, 1897-12-15

the amount Of the assay, but
IL was enormous and Charlie was as
sured that he had a fortune, If he had u
claim with such surface ore. Charlie i'm
organized a party and en-
deavored to find that ledge. He foun:
the camp, or what he was firmly con-
WINGED was the camp. but he could not
find the rock. Distance n direction
cannot be gagged in a storm. Charlie
has been back to that place every year
since, then. but has never found that
ledge of rocks.
MALACHI DILLON'S STORY.
Everybody" said the judge. knows
Malachi Dillon. and they know when he
tells anything he mean it and it's usu-
ally true. Well, Malachi firmly believes
that cruel fate knocked him out of an
fortune. Malachi. in the early
days, was a teamster at Fort Steele. One
day he was approached by a soldier. who
evidently had some confider ce in his
honesty and who had a piece OF ore
" III liz saw ~ IA q mo-
Mr.. Dillon. I wish you would take this
rock to Rawlins and have it assayed.'
Malachi gave the ore to Jack Davis. who
sent it to Denver and received a tele-
gram informing him that the ore was
wonderfully rich. assaying very high.
Mr.. Davis informed Mr.. Dillon. who told
the soldier the fortune he had in the
lead discovered. The soldier told NAL
achi that he was nothing but a private
soldier. an unknown man, with little
influence and unable to properly take
care of such valuable property, and that
he would give the two gentlemen mem
toned an interest in the mine to be his
friends and manage the property. The
proposition was accepted, but the two
last named gentlemen wanted more evil
dence that the soldier really had a claim
from which he had procured the sam,
pie piece of ore. The soldier was will
ing to get more of the rock, but as he
had no contract with Messrs. Dillon and
Davis. he would not allow them to go
with him to the claim. Malachi furn-
ished the soldier with an old team horse
and after taps n night the d~iscoverer
of the rich claim left Fort Steele for
the purpose of getting another piece Of
ore. He had been gone but a few hours,
however. when he returned with a piece
of moss-ridden ore with loose dirt still
| pl in Oip0 RI n II Uop n1oin tN coo tho
horse and man had crossed the Platte
river. When the soldier saw Malachi
he said in surprise. Why, Mr.. Dillon,
you didn't follow me, did your He
was answered in the negative and SEEM
ed more impressed with his prospective
partner than ever. The piece of ore
was of the same richness as the first,
and the partnership was formed. The
part that fate plays in the story comes
next. The next day and before the
soldier had time to take his partners to
the rich claim. he was shot while act
ing as target marker. Malachi and Jack
Davis hunted for the claim scores OF
times and until a coyote commenced to
follow them, which, az the indication
goes, implied that they were crazy.
AN OFFICERS STORY.
THE third story continued Judge
Knight, was told me by an officer,
whose name l do not recollect. l could
easily get the names. dates and figures
by inquiring Of some Rawlins people,
but at any rate, in the early days a de-
tail of soldiers from Fort Steele camp.
ed west OF Rawlins and one day some
soldiers came into the camp and one Of
them presented the officer with a beau
tiful piece Of ore. The officer, taking
little interest in such things. recognized
the specimen simply as a pretty piece
of ore and used it from thenceforth as
a paper weight. A practical mining man
CHANGED to pick up the specimen, recog-
nizing at once it's unusual richness and
informed the officer, who had the rock
assayed and was dumfounded at its
richness. The soldier was found who
presented the specimen to the officer,
and the camp was found, but though the
soldier said he left the shovel in the
hole from which he took the rock, the
claim was never found."-Sun-Leader.