Idaho Springs siftings., 1904-07-16

had scratched ii. / staked out =
claim and sold ii to Jeuny's father for
a hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars He's made two millions out
of il. / made love 10 Jenny. and |
think she would have had me, but /
went to San Francisco and dropped
the hundred and twenty-five thousand
on the mining exchange. went back
and asked Jenny to wait until made
another fortune. She said she'd think
about it. ] guess she did year
later she married man who is now d
United States Senator. So ] broke
my neck. lost my fortune and my
sweetheart all in less than a year"
And What have yon now ~
This mountain chateau" replied
Blake, with a lordly sweep Of his arm.
and a hole in the ground back of it.
Then / have a fine view of the valley.
a good appetite. slumbering con-
science. and-and Dog, here, who
never upbraids me for being seven
kinds Of d fool,
John told the story of the dying
sailor and his map. and read an sN-
tract from Peter Burt's letter Then
he produced the map, and they spread
it ont ON The table and examined it
by the light uf the lantern.
4 followed the trail all right" ex-
plaiued John, until the storm set in,
and then / had To feel my way, Be
fore | lost my bearings | was ahout
two miles from the point where this
sailor claims to have found gold |
kept near the edge Of the cliff until |
cuul4 go no further. and then eurled
mp behind that rock In the hope tha
the storm would cease"
Blake studied the map with grow
ing interest and excitement. With a
splinter from log as Il marker he
traced the trail
I know every foet Of IT." he ex-
claimed, resting the point of the
splinter on a round spot on the map.
Here is Fishers Lake. You came
that far by stage. Hero is the creek
which you fellow for seven miles nm
til you come To the old Wormley trail.
You take that To the cliffs, and go
along the cliffs Hafl YOU cross four
brooks and come to the hfth one. You
were within a hundred yards of that
fifth stream. John. Now let's see the
key to this thing.
John handed him the letter.
From the east face of the square
rock. on the north bank of the brook.
at the edge Of the clin. read Blake.
4 know the rock well, Let's see.
Thence east along the bank of the
brock tn a straight line four hundred
and twenty-five feet, and then north
at right angles. sizty-seven feet to the
base of the taueet pine in the neigh
borhoad. "
Blake rushed to the door, fergetful
Of the storm. to verify his suspicious.
He pushed it opeu an inch, but a
solid bank Of snow blocked the way.
Where do you suppose the base Of
that pine tree is?" he demanded.
without waiting for a reply he found
a hatchet and tapped the clay floor
until he located spot which gave Il
deadened sound. Then he chopped
away a few inches of packed dirt and
sank the blade into a solid substance
There's the base of the big pine
tree described by your dead sailor
and I'll bet my life on it, 4" he shouted
And here are sections of the tree. he
continued, pointing To the logs which
formed the foundation Of the cabin.
I'm dead sure Of 1t. John. II Is about
hundred and forty yards from here
to the edge of the cliff. | know, for
! measured il. and its about twenty
yards to the brook What Is more
conclusive. this was by far the largest
tree anywhere around. That's why |
located the cabin here. Let's see
what comes next" His eyes glis-
tened with exciteme Mt
The instructions were to measure
three hundred and eighteen feet north
from the base Of the tree and thence
east to a carefully described rock,
which Blake remembered. This was
the base of the incline. Within hun.
dred yards Of this rock the key 10,
gated three golt bearing quartz
lodges.
ITO be continued