Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-12-21

came reasonably sure of some re
turns, sooner or later. Winter Sc
IN early in the mountains, and a
the days grew shorter, our hours Of
labor were cut down.
cit was just a few days befors
Christmas. An unusually heavy
snow had fallen, and it was bitter
cold So We decided to let the mine
take care of itself that day and re.
main near the warm FIRE.
Il had long wanted to know
zouethiug about my companion.
~ a ~ eser che rule among d
zs!zEII I|Ifn Ii5t e - qasstions,
out wait Tor exchanges Of conf
dence, which invariably came in
good time. / broke the silence by
telling the story of my hap-hazard
life.
"He finally gave me a few items
from his own, and i learned that
the chief object of his stay in the
West was to acquire a fortune, if
possible, in order to marry a young
lady in the East, who from a finan-
cial point of view was little above
his station. Unfortunately for him
and his friends, | failed to learn his
name and the place he called home.
''The day before Christmas the
weather broke moderately and We
went to the mine to put in a good
days work. We had now quite u
shaft down, with cross-cut about
twenty feet long, which we had
lately started for exploring purpos-
es. We worked in the latter that
day, and soon encountered for
nation different from anything we
had so far discovered. The earth
was now soft, and great caution had
to be exercised in working, to avoid
a cave-in, which would have meant
death to both of us.
Gas if the same thought had
moved US both, we took out of our
pockets the extra candles we had
brought along, and started to ex
anime the material in which we
were working.
"To be sure, we woe py mista-
ken, we rad openeu an immense
pocket of silyer-gold carbonates.
The end of our tribulations was at
hand, and visions of comfort and
wealth foated before our eyes.
81 turned around to offer my
congratulations to my partner and
held out my hand. A bright bit of
steel was cleaning in my face, and
Jim stood before me with the look
of a maniac in his eyes, and a drawn
six shooter in his hands.
"He found his voice after an ef-
fort. AT last he said, 'the wealth
I've searched foris within my grasp.
Bill, you don't need it. You shall
not leave this place alive unless you
agree and promise to let me have
this mine and the proceeds. 1t is
all mine; l brought you here, and
now | want it,
"What could | do: Argument
was useless. l was unarmed, and
cared little anyhow to take the poor
fellows life. The sudden good for
tune had turned his brain. Jim
was a ravi9g maniac. But how
could circumvent his plan to mur-
der me?
81 talked to him a long time,
trying to show him the injustice of
his act, but the weapon was always
levelled at my head, while he de.
manded a deed to the claim. The
prospect was not flattering. i Iasked
him to come to the cabin or to the
camp and have the papers made
ont, but he uttered a diabolical
laugh and declined to 60. For sew.
eral hours we argued back and forth,
deep underground, with no light
save that from our candles. The
situation became desperate. The
candles would soon give out, and
then in the darkness a tragedy
might take place. l did not care
to be murdered in cold blood by
this maniac. Whatever transpireC
must come quickly, and | decides
to disarm the fellow. 1t was &
risky thing, but absolutely the only
way ont of the dilemma.
s1 picked up the bucket rope that
was lying at my feet and, toying
with it carelessly, kept talking t.
the lunatic. Measuring the dis
tance between us with q glance,
leaped suddenly upon him, carry
ing HIM down by my own weight