Evening journal., 1899-06-23

GU get up utdaynght and COOK break
fast; you carry water mp 10 your shaft;
ytr pend all the morning mal,irg
'll,.le hole la the rock with a dr- at
noon blast in the afternoon NDu haul
bucketfuls Of broken rock oui viii
Windlass The night has come You
.onni the days by whnt you h;Nv ac-
coinplished and IL Is little You meas
ar, time by your trips 10 camp. aud
they are few. One morning Peter. in
looking into his little square mirror,
caught sight OF a gray hair. lie looked
closer There We're many OF them.
With a sudden great pnng he realized
than he was getting 10 be an old man. lie
took from the table the miniature of a
girl with great gray eyes. He won
| dered II she was getting TO be an old
woman. At the thought, Happy Peter
became another man. lie rode to town
shat very day-oyer the mountains.
through the gorges-and showed them
what he had found. Then he returned.
The morning after men came into the
lonely gulch. In an hour the side-hills
were covered with thems Between the
trees figures glanced TO and fro. ms
patches Of red or flashes of light re-
ilected from polished metal. White
claim-stukes sprang, mushroom-like. in
thick punches of four In the canyon
was the CLEAN OF fires. the smell of
wood-smoAe aud OF bacon broiling was
In the air; white lean-tos shone among
the bare bushes and saplings. Horses
were feeding eagerly on the half-froxen
grasses and the browse Of trees, rails
ng their heads as the creak OF wheels
further down the draw told of still new
comers.
Peter looked with excited satisfac-
Hon. This meant prosperity. This
meant that ON the morrow new town
would deserve place on the map. This
meant. above all, that Peters claims
would have value. that he could sell
them out at price and that he could
grow old happily in acountry itself as
Old as his distant youth. lie wandered
restessy from Que of his four claims
10 the other. lie told himself that this
J time he would make a careful bargain.
The need was imminent in the light OF
p this discovery OF gray hairs. IL had
! never seemed so before. lie began To
forestal difficulties In his mind. II
, should be spot cash. nothing else. Peter
: knew just what his claims were worth
= and he knew what lac would get foi
E them. The sale should be hy deed. le
gally. this for that Then he would &c
I east al once.
lie east in review the techniealitiei
e OF mining law. lie had stalSed The
p claims correctly; he had done the prop
a cr assessment work on each. i'erhap
4 Il would have been better II he ha,
had them recorded. AT once he mad
e a tour of his property 10 see II all tn
e notices were in place. II had ncve
1 occurred 20 him before that some ON
4 might Jump him. Peter began q
d think il might have been wiser 70 hav
z brought the purchaser In here quietly
. without sgitating a boom. pepleXe
> aud tortured with doubts anehnnXiGtle,
}. he spent the remainder of the day 4
5, going from claim 70 claim.
e His accustomed aspect Of gentle I'm
IS passivity had left him. His eye becam
s shifty and suspicious. His hand
u worked nervously. In his breast ther
e fermented an excitement which wou
Il lot let him rest even for an instant
5. Tor Peter realized that this was Ia
n last chance. Heretofore he had ha
<. the consciousness of youth 70 encoul
d age him. Failure had meant only dc
+ lay. Now it. meant finallty. Thef
, was left to him no more time. lie sa'
Ie that before he could again dig his shaft
e and blast bis tunnels, old age woul
S. have bauishod his dreams aud his hope
'e together
II lie passed in feversh review the thre
ie occasions wherein he had been swir
ID dlel. The San Francisco man ha
IS given him worthless paper, and had r.
sold at once. The Denver sharpers ha
m merely taken possession, and had n
n fused to pay. The St. Louis man Ia
N pretended that the property was nc
D. as represented, and had compromise
g. at a ridiculously low figure. Pete
h might have fought the thing success
d. fully. but in his great diflidence Of min
a he had been too easily persuaded OF n
le Justice Of the others position. i
n would never be caught so again; bl
IT, these men bewildered and puzzled hi
ry always, and he confessed 20 himself
rs great fear Of their unknown wiles. :
ST the thought that they might cheat bill
ne in some new way he went into a pani
It, lie made another tour of the claim
be II was now dark. At dawn be wei
is. over the ground again. lie had ~
n slept an night, and had eaten nothir
re since the noon Of the preceding day.
ed On returning to his cabin, he place
ne the miniature and the square mirr
as side by side on the table, and looked
them inienty for long time. The
ea he kicked his chair over backward al
en- went out TO his claims once more. III
ch FIRST corners OF the stampeaers b;
he finished stalking out, and were nc
ge wandering about the hills. Peter -four
" small group Of them on one Of D
he clnims. They were reading his noiis
an and were laughing idly. Peter kne
I'm two Of them.
ys, "Hullo. Happy" called one, on cate
he Ing sight Of him, "what do ye call this
rd He winked at the rest The history