Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-11-02
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His Last Prospect. |
BY Stewart E White.
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nrospected for the JOY OF the chase. de
liked to find lodges of red-brown rock
which became pyrites after he had gone
down a way, and then pure white
ouartz. He liked TO follow out the
probable dip of the lead, partly by ex-
perience, mostly by instinct. de liked
10 dig those rabbit burrows OF an eA-
perimental nature, running stralght
/ down or straight in, called pros
nector's shafts" Thus he would
get to know the cross-sectlon OF
a 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 1t all.
He either sold out to parties insolvent,
I or on insufficient security, or illegally
He never seemed to learn how. Other
men reaped where he had sowed, While
he moved on TO pillow up a new and VIZ
gin country.
The worst Of it was that Peter, in a
patient way, was trying to gain com
potency. Back in Vermont there was
farm with more stones than even these
stony hills could show, and with less
pold in its harvests than even in Peters
negative gleanings-for here Peter al
least kept out of debt. But near The
snake-fence stood a little peak-roofed
and clapboarded house, with blinds OF
emerald green. Over the house Tioted
Virginia creepers. Near the ancient
web swayed hlacs, broad and low. In
the old-fashioned front yard was the
cbirp Of crickets and hordes of white
butterflies with spots of sulphur-yel-
low. The house was empty and the
yard overgrown; yet to the vacant
rooms of one, or to the choked-out flow
ers of the other, Peters gentle thoughts
ever swarmed, like homing bees. He
saw it bathed in the sunshine of pros
perity. In his vision the yard was or
DERBY, well kept; the house was popu-
lous with the affection of loving hearts.
For in that Vermont country, these
many years, a girl had waited-grow-
ing older, and quieter, and more re-
signed-for Peter and the fortune he
was to bring.
If Peter had had more self-assertion,
he 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 to re-
turn. And somewhere the qualities of
meekness and faith are extolled above
all else. So Peter came into gulch one
afternoon, when the birds were singing,
al alone In his slow way he built a
shack, made himself comfortable, and
started in.
First he made a general survey of the
country. He went up every little
gulch, even to the shallow top of II
filled with loose stones; he followed out
the skyline of every ridge; he seized
frequent opportunities of taking long
diagonal down the slopes. In this he
proceeded rapidly, but carefully. None
Of the broad indications escaped him.
lie noted accurately the various likes,
the general dip" OF the country, the
general direction of the parallel lodges !
Of strata, the numerous cross-ledges /
and irregularities of structure. Then !
he carried with him a hand-pick, one
end pointed, the other forming blunt |
hammer. and a number of canvas bags. |
From various places near one another |
he knocked of chunks of the rock.
which he broke into fine pieces and |
mixed thoroughly on an old half
blanket. After that he raised the OPP |
posite edges of the blanket, about the /
center. in such a manner as TO divide /
the crushed rock into two equal parts. |
One OF these parts he threw away. The |
other he mixed again as carefully as al |
first. BY a repetition OF the process, he !
at last obtained an average" which /
he slowed in one Of the little canvas /
bags.
At the end Of the day, he dumped an
average" into a heavy iron mortar |
over which pestle was suspended from 1
a springy sapling. BY alternately pull
ing down and letting up on the sapling, |
the pestle was made 10 crush the quartz /
fragments into fine red and white sand |
This, Peter poured and scraped into a
faring-sided iron pan, into which be /
let a quantity of water. He then
whirled the pan in peculiar manner,
pausing 10 rock IL back and forth every
few minutes. Much Of the sand thus
flowed over the sides After the first
water was all gone. he poured in some
more. Thus he panned the waste out,
until, AT last, nothing was left in the
angle but some heavy black grains
These were the concentrates. BY def,
rocking ia one direction they were
made 70 string out in long. fan-shaped
mass, AZ the apex Of which was the fine
yellow gold-that Is, where there was
any.
In this way Peter slowly got an idea
Of the country. Some ledge. which
seemed TO him promising, and yetwhicb
did not show free gold at the top. he
exploited still further. With a charge
OF so Of powder he penetrated to a law
er below the surface. Or. perhaps he
spent several hard months making an
irregular deep hole like a well. from
which be carried the debris in bags.
climbing up a notched tree. Then be
selected more samples. This Is hard
work. When he bad learned the eour-
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