The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1894-08-11
in us had she known the circumstances.

~ AZ "kS Ia - 49,
given to every strip of wet ground in
the west, but it rose in the ~avalanches
of the Sierra Madre and came down by
our camp ice cold, and a it brought
fecks of yellow gold with it we decided
to stop there and go to panning out the
gravel.
We did fairly well. What W. got
would have been big wages anywhere
else, but to compensate for what we suf-
fered and the dangers we faced we
naturally wanted more.
A hundred dollars a day between
three wasn't SO bad, but we We're IN a
mood when 81, 600 a day would not
have satisfied us.
My, my, how hard and cheerfully
Frank did work! Why, he got SO deep
~ interested in that unknown girl,
away on the banks of the Cumberland
in Did Kentucky, that he got into the
habit of saying every morning, as We
ate breakfast by the light Of the camp
fire, Another days work for Susie,
boys!'
Although the strongest Of the three,
Frank was not used to this sort of rough
life, and l soon saw it began to tell on
him, and I wanted him to let up, but
the ta:ve fellow stuck to it, working in
the ice cold water till he was taken
down with chills, followed by a burning
fever.
We had some quinine and a few SIM
pie remedies for cuts and bruises along,
and with these and the skill that came
of long years in the wilds we did the
best we could for our partner.
Now comes the remarkable part of
my story. I've seen men down with the
fever when they got SO wild they had
to be tied, but while Frank was clear
out of his head he kept just as peaceful
as ever, only that he insisted that up
the creek were great v full Of gold,
and that the specks we had been picking
out of the gulch came from there.
He wanted us to start up there, say
ing we could get all the gold in a day
we wanted for a lifetime.
OF course Ned Copley and / humored
Frank and told him we'd 60 if he'd
hurry up and get well, but he swore
that instead of being sick he was as
strong as q giant.
The third night after Frank was tax
en- down he seemed to be resting quiet
", so Ned and l, who had been taking
turns watching, thought it would be
safe to drop off to sleep-kind of lightly
and we did SO.
When we woke up in the early morn
&c. .-l oo,~- 49, C-o-1r l~or%o~3 r, oa%
was empty and his clothes and pick and
revolver gone, you may try to imagine,
but you can never realize, just how we
felt.
We cooked a hasty breakfast; then,
picking up enough provisions from our
little store to last three days, we hid
the rest, left the mule hid in a little
valley where there was lots of grass and
her started off to find our insane friend.
Remembering his rawlings about "the
gold caves up near the snow line, we
determined to follow the creek. We
could read a trail as well as an Indian,
but the rocks were too hard to retain
the impression of a human foot. Yet
now and then we saw signs to encour-
age us.
The creek branched into a dozen
streams farther up, and it was only after
long consultations that we decided
which to take, and then for no reason
that would not have applied quite as
well to the other stream.
1t was a rough, hard road, and now
and then as we went on we stopped to
cl>o,% E,o,o1s- ,o-,a 49, ~ l;eoLor~o orr
rifles, but only the echoes came back for
reply.
That night, thoroughly tagged out,
we halted close to the snow line-in-
deed there were white patches all about
us and not a sign of a shrub to make a
fire. With a little alcohol lamp we
made some coffee and lay down under
our blankets, spoon fashion, to keep
warm.
We were mp by daylight and started
off again, this time without coffee, for
we had only about a gill of alcohol fol-
the lamp, and we reasoned that poor
Frank would want something warm if
we found him alive.
Another terrible day and another aw-
fnl night, and still no sign of Frank Ed,
gerton. We gave him up, and with sad
hearts were returning, when Ned, who
has eyes like telescopes. said he saw
something moving near the snow line
across the valley.
There had been an immense snow.
slide down the valley not an hour be-
fore, but we got across, and there under
the ledge of rocks, with a great pile Of
loose glittering stones about him, lay
Frank Edgerton, looking like a dead
man.