Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1903-07-24

nuggets OF all shapes and sizes.
Some had the dark brown quartz
attached. and all were embedded in
"a ledge of honcycombrd. dccom-
posed brown quartz, with a black
malachitc rock ON both walls. He
took his cantecn from his shoulder
and laid it carefully down while he
Inspected his find. lie became ex-
cited again when picking up the mug
gets, and in shifting his position
gave the cantccn II kick which set
it on it's round edge. In IA flash he
realized what he had done.
AS the cantccn started down the
hill he pitched after it, though every
second made wider the gap between
it and his reaching hand, and every
time the cantccn would strike the
hard, black bedrock with a thud it
was like a dagger struck at his heart.
He followed it, hoping the tin would
not give way, for there was not a
brush to check its speed. But as
it struck the bottom his heart sank,
for it bounded high in the air with a
clear ring and swerved from it's
course. lie followed still in the hope
of saving n mouthful Of the water
of which he had been so careful a
few minutes before; when he reached
it the can "a dry i'm a little moist
sand where it was resting. He grew
weak as he thought how thirsty he
was. and of the ~ hours of hard
travelling before he could reach wa
err. While he could hear the churn-
ing of the water in his cantcen he
had not felt such thirst. but now he
shuddcrcd to think of what this dis
aster meant.
Then he started around the hill to
get his bearing for camp. He cared
nothing for his discovery Of n few
minutes before, although it was the
richest sight of virgin gold human
eyes ever rested upon; neither did
he care for food which he would not
be able to eat without something to
drink. lie took another look MP the
hill and wondered if he would ever
see il again. As nearly as he could
he took his bearings for camp and
started. At every step b" felt his
siX-shootcr dragging him down. so.
unbuckling it, he threw il in a dry
gulch he was crossing at the time
and turned to see how far he was
from the hill. That day was n long
one. lie thought of every cool, re-
frcshing drink he had even had. The
hot air he was breathing was whis-
fling in his ears: he could not swal-
low nOr close his mouth, for he would
stranglc for want of air. In this con
dition night found him, staggering
on. sliding back onc-half of every
step in the sand and often falling:
he would imagine he could hear coy
otrs and see them n few yards away
on either hand. dodging from one
cactus to another, and keeping close
watch on him. In reality he had not
a living thing since he left camp.
He kept ON, staggering and falling;
he dared not stop. II was dark now.
He stumbled, fell heavily. and lay,
thinking to rest n moment. Then
he fell asleep. lie nwokr while
dreaming that he was resting in the
shade of some trees by n running
stream: he did not realize for n mo-
mcnt where he was, but when h" re
mcmberrd he jumped up and moved
on, he knew no, which way-only to
be going. When he thought of hie
direction with horror, he came back
to sec from his tracks which way he
had been going when he fell.
He got ON his knees and made a
circle to find the tracks, for he could
tell nothing from the tracks where
he had lain in the sand. lie made Il
circle, but found no track; he made
II larger circle and examined every
part of the sand, with the same re-
suit: he could not tell north, south,
cas- nor west.
the Dippcr, but he had never had
use for them before, and now every
star looked alike to him. They
would brighten up. then fade away.
He was becoming blind and he could
hear nothing but what seemed the
bowling of coyotes and water run
ming. Th" coyotes seemed drawing
nearer, and the thought of his bare
bones lying ON the desert in n few
hours started him to his feet. liz
took the course he was facing. liz
was very weak, and rceIcd as he went
in the direction of his discovery of
the morning before. That seemed to
act as a magnet, in his weak condi-
ton. He thought now, in his snf-
IL
Hereafter. He had never given either
much thought before, but he knew
now he was facing them. Suddenly