Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-05-29

him to send bullet among them as a
eauce 70 their meal. For youth of Joe's
copaci,y for doing the wrong thing this
fooling with the trigger was most unwisc,
as was shown presently when he pulled
inst 4 trine too hard; the hammer fell
and the heavy army piece pointing nto
the midst of the Indian group went of
with louder bang and more emphatic
rebound-so it seemed to Joe-than ever
before.
The vicious kicking of the gun against
his shoulder, the noise and smoke of its
explosion, and the feeling of astonish-
mcnt at its unexpected performance, oc-
cupied Joe's thoughts for an instant.
Before he had time to be frightened at
what he had done, he was Jared and
shaken as if the mountains were rock
inc. and was stunned by a deafening roar
that rent the air. Loose rocks went
rolling down the slopes, trees were rush
ing to the earth, and Joe saw, as in a
fantastic dream. the top of a giant pine
that had overhung the mine high aloft
and still going upward, as if it never
would stop. Everything in the canon
seemed to be in the air flying away from
the spot where the camp had been. After
the dust had somewhat settled Joe,
looking down upon the site of the shack,
could see there only great hole in the
ground, while heap Of earth had taken
the place of the Great Cinch tunnel. The
sho, fired by mistake had missed every
Indian and pumped straight into the
box of dynamite.
At the time when Joe's shot was fired,
Peg Leg Crawford, riding burro and
driving his pack animals before him on
his way back to the the camp, had reached
the mouth of the canon. Another turn
in the path would bring him in sight of
bis mine. He was speculating as to how
things had gone on in his absence.
81 wonder what that fool boy Joe's
been doin' while I've been gone he
soliloquized. "He'S done no work ter
speak of, that's dead sure, an lisa great
streak O. mercy if he hain't been up ter
mischief. If he should get ter foolin'
with that dynamite"
1t this point ia his reflections Craw-
ford found his burro's footing unsteady,
owing to an unexplainable tremor of the
earth. There was a commotion in the air
as if several cyclones were fighting for
the right of way through the canon, and
a great roar came 10 mis- cars as if the
thundcrs Of a whole rainy season were
combined in one peal. The next thing
he realized was that he and his burros
were on the ground together in heap,
where by unanimous consent they waited
until the elements subsidized.
When things had quoted down the old
prospector, who was not very nimble on
his pins, pulled himself out Of the tangle
oi burros, got his animals on their feet,
aui stumped up the canon to find out
what had happened. lie expected to
find the body or some part of the body
Of Joe at a distance more or less remote
from the place where The camp had
stood.
When he reached the scene of the ex-
plosion he looked for some sign of his as
sistauS.
"Joe's gone with the rest, l reckon
he said, with touch of regret. "rll
have a Whit O my pipe N then take a
look roun' for the body n give it
Christian burial # thar's enough let ter
put in a hole. Hullo What's thati
Hain't the stuff got through fall;n' ye;|
There was rattling down the mount
ain side, and looking up to learn the
cause, he saw Joseph Dobbs sliding on
his back down sioping face OF rock.
In making his way to the canon's bot
tom to investigate matters the boy had
missed his footing in his excitement, and
was coming down by The run much faster
than he liked. He landed at the foot OF
the cliff torn as to clothing and scratched
as to skin, but was regardless of all IN
iuries in his wonder and pride at his un-
expected achievement. lie was delighted
to see Crawford, for he was bursting to
brag of his exploit.
"Didn't fix up that trap for 'em
slick2n he said, with the air of ono who
had carried out carefully planned pur-
pose. ,
By good luck the picks and shovels
laid where they had escaped injury. 80
the work of developing the Great Clnch
mine went forward with no more extra
trouble than the rebuilding ol the shack
and the removing OF the earth blown into
the tunnel. To be sure, they had no
dynamite for blasting, but Crawford
felt that his explosive had been put to
good use.
So high was Joe raised in the old pros
peetor's estimation that before they set
TO work next day nc formally adopted
him as his 'paid," and thereafter that
youth dawddlcd over the pick and
shovel with a sense Of Importance betit-
ting the half-proprictor of the true lead,
dips, spurs, angles, and prospective
nrofts of the Great Cinch mine. --Ns'o