The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-09-08
THE GOLDEN BEAN.


railway. Stepping into saloon near
the track, got into conversation with q
shaggy looking native, who proved to be
an old prospector somewhat the worse
for wear. As he seemed communicative.
and was willing to listen to yarn or
two to kill time, had the barkeeper
place q black bottle and the requisite
glasses on n card table near the stove,
and with my new acquaintance as Wis
avis l listened to the following tale,
which have endeavored to write down
as nearly in his own language as posi-
BILE, merely emitting the numerous cpl
grams with which he interrupted his dis
course:
sit was last fall that me and Bill
Stump got acquainted up at Prescott.
We'd both of US just quit work at the
mines and had pretty near 800 apiece.
We fooled around the saloons most of the
evenin. talSin n drink now and then and
buckin little at the faro game, and
finally we made it mp to be pards on q
prospectin trip to find some new diggin's.
Next day we bought four burros, two to
ride and two to pack, loaded up with
grub an things, and lit out.
Next evenin we was camped at sun
down about 90 miles west in n dark little
piney canyon and was gettin supper.
Bill was monkeyin round the campfire
with the coffee and bacon, and was sit
tin with my back against pine tree and a
sack of beans tween my knees, pickin
some of EN- over to put on for breakfast.
There was pretty plenty gravel and
stones in the beans, an l was cussin
considerable. when found somethin
queer among EN- 1t was agold nugget,
just the shape us bean, only about four
times as big. Bill, says l, IF here amt
81 nugget in these beans, I'll be blank
ETY. BANKED! Bill he comes up and grabs
it and gets to studyin over it. joe
says he after bit, Joe, know Jest how
that thar nugget got thar. Poor Bill
was always great on explainin things.
We'll, fire away says l. It's this
way, says Bill. I've been among the
greasers considerable, and knows their
ways. Them beans was raised by greas-
ers; that's why they're so full of gravel
and dirt. You see the greasers thrash
out the beans right in the field where
they growed, and winner 'em by tossin
'em up in the air so the wind blows away
the chaif Then they shovel 'em into
sacks right off the ground, takin up
some gravel at the same time. Now
that thar nugget proves that the ground
where them beans was growcd is good
placer ground, and all we've got to do is
to find out who sold 'em first and then
find where his ranch is When we find
that bean patch, we'll find good pay dirt,
sure, COS where nuggets like this are
lyin round loose there's bound 10 be good
diggin's.
well, we was a good deal excited
over it and lay awake most of the night
talkin it over an maxim plans. Next
mornin we was packed up and started
back for Prescott by daylight Bill said
we must not use them beans, but keep
the sack just as it was SOS the party
that sold it would know it again So
we sewed it up and took note of n queer
mark on one side of it. 1t was il cross
inside of Il circle as big as my hand.
We thought that would help us find the
fellar that sacked the beans, and sure
enough it did.
|. I'VE hadn't bought the beans at a
store, but from a freighter that was
NoAtPGd Will t-llOlSC ltdll ana TWO
wagons in the corral where we got
our burros, so when when we got to
Prescott we went straight back TO the
corral. There we got our first setback.
The freighter-his name was Pike-had
left the day before for the Verde
copper mines to look for load.
1t was 30 miles, and it's slow work
travelin with donkeys. so we was
the best part of two days gettin there,
and found we was out O luck again.
Pike couldn't get any load there, so he
had gone on down to Camp Verde, in
tendin to go over to Camp Apache, $50
miles further.
Right there | wanted to give it M.
hut Eli wouldn't have it. Who cares
for ~ few hundred miles, more or less
says he, with all that gold piled up at
the end of it. Why, next year we'll be
/ ridin in our fine carriages in Frisco. All
the time / was with Bill never could
get the best of him in an argument, so
gave in. But if poor ELL could er known
that tough tramp of 900 miles was iii
front of us. with grim death waitin for
him at the other end, he wouldn't er
been so hot to 70 on.
When we got down to Camp Verde,
that pesky freighter was gone, of course,
but we was gettin used to bein balllel
and didn't mind much. In pretty good
spirits we started out on the long, lonely
trip through the black pine forests of the
Mogollon mountains. The next night
we camped just under the 'rimrock, AMI
mountain lion got away with our best
burro. The poor donkey was hobbied