The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-06-12
The Clean
of Yellow
Metal
BY ANTHONY REIMERT
20. 1924, Western Newspaper Union-)

SCI TELL you I'm through with you
Jim Black, and you can either
git or I will"
"Oh, I'll git, Tom Blenkins, 6on''
you worry about that. / was a foo
ever to come out with you"
you come out with me, not because
you was a fool, though God knows
you're that, but because you're that
greedy the thought Of striking the
Mother Lode turned what head you
got"
Huh I guess l don't talk about
gold in my sleep the way you do,
night after night"
So saying, Black picked up his coat,
removed his tools and started for the
shack.
The two old partners had been
searching for the Mother Lode for
months. They had prospected together
for nearly twenty years, with varying
success. Now up, now down, they had
stuck together, in spite of bitter quar-
rels.
But this quarrel was the culmina-
ton of several. And this time it was
In earnest. Each of the two men had
vowed that he would never speak to
the other as long as he lived.
Tom Blenkins, left on the ground,
s~eliloquized:
Blacks his name, and blacks his
heart. He'd murder me for that thar
gold. Night after night, when he
thought 1 was asleep, l seen him settin'
thar and watchin' me. And it's me
that discovered the Mother Lode. Why
should 1 tell him how neal we are to
fndin' it when he'd stick me with a
knife first minute I fell asleep?"
Black, eating his last meal In the
shack, was meditating:
Toms fair dippy over that Mother
Lode. Huh Mother Lodel Thar amt
no mother lode nowheres around here.
He's foolin' himself. Me for the hills,
whar a man can clean up a decent liv-
in with his pannin', without troublin'
about no Mother Lode"
When he had finished his meal he
packed his bundle and strobe away
the hill. But he hadn't gone far
before doubts began to assail him.
Had he done right to break so finally
with his old partner? He thought Of
the years that they had spent together.
He had been hasty. Well, it was too
late now to take back what he had
said. But he was tired. He sat down
on the hillside. Underneath him he
could see Blenkins working away with
pick and shovel and pan.
"The durn old fool!' he said affec-
tionately. "The durn old fool"
Tom Blenkins worked with a will.
eff / uncover that thar Mother Lode
tonight I'll shore have done a good
business gettin' rid Of old Black
he s~oliloquized. "Ornery, useless cuss.
Don't do a days honest labor and
wants to came in on the strike. And
him and me was goin' to have a good
line when we struck it! Huh, not for
nine! I'll have my good time to my
seIfl"
He went to work with a will. A
luge boulder INSTRUCTED the dry bed
If the stream and Blenkins dug his
)ick around it, trying vainly to pry it
tut of position and get at the sand I'M
lerneath. For a long time 1t resisted
lis efforts. Suddenly it gave. The big
tone rolled out of position.
Blenkins uttered a cry. Underneath
vas the CLEAN of yellow metal. He
tut his hand down and pulled out a
Another and another. The cavity
vas filed with nuggets. Frantically
drove In the pick. AS the stones
loosened more and more nuggets
cleaning gold dust were dis
losed. !
If 1t was not the Mother Lode 1t was
richer pocket than he had ever
in the course Of his life. There
be a hundred thousand dollars
Of gold in sight alone. :
He dropped his pick. God, what +
MS meant to himl And If Black +
admit been such a fool, what times q
have had together. Now he'd '
ave the good times himself. He +
Suddenly he realized that he would
e lost without his partner. +
He glanced up as a stone bounded 8
the side of the cliff. Black was h
oming sheepishly toward him. {
"Say, partner, l guess l was feelin' n
sore,'' he began. h
Blenkins leaped up and grabbed him q
Y the hand. "The Mother Lodel" he n
Look, partnerl Say, 1 guess a
lis means good times for you and me d
the coast together"