The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1918-03-08

siOns for a year wore taken up to DE
mine and force Of men engaged. They
knew the uselessness Of the work, hut
they were paid to work and not to
give advice.
The twenty stamps were polished till
they shone. The big hopper was ready
filled with ore. The blankets had been
laid along the incline and the trough
made ready. The little stream Of wa.
ter that was to mix with tie pulverized
rock was waiting to begin it's work.
The turbines below were filed with
water, and the quicksilver there. All
was waiting for the signal, but the
Ingrams had spent their last dollar.
Then, the great machine began to
move, the stamps to rise and fall with
rhythmic regularity, the broken rock
to fill the trough and the water to
flow. The Keystone mill was in full
operation.
Winter had been abnormally open
and so far not a fake of snow had
fallen in the mountains. Only a few
nine weeks of blind labor the first real
knowledge of the value of the mine
would be known. The young people
up at the mine were happy, and felt
that their prospects were bright. The
JOY Of achievement was greater than
anything else. They would know to-
morrow. The New Year should see the
elimination of their toll and sacrifice,
and its recompense.
But In her ignorance Mary had not
foreseen how much she was to need
her mother" until New Years eve.
Finally one of the men ut the saloon
remarked: 1.-THE whole business won't
pan out an ounce. They were In a
devil of fix before, and now-well
I'm sorry for them"
$50 am l." said Doc Stimson, land
I'm sorry Just thirty ounces
One Of the other men remarked to
the ceiling that he was sorry fifty
in" and there was gathering Of near
ly two hundred ounces Of gold, some Of
1t In bottoms. from the retorts, some
river dust, and some the dull grains
from placers.
Almost without sound the crowd
started for the Keystone with the gold
they had contributed The Waterman
was so glad that he was not to be
lynched for not having told the fool
ish children the truth that he was per-
fectly willing to enter the plot, which
was to place all this gold into the
turbine tub and allow Ingram to be-
lieve it gold from his mine. The main
point now was to keep the fatal truth
from them. Later-well they would
see. SO. they all sat down to wait
for daylight and possibly news from
the shack. They put stone in the
gear of the turbine so that the motion
would not wash out the fine particles
of, dust as they could not gather with
Tic quicksilver and form amalgum on
account 2f the multiplying effects of the
arsenic.
.A.ss tteTT long and cold wait there was
4 lusty wall, sound never to be tor-
gotten, and they listened breathlessly
for news from the doctor.
ITS the finest boy In Kern county,"
said the doctor, just as the tardy sun
came over the mountain. One man
wanted to celebrate the day by lynch
ing the man that sold the mill to the
innocents, but just then the door
opened again and Ed came bounding
to them saying:
"Say, boys, I've got son. VIII you
come in and see him? Mary is will
ing but she mustn't talk. And, I'm
glad you've come. Oh, yes, Happy New
Year."
"Yes-Happy New Year for us all,
and the boy in particular" the men
shouted as they followed Ed to the
shack. Ed continued:
you'll all stay to breakfast, for we
are going to have the first cleanup
right away"
"Just so-just So" said Jim, and
then with hushed steps they went into
the little shack as though they were
treading on holy ground. The beauty
and grace of motherhood had fallen on
Mary and her smile was ineffable. Even
the mine was forgotten In her sweet
joy.