Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-07-03

the rivulet. Dinsdale stood and
watched him. Pyrites exclaimed some
thing under his breath.
"How does It pan out?" asked Dins-
dale, with a flicker of interest.
About four or five colors."
whats that in money!"
Pyrites, scratching his head, unwill-
ingly admitted:
About fifth of cent"
Great Scott If that's prospecting
I'm through. Why, it costs me fifteen
cents to fire one of my guns once I"
cried Dinsdale in high disgust.
Pyrites instantly regained his OPP
timism. "The value of that pan simply
proves there's gold everywhere in these
hills. This amt where we was aim
ing for anyway. / want to work close
to the divide and locate vein."
'"That will be more like IT, mumbled
Dinsdale II won't bother to get my
pan working till we strike something
more promising"
Eating an early supper, the burros
were loaded and the two struck to
the southeast for a mile and then
turned east into dry water course
and began mounting the divide. In
all they did not cover more than two
miles before the slanting sun rays
warned them 1t was time to make
camp Dinsdale left this matter en-
tirely to Pyrites, and the location Sc
lected was close by spring, near a
growth of stunted burr-oak AS Py-
rites pitched the tent he commented:
"We're below Elk buttes and about
ten miles east of Elkhorn prairie. I'd
like to go over there and put in few
days.
"I'm more interested In the divide
ahead than in any grass prairie" said
Dinsdale.
"Oh, we'll look over the divide first.
now we're within pistol shot Of it,
"Any danger from horse thievesY'
"Hoss thieves? Good landl What
made you think Of boss thieves? Let's
not have any outlaw talk. We're hon.
est prospectors. We don't want any
truck with unlawful men,"
That's right" heartily agreed Dins-
dale. "All / ask is not to be dis
turbed in my gold-hunting."
The next morning they breathed a
white mist when they crawled from the
tent. Dinsdale was for an immediate
departure for a higher level. Pyrites
insisted on breakfast and something Of
an examination Of the gully they had
been following.
"Just as you say. You're the boss"
i surrendered Dinsdale. "But I've got
the gold fever and after we've had cof-
fee I'm going to take my pan and
strike out up the ridge"
you'll ger lost sure as apples" re-
monstrated Pyrites. "You don't know
these hills, with their gorges and
broken tops"
Il know hills much worse than these.
Baked masses of dry cinders with no
running water to tell you the lay Of the
land. This country is simple. Man
can't get lost. Don't be afraid"
"Have 1t so. Hope you strike a
bushel of nuggets. I'll stick along here.
You'll be back by noon?"
"Have dinner ready and eat If
don't show up. may strike something
big and forget I'm hungry"
A short distance above his companion
Dinsdale halted and dug down foot
and carefully examined the dirt. With
out water he could not determine
what he had uncovered, but by rolling
some of the dirt between his fingers he
was rewarded with small scale of
coarse gold. He stuck branch in
the dirt to attract Pyrites' attention
and mounted higher.
Digging out samples at short inter-
walls and finding specks Of gold in each
he used up much Of the morning. Py-
rites was nowhere in sight. The sun
was nearly overhead as he filed his
pan from the topmost mound. Instead
of hurrying down the ridge, however,
he squared his shoulders to get the
kinks out Of his back and glanced
curiously about the panorama of hills
and ridges and melancholy woods.
Then staring down at the fresh mound
he muttered:
IF you were all pure gold, friend
dirt, I'd swap you in second just to
know what Jim Omaha looks like !;
Just to know If he has reached Dead
wood City yet
He mounted the ridge to where it
was clear of trees. The sun had con-
quered the mists and the heavens
shone blue. To all appearances it was
q dead land. No smokes were to be
seen, no habitations, no sounds of hui
man voices. And yet there were In
dams lurking in the deep gulches and,
rumor persisted, there were organized
horse thieves with rendezvous on the
divide, while possibly other lone pros
pectors, like Pyrites, were seeking
fortune in the winding depths below
He left his pan and pick while he re-
connoitered the top Of the ridge He
reached the crest only to discover an
other and higher ridge ahead. He
descended into the shallow valley, be-
tween the two and followed it down
for a fourth of a mile, proceeding
slowly and watchful for Indian signs.
He was surprised and keenly inter-
ested in turning q wooded bend to be-
hold a long log cabin ahead. Beyond
1t were half a dozen open sheds and a
rough corral. He could detect no signs
of life about the place. With shrug
&c It, ~, o,,Idorc ha hOldlV advanced