Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1906-04-21
THE SHADOW OF THE GOLD.
BY F. A. BANER.
tcoNTINUED FROM LAST WEEK. ]

1t was all could think of that was at
all appropriate. selected a perfect
spot with beautiful larch at the head
of the grave. It's dense foliage shelf
ering his resting place alike from the
storms and the blisteripg sun.
81 built a good fence apd made
substantial headboard with his name
and the date of his death.
''All this time l was dazed, seemingly
and moved around as one in dream
/ kept thinking that would get ready
and leave, and as often postponed it.
$50 it went along until, the winter
was on, and the snow line was creeping
steadily down the mountain side. But
in my sheltered haven, it was very
little like winter. To be sure little
ice formed. at night upon the quiet
pools and The last leaves had fluttered
from the sarvice and naples, but the
days were perfect.
81 made pack of what gold 1 could
carry well, not taking to much, for l
had hard trip before me, and cached
the rest.
Time and again l would put up food
preparatory to leaving. but it seemed
as though a OBTAINING hand was upon
me. Finally l said to myself one day:
I'll be jiggered if go, this winter.
I'll stay with Lew The yellow valleys
spell was not to be broken.
1.-THE winter soon passed. AS you
know, the winters are light and the
spring comes early along the Salmon,
and in my sheltered nook it seemed to
come earlier yet.
81 spaded up the garden and planted
the early seeds. In rummaging through
the supplies found two big sacks of
rolled oats, and said to myself that
they would spoil
Il don't know what possessed me,
but while l was tinkering around.in the
garden one day I got to wondering if
those oats oats wouldn't grow.
couldn't see why they wouldn't 1t
didn't seem to me that the process of
rolling would kill the germs.
'At any rate spaded up little
piece of ground and put it in fine con-
dition, and sowed it with rolled oats,
thanking my stars that there was no
one around to see me doing it. Nothing
could have persuaded them that l didn' t
have bats in my belfry for sure.
"Well, you can imagine that l watch
ed that patch of soil with good deal
of interest, and one morning l found it
thickly sprinkled with little grass like
shoots. l really couldn't believe that
they were oats until l pulled up some
and found the oats still clinging to the
roots.
''As the time passed, tried to ana
lyze the situation. found that l was
well contented. Alone, but not lonely.
Was l alone? 1t seemed to me that
Lew was still with me, and got into
the way of talking to him as l went
aimlessly pottering about
"a feeling took possession of me
that here ] must finish out my span.
That if Jared forth into civilization,
| would be the most restless and the
very lonliest being in all the wide world.
There's not much more to tell.
Spring blended into summer and my
experimental oats grew as tall as the
fence and headed out. Say, that was
the funniest crop of oats you ever saw
Instead of the grains being like other
oats, long and round and tapering to a
point they were just fat and circular,
with not sign of husk, or whatever
you call it, on EN-.
when they got ripe threshed then,
off on piece of canvas, and you
couldn't have told them from the man.
ufactured article. Some larger anc
: plumper, maybe.
} Thine passed, season following sea
: son. l said that I was contented. 81
was in the main. But now and agar
} l would have restless, unsettled day
J and would decide to leave and go int
the world again. Then | would g,
about preparing for my trip and ge
, everything ready for an early start il
the morning. But when the morning
came the feeling had passed. The de
, sire to go possessed me no longer, ant
r | settled again into the old rut
3 Thus tran along until a short tim
n ago. One day got to feeling as thong
t l must do something desperate. fel
e like climbing to the. hiuhact naak ON