The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1937-07-01

the announcement of a cleanup
from Kay's claim. She had just
called to him that the flow of the
sluices had been halted.
Jack Hammond dropped his SHOW
ell and went upstream. Kay APP
peared excited as usual, herself TAX
ing a pan and filling it with a part
of the scrapings. Hammond bent
beside her at the stream, where,
dipping water, she began the work
of reducing the conglomerated resi-
due of the rifles to tangible loss
or gain. There beside her, as the
pan slowly twisted and dipped and
raised and circled, it came to Jack
that Kay had learned much of min
ing in the short time she had been
here. Now she spoke casually of
pockets and faults, of pay gravel
and sedimentation suddenly he
halted. The pan had been cleared,
the girl had given an exclamation
and was bending over it, point
ing by a nod to a nubbin of gold
which lay there.
cts a Knockout" Hammond ex-
claimed, picking out the serrated
piece of mineral. Then, as though
the better to appraise its worth, he
reached into a pocket for his pros
pector's magnifying glass.
Beside him, Kay talked on of her
hopes. She couldn't understand, she
said, why this claim didn't pan out
more values. Day after day, the
output seemed the same enough
for expenses, enough to keep the
cottage going and to pay Mrs. Car
eve, the woman of all workout
little more. Hammond hardly heard
her. Again he was confirming what
he had confirmed every day since
Mckenzie Joe had pulled out--the
fact this was true nugget gold and
that there was not the slightest i'm
dication of sniper material.
That had been a serious charge.
It had meant that Kay was pre-
tending to find gold when such
had not been the case. Why she
should do this, Joe Britten had not
fully explained. He had only in
sisted that the tiny flakes and mug
gets were "sniper gold" CLEANED by
scraping along the fiat, ledgelike
rocks OF the true current of Loon
Creek, where, acting in the same
manner as the rifles of fiume,
these lodges had picked up stray
| bits of new metal, washed down
from the hills by spring freshets-
The old prospector had insisted that
they were not true nuggets. that the
force of water, driving them be-
tween thin lodges of stone, had to
degree fiattened them and so
marked them that the eyes of his
deep experience could identity
them, thus making 1t impossible for
them to have come from Kay $
gravel bar claim. Hammond HIM
self had not been given a chance to
look; Kay, in her anger, had thrown
| them away.
| But here was no doubt that Kay's
acquisition was true gravel gold,
The same had been true on two
score other surreptitious investi-
| cations. It was as though Jack
Hammond had put Joe Britton on
trial, and day after day was re-
peatedly proving him guilty.
Pretty good nugget" he said al
last. 1T must be about a penny
weight. =
"All of which helps" the girl an
swered, with a casual shrug Of her
shoulders. Maybe I'll get down
to real money some day-you never
can tell"
Nobody can, with gold mining"
Hammond answered. After time
he returned to his own labors, again
feverish, again driving in his inten-
sity. He knew that this claim Of
his was beginning to weaken; the
nuggets were not as large or as fire,
quent as when he and Joe first had
slashed into it. Doggedly he told
himself that it could not, mus
not, flash out. There must be money
to keep that work going above, anc
he knew that Kenning could moi
furnish it. In truth, Kenning was
providing little in the form of funds
they had thrown their holdings inte
one pot, share for share. But the
cash to keep development going
must come from Hammond. Ken
ming made up for his lack Of it b.
his advice.
Late afternoon arrived. Abstract
eddy, as he worked, Hammond be
came aware that there was grea
deal of loud conversation OF JOY
GUS type from upstream, where Oh
son seemed to find a new poke
only that he might dig into another
Several of the more successful
placer miners from more distan
claims were there, poking about
Mrs. Joyce also was present; TO-
that matter, it was seldom tina
Hammond looked toward Olson.
claim without finding her some
where in the picture.
1t was not new strike, he knew
that-there was no shouting AM
running about, no concerted move
ment of curious miners from othe
diggings. After a time Jack forgo