The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-06-19
CHAPTER XXI.

But there came the day, one year.
in early April, when Dede sat IN an
easy chair on the porch, sewing Oh
certain small garments. while Day
light read aloud to her. 1t was IN
the afternoon, and a bright sun was
shining down on a world OF new green
Along the irrigation channels OF the
vegetable garden streams OF water
were flowing, and now and again LAY
light broke of from his reading to run
out and change the flow OF water.
Also, he was teasingly interested IN
the certain small garments on WHICH
Dede worked, while she was RADIANT
ly happy over them. though at times
when his tender fun was too insistent'
she was rosily confused or afectlon-
ately resentful. It was a few minutes
later that Daylight, breaking of from
his reading to change the streams OF
irrigation, found that the water had
ceased flowing. He s~houldered a PICK
and shovel. took a hammer and a pipe
wrench from the Toulouse. and re-
turned to Dede on the porch
ct reckon I'll have to go down and
dig the pipe out" he told her: Its
that slide that's threatened all winter.
l guess she's come down at last"
Don't you read ahead. now" he
warned, as he passed around the
house and took the trail that led down
the wall Of the canyon.
Hallway down the trail. he came
UPON the slide. 1t was a small affair,
only a few tons Of earth and crum-
bling rock; but, starting from fifty
feet above, 1t had struck the water
pipe with force sufficient to break 1t
at a connection. Before proceeding
to work. he glanced up the path OF
the slide, and he saw what made his
eyes startle and for the mo-
ment from questing farther.
Hello" he communed aloud. "look
who's here"
His glance moved on up the steep
broken surface, and across 1t from
side to side. Here and there. in
places. small twisted manzanitas were
rooted p~recariously, but in the main.
save for weeds and grass. that portion
of the canyon was bare. There were
signs OF a surface that had shifted
often as the rain poured a flow of rich
eroded soil from above over the lip of
the canyon.
"A true assure vein. or I never saw
one," he proclaimed softly.
Dropping the hammer and pipe
wrench. but retaining pick and shovel,
he climbed up the slide to where a
vague line Of o%ut-jutting but mostly
~soil-covered rock could be seen. 1t
was all but indiscernible. but his prac-
ticed eye had sketched the hidden in
formation which 1t signiied. Here
and there. along this wall Of the vein.
he attacked the crumbling rock with
the pick and shoveled the cucumber
ing soil away. Several times he ex-
amined this rock. So soft was some
Of it that he could break it in his fin
gers. Shifting a dozen feet higher up,
he again attacked with pick and
bed the soil from a chunk Of rock cnd
looked, he Strengthened up suddenly,
gasping with delight And then. like
a deer at a drinking pool in fear of its
enemies, he flung a quick glance
around to see If any y were gazing
upon him. He grinned at his W
foolishness and returned to his exami-
nation of the chunk. A slant Of SUM-
light fell on 1t. and it was all aglitter
with tiny specks of u~nmistakable free
gold.
From the grass roots down." ne
muttered in an awe-stricken voice, as
he swung his pick into the yielding
surface.
Sometimes he started small slides
of earth that covered up his work and
compelled him to dig again. Once
he was swept fifty feet down the can
yon-side; but he loundered and scram-
bled up again without pausing for
breath. He hit upon quartz that was
so rotten hat 1t was almost like clay.
and here the gold was richer than
ever. 1t was a veritable treasure
chamber. For a hundred feet up and
down he traced the walls Of the vein.