The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-01-03

astonished to speak; then Tarbox
stepped forward with extended hand,
saying:
Hello, Mitchell, Where did you
come FROM"
why. it's Joe TarboX!"
One of the strangers shook his hand
warmly and then asked, eagerly:
Whats the show here, Joe? That's
a beauty nugget you have there"
Are there any more of your said
TarboX.
No; Bill M I are ALL"
How did you happen to find us?"
Saw your smoke last night before
dark, We thought it must be somebody
outp respecting, and so we tool a look
over this way this morning. Struck it
grich?"
yes; we've been here all winter. You
see where our claims are Staked out.
Dick Taylor has gone to register them.
Better stake out before any n else
comes. I guess you'll find plenty Of
room above us. 1 don't mind telling you
we've made u pile here, Bill. We've
just found that this quartz ledge Is q
mine Of wealth. See tina your claims
take in a slice of it."
Before the words We're fairly out Of
his mouth the two men We're tearing up
the valley like madmen. and before long
they had staked out their claims, and
We're hard at work, bent on the one all
absorbing quest for which they had
braved the rigors of an Arctic winter,
thus far without success.
Halt an hour later they had scraped
away the soil and moss, and sampled
the rich gravel just above the lightly
covered bed rock. The first pan Of
gravel was washed out, and a
l1tar tho roo, no yh,v nod ,,p,etaI ,c
Bill came running up, with q beaming
face, crying:
God bless you Tarbox, for giving us
a straight tip! Look at this! Well be
rich in no time! Look"
The perspiration was dripping from
his face, his clothes were torn and full
of mud, but what he rocked he of such
things? In the pan he held joyouSly
forth was a little heap of coars gold,
which was worth fully 5000.
Then, as If remembering that he was
wasting time, he turned on his heel and
dashed back again like a schoolboy,
throwing his arms about his partner
and hugging him in the excess OF his
joy.
Then. actuated by one common I'M
pulse, the two men gave a wolfish yell
of eXultation, and fell to work once
more, tearing u the moss and soil
With desperate nrgy. They had
reached the goal for which they had
left home and deal ones, and, with SUI
perhuman strength, they went at the
work OF digging and washing, unmind-
full of all else.
Meanwhile Tom and his friends had
returned to their digging. With their
crude implements 1t would be a waste
of time to attack the ledge, and they
determined to stick to the gravel until
Taylor returned. They had only dug
up a very small part Of their claims as
yet.
The following day Tarbox saw a hin
column of smoke several miles way,
and said to Avery:
There's more of them coming" .
"They may not be coming here" re-
piled the miner.
Yes, they are" was the confident
rejoinder. These, two men saw "
fire and followed it up. That party off
there probably has been following their
smoke, and so it goes. When one crow
finds anything to eat, you know 9TH
ers soon follow. The only wonder Is
that we have kept the place to our
selves so long. There'l be a hundred
men here in a fortnight and q thousand
in a month";"
About shutdown that night a party Of
four miners appeared from the woods,
dllu dlltI d lew "OluS WILL Tie ldlcSI
corners staked off claims and went into
camp.
Day by day they continued to arrive,
but as yet there was room for all. There
vas no rush because all who came
found gold so plenty that they re-
manned, and at the end of three weeks
there were not over threescore men on
the ground.
1t was now time for Dick Taylor to
return, and our friends began to be
anxious about him. Their fears were
groundless, however. for n afternoon
he made his appearance, mounted on a
horse and leading half a dozen others.
With him were two well-dressed stran-
gers, who looked keenly about them as
they O d down the valley.
After greeting his friends, he intro
duced the strangers to the party and
said:
II have brought these gentlemen out
to look at u claims. They represent a
syndicate Of rich capitalists"
He then pointed out the exact loca-
ton Of the claims, after which he took
the men to the cave and showed them
the bags OF gold.
w want to sell u the whole bust
ness he said, bluntly. There's what
we have taken out. We haven't begun
to dig one-quarter of the claims. Take
a look round and make us an Offer"
wait a moment" said Avery, step
ping forward with the piece OF quartz
they had split open. See here, Dick,
we took this out of that ledge the day
you vert away. Let them look at it
before they make any offer"
LET me see that" exclaimed one of
the men, quickly, extending his hand,
You found that here?"
Continued Next Week.)