Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-06-23
THEL0STPICACH0 MINE;
BY Henry Hdelbert Thompson.
Observation-Disclosures ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

No replied l'thhcld, FEELING sui
priscd,
"Well, II might have amounted ~
something. Animals are creatures of
hnbit. They follow the same route In
feeding day after day; they 90 10 the
snmc place for wafer although there
may h. equally good springs ncar,
Nav those mules Of BarlOw's pr0ba'
bly, had the run OF the range Oflcn,
When they bottled that morning III 20
chances are ninety IN n hundred that
they took trail lint they We're usrl
10, and followed II until they We're
oycrlnkcn. Aud mules. unless closely
pushed, would not climb the mountain
side, hut keep on ar close 10 the level
ground"
Go on" said Pcnhcld now becom'
Ing much Interested
Now" Continued Harper, I'VE mny
iurn our a tcniion 10 BARLOW, lie was
simply In pursuit Of his runaway mi
mails. aud II ~ not likely that he
turned aside Ia make q prospecting
"trip NJ the side OF the mountain. So
II he found q gold mine that day he
stumbled on IL accidentally. ana he
found II at or near the base OF the
PicachO Peak"
Mid you may add" interrupted
rcnhcld,. THAT he succeeded In hiding
It away cifcctually."
Yes, that il point. The problem
Ia Ia find something which has been
concealed somewhere In the neighbor.
hood Uf the route Of two wandering
mules. II We knew their route the
problem would be simplihed."
And you propose TO find It by TAX
Ing Bnrl0w's mules. which l bought
this afternoon. to the old station, turn.
lng them loose. and following their
trail: Bright boy! The scheme Is
worth trying. Tomorrow We will
take the mules up 10 the Picacho sta
ton and turn them hose. ana the next
morning we Will take tLvir trail. We
shan't find the mine. hut we SHAH
lave done our bW. to find IT,
"The surprising thing to me-" re.
marked Harper. "is your way of max.
Ing Il practical application OF ideas.
The notion Of following the mules was
simply something that occurred to me
but | am ready 10 try. II IL You ARE.
Anyhow, It will give me an oppor'u'
nifty 10 see the Plcaclo Peak at close
range
Penhcld says they both felt foolish
the next morning but one, when they
started out from Bnrlow's old station
with provisions for twenty-fOur hours.
and each carrying light prospecting
pick over his shoulder Barlow had
gone nfoot and Harper insisted that
they should follow his example.
The trail Of the mules, plain to Pen
fields experienced eye. led them In
sOutlpastrrly direction. around rather
than directly toward the peak. The
animals had fed lrlsurcly along for
some time, and then, Us the Western
partner announced, had moved on
more rapidly.
The two men made easy progress.
The occasional patches of mcsqnit
through which the animals had wan
dered gave them some shade as the
sun rose higher and higher over the
desert.
Gradually the trail led them to the
base of the mountain, and they began
10 ascend the extreme end OF the long
ridge in which the peak ends to he
eastward.
At this point well-delined cattle
trail led over Il low saddle In the
ridge, and as they reached the top Of
this saddle penfeld saw the mules
calmly switching away the flies under
n mcsuuit tree on the desert beyond.
"There they are,' said Penfield.
pointing.
"Then," remarked Harper, ~ think
that we are Aose to the lost mine.'
"Why?'
because this is the only point ut
which the trail Of the mules has
touched the mountain"
Standing on the summit OF the
range they carefully looked over thu
ground and then went slowly dowr
the north side of the ridge. Near the
foot Of the slope the trail skirted the
edge of a small pond. Gone of old
man Barlow's tanks" Pentield said.
There had been small spring In the
side "of the gully, and when Barlow
first began to pasture his stool, on the
range he built dam across the gully
below the spring. and SO made wa
tering place for his cattle. After Pen
field had explained this the two youn-
men set about prospecting the ridge.
They were at this more than three
hours, carefully examining every
square foot for hundred yards o.
more oh both sides Of the trail. At
last Penfield said:
1--WE are simply beating over ground
which has been searched again aud
again by the hest miners in Arizona
He wanted to stop. and before long
Harper agreed that it would be use
less to waste fruther time in looking.
They caught the mules without diff
city and started in the direction of
the station.
uarper was silent and looked moody
lie was thinking hard. After they
had gone about mile he proposed to
go back.
What has struck you now:" Pen
field asked.
"Why, we looked everywhere except |
in the place we ought to have looked.
There is only one place near the trail
over the ridge where Barlow could
have hastily concealed the OutcrOp- |
ping of n quartz ledge. Come and I'll
show you.'
Penfield turned back without protest. |
Harper rapidly led the way to the |
watering-tank OH the nearer slope. |
and attacked the dam vigorously with |
his pick. Soon he had made breach
near the base OF the roughly con-
structcd bank which backed the
waters Of the spring. The water began
to trickle through the opening. and as
the united efforts Of both men dis
lodged large boulder from the sof:-
eued earth. the pent-up food burst