The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-12-26

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the spine OF your back up through the
top Of your head till it stands out like
a flagstaff Just one more touch and
you get it, says l.
"He didn't open his mouth again till
we come to the river. Then he pulled
up. This Is about as far as l care
to carry you two gents for nothin',' he
says. of course you're two to one,
and can't do nothing ii you see fit to
bull the thing through. But I'll say
this, If either one or both Of you roOst-
erS has got the least smell of a gentle
man about him he won't have to be
told his company amt wanted twice.
"Now. mind you, Ag and me didn't
have the first cussed thing-not grub
nor blankets nor gun nor nothing, and
this the Teller we'll knew.
"'Red.' says Aggy. what do you say
to pulling this thing apart and seeing
what makes it act 500
"'No,' says |. don't touch tit
might be catching. Now. you whelp.'
says I to the driver, you tell us If
there's q place where we can get any.
thing to eat around hereY We'd ex-
pected to go hungry until we hit the
camp some forty miles further on.
where we knew there'd be plenty for
anybody that wanted it,
ayes says he. There's man run
ming a shack two mile up the river
"'All right says l. Drive on.
You've played us as dirty a trick as
one man can play another. If we ever
get cinch on you, you can expect
We'll pull her till the la.igoes snap
"He kept shut till he got across the
river where he felt safe.
"Its all right about that cinchv he
boilers back, grinning. Only wait till
you get it, yer suckers! Sponges!
Beats! Deadheads! Yahv
| "Well, a man can't catch a team of
horses, and that's all there is about
1t. but want to tell you he was on the
anxious scat for quarter Of a mile.
We tried hard.
"When we got back to where we
started and could breathe again, we
held council Of war.
SNOW, Aggy,' says I, we're dumped.
What shall we doT'
"He sat there awhile looking around
him, swapping pebbles with his thumb.
""Tell you what it is, Red,' he says
at last, we might as wen go mining
right here. This Is likely gravel, and
there's river. If that bar in front Of
you had been further in the mountains
1t would have been punched full Of
holes. It's only because it's on the
road that nobody's taken the trouble
to see what was in it. This road was
made by cattle ranchers that didn't
know nothing about mining. and every
miner that's gone over the trail had
his mouth set to get further along as
quick as possble-just like us. Do
you see that little hollow running
down to the river? Well, you try
your luck there. give you that place,
as it's the most probable, and you as a
tenderfoot In the business will have all
the luck. I'll make stab where l am
"Well. sir, it sounds queer to tell 1t,
and 1t seems queerer still to think of
the doing of it, but hadn't dug two
feet before I come to bed rock, and
there was some heavy black chunks.
"'Aggy.' says I, what's these thingsY
throwing one over to him. He caught
1t and stared at 1t.
"'Where did you get that? says he
in almost whisper.
"'Why, out Of the hole, Of course.
says I, laughing. Come take look.'
"Aggy wasn't the kind of q man to
so off the handle over trifes, but when
he looked into that hole he turned per-
fectly green. His knees give out from
under him. and he sat on the ground
like man in trance, wiping the
sweat off his face with a motion like
a machine.
"'What the devil ails you? says I.
astonished. | thought maybe I'd done
something hadn't ought to do
through ignorance of the rules and
regulations of mining.
"'Red,' says he, dead solemn, I've
mined for twenty year and from old
Mexico to Alaska, but l never saw
anything that was ace high to that
before. Gold laying loose in chunks
on top of the bed rock is too much
for me. l wish Hy could see this
"'Gold" says l. What you talking
about? What have those black hunks
to do with gold?
"The only answer he made was to
lay the one had thrown to him on
top Of rock and hit her crack with
pick. Then he handed 1t to ne.
Sure enough! There under the black
was the yeller. OF course If I'd
known more about the business could
have told it by the weight, but I'd
never seen a piece Of gold fresh of
the farm before in my life. l hadn't
the slightest idea what 1t looked like,
and l learned afterward it all looks
different. Some Of 1t shines up yeller
in the start, some of it's red, and some
is like ours, coated black with iron
crust.
| $50 I looked at Ag. and Ag looked
at me, neither one Of us believing
anything ut all for awhile. simply
couldn't get hold Of the thing-I amt
yet, for that matter. l expect to wake