Year: 1876

In 1865 I was working on the south
fork OF the Inba, at point two or three
miles below Sierra City. l was at work
alone IN ravlne making down the
river. Half dozen other miners had
cabins not far from mine, and were at
work in gulches or on bars in the river.
All of our cabins were on the south side
OF the river, and mine was at least half a
mile further south than any of the
others, which carried it well up toward
the main ridge or range of hills walling
in the stream.


One day ut noon 1 went home to get
my dinuer, anu on opening the door OF
my cabin saw i'll the middle of the floor
a small scrap of white paper folded in
the form of d note. l thought this not
little curious, as my door was secured
with paddock of peculiar construction,
and no man could have entered except
through the scat hole at tae bottom
of the door.


AS took up the note saw that there
Were two or three drops of blood on it.
The note alone was sufficient to startle
me, but when saw the blood chill ran
through my veins as 1 said Here is
some villainy afoot Somebody has
been murdered, perhaps!" My next
thought was that some of the boys
might be playing trick on mo. In
stead of at once opening the note to read
it began looking into all corners Of the
room, even stopped and peeped under
my bed.


No one was to be seen. My cat, old
"Chispa," was he only living thing in
the place. He me purring about nv
legs, as was his habit when came home:
though often he was out on his own hook,
hunting and prospecting about, for he
was not one of your home-staying, lazy
kind of cats.


After speaking kind word or two to
old "Chispa" I opened the note, and
as read began TO open my eyes. The
little note-merely the folded leaf of an
ordinary memorandum book-read as
follows:


"June 9, 1S65-This is to inform the
person into whose hands it may come
that am in the old Maldanado shaft
BY the breaking of ladder l fell to the
bottom Of the shaft about three days
ago. am almost starved. For Gods
sake, come to my assistance at once.


"JACoB PRTrcHARD.


When had read the note-scrawled
with very dull lead PENCIL hardly
knew what to think. My brain was in q
whirl, and made no headway in trying
TO think. AS turned the paper in my
Off from it and stained my hand; l saw.
in fact, that it was quite fresh.


This aatonished me not a little. "for."
thought 1, elf he felIinto the shaft three
days ago and hurt himself, how does it
happen that the blood on this note is
still fresh and almost warm2'


My next thought was this: "If he is
in the bottom Of the Maldanatlo shaft
more than one hundred feet below the
surface, as he says, how could he leave
me this note2" Certainly the thing was
improbable, and 1 could make neither
head nor tail of the business Who
Jacob Pritchard was I did not know. I
did not remember having ever heard his
name.


L sat down op stool and tried to
think. "Here," thought I, sis man
In tho bottom Of 4 shaft, where he has
been for three days, and where he is
now supposed to be starving, who
leaves Iote on my cabin floor asking
me to come and get him out. There is
blood fresh blood-on this note, which
makes things still worsel''


| sat and thought and thought till
things got so mixed up in my head that
WAS no ulOre cHpaDie OI lOfml0B an
opinion in regard to the business than
born idiot.


talked to the cato old CLispa-
about it, and the old fellow seemed vii
ling to assist rae, and he got upon my
knee and snuffed at the note as though
he knew that the cause of my trouble lay
In that. He then jumped down and
running to the corner of the room
brought me the remains of little Grip.
pied squirrel which he had lately caught,
as L could see, just AS if he thought
might be- in trouble on the grub ques-
tion, and as much as to say "Here,
old pard, eat and be merry -


The more pondered on the matter
the more it puzzled me. At one time /
thought that man might have been
murdered and thrown into the shaft. and
that his nurderers might then have left
the note at my cabin. This would not
do, however, as, if tho murderers
wished the body of their victim to be
found, there was no need of throwing it