Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-01-10
{. FINDERS, KEEPERS. Z
ny ROBERT =. GRANT.

ringing unsteady over the lonely sun
Drowned hills. In the little gopher-hole of
a tunnel, up in the dark end, All Sing bent
to his work, his brown leather face, with
the black pig-tail coiled above it, as motion,
less as the rock he was boring. Only the
eyes showed life, cleaning like the earth
demons he resembled.. Near the mouth of
the tunnel lay shovel and pick, and sew
eral cans. In one of these was powder and
in another q coil Of fuse. Il. ~
All Sing was stripped almost naked, for
It was . warm summers day, and the white
mans work was warm work. All Sing knew
the white mans trade almost as well as the
best of them: He was tired ofcooking and
had gone prospecting on his own: account.
Figuring that an old hole was just as good
a. new one. and a near prospect as good a.
one distant, he had pumped himself down
on an old claim that had been Sawhorse
Jules, and was hammering away with the
industry Of his race: A. few rods down the
sloping hill stood the little shack which was
his new home. r.
'Click! click!" The hole was nearly
deep enough. A few more strokes, an ex-
animation, and then the drill was with
drawn, and the hole cleaned out. Without
wasting time in stretching and heaving
signs of relief, All proceeded to put in the
charge and attach the fuse. Soon he had
all plugged up securely and the slow end IF
the fuse burning, and then he Withdrew to
the outer air to await results.
Somewhere in that hill, maybe, there was
gold, glittering yellow gold, which would
furnish wings to far-of China, and luxury
there for life. Perhaps it was destined for
him, had been kept from the greedy eyes Of
the white pig for that purpose. All Sing
watched and waited-waited until his little
strong friend, the powder, should do it's
work for him.
A minute passed, and then came a muff1ed
explosion, shaking the arth under All
Sings feet. He waited and the smoke came
curling slowly out.
Several minutes later All Sing knelt in
the back end of the tunnel, among the shat
tered fragments of rock The air was heavy
with the smell of powder, and still clouded
with smoke. But All Sing minded not these.
He was gazing through the smoke, his
whole soul cleaning out through his bulg-
ing eyes, and a trembling fascination upon
him that held him motionless.
Before him, in the shattered rock, lay the
yellow gold, torn from its hiding place,
where it had rested for ages unseen by the
many who had tramped above and around
it; by old julie, who had dug and swore and
left the place in disgust-now to be found
by him, son of the sacred realm. There
were hundreds-thousands of dollars
wealth untold, in that wall of rock ahead of
him. No wonder All Sing was dazed. He
put forth his hand tremblingly, scarcely
daring to breathe, as some one who fears to
make sound. The very walls seemed to
have eyes and ears, and the stiffness seemed
peopled with restless spirits in hiding.
Lifting lump Of the gold-laden quartz, All
Sing looked fearfully around.
There are eyes which can glow with the
evil of the fend, and there are moments
when humans forget that they are. humans.
In the mouth of the tunnel was the eye and
the moment was at hand. Never was the
lust for gold more fully personi6ed than in
the face of the man who stood looking into
the tunnel at the gold in front of All Sing.
He was a tall, grizzled prospector, with =
pack on his back, one of the struggling fall
ures of the mountains. Mixed with the
greed cleaning in his eye was ghoulish
CLEAN of triumph. At last he had made bis
find.
Even as the eyes of the two met, they
seemed to understand each other, and All
Sing instinctively elutched the drill that
lay beside him. The move opened the con.
fict. Setting down his pack, the miner
drew a revolver and knife, and advanced
slowly upon his prey. His prey was easy;
the Chinaman was only of medium height
and slender. He would kill him with the
knife if he could, and no noise would be
made. If he could not, he had the revolver.
Several seconds of stealthy approach, and
the shaking Chinaman waited, fly at the
mercy Of the spider, his eyes dilating and
his lips apart in terror. The spider crept
up; there was pause and the upiifted
drill shook in the Chinaman's unnerved
hands. Then came the lunge, swift and
sudden, and the Chinaman's counter
stroke As the drill shot out in the latter's
hands, 'brawny arm knocked it aside, and
another brawny arm buried the knife deep
in the Chinaman's breast. A shrek echoed
through and out of the little tunnels
shrek wild and terrible, seeming as the
soul departing from the quivering form that
lay stretched on the ground. But vengeance
was at hand Even as theshriek ended came
the report of the revolver, exploded by the
hammer catching on a rock, and the assassin
fell forward on the body of his victim, dead.
l.
Chinaman still struggled, pulling at the
knife, and partly wrenched it out. The
blood spurted forth and in few minutes
death came, stilling the shaking form and
glazing the eyes.
Out beyond the mouth Of the tunnel the
sun sank slowly to rest; throwing long shad.
ows and bars Of light over hills and valleys.
The birds fitted hither and thither, twit.
tering and scolding as they hunted places
for the night. Down by the brook the lit.
tie log house waited lonely and still. Then
came the moon, casting it's pale light into
the hole in the hill, over the boot of the
stilled form nearest the mouth, and then
going on it's way. So 49,
The sun came again, and poured ito heat
into the hole; again the moon peered with
wide-eyed wondering at tho boot, and
passed on.
As the sun rose on the third day dog and
a man came walking down the hill above
the hole. The man was old and carried
pick. The dog nosed the ground.
At the hole the dog stopped and looked
within. Then he growled, shifting the air.
The man stopped. 49,.
en- 'What is it, Jack?" he said. =
Tho doc 1ooked at him then Ink d infc