The herald., 1896-01-04

| near the hearthstone -frested his uncomfort.
| able cogtations. What could it be? Perhaps
| a field mouse had already "snuffed entertain
| ment," and it passed out of his mind for a
moment. he hurried his preparations for
| his departure
| But there it again. Scratch, scratch
! scratch! And with all the bravery which SUM-
| shine gives to most people he became annoyed
| with this rasping sound. Curious to learn
! what caused it. he got down to examine the
floor in the direction from which it came, when
food Of light through the open door re-
vealed half effaced and dried spot of human
blood. He started, and got up, but the scratch
ing seemed more audible, and from under the
blood stain on the worm eaten planks.
'Thunderation but I'll see what makes that
| noise!" said the prospector and he fairly tore
| up the boards and commenced to dig in the
| earth close under the right side Of the hearth
stone, remembering suddenly how the figure
in his horrible dream had pointed to that very
spot. Unuterable was his astonishment when
| the stick with which he was digging struck a
| hard object, and then uncovered the top of a
powder keg. which was connected with a
broken fuse. The scratching sound had now
ceased. but he was too startled to notice it..
| The keg looked intact as much as he saw Of
it. Suppose he dug it up-there might be an
explosion. Some demon had lured him there
for his destruction. Then, by one Of those
mysterious movements of the mind which are
unaccountable to us, story ne had long since
heard told over camp fires returned to him, of
| one Dick Brent. who had lived somewhere in
| these very Big Horn Mountains, in a cabin
with other miners; that they had great
treasures Of gold; had quarreled over its divi-
sion and then went away-al but Brent who
was never seen after certain time years be-
fore.
1t was believed that he was killed by his
comrades. who closed he cabin and spread the
report that 1t contained gunpowder and any
one opening the door would come to immediate
grief These miners never returned, so the
legend went and now no one could tell eX-
actly where they had lived.
When Carroll Jones had recalled all this his
superstitious fears were gone In a trice. He
jumped to his feet. Why, this might have
been Dick Brent's very cabin! Why not? And
the keg was full OF something which it made
the palms of his hands itch to touch. He ran
out of the house to see II by any possible
chance there living being near it. The
valley was not too desolate for him now; the
brook and the birds were only too noisy. And
he laughed when he remembered. however
vocal they might be, they could not tatte of
his present or quickly intended occupation.
Running to the brook with his cooking uten-
sils he filled them with water. which he
poured over the keg and the fuse. Then he
dared to unearth the keg and open 1t trifle.
OH the rapture which filled his recently tor
tured heart! For, whep he had made hole
with his jackknife big enough to peep into 1t,
there was gold; shining gold! And now he
dashed open this wooden covering TO find a
mass of yellow nuggets and a handful of uncut
gems diamonds, emerads and rubes, "of
purest ray serene" Oh, the beauties! Con-
vlnced of the great value Of these stones, and
their purity he danced and leaped about the
room, stirring up the dust that had excited
his superstitous nature the previous evening.
Here was Joy. life luxury. or the means of
getting them. and he slowed away the pre-
cious gems and shining gold exultingy. In the
very bottom of the keg was scrap of paper
a part OF the back of letter. whereon in
faded. almost illegible writing. was an ad-
dress. He carried the paper to the sunlight,
and there read the words, Richard Brent
Esq" The rest of the superscription was gone.
So he, Carroll Jones, was heir to Dick Brent,
he mused and with a little shver, for he
thought 1t was Dick who had stood behind him
in the night. At evening he left the valley.
He had been fortunate there, but did not care
to remain another night.
With all his reticence a rumor that Carroll
Jones had found gold seemed to become a GER
tainty when he suddenly bade his friends in
camp good-by for his home in the East. 1t
has also been said that Carroll Jones is not
his real name. Possibly this is trua