New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-18
HIS LAST PROSPECT.
From The Argonaut.

brown rock. which became pyrites after he had
gone down way, and then pure white quartz
He liked to follow out the probable dip Of the
lead partly by experience, mostly BY instinct
He liked TO dig those rabbit burrows OF an eX-
permental nature, running straight down or
straight in, called "prospectors SHAFTS. ThuS
he would get to know the cross section or 4
hill as you know the interior OF the apple you
have Just cut in two. Thus far Peter succeeded az
we'll as, oven better than, the best. Then b" lost
II all He either sold out 10 parties insOlyent,
or on insufficient security, or Illegally He never
seemed 10 learn how. Other men reaped whore
he had sowed. while he moved on 10 plough up
a new and virgin country.
The worst Of it that Peter, IN a patent
way, trying to gain competency. BACK
in Vermont there was farm with more stones
than even these stony hills could show, and
with less gold in it's harvests than even m
Peters negative gleanings-fOr here peter ~
least kept out OF debt. But near TIL snake
fence stood a little peakroofed and claphoarfcd
house with blinds Of emerald green. over the
house rioted Virginia crecpers Near the an
cient well sWaycd lilacs, broad and l.W. In tho
old hOned front yard was the chirp - crlck-
cts and hOrdes Of white butterflies with spots OF
sulphur yellow. The house was empty ana The
yard OVergrOwn, yet to the vacant rooms ~ one
or to the choked- out flowers Of the other Peters
gentle thoughts ever sWarmed. IKE homing
bees. He saw ii bathed in the sunshn" ~ pros
perity. In his vision the yard Vas ora r.y, Vel
kept; the house was popuous with inc Aztec
ton of loving hearts. For IN that vermont
country these many years girl had waited
growing older and quieter, ana more resigned
for Peter and the fortune he was 10 BRING.
IL Peter had had more self assertion hc might
have retained some of the property he had 50
patiently rclinquish,d. II Peter had had Jess
faith he might have been in more haste to re-
turn And somewhere the qualities ~ m"ckness
and faith are extoled above all else. 50 Peter
came into a guch one afternoon "h'n the
birds were singing. all alone. In ms SLOW way
he built a shack. made himself comto'iahI" ana
started in.
First he made a general survey Of the country.
He went W every little gulch. even e. no shall
low top Of il filled with loos" stones, hc followed
out the skyline OF every ridge; he seized frequent
opportunities Of taking a long diagonal down me
slopes In this he proceeded rapidly but care
fully None of the broad Indications ESCAPED
him He noted accurately the various ckes the
general dip Of the country, the general dlrec-
ton Of the parallel Lodges Of strata. ihr numer-
Gus cross-ledges and irregularities OF stru''Hr'
Then ne carried with him handplcN. one ehd
pointed. the other forming blunt hammer, ana
a number Of canvas bags From Narlor' places
near one another III knocked off chunks ~ the
rock which he broke into fine pieces and mINed
thoroughly on an old ha,f-b1ntct. Alter that
he raised the opposite edges OF the blanket
about the centre. in such manrer as L" dlNidr
the crushed rock into Two @ldal parts ON" 81
these parts he threw away. The other ne mixed
again az carefully as AT first. By repetition ~
the process ne at last obtained an average,
which he slowed in one Of The little can a bags
At the end of the day H. dumped an aNrfaS"
into A heavy. iron mortar over which r"ste
was suspended from a SprinSy sapilng by al
tcrnatcly pulling down ard letting W on me
sapling the nestle was made 10 crush IN" quartz
fragments into fine red and white SAND. M
Peter poured and scl~ped into a har.ng sIdrd
iron pan. into wiki h he let quantity ~ water
lie then whired the pan IN peculiar manner
pausinc to rock il back and forth every y"
minutes Much Of the sand thus flowed over the
sides After the first wafer was an E"h' ne
,oured in some more Thus he panned the
waste out until 1t las nothing vas u, u. ~"
angle but some heavy black grains. IheSt ""rV
the concentrates BY def rocking IN one IL
rection they were made 10 string OUT IN "Is'
/ fan-shaped mass. at the apex of when was '"'
fine yellow co'd-that *. where there was any.
In this way Peter slowly got an idea 81 the
country SOM lodges which seemed to HIM
promising .nd yet which did not sho" ire E'lu
| - rho Ton he exploited still further WIN
charge or So of powder he penetrated I" layer
h.loly the surface Or perhaps ne spent S'\'Idi
hard months making an Irregular dtep moi, IKE
a well from which he carried the depFlS Ih hdSS,
cI;,nbinp ND a notched tree Then NJ s'i'''tH
| more SAMPLES This is hard work Nh'h ne
had learned the country pretty u"i"uthN,
Peter staked out his cl AIMS. Ihet' ""i' you.
~ these Then he began sinking on an l""'.
VorLiny alone he could make about l"u'
Of progress A day. BY winter he was iaI enough
| below ground that he dad not t,'l me ''."'
Occasionally he would make a snort cross "
tbat is a tunnel across the trend of the strata
IN see HOY, far it was to the wall, SOM times ne
would drift that is, tunnel IN inc az ''"' -
The strata-to see how the quality OF the Gao
held out. All this took time. as dd tht t"."''
ing and the trips for supplies. Men IN inc ""'
called him HAPPY Peter because hI We
WAYS humming quaint little song, and because
his ewes beamed with such steady. gentle k'nH-
illness $4,000, ,,,
Time slips by rapidly IN the hills. You get up
az de ,I,,ht and cook breakfast, you carry "a'''
no to your shaft: YOU spend all me morning
making A little hole in the rock with uIll' a.
noon you blast; in the afternoon YOU naul 'u ~
etfuls Of broken rock out with a Wind.aSs ne
night has come. You measure the d"NN ~
what YOU have accomplished. ana IL J. ''uV;
You measure time 10y your trips 70 camp , anu
they are few. one morning Peter IN lo"A,"S