Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-02-24
AT THE BOTTOM
OF HIS LUCK
[Original.1

Out In the golden state Of Colorado q
prospector sat alone in the shade of a
tree reading letter. His clothes were
in tatters, his shoes were minus the
principal part of their soles, and of
his felt hat there was little left but
the brim. He had thrown off his hav-
ersack and laid it on the grass beside
him. 1t contained no food, for he had
eaten the last morsel that morning for
breakfast. But it did contain all the
prospector possessed in the world-ten
pounds of gunpowder and a magnify
ing glass. The former he kept to turn
up ground. wherein he hoped gold might
be hidden, the latter to examine speci-
mems of ore.
This was the letter he read:
Dear Ted-I have had no word from you
since your letter month ago, which was
full Of dependency. I hope you have
done nothing rash. You say Colorado is
full of sink holes concentrating blighted
hopes. You must remember that there are
few holes commemorative of the realiza-
ton of wild dreams. There Is an old say
ing, when you have put your hand to
the plow never look back" 1 am sorry
that you felt constrained to undertake a
line of work with so great an element of
luck n it; but, since you have, stick to
what you have undertaken. Don't de-
spair till you have hunted all over the
state Remember that prizes go to the
few. The commonplace goes to the many.
l have agreed to cast my lot with you,
consequently partake Of your condition.
I may not have been wise in doing so, but
I have put my hand to the pillow, and
I'll never look back" Your loving
LUCY.
The young man folded the letter and
put 1t in his pocket. 1.-THE mistake
was in the beginning" he unused. 1.-THE
old man wouldn't consent to an en-
gagement On my going to work in the
regular way because, he said, would
slave all my life, and if success came
it would not come for many years.
Meanwhile his daughter would be
growing old. I resolved to stake all in
trying to make money in a hurry, and
have lost. But what splendid indi-
cation of character there is in her let
ter! l have no right to keep her tied
down to my hard luck till her beauty
is gone, and men, after all, are attract
ed by beauty and sentiment. There is
good stuff in Lucy, and she will make
some man a treasure of a wife. Be-
cause l can't have her shall deny her
to another? Shall I be a dog in
manger? No. l have resolved what to
do, and I'll do it. My clothes shall be
found by the river bank. Then, when
she gets the news she'll think Of some
one else, and there's plenty Of them
wanting her.
His eye lighting on a bit Of earth
which looked as if it might contain
gold, he took his magnifying glass from
his haversack and mechanically exam
ined the specimen, meeting with the
usual disappointment. 1t contained
! gold. but not in paying quantity. With
| sigh he hooked the handle of his
magnifying glass on to a twig that lay
| without the shade to watch, as he had
often done before, the concentrated
| rays Of the sun move slowly along the
surface Of the ground. The strong
light illumined the soil, revealing small
particles of gold. The sun moved slow
| ly, ana the prospector was tired and
discouraged. He fell asleep.
He was awakened by the smell Of
burning cloth. His first act was to
clap his hand to his pocket, thinking
that he might have placed his pipe,
lighted, in it. The pipe was there, but
cold. Next, he looked about him. On
his haversack was a round spot Of
bright light cast from the sun through
the magnifying glass, and thin film
of smoke indicated that the haversack
was burning Then he remembered the
gunpOwder.
Several things passed rapidly through
the prospector'S mind-frst and fore
most, that he would be blown to atoms;
secondly, that bona fide death would
| render a sham one necessary; thirdly,
that if he escaped being killed gun
| powder sham death would sound more
| probable than a drowning one; at any
| rate it would be more original. These
three transitions of thought occupied
| one second-a second of inaction-the
next he was On his feet and in two or
| three more some distance from his
haversack kneeling behind big stone.
He was none too soon. There was an
| explosion that threw him on his back,
anu ldy lOI dWu Lille Sluuupu. 1ucu
! he stood up and viewed great hole
where the explosion had taken place.
Now" he said lugubriously, "I've
| got to the bottom of my luck. Ten
| pounds of good blasting powder, rag
| ged haversack and a first rate magni-
tying glass gone up in smoke. Well,
| It's better to be at the bottom than the
top; at the top you're sure to fall, at
| the bottom you can only rise"
The force of habit led him to examine
| the hole. Taking up piece of quartz
that had been blown out of it he looked
! 1t over. 1t was a mixture Of pure gold
and rock in proportions Of about half
| aud half The moment he saw what it
| was a light Of gladness shone in his
| face. He was TRANSPORTED. Then be
began to kick dirt and dry leaves into
| the hole, not stopping till he had COW
LII L. - Il,