Year: 1869

There is fellow over at Groundhogs's
Glory who has rich claim for sale. Sam
Rodgers heard about it the other day and
went over there to see what the chances
were for making good bargain. Sam is
dissatisfied sort of fellow, and is always
trying to buy into something rich So, as
| was saying, he plunged over to Ground
hogs Glory the moment he heard of it.


When he got there he found that the
owner of the claim and his wife had gone
on visit to another family on Big Bug
Canon The only person about the place
was small boy about twelve years of age.
From him Sam obtained some information
which the owner himself might not have
communicated


Sam went down with the boy and took a
look at the claim While he was casting
his eyes around, the boy sat ON the bank
and whistled, ooh, Gosh my own Jemi-
ma"


Having finished his survey, Sam went
up and sat down beside the innocent juve-
nile


Bub,' said he, "Pve head that this
is rich claim, and it does look pretty
well. Now, to tell the honest truth, whal
does your father want to sell out for if it
is is rich as they say ?"


The small boy stopped whistling, cooked
his head to one side, closed one eye, and
squinted thoughtfully at Sam with the
other.


Stranger, have you got a half dollar
about yon? If you have, perhaps 1
wouldn't mind telling you"


Sam forked over the half dollar, and the.
boy looked at it moment and whistled,
Get out of the wilderness"


Well, feller, bein' as its you, l don't
object to saying that the reason dad wants
to sell this here claim is cause its too rich.


Too rich !! Played out" put in Sam


Now, stranger, you jest hold yer hos
ses till get through, and I'll explain it to
you You see this amt like other claims
where the gold is in sandy gravel and
mostly in the bed rock, but the bank here
is nearly all clay, and there is heaps and
gobs of fine gold through it. The clay is
the all-fredist stickiest stuff that ever wuz,
and you can't begin to work it. When
dad gets to work down there he naturally
gets the darned thing all over him, and
when he comes in at night he's jes. coated
with about six inches deep more or less,
and this clay is plum full of gold


" | don't see that's any raason for his
wanting to sell out," interrupted Sam


Well, old hoss, you keep cool and don't
get rampagious an I'll tell you how it is.
When dad comes in at night he's mighty
tired but mann, you see, is such an awful
economical woman that she don't like to
see so much gold wasted as dad has about
him in the clay every ninght, 50 mann she
alters turns in and cleans him up. At first
she used to be satisfied with scraping him
down with a hoe and panning him out
She made lots of money at that He used
to pan out rich, tell you But pretty
soon mann got unsatisfed cause it took too
long to pan him out every night, and be-
sides she didn't get half the gold. The
clay was so sticky it wouldn't wash good.
Then she got string of sluices out in front
of the house and put little hydraulic and
used to pipe him. Dad was dreadful mad
about it, You ought to hear him growl
and cuss. He said it was too wearin' for q
man to work in the drain all day and then
be worked himself at night Nam said
he shouldn't board with her if he didn't,
and that fetched him, you bet.


Things ran on this way for some time
The old woman made two CT three hundred
dollars week regular. But as | told you
before, she was awful savin' and she found
she could not pipe him off clean, and lost
ever SO much in the taiiin's You don't
know how sticky the clay is around here.
The only way which you can work it clean
is to chuck it into kittle of bilin' water
and bile it for two or three hours. That's
the way the feller that struck the claim
used to work the rich crevices Nam
heered of this, and she thought if she could
work the old man in some such way, she
could save the gold. OF course she didn't
expect to bile him right down, you know.
That would not have been exactly on the
square, but she thought if she could let
or two every night, she could run him
through the hydraulic then and wash him
off pretty clean"


"Well, stranger, you might not think it,
but dad was so pesky contrary that he
wouldn't stand it. Nam said he'd got to
do it, cause she wasn't going to see money
thrown away by no such contrarines.--
Neither of them wouldn't give in, SO they
concluded to split the difference by lettin'
dad sell out and go below and buy a ranch.


"Tnafs jest how it is stranger; if you
amt married and want to buy this claim,
you can make mighty good thing out of
it, but if you've got wife she won't let
you rest for tryin' to work you to advan-
tage.'


Here the unsophisticated infant finished
and walked away, calmly whistling al
wish | was daisy" while Sam retired to
reflect on the matter, for he was, and is,
married


4 Nicoc..=s.. IL