Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-03-27


tWhy, hear you as plain rs though
you set right next me- says AZ. Now.
you listen and see If I'm audible at the
same range You're blasted chump.'
he roars IN a tone Of voice that would
have carried forty mile. Did you hear
that. RedT he asks very innocent. l
was SO hot at the drivers sass-th"
cusscd low downneSs Of doing Teller
favor and then heaying It ut him
that you could have lit q match on Inc
anywhcrcS. but to save me ! couldn't
help laughing -Ag had the comicalest
way.
"At that the driver begins to larrup
the horses. I amt the kind to feel
faint when Il cayuse gets what's com
lag 10 him for raising the devil. but
I" see that lad whale his team because
there wasn't nothing else he dared hit
got me on my hind legs. l nestled
one hand in his hair and twisted his
ugly mug bacs.
>..ait that" says L.
"'Ynu let me bel mint hurting you,'
he hollers
THAT amt TO say I won't be hurt
ing you soon.' says /. You put the
bud on them horses again. and III boot
the spine of your back up through the
top Of your head till 1t stands out like
flagstaff Just one more touch and
you get 1t" says I.
''IIe didn't open his mouth again till
we come to the river Then he pulled
L., pnv \
to carry you two gents for nOthin',' he
says. or 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 well knew.
Red says Aggy. what do you say
to pulling this thing apart and seeing
what makes 1t act sor
mo- says I, don't touch tit
might be catching. Now, you whelp.'
says I to the driver, you tell US II
there's a place where we can get any
thing to eat around herer 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 1t.
YES says he. There's a man rum
ming a shack two mile up the river
IAN right says I. Drive on.
You've played US as dirty a trick US
one man can play another. II we ever
get q cinch on you, you can expect
We'll pull her till the latigoes 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! Spongesi
Beats! Deadheads! Yah!
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 seat for a quarter of a mile.
We tried hard.
when we got back to where We
started and could breathe again, We
held a council Of war.
ANVWs ASSys OdyS 1, VIC nc OUIupeu.
What shall we dor
HE sat there awhile looking around
him, swapping pebbles with his thumb.
"Tell You what 1t is, Red he says
at last. we might as well go mining
right here. This is likely gravel. and
there's a river. II 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 possible-just like US. Do
you SEQ that little hollow running
down to the river? Well. you try
your luck there. give you that place.
as it's tic most probable, and you as q
tenderfoot In the business will have all
the luck. I'll make stab where I am
"Well. sir. 1t sounds queer to tell It
and 1t seems queerer still to think OF
the doing Of II, but hadn't dug two
feet before I come to bed rock, and
there was some heavy black chunks.
"Aggy.' says 1. what's these things?
throwing one over to him. He caught
It and stared Mt 1t.
"'Where did you get thatY says he
In almost a whisper.
"'Why, out Of the hole. Of course!
says l. laughing. Come take loOkv
"Aggy wasn't the kind Of a man t.
60 OF the handle over tribes. but wher
he looked into that hole he turned per
fectly green. His knees give out from
under him. and he sat on the ground
like a man in trance, swiping the
sweat of his face with a motion like
machine.
"'What the devil ais your says I
astonished. I thought maybe I'd done
something hadn't ought to Dc
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 I 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. wish Hy could see this
"'Gold" sayo I. What you talking
about? What have those black hunks
to do with goldY
The only answer he made was t.
lay the one I had thrown to him OF
top Of q rock and hit her a crack witt
pick. Then he handed 1t to me
Sure enough! There under the blacl
was the yeller. OF course e II
known more about the business coul(
have told 1t by the weight, but II
never seen n piece Of gold fresh of
the farm before in my life. I hadn'
the slightest idea what 1t looked like
and l learned afterward 1t all look:
different. Some Of 1t shines up yellel
in the start. some Of It's red, and som,
Is like ours, coated black with irol
crust.