The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-06-24

! mel across the trend OF the strata-to
see how FAR It was TO the wall; some
times he would drift--that is, tunnel in
the direction OF the strata--to see how
the quality OF the lead held out. All
this took time, as did the t!mbering and
the trips for supplies. Men In town call.
ed him Happy" Peter. because he was
always humm!ng u quaint little song,
and because his eyes bcamed with such
steady. gentle kindness.
Time slips by rapidly in the hills.
You get up at daylight and cook breals-
fast; You carry water up to your shaft;
you spend all the morning making lit
tic hole in the rock with drill: at noon
you blast; in the afternoon you haul
bucketfuls Of broken rock out with a
windlass. The night has come. You
measure the days by what you have nc-
compllshcd. and 1t Is little. You meas
ure time by your trips to camp, and
they are few. One morning Peter, In
looking into his little square mirror,
caught sight Of gray hair. He looked
closer There were many OF them. With
a sudden great pang he realized that he
was getting to be an old man. He took
from the table the miniature OF a girl
with great gray eyes. He wondered II
she was getting to be an old woman. At
the thought, Happy Peter became an
other man. He rode to town that very
day-over tho mountains. through the
gorses-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 them. Between the
trees figures glanced to and fro, us
patches Of red or flashes OF light reflect
ed from polished metal.
Peter looked with excited satisfaction.
This meant prosperity. This meant
that on the morrow new town would
deserve u place on the map This
meant, above all, that Peters claims
would have value: that he could sell
them at a price, and that he could grow
old happily In country Itself az old as
his distant youth. He wandered rest
lessly from one OF his four claims 10 the
other. He told himself that this time he
would make careful bargain. The
need was imminent In the light Of this
discovery Of gray hairs. 1t had never
seemed so before. He began TO forestall
dfffiN,Yltiac tn To- ipl t. Oh =.
spot cash. nothing else. Peter knew
just what his claims were worth, and
he knew what he could get for them.
The sale should be by deed, legally, this
for that. Then he would go east ct
once.
He cast in review the technicalltles Of
mining law. He had st1ked the claims
correctly: he had done the proper as
sessment work on each. Perhaps It
would have been better II he had had
them recorded. AT once he made tour
of his property to see II all the notices
were In place. 1t had never occurred to
him before that some one might Jump"
him. Peter began to think It might
have been wiser TO have brought the
purchaser in here quietly. without agi-
tatlns boom. Perplexed and tortured
with doubts and anx!eties, he spent the
remainder of the day In going from
claim to claim.
his accustomed aspect of gentle i'm
passive!ty had left him. His eyes be-
came shifty and suspicious. Ills hands
worked nervously. In his breast there
fermentcd an excitement which would
NOT let him rest even for an instant.
For Peter realized that this was the last
chance. Heretofore he had had the
consciousness of youth to encourage
him. Failure had meant only delay.
Now 1t meant Nnality. There was left
TO him no more time. He saw that be-
fore he could again dig his shafts and
blast his tunnels. old age would have
bauIshed his dreams and his hopes to-
gether.
He passed In fcverish review the three
occasions wherein he had been swim
died. The San Francisco man had
given him worthless paper. and had re-
sold at once. The Denver sharpers had
merely taken possession, and had re-
fused to pay The st. Louis men had
pretended that the property was not
as represented, and had compromised at
n ridiculously low figure. Peter might
have fought the thing successfully, but
In his great dinideacc OF mind he had
been too easily persuaded OF the justice
OF the others position. He would never
be caught so again: but these men be-
wlldered and puzzled him always, and
he confessed to himself great fear OF
their unknown wiles. At the thought
that they might cheat him in some new
way he went Into panic. He made
another tour Of the claims. It was now
dark. At dawn he went over the ground
again. He had not slept all night, and
had eaten nothing since the noon OF the
preceding day.
On returning to his cabin he placed
the miniature and the square mirror
side by side on the table and looked at
them intensely FOR 4 long time. Then
he kicked his chair over backward. and
went out TO his claims once more The
first corners Of the starnpeders had nm
ished stalking out, and were row wan
der!ng about the hills. Peter found Il
small group OF them OH one Of his claims.
They were reading his nOc!cc, and were