Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-01-07

OF mud, put Wnat rocked he of such
things? In the pan he held joyously
forth was little heap of coarse gold.
which was worth fully 5000.
Then, as If remembering that he was
wasting time, he turned On his heel and
dashed back again like a schoolboy,
throwing his arms about his partner
and hugging him in the excess of hi,
Joy.
Then, actuated by one common i'm
pulse, the two men gave a wolfish yell
of exultation, and fell to work once
more, tearing out the moss and soil with
desperate energy. They had reached
the goal for which they had left homo
and dear ones, and. with superhuman
strength, they went at the work of Dig
ging and washing, unmindful of all else.
Meanwhile Tom and his friends had
returned TO their digging. With their
crude implements it would be a waste
of time to attack the ledge, and they
determined to stick to the gravel until
Taylor returned. They had only dug
up very small part of their claims as
yet.
The following day Tarbox saw a thin
column of smoke several miles away,
and said TO Avery:
There's more of them coming"
They may not be coming here" re-
piled the old miner.
"Yes, they are" was the confident
rejoinder. These two men saw our
fire and followed it up. That party OF
there probably has been following their
smoke, and so it goes. When one crow
bnds anything to eat, you know, others
soon follow. The only wonder is that
we have kept the place to ourselves SO
long. There'll be a hundred men hero
in fortnight and a thousand in q
month"
About shutdown that night party of
four miners appeared from the woods,
and after few words with the latest
corners staked off claims and went into
camp.
Day hy 3ayr they continued to arrive,
but as yet there was room for all. There
was no rush, because all who came
found gold so plenty that they remained,
and at the end of three weeks there
were not over threescore men on the
ground.
1t was now time for Dick Taylor to
return, and our friends began to be
anxious about him. Their fears were
groundless, however, for one afternoon
he made his appearance. mounted on q
horse and leading half dozen others.
With him were two well-dressed stran-
gers, who looked keenly about them an
they rode down the valley.
After greeting his friends, he intro
duced the strangers to the party and
said:
Il have brought these gentlemen out
to look at our claims. They represents
syndicate of rich capitalists"
He then pointed out the exact location
of the claims, after which he took the
men to the cave and showed them tho
bags of gold.
I'VE want to sell out the whole bust
ness" he said, bluntly. There's what
we have taken out. We haven't begun
TO dig one-quarter of the claims. Take
look round and make us an. offer"
wait moment" said Avery, STEP
ping forward with the piece of quartz
| they had split open. ''See here, Dick,
we took this out of that ledge the day
you went away. Let them look at it
before they make any offer"
Let me see thati" exclaimed one of
the men, quickly, extending his hand.
You found thai bere?'
Come and III show you the spot"
They followed him in silence and the
younger man produced a small ham
mer with which be Clipped Off a piece
OF the rock and examined il closely.
Then he gave the other a look which
m f,-ia l-
with an atfectation of carelessness:
There may be paying quartz here
and may not. 1t would cost fortune
10 get machinery here and find OUT
But he was not dealing with ignorant
men, as he soon found out, for Taylor
remarked, quietly:
That specimen doesn't lie. That
ledge of quartz is where all this gold
we've been digging came from. It's
worth a million to-day. Now. gentle
men, / have no time to waste haggling
over the matter. We are no hogs, but
you mustn't take us for greenhorns.
We've done well here and want TO get
out. Make us an offer tomorrow. We
will give you until tomorrow night to
look around and see what you are buy
ing"
His friends gave prompt assent to
this proposition, and the two capitalists
had no choice but to acquiesce as grace
fully as possible.
The following noon they came to
Dick Tayor and offered him $50, 600 for
the five claims. He laughed and re-
piled:
DO you think We are foolish? They
are worth five times that amount
An hour later they offered SIS 900 and
were refused.
Seeing that he was determined, the
elder man said:
I'VE are only authorized to expend
100000. VIII you take that?"
After a short consultation the offer
was accepted and preparations were at
once commenced for the tourney to
Dyea, where the formal transfer was to
be made.
t. younger Of the buyers was to re-
main at the SpOtto look afte: the claims