The San Francisco call., 1898-01-23

mine Billy Carstairs and I came here together in '4e. and we were partners for a long time. He generally was with me when I was out prospecting, but he took the fever, some way, and I was alone when I first saw the enchanted mine"
 But why do you call 1t the enchanted mine. Uncle Jim?" asked Kitty.
 You will see as l go along. Well, started out of what isa now the pretty town of Grass Valley, on a bright May morning. The air was fresh and sweet the trail was bordered by wild flowers the birds were all singing, and your Uncle Jim was in fine spirits. l had no very clear idea where ] was going. Tim Null vey, who had picked up fortune without Knowing thing about mining, told me that he had a dream about a big spring, under some cottonwood trees, by a creek, the sides of which were lined with gold and which was boiling up so strong that it was bringing up little nuggets and gold dust, to line the bottom.
 Tim was a dreamer and the boys all naturally laughed at him, but I recollect- ed that before Tim picked up the nuggets that made him rich. he told me that he had dream that he was going to find them. Sure enough, the very next month he came into his luck. So, when he told me about the boiling spring that was liBed and floored with pure gold. I was inclined to give the dream try. Tim said that if l found the spring he would not claim it. Besides that. l wanted money to send east for your Aunt Jane, who was living then in Massachusetts, on Marthas Vineyard, to bring her to California.
 My partner. Billy Carstairs, did not laugh at me because I thought that there might be luck in Tins second dream, but the other boyS-we were all boys then toked me lot. None of them wanted to go with me, and that was why I started alone. l had a good rifle to shoot game with. and my mining outfit and enough grub, added to the other things, to make my load heavy enough so that I would not travel many miles. up and down the mountains, per day. Tim did not dream out whether the boiling spring was ten miles or one hundred miles away.
 You must trust yourself entirely to luck, Tim said, or, as sure as you are alive you'll never find it, Jim
 ''I had been out two days without seeing ang cottonwood trees over a spring. when l ran across the biggest grizzly bear I ever saw. Perhaps it would be better to say that he ran across me. for he was trotting down the trail in my direction as was toiling up the grade. We both ran in a minute. The bear was fright ened and so was l. and we went in op- posite directions Before l stopned I had lost the trail and was in the mouth of a narrow canyon, with straight uD and down walls, the tops of which seem ed to almost reach the sky. Through the canyon ran stream of sparkling water
 Now, your Uncle Jim had passed over the mountains several times and thought that he knew all the country within miles of the trail; but l had never heard of this canyon before Anyhow, l was clear of the bear, and something prompt- ed me to go on. So l tramped up the canyon several miles. When 1t was night l decided to go into camp. I was pretty tired and did not notice what sort of trees l was under until I had finished my supper. Then 1 filled my pine and lay on my back. smoked and looked up, Well, we'll l said, sure enough here are cottonwood trees. It was too late then to look for the boiling and eoid-lined spring, but my heart gave a thump as I thought that perhaps l was going to find Tim's dream true.
 "The thought excited me so that I