Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-04-25
y khe clay any distance J.

ry Che clay any distance
When we found any dlust wa las
watch 1t armed all night =
Well, he could do with al ,i+,,a
sleep as any man.
On the whole, had not very much
confidence in Rogers and Smith,
In that case how fortunate that MO
were now two and two!" ~
So, encouraged in spite of myse,f wo
advanced to the claim together. Rn+
the surly reception my new acouaip+-
ance met with soon intimated to mo
that | had been considered oyer-bold IN
my arrangement. and the discomfort
OF the first evening did not diminish
as days passed. Instinctively our III
tie gang of four fell into two COM
panies, Rogers and Smith keeping en-
tlrely to themselves, and leaving Ram
sey and me to support each other.
We had been about a month toeetb-
er, and it was the autumn of 1852. in
the rainy season, SO that the manner
of life I had bestowed on Ramsey
would have been no boon in any ewes
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
worked on the night shift, keeping
the shaft constantly baled, and dig
glng as we could; and it would have
required eight men to be of any service,
for tho ground awoc So boox,, oua IL.
digging so deep. But the prospector's
claim was not far off, and so we toiled
like slaves, knowing that II we struck
gold at all It would likely be in large
quantities. But, in spite of hope and
energy, Ramsey and / were dead beat
on Saturday night, and so, for the
first time, we urged our hitherto un-
thought-of right to 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 it was rejected in such surly fash
ion that 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" answer
ed, feeling sure so much coin was not
in the whole firm.
Without word, Rogers opened a
canvas bag and counted out the gold,
and then knew that we had been
literally bought and sold.
They have bottomed,' Ramsey
said, as we walked off with our few
belongings.
''Of course they have, the Internal
rascals!" / 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
were sick of partnerships, and coldly
rejected any outside advances towards
comradeship. AS kind OF forlorn
hope we at last decided to move up
the hillside to some unclaimed shallow
ground which, On inspection, held out
a 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
any kind was likely to be less unprotlt-
able than inaction, and so we were
on our way to remove our tent ana
swag to the new settlement, when on
the way we ran across two old Bal
larat acquaintance, who were pack
ing up their belongings for start to
a new rush in the olympic ranges. The
claim they we're forsaking had not
been wholly unpromising, but better
luck, like an ignis fatuus, lured them
ahead, and so their forty-foot smart
was about to be abandoned.
4*These brilliant things never turn
out of much value said, warningly,
from the depths Of my past expert
ence, ''better stay where you are; but
they shrugged their shoulders, declar-
ed they would risk the exchange, and
SO left as.
Suppose we settle down here?" !
suggested, thinking the deep shaft
more promising than the shallow
ground.
81 dare say it's much the same here
or there" Ramsey acquiesced, dismal
Jy, and so, before shutdown, our tent
stood on the spot so recently vacated
by cur friends.
For five days we worked, and sucn
choVnt