The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-10-24
THE LAST CHANCE.

~hN6h >Nh's AsaN| ~
"Well, you are home early,' re-
marked his wltc, looking in from the
kitchen where she was busy in the
preparation of the evening meal.
eyes, and | have bad news. The
mill broke down this afternoon, and
the proprietor says they won't run any
more this season ; he says the sale of
lumber is dull and he won't start up
again until fall"
81 am so sorry ~ said Mrs. Long,
suppressing an exclamation of dismay.
81 don't know what we will do"
said he, gazing dejcctcdly out of the
window. "I suppose" he continued,
"the mill would have shut down before
long had the accident not happened,
but l expected the run to last several
weeks longer"
Mr.. Long had moved from Kansas
TO Oregon three years before. Two
years successive drought in Western
Kansas, where he had moved his fam
lily and taken a homestead, had re-
duccd him to such Strengthened CIR
cumstanccs, that he was compelled to
sell his claim for II small sum and
move away. Having heard of the OPP
p]ortunitics in Oregon for home-scck-
ers, he concluded to make his way
thither.
The character Of the country was
new to him instead of the smooth,
arabic prairie stretching away into the
distance as far as the eye could follow,
he found narrow valleys hemmed in
between lofty, precipitous mountains.
The land III the valleys and along the
thn crnalo bnI ln,,,, n,n l,n, cot,l,l
and the available land left for settle
ment was hilly, the soil poor, and GOV,
cred with timber which would take
time and much hard labor to clear.
However, he concluded to settle down
helped to this conclusion by the fact
that his money was nearly gone. AnX,
ious to secure n home, and as he haC
used his homestead riSht in Kansas, hC
concluded TO avail himself of the lib
sral offer of railroad land-the "railroa,
company requiring one-tcnth down
He selected eighty acres on Bear Creek
cit will never be much of \ place.
he told his wife, "but 1t will at lcas
be n home"
eyes, Henry" she chcerfully re
sponded, Kit won't be what we locke,
forward to when we we're married, bu
in some ways | think we will like
here the climate is delightful an
l believe we will get along all right.
The first year he got work IN a saw
mill three miles up the creek. In les
than a year the mill was destroyed b
fire. The loss fell so heavily upon tn
owner, that nearly two years clapsc
before the mill was rebuilt. In Tn
meantime Ia, ,,n,lnl ..1 ii a
eve he could find to do =; and whe
he failed TO get work, he busted hin
self clearing the "ranch' and impro,
ing as much rs his limited mean
would permit. Now he felt uttcrl
discouraged. How could he provid
for his family between now and fall
Work would be scarce, and he we
knew that several OF the mill hand
were situated very much like himself
"Henry, don't worry about it II
II we can manage some way,n SAL
his wife cncouragingly.
"What n cheerful way you have O
looking at everything. If the hous
were burning down no doubt yo
would find something pleasant to occu
Ply your mind"
"Wcll l have yet to hear of worr
helping anybody" was the smiling re
Spouse.
eyes, but in this cast | don't SC
how you can expect a fellow To hcl
it," hc returned d~isconsolately. "
have a wife and four children to prc
vide for, and no way of earning a dol
lar that | can see now"
"lf you can't get work, why no
try prospecting The Bailey mine
over across the mountain, is pawn
well and Mrs. Bailey told me, tn
last time | met her in town, that Mr.
Bailey said that there is just rs llkcl
to be good mines on Bear Creek a
anywhere"
"I have never thought of prospect
ing, and | don't suppose ! would b,
lucky enough to find anything but
he added after a few moments rclcc
ton, 81 might try it a few days. .Jcn
kins, who worked at the mill, is an oil,
p~rospcctOr, and have often heard hin
tell how prospecting is done, and O
the lucky strikes he has made but a.
he Is as poor as any of us, | never hat
much confidence in his stOrics."
The next morning Mr.. Long stan tee
out in search of gold. Though he haC
but little hopes of success yet tina,
hope that has dominated the lives OF
many a sturdy prospcctor, and which
many have taken to the grave unreal.
lied, seemed to grow upon him, so tc
speak. He climbed the steep noun
tain side, picking up pieces of noai
quartz, and carefully examining them
to see if he could see any gold. He
toiled up the mountain until about half
way to the top ; then he took his way
along the side of the slope, watching
the ground closely, in hopes that he
might pick up a piece of ~"floato in
which the gold could be seen. To-
ward noon he turned his steps home
ward. When about half way home, he
came to a place where considerable
noat lay scattered over the ground.
lie saw no gold In what he picked up.
and concluding it was barren like all he
had found, he was about to continue
his way down the hill, when the
thought occurred that some of the
quartz might amusc the children, as il
was different from and nettier than
the rocks about the house. Accord
ingly, he picked up several pieces and
carried them home.
"Did you find q gold mine, papa 2"
asked Roy, the eldest child, a sturdy
bow of eleven wears