Evening journal., 1899-07-22
\ His Last Prospect. :
y BY Stewart Z White.
1lV'SlN N1lS sIs7lS ~ .''0S'F1 alNslS'0.

prospected for the JOY Of the chase. lie
liked TO find lodges of red-brown rock,
which became pyrites after he had gone
down a way, and then pure white
quartz. He liked TO follow out she
probable dip Of the lead, partly by ex-
perience, mostly by instinct. He liked
TO dig those rabbit burrows Of an eN-
perimental nature, running straight
down or straight in. called pros
pector's shafts" Thus he would
get TO know the cross-section of
hill as you know the interior of the
apple you have just cut in two. Thus
far Peter succeeded as well. even bet
ter, than the best. Then he lost IL all.
He either sold out 10 parties insolvent,
or on insufficient security, or illegally.
lie never seemed TO learn how. Other
men reaped where he had sowed, while
he moved on TO plow up new and vir-
gin country.
The worst OF il was that Peter, I'm "a
patient way, was trying TO gain a CONF
potency. Back in Vermont there was q
farm with more stones than even these
stony hills could show, and with less
gold in its harvests than even in peter's
negative gleanings-for here Peter at
least kept out of debt. But near the
snake-fence stood little peak-roofed
and clapboarded house, with blinds Of
emerald green. Over the house rioted
Virginia creepers. Near the ancient
well swayed lilacs, broad and low. IL
the old-iashioned front yard was the
chirp OF crickets and hordes Of white
butterflies with spots of sulphuryol-
low. The house was empty and the
yard overgrown; yet 10 the vacant
rooms Of one, or 10 the choked-out flow-
ers Of the other, Peters gentle thoughts
ever swarmed, like homing bees. he
saw IL bathed in the sunshine OF pros
perity. In his vision the yard was or
derly, well kept; the house was popu-
lous with the affection of loving hearts.
/ For in that Vermont country, these
many years. n girl had waited-grow-
ing older, and quieter, and more re-
signed--for Peter and the fortune he
was ts bring.
If Peter had had more self-assertion.
lie might have retained some of the
property he had so patiently relin-
quished. II Peter had had less faith, he
might have been in more haste 10 re-
turn. And somewhere the qualities ot
meekness and faith are extolled above
all else. So Peter came into n gulch one
afternoon. when the birds were singing
al alone. In his slow way he built'a
shack made himself comfortable. ano
started in.
First he made a general survey OF the
country. lie went up every littl'
gulch, even to the shallow top Of il
filed with loose stones; he followed out
the skyline of every ridge; he seizec
frequent opportunities of taking a Ions
diagonal down the slopes. In this h
proceeded rapidly, but earefsliy. NsA..
Of the broad indications escaped kha
lie noted accurately the various lilsss
The general dip" of the country, ~
general direction of the parallel ledgel
of strata, the numerous cross-ledgcs
and irregularities of structure. Then
he carried with him a hand-pick, ons
end pointed, the other forming a blunt
hammer, and a number Of canvas bags
From various places near one another
he knocked off chunks of the rock
which he broke into fine pieces ant
mixed thoroughly on an old half
blanket. After that he raised the op
posite edges Of the blanket, about th'
center, in such a manner as to divide
the crushed rock into two equal parts
One of these parts he threw away. Th'
other he mixed again as carefully as a
first. BY repetition of the process, III
at last obtained an average whiel
he slowed in one of the little canvai
bags.
At the end Of the day, he dumped Al
average" into a heavy iron mortal
over which a pestle was suspended from
a springy sapling. By alternately pull
ing down and letting up on the sapling
the pestle was made TO crush the quarts
fragments into fine red and white sand
This. Peter poured and scraped inte
/ faring-sided iron pan, into which b
, let a quantity of water He the
whirled the pan in a peculiar manner
, pausing to rock it back and forth ever,
few minutes. Much of the sand thu
flowed over the sides. After the frs
, water was all gone, he poured in som
more. Thus he panned the waste out
until, at last, nothing was left in tn
angle but some heavy black grains
, These were the concentrates. BY q def
rocking in one direction they wer
made 70 string out in long, fan-shape
mass. at the apex of which was the fin
yellow gold-that is. where there wa
any.
In this way Peter slowly got an ide
Of the country. Some lodges whic
I seemed TO him promising, andyetwhic
did not show free gold at the top, b
i, exploited still further. With a charg
or so of powder he penetrated to lay
er below the surface. Or, perhaps h
spent several hard months making a
= irregular deep hole like a well, froi
Z which he carried the debris in bag
!, climbing up notched tree. Then b
. selected more samples. This is har
work. When he had learned the couI
n try pretty thoroughly, Peter staked OF
his claims. There were four of thcS