The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-12-17

On III I IL I y 1
bleak and tracltless mountains"
No Jim. I'll take nothing but a
light pick and shovel and some grub, =
1 replied, passing out.
Near the door were tied our two deer
hounds, Zip and Keenc, and, as
stopped to pat their heads, both begged
pitcously in dog fashion, to be taken
along.
No, no, old boys, no hunting to-
day" l said, soothingly. And the in
teligent creatures, seeing that did not
carry gun, soon ceased to grumble.
II was the 4th of July, 1869 We
had been for some time engaged in
silver mining near Argentine Gulch,
Col, and were living in stout log hut,
of which, in the absence of other claim
ants, we had taken peaceable posses
sion We could not think, howe yer,
of prosecuting our usual work ON the
Fourth; and jim, not feeling like join
ing me, l had decided to go off pros
pecting alone.
Don't lose yourself, old man. It's a
mighty easy thing to do" he called
Dal as I walked away: while the
hounds gave me a cheerful send-off in
cbe shape of parting howl.
We'll, no, Jim, I'm not quite so
gwen as all that But if I'm not back
oO-night maybe you'll look me up"
Eaughingly rejoined; the point of the
Joke lying in the fact that | was an old
JDountaineer and jim Il comparative
Csnderfoot, though one of the best fell
lows in the world.
Prospecting or, indeed, travelling on
loot at all in the heart cf the Rockies,
Is exceedingly hard work, not only be-
cause of the physical obstacles, but
also from the unsatisfying nature of
the highly rarefed air, of which one is
obliged to inhale vast quantities in
Nyder to get oxygen enough to sustain
life. Hence, after four hours of in
a-cssant toll, by which slime / had got
above timber line, ! was glad to sit
down by a little spring to rest.
10 far, though making many tests,
bad found no indications of a paying
~'lead;" but l was not going to give up
hape. and after making hearty din
rleT from the bre ad and cold meat in
INV haversack, / scaled the heights to
Tny right, determined TO find my way
boSue by another route. Twas easier
5aatd than done, for, on descending the
ridge, came into an utterly strange
ueighborhood, and shortly found my
self wandering in a wild labyrinth OF
Intricate bowlder-strewn gullies and
fNowning precipices, from which extri.
cation seemed hopeless, as every at.
tempt TO travel in direct line only
Eended TO confuse me more and more
For two hours, spent in desperate eX-
ertioD, tried vainly to thread the
EnageS, and finally had to confess that ]
Vvas lost, Then | thought to retrace
my steps TO the old trail and take q
fresh start, but this, too, found impos.
sibie- had somehow, got complete,
~ turned rOund;' and, despite all
reasoning to the contrary, could not
convince myself that the sun, of which ]
eranght occasional glimpses, was in the
right place.
"Pshnw, I'll get out all right / said
llOnd, as if arguing ohe point with a
companion, "but can do it this after
angsanS If not, Jim will have the laugh
an me, and l can't stand that"
At Last, twisting and turning, plung,
Ing, climbing and scrambling into,
around and over ravines and rocks,
EnA2Raged TO get down to timber-line
again, but of how far had come or OF
where ] now was | had not the least
idea Two things however, / did
know: That the shades of evening
were coming on and that my chance OF
reaching camp that night was hardly
worth reckoning.
No glimpse OF sunlight now. The
deep shadows of the lofty peaks were
all around me. and IN another hour the
gloomy solitude would be wrapped in
darkness. The night, too, at that alti-
tude, would be unpleasantly cold. |
iEnHsa prepare for it in time.
, had come to little valley hedged
ma by great pieces Of detached rock,
and there were numerous gnarled
FoJtS dry, broken limbs and other
available fuel scattered around De-
1srnining TO go no further 1 com
EneDeed to gather heap of these, in