Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-08-11
THE GOLDEN NUGGET


At one of the hotels in Denver was
a man who has been hunter. trapper,
miner and what not always on the out
skirts Of civi izatiOn, aud has no doubt
passed through more startling scenes
than almost any man in the country.
He still lives in a quiet nook among the
mountains not many miles from Den
yer, and has settled il with his own
mind that he will wander no more.
His shyness and modesty make il diff
cult to win any of his stories from him.
but it CHANGED That one evening several
of his old friends who knew him back in
Virginia before he became wanderer
met him there and spent the evening
with him. He unbent to hem, and the
writer, CHANGING to be present caught
this story among others:
"Oh. yes, I've lived mostly 10 myself
You know, Dick, | used 10 ne fond
enough Of COMPANY; bat | hadn't been
out on the border long b fore ! WAS
more solitary than ever. Something
happened the first year that cured me
Of whatever longing might have bad
for comprehensive aud il you don't
mind II tell you about 1t. have pev-
er told il 10 anybody else People who
tell queer stories about their own ex-
perience are rarely credited, and this is
a queer story. ] was out among the
mines, but all of us were having des-
perate bad luck. 1t just seemed that
everything was dead against the gang
of us that went out there. Right where
other men had taken out any quantity
of pay dirt our men couldn't find
enough, week after week, to pay ex-
penses.
Zone day couple Of Shrewd Yam
KEGS came in there and prospected
around a little and offered to buy
couple of claims. They were snapped
up too quickly bv two OF our fellows.
who were glad of money to get back
home with. But the strangers hadn' t
dug down six inches before they began
to turn out gold, and IN give you my
word they took two good sized fortunes
ON of these two holes Meanwhile our
bad luck went straight ahead The
rich find of the two strangers had put
the others into better spirits, but it took
the heart right out Of me. determined
not 10 strike another lick there. When
the men saw that | was determined TO
60 further up into the mountains, they
traded me - pack mule for my claim,
and loaded up and started off | had
gone about three miles, think, when /
was oyertaken by Jasper Mills. young
man belonging to the gang. He had
another pack mule and was in every
way as well fixed as myself. Well,
Deane, he shouted cheerily, when he
came within haling distance, j just
concluded I'd 90 with YOU. That
camps hoodooed. i! ever camp was.
Seems to me we'll have better luck up
The gulch."
Il couldn't tell. just at the first min
ute. whether | was glad or sorry. !
never had been quite certain whether |
liked Jasper or hated him. But he was
a good-naiured kind of fellow. and
after little / decided that was glad
he had come So we logged along very
socially until we reached n point away
up among the mountains where the IN
dications were promising. and there we
decided to make a trlll. Ii was at least
fifty miles from the camp we had LETT.
shouid think. and wilder country no
mortal eyer saw | believe with all my
heart that we We're the first white men
that had ever seen that country We
found 81 kind Of shelf ON the mountain
side, though, and made n rude but OF
poles and leaves, using our tent for a
roof, and having finished that we went
to work, determined never 10 give up
until we mad explored all that country
We'll, from the first | had good luck.
| never SAW Things turn out better
Every day my little sack of dust got
fuller aud rounder aud strange 10
say, right while | was having sucn sue
cess Jasper was finding almostnothing
lie seemed To work hard. too. npver
could understand L. He began to grow
moody and silent; though he need not
have done a. | tod hsn over ana over
again that il WAS share and share alike
between Us, bur be Indignantly refused
ANY part of my earnings
zone dav ! was digging away at a
side hill. Just above the little noisy
mountain torrent when uttered cry
Of JOY and fell on my knees, digging the
treasure out with my hands had
come upon a POCKET, and there we're
three good sized nuggets. besides the
quantity Of SHINING dust it contained
As | held up the nuggets Jasper turned
away scowlng tiercelv
Well, what OF it?' he cried
There's no use Of Growing over it. is
thcreg
The bitterness Of his manner made
me think that perhaps poverty wa,
really pressing, ana with all my heart
| urged him to take half Of what hat
found up to this time. ] 8m satisfied
that | lid If cheerfuiy and cordially
and be must have seen that ! mean
what ! said lie seemed 10 grow IN
better humor then and protested taa
he needed nothing and would not cen
sent to a division. HeeXpected 70 stl'h