The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-04-04

before, while acting sort of fresh at an
Indian fiesta, and now here was the
other one laid out, too. There'd been
somethin' of mystery about them
two brothers, but more specially about
the four or five men, who'd gone up,
different times, near their cabin, and
never'd been afterwards anyways
heard from. Then, too, there'd been
considerable conjecturin' as to them
brothers bein' the ones that had got
clean off with a good many express
boxes and mail sacks from the desert
stage lines, and if they was, as to what
they'd ever done with the coin and
bullion they must have collected. They
never was known to spend nothin', and
so it was generally allowed they must
have it all on hand cached somewheres.
''Havin' all these ideas runnin'
through my head, and bein', though
you mightn't think it, naturally
curious-minded, and willin' to take no
end of trouble to find out about things,
no matter how trifin', which 1 didn't
know and took interest in, as l stood
there with the shadow of the vulture
movin' like a little cloud over the sand
he not seemin' half so much scared
at me bein' there as I'd been expectin',
and sort of wished he had-I got to
ponderin' and plannin'.
why not says to myself, go on
up to the cabin among the pinoaS, and
examine into things up there, now
there's nobody to hinder?'
"Havin' concluded I'd make the trip,
I didn't waste no time in startin', and,
by hustlin' along pretty lively, man
aged to roundup at the cabin a little
after shutdown. 1t seemed a gloomy
kind of place to stop at, lookin long
ways dismaler than the bare, hot sand
and rocks of the desert down below
Nothing all round but a low, scatterin'
growth of scrubby pinons, just thick
enough to shut out the view any way
you'd look. There was a low, two
roomed cabin. with the mud all drop
pin out of the chinks and the bark
peelin' off the logs; a brush shed for
stock and little shake granary, with
warped door hangin' askew on one
leather hinge.
''Havin' unsaddled, and taken off the
pack, and turned the animals loose to
pick up what feed they could l didn't
wait to get supper, but started right in
inspectin' the premises. There was a
room in each end of the cabin, with an
open space between 'em, just covered
in from the weather by the roof, and
some shakes nailed up across the north
side to keep out the worst of the wind
Here the only furnishin' was three.
legged stool, an old saddle-tree and a
stirrup-leather hung up on pegs, a
broken piece of lookin'-glass and rag
ged, moth-eaten coyote skin tackled on
the wall. l picked up candle-end and
went in next to the room they'd used
for kitchen, and commenced carefully
inyestigatin', all nerved up to strike
anything from bones to bullion 1t
didn't take me long, though, to finish
up in there, seein' nothin', aside from a
lot of dirt and old meat cans, but a
table, bench and a few greasy-lookin'
cookin' things blackened by the fire
Then / tried the bunk-room opposite,
but found nothin' there but some rag
ged beddin' in the hunks, two broken
dow chairs and dirty corner-shelf on
which was an empty bottle with a
candle stuck in it, an old bone comb
and grimy pack of cards.
Il was gettin' discouraged, and tired,
and hungry, and was just leaviD' to
start up fire and get supper, when /
lowered my candle to look under the
hunks, as a sort of inishin' up for the
night of my examination, and there,
under one of 'em, l see a. big board box,
painted red and bound with rusty
hoop-iron. Then 1 forgot all about
eatin', and my curiosity got to workin'
right away. | set the candle down on
the floor, and, after considerable tug
gin, got the box slid out to where I
could get at it, The lock was gone, ali
but the hasp, and the lid was only fast
ened down with a hair-rope lashin'. /
unhitched that in just no time at all,
and took off the top of the box, bein'
all of a trernble with excitement.
''At first sight of the contents was
considerable disappointed. Aside from
some rusty iron junk in the bottom of
the box, there was just lot of old
flannel shirts and a faded canvas coat
wrapped round tive-pound bakin'-
powder can. Inside the can there was
a piece of rdncheria-tanned bucksllin.
done up in roll. | was putin this
back again, feelin' discouraged all
through, when ] see there was some
bury lines and letters drawn on it in
ink, and | unrolled it near the candle
to have a better look. 1t was meant
for a map plain enough, but of what,
first along, couldn't make out. There
was a zig-zaggy shaded line meaIt to
represent hills, with TT at one end
of 'em, and w W. at the other, and I'M
derneath this was drawin of what
made out to be big rock with an ar
row marked on it, with the head point
in down, and the figures '9'-'3.' That
was all, eXceptin' little red-ink cross
marked up in deep rjncOn in the hills.
| quit looking out for anything else
that night, and after I'd got supper,
put in my time puzzlin' away at the
meanin' of the map, and went to sleep
still puzzlin'.
In the mornin, first thing, started
in again, and then. in a flash, the
whole thing comes to me. Everything
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