of from his wild and thrill