Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-08-19


deed
But we could not think about the
tragedy then. Our eyes returned with
an irresistible fascination to the mys-
terious raft. Could it, indeed, be a
phantom, as the old man had said? Was
It's strange course, up and down the
canon, the result Of a supernatural
agency or merely Of natural laws? We
watched 1t breathlessly, as 1t swept up
stream and again approached the point
where it's course had 50 abruptly
changed. Once more 1t stopped and
spun, as if struck by some strong op-
posing force, against which it was held
by the counter-current from behind.
Again 1t shot out towards the middle
Of the stream, and foated rapidly down
current, only to be caught once more
by the strange whirlpool and sent back
beneath the cliff.
Zone thing is sure" said my compan.
Ion. "That is no phantom raft, and to
prove 1t, will knock that axe into tha
water with q bullet"
Trefry was a crack shot, and he
knelt, rested his elbow on his knee, took
careful aim, and fred. The next In.
slant the axe, which had been lying
near the edge Of the raft, disappeared
in the black water. sr
The old trapper, starting to his knees,
had watched the shot with eyes that
fairly bulged from their sockets. When
he saw the axe sink beneath the water
his whole demeanor suddenly changed.
Raising his own rife quickly, he fred,
and the next instant puff like small
cloud Of smoke rose from the bundle In
the center Of the raft. As 1t cleared
away, we saw wide, ragged rent in
the half-rotten wrappings, and out Of
this rent was pouring a shining yellow
stream.
The trapper turned to us with a tri-
umphant smile.
~ thought So" he said ''It Is the
stolen gold. Now understand how
1t happened. Pierre and Mart thought
it would be safer to take 1t away down
the river. So they built raft. But
the raft got caught in the big whirlpool
Of the Black Gap, and they couldn't get
1t out And here they've been going
round and round for eleven years In q
trap that no man could get out alive
from. The breath has gone out Of their
bodies, and the flesh has fallen off their
bones, but the gold has been kept safe
all these years. 1t is the judgment Of
heaven I"
We went up stream five miles, till we
came to a cleft where "a tributary
stream made it's way down to the Vel
lowstone. Near its mouth we found
enough driftwood lodged to build an
other raft; and the next morning we
hoated down to the whirlpool. Using
the utmost care, lest we ourselves
should get caught In the back current,
we managed to fasten upon the treas
ure raft with a long, rude pike-pole,
and by our united strength In padding
and towing, we drew the other raft out
Of the whirlpool, and suffering both to
float together down stream, succeeded
where another cleft made 1t possible to
climb the canon wall.
The gold dust was treasure, indeed,
not less than half a bushel Of It, by
careful measurement. We carried it
back to the trapper's cabin, and Trefry
and left him there TO guard 1t, while
we prospected diligently for four
months, in the hope of finding the lead
from which 1t was taken. But not an
ounce Of gold did we scrape together
between us.
On our return we took the gold out
to the settlements and advertised for
Its owners. But though several claims
were put In by unprincipled parties, no
one was able to prove property; and
finally we came to the conclusion that
the treasure fairly belonged to those
who found 1t. We tried to get the old
trapper to take his third, but he would
not touch a penny.
"I should have no use for It," he said
"It would only lie behind my fireplace"
So Trefry and I went back to "the
States" richer by twenty thousand dol
lars, the treasure-trove of the Phantom
Raft.-Chicago Daily News.