The Elk Mountain pilot., 1924-01-03
Finding
Gold
By ANTHONY RElMERr
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C. Isss. Western Newspaper Unioa-)

~ his eyes shining with exultat1on.
he had found gold. He had found one
Of the richest gold deposits In the
country.
He was now sixty-eight. and for thir-
ty years he had roamed that district,
confident that the lode was there. And
his faith had sustained him to the
point Of victory. He had found It
Wealth for the remainder Of his life.
a happy life in California. or some
where where the sun shone and 4 man
could sit under his orange tree and
smoke a pipe and think Of the hard
days that were past
he had no kim he had only himself
to consider. How different from that
poor devil. Smith, the consumptive of
twenty-seven. who had a wife and
child back In the States somewhere.
Smith had told him only the day be-
fore, as he worked the claim beside his.
that he was not going to try there any
more: he was going on.
Filson- looking down the canyon. saw
Smith sitting dejectsdly at me en-
trance to his tent. his pack beside him.
so Smltn ndd gwen up
Old Fflson chuckled. Smith had
given up the quest Smith was moving
on. leaving him aloneI
He chuckled, and he began thinking
Of those thirty years Of effort and
struggle He had been nearly frosen
10 death. he had been attacked once by
q grizzly and escaped BY the skin Of
his teeth; he had starved hvs days IN
the wilderness.
have his little ranch In California and
enjoy life. and leave the quest Of gold
to poor devils like Smith.
He went back to his tent "Hello.
Smith I" he shouted. as he passed him.
The consumpt1ve looked up at him
mournfully.
Day, Mr.. Fflson.- he answered.
you look a. II you was packing to
move. Smith"
"why, didn't tell you, Filson. but
got letter from the wife when was
sick. and the kids ailing, too. She
wants me to come back. Says II I
don't come she won't be answerable for
the consequences don't get just
what she means by that. but I'm might
ily worried"
81 dunno how America amt the best
place for feller like you. Smith,"
said Filson-
THE worst Of II Is, I'll get back
penniless. l haven't made a cent be-
yond the bare living. There's no gold
Z IN
to do, FilsonT'
The question struck home to Filson.
What was he going to do7
OF a sudden the realization came to
him that the habits of those thirty
years could not be shaken off so light
ly. He had always been buoyed up by
the hope of finding gold. but now that
his dreams were at an end he realized
that II was the dream he wanted more
than reality.
Deprived of that dream, what would
life mean to him in California. such a
life as he had been planning7 He had
bound himself with the meshes of his
dream. and there was no escaping
them.
And now that he had found gold, he
knew that he would have to go on all
the rest of his days looking for more
gold.
He looked at Smith. sitting there.
the picture of misery.
what d. you suppose she means by
lit" he asked him.
why" answered Smith, there was
q feller hanging round her year be
7 inl rad fo
little bit for him. too. Ny wlfe's a
good girl, but-well. you know what 1t
il for a woman living like her, with
her husband away and nothing In the
shape Of hope to live on"
Sure" answered old Filson, grimly.
thinking Of his own hopes. "Sure. we
got to have hope to live on. That's big
ger than having the real thing some
times. And sometimes n amt"
Her letter gave me to understand
that had to choose one way O. the
other" said Smith. "Shs gave ne till
spring"
It'll spring, Why. you can ssli the
placer to q company By spring r. yelled
Fflson- Il mean-say, looky here. boy.
I found gold in paying quantities this
morning on my claim. Not much. but
enough to sell to one Of them concerns
in Nome that's always picking up
properties. Well. I'm plumb sick Of
these parts, and I know there's a big
lode hundred miles north. Jest feel
II In my bones. You take my claim.
Smith, and see what you can do with
II, and maybe you'll be out in the
spring with something. II it's only :
hundred or two. Met Shucks. don't
worry about mel I'm too old to bother
with this. when I Jest know the mother
lode's up north"
Judge Taken Down Peg.
A newly appointed judge of the Su-
nrema Court who felt nraffY well sat