The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1923-05-10

AN! 'dh IL SldpuiC sciN, SuilClrQpS
beause the crystals are very frequent
ly set up in twins and branch off SO
that they look like written characters.
The crystals are monoclinic and occur
in porphyry almost exclusively. II is
a mixture of gold and silver telluride
and it's also called t%ellurium."
Tn much obliged" said Sandy.
I've learned a heap"
Westlake looked at him suspicious
ly, but Sandy's face was grave as that
OF the sphinx.
THE porphyry dykes here are In
syncline," the engineer went on. "They
dip toward each other from both sides
of the valley and form loops or folds.
If you imagine an onion sliced in halt
you catch the idea. Call every other
layer porphyry. with rock and other
dirt between. The bottom of a loop
may he deep down or It may be miss
ing altogether. ground away when the
! valley was gouged out by a glacier
There may be other loops beneath 1t.
Some portions of the loops come to the
surface on the hillside and you can
guess nj their dip. But-the gamble
lies in this The ones that are exposed
may or may not carry The gold-bearing
veins. This Casey, who made the
original strike. did he take out much?"
"As | understand IT," replied Sandy,
she hits the porphyry where it's shall
Ter, or worn of, like you said. An he
| finds pipI 40 Ct,,ff ripht 4, r.n,r nrn,,.h
To start the camp. Quite a few works
on that outcrop an then 1t peters out.
Casey sahed a bit about synclines, !
reckon, 70 he kept faith in the camp,
on'y he realized il nd take n heap of
money to develop, meanin' to dig
through the %porphyry, 4 suppose. Now
they've found some mo- of that float
ore that the first crowd overlooked.
Reckon that'l peter out too, after a
while. But capital may come in IN
this second staht. Some Eastern folk
were Io0kin' over the place "A while
back"
Westlake halted and took a small
steel hammer from his pocket with
which he struck off Il fragment of rock
protruding from the ground. The
cleavage showed purple. He walked
slowly along for some fifty feet, kick
other samples to which he put his
tongue.
Taste good?" asked Sam.
Not had. If you're looking for min
eral. They've got a distinct flavor all
their own, hut I wetted them to show
the color up more plainly. Here is
the Out-crop OF the syncline reef. II
may carry gold and it may. not. but it's
wide enough. It's near the surface and
it's as good a place as any"
Sandy. CHANGING across the valley TO
where the engineer pointed, nodded his
head. "Your Judgment goes with
Casey's." he said. Right across from
here is where he located his claims. !
take II. How about II, Mormon? Fits
the description to a T."
Sure does" aSsented Mormon. "If
you locate here. marin" he said to Mi
randa, AN we-all make a strike, Wen
be on the same vein. | reckon"
ITS all Greek to me-" said the spin
ster. "How do we locate? I've come
this far. an I'll see the thing through
to some sort of finish. How many
claims can W. take up an what's the
size OF EN-, Mr.. Westlake?"
The three partners left Miranda and
the engineer measuring off and setting
up their monuments at the corners Of
the claim. They started directly down
the side-hill, MAKING for the valley. In
silence. like men with business ahead
Of them that called for action rather
than words.
Here's the situation, as | sabe It,"
said Sandy. "PlimsoIl met up with
Pat Casey from time to time. Molly
said so. There's other witnesses to
that. Plimsoll1l ure some Of them to
swear that he grubstaked Casey.
They'll be some of his own crowd. No
doubt Plimsoll got the location Of the
claims from the old records an these
buckaroo pals of his, who are rOostin'
on said location. knew jest where TO
go an stahtedtout well In front with
their outfit. 4 don't reckon we'I find
Plimsoll up there, though we amt
seen him so far this mo'nin', but I'll
bet our best bun ag'in a chunk of dog
meat that they're On his pay roll"
'Shucks, IL don't make no difference
whose pay roll they're on" said Nor
mon. They're clairhjumpers an. like
you said, Sandy jump can be made
two ways. Let's 90 look EN- over"
The tent was pitched on the hillside
where the grade was too steep TO per-
NIT of level ground enough for more
than the actual fioCs space. The tent
flaps were open and showed cots on
which blankets and clothing were
roughly spread. On two of these beds
men sprawled asleep. Five others
were seated on boxes about a boulder
that looked like porphyry outcrop. Its
surface was fiat enough. to serve as a
table. The five were playing poker.
They were not a prepossesing lot. play
ing their game In silence. looking up
with a scOwl and movements toward
gun butts at the visitors.
"I'ye seen that tent %afore," whis-
pered Sam to Sandy. The latter
nodded.
"Campin' out, gentsY' he asked
a,ntohyr