Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1904-08-27
LLOYD'S LUCK.
~~~~~~~~

0OH HEN Lloyds father told him
W that he had sold the farm arm and
that they were going to spend
the summer camping out. Lloyd was
very much delighted. His father and
two other men had formed partner.
ship and were going to spend the sum.
mer In mining. They bought their pro.
visions and mining outfit. and loading
them In two wagons, they started.
Lloyds father and mother. with Lloyd
and the provisions were in one wag.
on: In the other were the two partners.
with the picks. shovels. gold pans and
the lumber for sluice boxes and rock
ers.
When. after several days travelling.
they arrived at the place where they
Intended to mine. the men cut down
some trees. and in the course Of week
built log cabin. They had planned
to work placer claim" 1t had been
mined long ago, when gold was first
discovered In California, but not very
thoroughly. Lloyd liked to watch the
men shovel the dirt into the sluice box.
@ and see the swift muddy water wash
the rocks and coarse gravel out at the
other end. They found the dirt" was
not very rich. and some days when
they made cleanup" they would
ind very small quantity OF gold dust
In their rifles. less than half an ounce
for whole days run.
Lloyd soon grew tired Of watching
the men work; he wished to do some
mining all by himself; so his father.
one evening after his own work. made
him little rocker out Of the thin light
boards Of dry goods box. and every
day Lloyd would play he was miner.
Finally he carried his rocker up the
stream nearly quarter Of a mile
above where his father was working.
One Of the men had called to him,
''Hello. rocker. where are you going
with that boy?"
Lloyd looked back and said, "We're
going up the creek to find a claim Of
our own"
'well, so ahead. and good luck to
you" they called after him.
Lloyd did not find much "color''
along the creek, so he carried his rock
er up a dry gulch that led into that
stream.
Next day Lloyd dug till his hands
were bllstered and his back ached. lie
had been digging hole where the
ground was wet and soggy, so that he
could get water to rock with. When
he went back next morning he found
that the hole was nearly full Of muddy
water that had seeped In from the
spring. There was enough water to
run the rocker for some time.
In one place at the lowest part of
the gulch. near where his rocker was
set, a rock cropped out few inches.
He did not know it at the time, but
he had gone to the best place possible.
A few inches below the surface he
struck bedrock. 1t was quite Irregular.
He took his shovel and scraped the
rock, plling the gravel beside his rock
err. He threw a shoyelful Of dirt into
the hopper. dipped up some water and
started to rock When the dirt and
gravel had washed through the hopper
he lifted 1t off to throw away the
coarser gravel and rocks that would
not pass through the holes in the sheet
iron bottom of the hopper, As he did
so he noticed q pretty rock he had
thrown out. II was white, with yellow
streaks in IL. lie found several more
pIeces. and put them in his pocket "a
ask his father what they were. He
did not know that he had found some
very rich gold quartz, but when he
lifted M the hopper and saw line OF
yellow along both of the rifles on the
unnar snron. he was enough of n miner
% know that he had found rich nav
dirt The gold dust was coarse. some
az II being as large as grains OF rice
He went 10 the camp and got a gold
nan so that he could clean 10 the
rocker,
That night. when the men came 10
sumner. Lloyds mother said to her hus.
band:
.,vou bow AID vou ia +o-dor, MIA
ror bara a GOOD cIaan.uny