Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1935-09-28

; HILLSIDE and the pear round drippe.
. water into 3 square concrete tank wners
his father had been accustomed 20 paz
dirt when the brock failed. Re 70
membered also that nearby was q denss
fig tree which bore excellent trtiit and
beneath which when 3 small boy &c
and his father had found q dry ref
uge during q eloudbur6S.
There was not much else that he
could remember BE would have to ges
some one to show him the boundaries
Of his property. Il consisted mostly
he thought, Of the long, low, sofely
rounded hill back Of the cabin.
The nearest neighbors. he remember
ed, had lived Q mile or more down the
road and on the other side OF the
brook. His father had sent him once
with 8 message. There had been q man
and his wife and q very little giri who
walked drankenly and, hiding behind
her mothers skirts, took an occasional
peep 80 him. He could not remember
the message OF the mans name. ~
might be amusing TO look him up ~
might not.
The cabin door was not locked. In
the mother lode country there mas
never been any need OF locked oooLs.
IN the old days those who had no res
pect for private property were promptly
! shot or hanged and left behind them
an aftermath Of scrupulous honesty
/ Nothing had been taken. There were
the two cot beds which he remember
ed. the kitchen chair, and the easy
chair. The ak was in its place ia we
| corner behind the stove. Even the
lantern had oil in It.
Night fen. He built q roaring IRE
In the rustic, stone fireplace, ate raw
enously and slept presently IN q pea
made Of two blankets Two Soeanet
rugs and an automobile robe;
At the end Of q month he had stop
ned aching from head to foot and was
banning in the neighborhood Of three
dollars a day. It was unlikely that ne
would ever strike q rich pocket but ne
preferred to believe the opposite IL
made life so much more interesting.
He had located his boundaries. HAN
mile Of the level ridge back OF the capln
belonged to him and both banks Of the
brook for an equal distance. The en-
tire property was mildly aurneroas.
Even the dirt which chung to the roots
Of the grass yielded color. Color 9
streak of bright gold set IN q residue
of fine black sand was only worth 3
few cents. But washed soil from the !
banks and bed OF the brook sometimes
enriched him by as much as q quarter.
One day he found nugget which 4
was worth o dollar and on another oc-
casion he found piece Of white quartz
with q thin leaf Of gold growing out Of
It like seaweed from rock which was
too pretty to sell. Meanwhile he was
living a life Of gorgeous Independence
and putting money in the bank.
Because Of its independence ana De
cause of the bright, hot. resinous GAYS
II 10 add rt0ylrlf5ffs
nights the life was gorgeous. But It was
also so solitary that it was sometimes
necessary to stiffen the lip against
the ache for companionship.
Planning for gold soon becomes
habit. The muscles themselves soon
master all the motions and tricks OF
the process and leave the mind Tree 70
roam.
Sometimes when the loneliness be-
came a little too bitter he sought COM
partnership In Jim Town. de hao
scraped acquaintance with NUMBER OF
old timers and he never wearied OF the
stories thew told him. Sometimes these
were stories Of violence, but mostly
they were Of foretunes missed or won
by strange freaks OF fortune.
They told for instance, OF the 5Wede
who was new TO the diggings ana VINO,
when he asked where he had better
start digging, was told that at the
roots Of yonder tree might be g good
place. And so it proved to be. With
Ehe first thrust of his shovel the SWede
opened a pocket which netteo MN
nearly thirty thousand dollars. Tnere
we're many variations Of this story and
there were stories Of men who had
been told where to dig In dreams II
ireams are the children Of suggestion
hen it was this last family OF stories
which deeply affected Johnnie Brink
ey's future life.
He began TO dream. At first the
iream seemed merely to assure MIN
hat somewhere on his property there
vas a rich pocket Of gold. But they DID
not ten him where it was, even vaguely
Then, and probably the story OF the
5wede had a hand in this, he dreamed
hat the rich pocket was all deeply
mixed up with the roots Of tree.
Five nights later he saw the tree.
t was not to be mistaken for any other
rec. It was q white oak and It had
me main branch which doubled back
N itself as q mans arm doubles when
le shows off his biceps. Even after
he stuff Of dreams had been swept
WAY by the clear morning light and
le was wide awake the image OF the
rec remained fixed in his memory.
3ut even this fact did not AZ once
tart him on a wild goose chase. Every
ne was agreed that dream before It
ould amount TO a row Of pins had to be
reamed three ttmes.
Nevertheless, the gold fever Of which
le was by no means cured flared up
nth renewed force and hope.
Johnnie was not in the least greedy.
he thought Of finding something rare.
omething which two generations OF
miners had overlooked, excited him
luch more than the thought Of lind
lg something valuable. It was sport
1g proposition. If the pocket did ex-
It he simply had to find it. just so 1t
possible to conceive OF q man who
nould gradually work himself into
assion Of determination to find the
eedle that has been lost in the hay
Jack
After Johnnie Brinkley had once
lore seen the tree IN a dream he gave
a name. He called It SandoW because
I the proud way IN which 1t stood
nd showed off Its biceps But he had
lade up his mind, which was beginning