Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-25


yellow gold did not dazzle our eyes. nor
were we struck speechless with amazement
at the wondrous wealth about us on the
contrary. we didn't see anything much but
t tne peculiar geological formation Of n cave
IN the face OF a mountain not otherwise
cavernous. and Il was inst as aorl insi5,.
aS caves usually are. We looked abottt AS
Tor tangible proof Of tho tales tbat boa
nee TOLD to as and We began Ia set aside
tite romance that always hedges gold as Al
Ninlty doth king. and get AT tho r,,,,,.,ti,al
she OF things What v, had found ,.ss a
cave seventy feet high al It's entrance and
twenty odd feet wide. extending back int,
tne darkness for fifty feet or more It's
sldes were the hard rock OF the r,,olipt7ir,
out its roof, its floor and its back vs. J.
sraNlsh white granular substance a cross
IA appearance between fine clay and spoIIaI
cheeSe, and So soft that q 1,irl, could d.,
STUCK INTO II anywhere. Chunks of A. had
Iaiien down from the roof and sides as IA
tuecay We're far gone in its work Of dis
Htteefatlon- on the floor of the cave this
Gay or rock I'm the technical bad h.,
crushed into granular dust that rn,,ld a.,
shGNeied out Back some distance The cav.
Lorked, and in the two apar4rpsvts ~,
Formed the men had made his a,,.I -,
literally sleeping in chambers Of rnId Tor
All TINS rock WAS rich in he l,recin,Is ,,,,.1
IN my were taking IT out in tin bucisr.rals
ana send'nE il down the mountain so S,ef
on a wire that looked like a silken .s,s..r,.,.
swung over the valley with shinIDr t-I.t..,.
cups dancing down its length
over S2,oO0,o00 In Sight
The cave was In fact no more Than q
great hole, worn by the weather I'm a ,-.,..
ucal strip Of this grainy soft rock 5nn
ieet from top to bottom. wedecd I'm no
tween the granite walls Of The mountain
How long it had stood there open moufbnI
breathing the air Of the hills t,,a- ~,
wearing out it's tissues before s,,,,, -
Gus and adventurous prospector had no
uced 1t and climbed to its cevie no ma,
could say, nor did any man care to vast.
une IN vain calculations. for tho sart
earthly rock that IL contained b.ld coII
and gold was what men sought regardless
81 how or when it came. An about Us. To-
the right and to the left over our heads
ana under our feet. troddcn there like com
mon dirt, was this pale gray crurnbIinr
sun, IN some places almost brown and
we looked AT II critically aud tossed Il
about as one might toss potatoes In "A match
Yet II was rich I'm gold: tests had rr,vad
that It's value varied from Sla to ste eco a
ton ana there was 10000 tons Of IL in
sight in the mountain, worth on an aver
age $50 a ton. Probably nowhere alss in
the world is there such cave. and when
It's lucky finders have opened its treasures
TO the light and dropped its wealth from
the clouds To the Golfers Of earth, story
will be told OF the riches Of the Cascad,
range as the people "f other times told TN.
tale OF Golc"nda's glory, and stin further
back the poets sang OF the waters Of
Pactolus that dripped golden drops from
yellow sands.
The Return Trip.
We lid not HnEer long i'm the cave, Tor
the shadows were coming down between
the lofty mountain tops and once more
laying our hands upon the richness cye1,-
where, just to say we were in touch with
wealth, We took ourselves away and started
on our downward course. There axe those
VINO prefer to ascend mountain. and il Is
no doubt less jolly to the human anatomy
than Jumping from crag 10 craE like q
mountain goat. but ! am fully convinced
Tor my own part that II 7 could get TO tho
top Of a mountain by turning il upside
down that would most aSSurellN ha she
way | would take to get there. How W.,
did come down that mountain Carefully
enough over the rock slides but hy leans
and bounds where the trail was soft and
when we struck the SNOW, what a tobog-
OF pair Of corduroy trousers for the To-
boggan, Not every man I'm the United
states was enjoying a slide in snow twenty
feet deep on that October daN, and II WAS
almost a temptation 10 go back again and
take another, but We resisted and hurried
on to camp. where We stretched ourselves
on the cots in tent, and Tor the first time
could not be followed as We had followed
1t that day. without making the searchers
tired, and very tired. That night We slept
in tent on which the rain tell softly hut
We needed no lullaby, and sound
our sleep that not even a dream Of wealth
came to disturb us.
The next day We walked that six miles
OF skid again, going away from the gold
that waited in the mountains for other
hands to carry it away. and the walking
was COMPOUNDED rough.
WM ] HAMPTON.