The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-05-18


could what our life would be together
The more l talked to Ramsey tn,
more l liked him. His spirits were 6,
good they seemed to rouse my own
and the drawbacks to our claim, tha
rather suggested than described
were pooh-poohed in the cherries
way.
1--WE were Ear from the creek"
"Well, he was strong enough to car
ry the clay any distance"
when we found any dust we had te
watch it armed all night"
well, he could do with as little
sleep as any man."
"On the whole, had not very much
confidence in Rogers and Smith"
"In that case how fortunate that We
were now two and two!"
So, encouraged in spite of myself, we
advanced to the claim together. But
the surly reception my new acquaint-
ance met with soon intimated to me
that had been considered over-bold in
my arrangement. and the discomfort
of the first evening did not diminish
as days passed. Instinctively our lit
tie gang of four fell into two COM
panies, Rogers and Smith keeping en-
tirely to themselves, and leaving Ram
sey and me to support each other.
We had been about a month togeth-
er, and it was the autumn of 1852, in
the rainy season, so that the manner
Of life l had bestowed on Ramsey
would have been no boon in any eyes
but those of miner. Our clothes
dried on our backs or remained wet,
as the case might be, and our claim
was generally flooded, while he and l
worked on the night shift, keeping
the shaft constantly baled, and dig
ging as we could; and 1t would have
required eight men to be of any service.
for the ground was so heavy and the
digging SO deep. But the prospector's S
claim was not far off, and so we toiled
like slaves, knowing that if we struck
gold at all it would likely be in large
quantities. But, in spite Of hope and
energy, Ramsey and l were dead beat
on Saturday night, and SO, for the
first time, we urged our hitherto un-
thought-of right to a change Of hours.
Why should not we rest at night and
labor by day? Why should the others
have this advantage exclusively? We
made our proposal good-temperedly,
but 1t was rejected in such surly fash
ion that l lost patience, and, think
ing to reduce our opponents to terms,
offered to sell our interest.
For what price," Smith asked.
"A hundred pounds each," l answer
ed, feeling sure so much coin was not
in the whole firm.
Without a word, Rogers opened a
canvas bag and counted out the gold,
and then I knew that we had been
bought and sold.
"They have bottomed," Ramsey
said, as we walked of with our few
belongings.
"Of course they have, the Internal
l answered, viciously; that
Is why they wished US to keep on dig
ging while they washed.
On the following morning the rain
had ceased, the day was fine, and the
creeks were well filed with water, but
| could not see beauty or promise in
anything, because the scoundrels who
had cheated me had netted two thou
sand pounds. And then we were the
beaten men, and the rude laugh that
greets failure was ringing over us.
For a couple Of weeks we remained
idle, chewing the cud of bitter discon-
tent, even Ramsey's hopefulness hav-
ing been damped by this lesson on men
and things. And then our chances Of
making a fresh start were poor, the
ground being occupied for miles, and
any abandoned claim that we might
have taken possession of requiring at
least eight men to work 1t. But we
we're sick Of partnerships, and coldly
rejected any outside advances towards
AS kind Of forlorn
hope we at last decided to move up
he hillside to some unclaimed shallow
ground which, on inspection, held out
l vague kind Of promise; but we were
not rushing to it very hopefully now,
having encountered facts, and the facts
having conquered us. But action of
my kind was likely to be less unprofit-
able than inaction, and so we were
IN our way to remove our tent and
;wag to the new settlement, when on
he way we ran across two old Bal
arat acquaintances, who were pack
ng up their belongings for start to
/ new rush in the Gympic ranges. The
,laim they were forsaking had not
been wholly unpromising, but better
uck, like an ignis fatuus, lured them
ahead, and SO their forty-foot shaft
vas about to be abandoned.
"These brilliant things never turn
,ut of much value" said, warningly,
rom the depths Of my past expert
,nce, "better stay where you are; but
hey shrugged their shoulders, declar-
ID they would risk the exchange, and
10 left us.
Suppose we settle down here?" l.
thinking the deep shaft
nore promising than the shallow