Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-05-01

fore his leap was almost as that proven
bial one from the frying pan. He was
swept down the canyon about 200 yards
till almost at the verge of vertical fall
of some 80 feet, when he had the good
fortune to grasp the top Of an overhang-
ing bush and drag himself ashore.
Mike escaped with a few slight cuts
and bruises and the loss Of his hat
These, however, were matters that did
not trouble him. All his thoughts were
of the spot whence had just tumbled
down the steep the last fragment of the
big bowlder. Thither his mind ran faster
than his legs were able to travel, though
the latter soon landed him at the spot
! where he had so long and faithfully
labored.
Looking down into the bed of that
last huge slab of granite which had
seemed to leap forth and chase him into
the canyon, Mike beheld large disk of
pure and glittering gold. twas piece
of the precious metal about the size and
shape of dinner plate. He waited to
see no more. Leaping down into the
hole, he grasped the golden prize, which
looked to him as big as the face Of the
! full moon, and then at once made
break for Downieville to find his back
ers, show them the gold and tell them
the great news of the final annihilation
of the big rock.
Mike was wild as a hawk. In his
hands he held a mass of gold that
weighed nearly 20 pounds, and as he
dashed down Slug canyon with his prize
he shouted at every jump: 'That lasht
blasht fetched herl That lasht blasht
fetched her!'' Thus shouting as he tore
down the canyon, he passed several
claims where miners were at work, but
he halted at none Of these for a single
| moment.
''Mike Maroney has gone crazy about
his big bowlderi" cried the miners on
seeing him running baTehoaded down
the canyon trail At some of the claims
he passed men threw down their tools,
and scrambling up the bank of the
stream to the trail called out after him,
but the only answer they received was,
''That lasht blasht fetched her!"
When Mike reached Downieville and
started up the middle of the town, hat
less, dripping wet, shouting and carry
ing before him his golden prize, he soon
had crowd at his heels. He paid no
attention to the crowd, but when he
saw on either side Of the street miners
of his acquaintance he shouted to them
in passing: "Byes, that lasht blasht
. Fo@ n 10 h,c t,a1 Of
goold undther the bottom of herp'
Strangers in the town thought they
saw before them crazy man, but every
resident of the place knew Mike, and
soon along the street was raised the
cry: mike Maroney has struck it at
last! He's knocked the devil out of his
bowlder and got chunk of gold big
germ fryin panv'
Hearing this news, others shouted,
"Hurrah for Maroney and his 'lasht
blashtp"
'Yis, hurrah, byesr' cried Mike, who
felt himself in the seventh heaven of
glory. "Hurrah, for this mint I'm the
pride of the wurruldl''
By the time Mike had found some of
the friends who had for so long backed
him with their coin and had displayed
his big nugget there was n grand excite
ment in the camp Some said he had
found an old channel paved with mug
gets as big as cobblestones, and others
that great slabs of gold covered the bed
rock
Mike told hi friends that, though he
had only stopped long enough to catch
up the first big nugget he saw, he was
sure there was whole bushel of gold
in the nest of the big bowder. With
the sample brought in by Mike lying
before them all were ready TO believe
that he had made the strike of the
age Every man who heard of Mixes
find said he always felt sure that there
were mule loads' of gold under the
big bowlder OF Slug canyon.
As soon as Mixes hackers had collect
ed their wits, scattered by the sight of
the big nugget aDd his wild story of
bushels Of gold i'll sight they dropped
everything and prepared to go at once
to the scene Of the strike. With the
elated Maroney in the lead they set out,
taking with them pack mule that hap
pened to be at hand. They were joined
by number of idlers as they passed
through the town, and in going up Slug
canyon the crowd was increased by the
miners at the several claims who de-
sired to feast their eyes upon what by
this had grown to be mike Maroney's
mound of gold.
Seeing the miners thus hocking after
him, Mike cried: "Cheer for me, byes
The lasht blasht fetched herp'
During the absence of the party the
excitement in the town was at fever
heat Some new wonder was constantly
being added to the story Of the big find
Then occasionally there were false
alarms. One of these that sent crowd
rushing down toward the river was to
the effect that Mike and his friends
were on their way back to town and
were ''just crossing the bridge at Jersey
Flat with mule load Of gold.
At last, when the sun was just sink
ing behind the western mountains, the
party came struggling back to town.
They were detected looking crowd and
gave short and surly answers to the
questions fired at them on all sides. The
hackers were particularly gloomy and
snappish. AS for Mike himself, he was
nowhere to be seen.
Finally the tongues of some of the dis
interested idlers who had gone out with
the party were loosened though the ad
ministration Of copious doses of stimu-
lants. They then said squarely and
frankly that they had found nothing at
all. The nest of Mikes big bowlder was
empty. In the smooth and soft bed of
the rock they found the spot where
Mikes "golden moon" had lain and
saw his tracks beside it, but not sin
gle nugget was i'll sight Then they had
dug into the edge Of the old channel and
found it barren and smooth as the bot
tom of an iron kettle.
"What has become of Mixer" asked
some one.
"Ah, poor Mikei Well, we are afraid
he ia in a bad way. As soon as he found
that there were no nuggets in sight and
was told that he had merely imagined
them he took on the color of corpse.
He reeled about, paved the air, and