Year: 1877

THE CHINESE MINER.


When Boston Town, in the Black
Hills and about thirty miles from Dead
wood, woke up one morning and found
a Chinaman walking around with his kit
On his shoulder, every old miner was
dumb-founded. 1t had been given out,
and was generally understood, that Bos
ton Town wouldn't wait minute before
shooting the first Chinaman who dared
to show his head in camp, and this trav-
eler ought to have been posted. He
coolly walked about trying to discover
whether the diggings were rich or poor,
and nodding familiarly to every miner
who showed his head. 1t took the camp
Just four minutes to realize the situa
tion, blow the rallying horn, and re-
solve:


"That there is one of them burned
Chinese in camp, and it is our duty to
teach him great moral lesson"


Lung-Sing went out O. there like
tornado, his sheet-iron frying pan bang
ing the back of his head at every jump,
and his heels digging up a perfectshower
of gravel. None of the bullets fired at
him took effect, and breakfast was hardly
eaten before the incident was forgotten.
The Chinaman was out there to make
stake. He knew all about the Indians,
but when chased out of Boston Town he
pushed right ahead over the frontier and
up the hills; and when he "struck vel
low" he was four miles in advance of
any camp. Lung-Sing wasn't one of
your dirt washers or gravel pawers, but
he struck for quartz rock, and he kept
loose eye squirting around for nuggets.
He halted where he did, because it was
far enough from white miners, near
enough to the Indians, and the place Of
fered secure retreat. 1t was a cave ex-
tending into the hill or ranges christened
Baked Potato. The hole was large
enough for three men to enter abreast,
and the cave was set up in curious
shape. Back twenty feet fromits mouth
it split into three caves, each winding
around in half circle, and after short
time Lung-Sing discovered that each of
the three had an outlet on the hill, but
not within a half a mile of each other.
ALE light" he mused, as he made
ready to take possession in the name of
the Celestial Empire, "alle light; Injun
man come in if he wantee, Lung-Sing no
haid."


There wasrich quartz rock in the cave.
In one month after being occupied by a
party of six white men it panned out
$4,000. Lung-Sing knew that he had
struck a big thing, and his mind was
made up to stay there, Indians or no In
dians. In the afternoon of the second
day after he began work the Chinaman,
who was working by torchlight, felt a
twist at his pigtail, and he glanced
around to discover an Indian warrior
beside him. Some Cinnamon would
have "played calf at once," but Lung
Sing was working for two hundred dol
lars per day. AT the second jerk on his
queue he seized his torch and thrust it
into the face of his .captor, The next
instant he was rattling his canoe-toed
shoes down the dark passage with a
noise like horse galloping on a plank
sidewalk. When he climbed out on the
hillside and looked down, he saw score
of Indians around the mouth of the cave,
and one of them was hopping about as
as if he didn't feel well. Lung-Sing sat
there behind bush and chuckled and
grinned for an hour, and when the red
skins departed he went back to his work.
sagely musing:


"If Injun nance fink Pm fool he
find outee."


They were certain to come again. He
had no arms but a shotgun and a
hatchet, but he had come to stay. The
idea of his dusting out of that just be-
cause few hundred Indians might OBJ.
ject to his presence was too absurd tc
contemplate. He stretched a score {
bark strings across the mouth of the
cave, and then connected them with 6
single string running back to his work
This last string ran along the roof and
over stone splinter, and held up stone
which must fall to the floor if any one
attempted to displace the strings acros:
the mouth of the cave. When he haC
finished this work and satisfied himself
that it could be depended on, the
heather drew down his left eye, slanteC
his hat over his left ear, and quotec
Confucius.


The redskins weren't at all pleased a
the way they had been cheated, and mex
morning whole car load of them re
turned to the cave, having torches to ex
plore it. When they saw the barl
strings across the mouth they suspected
trap and fooled around for two O
three hours. Meanwhile Lung-Sin,
was plying hammer.and pick, bringin!
down ninety per cent of gold with ever!
ten per cent of stone. He had struck
rich. "Spat!" came the stone which h
had fixed as signal bell, and the long
eyed heather scored for a start and go
away in fine style. The Indians haltet
in the mouth of the cave to pear arounC
and light their torches, and during thi
delay LungSing wasn't stopping to pla..
marbles on the floor of the cave. III
emerged from the same cavity as before
little damp under the collar, but il
prime condition. He was making hi
left eye wink 'cutely at his right, an
figuring up the profits of his morning
work when he heard the Indians coming
They divided into three bands and fo


lowed the three passages. He got. Ii
stead of making for Boston Town Q


Measles City, he slid down the mour
tain side and entered the cave by tn
front door. The Indians had brough
; along almost wagon load of dry gras


and weeds, expecting to have to smok


him out. There was a strong dra1


through the cave, and when the heathe


discovered the grass, and saw that nor
| of the savages remained behind, h
, nearly wrenched himself to pieces I


carry outa suddenly conceived plan. ]