Year: 1873

A Tale of the California Mines.


THERE was company up the gulch
above us. Portuguese were these-a quiet,
unObtrusive set Of men, with dogs and
shotguns, and the quaintest little cabins
in the world. Brown men, sailors mostly,
with earrings in their ears, and their
shirt -bosoms open; clannish people, silent
and respectful. Then there were 9TH
er companies below, not unlike our
own-a hundred men or more on this lit
tie mountain stream. Trees above us in
eternal green, chapparal along the fierce
and steep old mountain-side, that pitched
almost perpendicularly on either side the
stream upon us, from which whistled the
partridge through the day, and called the
gray coyote at night. No other sounds
than these, but the rattling of the stones
in the cradle or the tom, and the pick and
shovel on the rocks. No doctors, no law,
no lawyers, no thieves; forty miles the
nearest trading camp. All things were
brought from there across a wall of ever
lasting snow, upon our backs-bread and
bacon and beans, and beans and bacon
and bread, the whole year through. At
last the dreaded scurvy came. Men sud-
denly fell i'll, lost the use of their limbs,
fell helpless on our hands. No help
nothing would do them good but change
of place and change Of diet. We could not
carry them out across the snow. This was
dreadful. You could not have seen these
strong, brave men stricken there, helpless,
dying day by day, without hope, and been
silent. Sad fearful.


There were six of them, and the worst
case in the six was that of the man with
the leather nose, all brought together, all
lying looking helplessly. sadly into each
others faces, thinking of other faces, 9th
er scenes in other lands. AT last an old
sailor suggested, as a last resort, aremedy.
He had seen ships crew saved in some
lands in the tropics. We would try that.
1t was to place the men, stripped nude as
nature, up to the chin in the earth, and
leave them there through the night, till
the loose and warm rich soil should draw
the poison from their bodies.


There was reason in this. Besides we
had soon evidence that it would save our
men; for once, when a party of Indians
attacked us, we won the fight, and, follow
ing them a little way, found "a wounded
Indian buried up to the eyes in the earth.
They had done this in the hope of saving
him, to try and heal his wound, and they
are good physicians.


We dug six pits in the shadow of pine,
in the loose and warm alluvial soil; and
there, as the sun went down, we stood the
men up to the chin, and filled the earth in
about them


1t was lovely moonlight night, balmy
and peaceful as a paradise. Not sound
save the doleful howl of a wolf in the
crags above. Even in this condition the
grim Russian was the center of interest
But he was as silent as helpless. His
head inclined to one side, and rested on
the loose warm soil beside him. His hand
was half hidden in the earth


Oregon Jake was there, assisting as
well as he might, in his awkward and loose
way, in the singular experiment and
effort to save the lives Of the stricken
men.


But he was not gifted with any special
gravity of bearing, and the grotesque pic
ture before him, with all its sadness, had
its comical feature.


He went up to Ginger and began to talk,
as he looked now and then at the Russian
over his shoulder He half laughed as he
did so.


The buried man heard him, lifted his
head with an effort, and cried out, in
ghostly, graveyard voice:


KNOCK him down, Ginger! Knock him
down."


Ginger, true to his helpless friend,
knocked him down on the spot


Again the feeble head of the helpless
man settled over on the soft soil He
closed his eyes with the most perfect salts
faction, and then smiled till his white
teeth looked like the entire roof to
miniature cemetery.


After while the tired miners began to
retire, and, with a silent PRAYER for the
success Of the experiment, left it to time.
The invalids were cheerful, and, now
with little hope, chatted gayly enough
together, but looked strange beyond de-
scription-the six shaggy heads Just
bursting through the earth, like Banquo's,
three in row, in the titfuI moonlight. 1t
looked like men rising from the earth
and coming up to judgment Their
voices sounded weird and ghostlv. too. as
of another world. After awhile one bv
one they fell asleep and all was still save
the bowling of the wolf on the bluff
above. | grew frightened like. | think
the others did too. And one by one we
stole away and left them there. as the
night went on, and sought our hunks in
side the cabins. and threw us down in
our clothes, and slept 1t was an expert
ment for life or death


What a strange stupor overcomes men
sometimes at night who have been hard
at work all day. Singular that we should
have left those six men there at midnight
in the black shadows. with only here and
there a ray of moonlight to relieve the
scene. Strange that we could not keep
awake.


The experiment was a failure The
wolves came down in the night and ate
off every head level with the ground
joaquin Miller, in Independent.