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diff --git a/37943-8.txt b/37943-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4c935c5..0000000 --- a/37943-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8531 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pike's Peak Rush, by Edwin L. Sabin - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Pike's Peak Rush - Terry in the New Gold Fields - -Author: Edwin L. Sabin - -Release Date: November 6, 2011 [EBook #37943] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIKE'S PEAK RUSH *** - - - - -Produced by Beth and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - - - THE GREAT PIKE'S PEAK RUSH - - OR - - TERRY IN THE NEW GOLD FIELDS - - BY EDWIN L. SABIN - - - "These mountains are supposed to contain minerals, precious stones - and gold and silver ore. It is but late that they have taken the - name Rocky Mountains; by all the old travelers they are called the - Shining Mountains, from an infinite number of crystal stones of an - amazing size, with which they are covered, and which, when the sun - shines full upon them, sparkle so as to be seen at a great - distance." - - --_From a Geography One Hundred Years Ago._ - - - NEW YORK - THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - COPYRIGHT, 1917, - BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY. - - - - -[Illustration: "NONE OF THAT, MR. IKE CHUBBERS!" REPEATED HARRY, STOUTLY -FORCING THE MUZZLE UPWARD] - - - - -TRAIL AND DIGGIN'S PEOPLE - - -OLD ACQUAINTANCES: - - TERRY RICHARDS Off to the Gold Fields - MR. AND MRS. RICHARDS His Parents - HARRY REVERE His Partner - GEORGE STANTON A Tender-foot - VIRGIE STANTON Also a Tender-foot - MR. AND MRS. STANTON Their Parents - SOL JUDY A "Forty-niner" - PINE KNOT IKE Not so Tough After All - THUNDER HORSE Bad Medicine - SHEP Ready for Anything - DUKE THE HALF-BUFFALO} Queer Wagon Mates - JENNY THE YELLOW MULE} - - -NEW ACQUAINTANCES: - - THE SICK BOY Who Shows His Gratitude - PAT CASEY With a Taste for Pie - LITTLE RAVEN White Man's Friend - LEFT HAND Official Interpreter - HORACE GREELEY New York Tribune Editor - JOURNALIST RICHARDSON Boston Journal Reporter - JOURNALIST VILLARD The Cincinnati Reporter - GREEN RUSSELL} The Original "Boomers" - JOHN GREGORY } - MCGREW THE WHEEL-BARROW MAN Who "Pushed" Across - - -And Certain Others of the Busy Folk That Thronged the Gulches and the -Young Denver City. - -PLACE AND TIME: The Pike's Peak Country of the Rocky Mountains, 1859. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. To the Mountains of Gold 1 - - II. The "Pike's Peak Limited" 15 - - III. Duke on a Rampage 29 - - IV. The Trail Grows Lonesome 39 - - V. Tough Luck for the Limited 53 - - VI. Just in Time 65 - - VII. Shep Does His Duty 75 - - VIII. The Trail Grows Lively 91 - - IX. Now Where Is the "Elephant"? 103 - - X. "Forward March" to Gregory Gulch 116 - - XI. "Rich at Last!" 126 - - XII. Panning the "Golden Prize" 138 - - XIII. Ready for Big Business, But * * * 147 - - XIV. Pat Casey Helps Out 161 - - XV. Horace Greeley Comes to Town 171 - - XVI. Two Tenderfeet Arrive 180 - - XVII. Another Call for Hustle 192 - - XVIII. Never Say Die! 201 - - XIX. To the Pound-a-Day 211 - - XX. Millions in Sight 224 - - XXI. Terry Makes a Deal 233 - - XXII. The "Virginia Consolidated" 241 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - -DRAWINGS BY H. FISK. - - - PAGE - - "None of that, Mr. Ike Chubbers!" repeated Harry, - stoutly forcing the muzzle upward (frontis) - - "Terry flew to the cart ... flew back again with - the precious fluid" 65 - - "The giant sat down with an explosive grunt, and - Harry stood over, scarcely panting, revolver - dangling in hand" 167 - - "You dare to lay hand on this or interfere in any - way and I'll show you what a Californy Forty-niner - knows about protecting property" 245 - - - - -THE GREAT PIKE'S PEAK RUSH - - - - -CHAPTER I - -TO THE MOUNTAINS OF GOLD - - -"Twenty-five thousand people--and more on the way! Think of that!" -exclaimed Mr. Richards, Terry's father. - -It was an evening in early April, 1859, and spring had come to the -Richards ranch, up the Valley of the Big Blue, Kansas Territory. -Excitement had come, too, for Harry (Harry Revere, that is, the clever, -boyish Virginia school-teacher who was a regular member of the family) -had been down to the town of Manhattan, south on the Kansas River and -the emigrant trail there, and had brought back some Kansas City and St. -Louis papers. They were brimming with the news of a tremendous throng of -gold-seekers swarming to cross the plains for the new gold fields, -discovered only last year, in the Pike's Peak country of the Rocky -Mountains. - -"Do you suppose it's true, Ralph? So many?" appealed Mrs. Richards, -doubting. - -"Whew!" gasped Terry--the third man in the family. At least, he worked -as hard as any man. - -"I believe it," asserted Harry. "Manhattan's jammed and the trail in -both directions is a sight!" - -"So are Kansas City and Leavenworth, according to the dispatches," -laughed Terry's father. "People from the east are flocking across Iowa, -to the Missouri River, and the steamboats up from St. Louis are loaded -to the guards--everybody bound for the Pike's Peak country and the -Cherry Creek diggin's there. It beats the California rush of Forty-nine -and Fifty." - -"But twenty-five thousand, Ralph!" Mother Richards protested. - -"Yes, and the papers say there'll be a hundred thousand before summer's -over." - -"Oh, Pa! Can't we go?" pleaded Terry. - -"And quit the ranch?" - -"But if we don't go now all the gold will be found." - -"I think it would be sinful to leave this good ranch and go clear out -there, with nothing certain," voiced his mother, anxiously. "You know it -almost killed your father. He'd never have got home, if it hadn't been -for you." - -"That was when he was coming back, and we wouldn't need to come back," -argued Terry. "And he fetched some gold, too, didn't he?" - -"And hasn't recovered yet!" triumphed Mother Richards. "He couldn't -possibly stand another long overland trip--and I don't want to stand it, -either. Why, we're just nicely settled, all together again, on our own -farm." - -"Well, some of us ought to go," persisted Terry. "I'd a heap rather dig -gold than plant it.' - -"I notice you aren't extra fond of digging potatoes, though," slily -remarked Harry. "You say it makes your back ache!" - -"Digging gold's different," retorted Terry. "Besides, we've a gold mine -already, haven't we? The one dad discovered. If we don't get there soon -somebody else will dig everything out of it and we'll have only a hole." - -"That will be a cellar for us, anyway, to put a house over," mused -Harry, who always saw opportunities. - -"I don't lay much store on that claim of mine," confessed Terry's -father. "The country'll be over-run, and if the spot was worth anything -it's probably jumped, or will be jumped very quickly. And I don't -remember where it is." - -"But what a rush!" faltered Mrs. Richards, glancing through the paper. -"The news does say twenty-five thousand people about to cross the plains -and more coming. I do declare! I'm sure some of them will suffer -dreadfully." - -"Yes; they'll earn their way, all right," agreed Father Richards. "It's -a tough region, yonder at the mountains--and the more people, the -tighter the living, till they raise other crops than gold." - -"Then that's the reason why we ought to be starting--so as to get in -ahead," persisted Terry. "This ranching's awful slow, and it's toler'ble -hard work, too. Putting stuff in and taking it out again." - -"You can't expect to 'take stuff out' unless you do put some in, first, -can you?" demanded his father. "That's the law of life. But if you think -you can dodge hard work, go on and try." - -"Where?" blurted Terry. - -"Anywhere. To the Pike's Peak country. You have my permission." And his -father's blue eyes twinkled. - -"Oh, Ralph!" protested Terry's mother, aghast. "Don't joke about it." - -"Aw, I can't go alone," stammered Terry, taken aback. - -"I'm not joking," asserted Father Richards. "But he'll have to find his -own outfit, like other gold-seekers. Then he can go, and we'll follow -when we can." - -Mother Richards dropped the paper. - -"Ralph! Have you the fever again? Oh, dear!" - -Gold-fever she meant, of course. Father Richards smiled, and rubbed his -hair where it showed a white streak over the wound received when on -their road out from the Missouri River, a year ago, to settle on the -ranch, he had been knocked off his horse in fording Wildcat Creek, and -had disappeared for months. Only by great good fortune had Terry found -him, wandering in, through a blizzard, from the Pike's Peak gold fields; -and had brought him home in time for a merry Christmas. - -"Not 'again.' Don't know as I'd call it gold-fever, exactly. But I feel -a bit like Terry does--I want to join the crowd. It was the same way, in -coming to Kansas. We thought this was to be the West; and now there's -another West. This ranch can be made to pay--I'm certain it can if we're -able to hold on long enough and weather the droughts and grasshoppers -and low prices. But----" - -"Harry and Terry and I made it pay," reminded Mother Richards, with a -flash of pride. - -"Yes, you all did bravely. But you managed it by cutting and selling the -timber. The timber won't last forever, and the grasshoppers may! This is -rather a lonely life, for you, yet, up in here. Out at the mountains, -though, they've founded those two towns, Denver and Auraria, and -probably others; and I believe opportunities will be more there than -here." - -"Do you intend to sell the ranch?" asked Mrs. Richards, a little pale. -She loved the ranch, which she had helped to make. - -"We'll talk that over. I wouldn't sell unless you consented. It's your -place; you and Terry and Harry've done most of the work." - -"But you said I could go right away, Pa; didn't you?" enthused Terry. -"Then I'll take the wagon and Buck and Spot, and Shep--and Harry; -and----" - -"Hold on," bade his father. "Not quite so fast. I said you're to find -your own outfit. If we sell the ranch, you'll have to leave part of it -as a sample to show to customers. Those oxen are valuable. Oxen'll be as -good as gold, in this country. The rush across the plains will sweep up -every kind of work critter. If you take Buck and Spot, how'll anybody on -this ranch do the ploughing? And if you take the wagon, what'll become -of the hauling?" - -"And if you take Harry, who'll help your father and me?" chimed in his -mother. - -"Shucks!" bemoaned Terry. "There's the old mare, and the colt--and a -cow--and----" - -"And a half-buffalo, and a tame turkey, and a yellow mule twenty years -of age if she's a day," completed his father. "Buck and Spot beat the -lot of them put together. No, sir; I'll not spare those oxen, for any -wild-goose chase across to the mountains. But I'll tell you what you can -do. You can have Harry, and find the rest of your come-along." - -"Hum!" murmured Harry, who had been scratching his nose and looking -wise. "That sounds like a dare. Let's go outside, Terry." - -He rose. Terry wonderingly followed him. Within, Mother Richards gazed -dubiously upon Father Richards. - -"Are you really in earnest, Ralph?" - -"Yes; after a fashion. Terry can't make such a trip alone; he's too -young; but he'd be safe with Harry. Enough cultivating's done on the -ranch so I can manage for the next few months. That would give you and -me a chance to dispose of the place when we were ready--and it will sell -better with the crops showing. And besides, I agree with you that I'm -not quite in shape yet to stand the trip. By the time we were free to -go, those two boys would have the country yonder pretty well spied out, -and they'd send us back reliable information. Harry has a level head." - -"And maybe they'd be so disappointed they'd want to come back, -themselves!" hopefully asserted Mrs. Richards. "Terry'd be cured of his -gold-seeking fever. Anyway, they haven't gone, yet. They can't have the -oxen, and they can't have my cow, and if they took the old mare how'd I -ever visit my neighbors, and if they took the colt he's not heavy enough -for hard work, and the yellow mule won't pull alone, and Duke won't pull -at all, and you've refused them the wagon--and I sha'n't let them walk. -So I don't believe I'll worry." - -"Um--m!" muttered Father Richards, rubbing his hair. "I won't be -positive about all that. What Terry doesn't cook up, Harry will. They're -both of them too uncommon smart. I reckon they're into some scheme -already." - -And so they were. He resumed his reading of the papers. Mrs. Richards -proceeded to finish the evening housework. Suddenly they were -interrupted. Outside welled a frantic chorus of shouting and cheering -and barking and clattering. - -"For goodness' sake!" ejaculated Mrs. Richards; and they sprang to the -door. - -Harry, who walked with a slight limp because when a boy down in Virginia -he had hurt his foot, had beckoned Terry on, around the hen-house, out -of ear-shot of the cabin. Here he had paused, and scratched his long -nose again--a sure sign of mischief. Slender and smooth-faced and young -was Harry, but stronger than anybody'd think. The way he could ride -bareback, and could fell timber--whew! And that long head of his was a -mine in itself. - -"Shall we go?" he queried. - -"Will you, Harry? Do you want to go?" - -"Yes, I reckon I do. I always knew I was cut out for a miner instead of -a schoolmaster or a farmer." - -"How'll we go, then?" demanded Terry. "Thunder! We've nothing to start -with, 'cept our feet. Dad says we'll have to find our own outfit." - -"And one of the feet's a bad one," commented Harry. "I suppose we -_could_ walk, and carry our stuff--or carry part of it and come back for -the rest." - -"Five hundred miles?" cried Terry. "Aw, jiminy! We'd be the last in, if -we tried to carry stuff on our backs." - -"And we'd be the first out, if we didn't carry stuff," returned Harry. -"We'd be frozen out and starved out, both. Now, let's see." He scratched -his nose, and was solemn--save that his pointed chin twitched, and his -wide brown eyes laughed. "We can't have the oxen; and we mustn't take -the old mare or the colt, because they're a part of the ranch; or the -brindled cow, because she belongs to Mother Richards' butter and milk -department; or Pete the turkey, because he can't swim; so that leaves us -Jenny and Duke." - -"That old yellow mule, and a half-buffalo!" yapped Terry. "But they're a -part of the ranch stock, too, and besides----" - -"No, they're ours," corrected Harry. "Jenny's mine, and I'm hers. I -brought her in here--or, rather, she brought me in; in fact, we brought -each other. And Duke is yours. You rescued him from a life among the -wild buffalo--a rough, low life, the ungrateful brute!--and his mother's -disowned him since he learned to eat grass and hay, and nobody else -wants him. Jenny works for her keep, but he doesn't do a thing except -bawl and eat and sleep and pick quarrels with his betters. He's only an -idle good-for-nothing." - -"What do you aim to do, then?" questioned Terry, staring open-mouthed. -"Ride 'em? We can't have the wagon. You going to ride Jenny and make me -ride Duke? We'd both of us be split in two! I'd rather walk. I'd make -great time, wouldn't I, on that buffalo--and Jenny mostly moves up and -down in one spot! Your saddle's falling to pieces. It's just tied with -rope." - -"Hum!" mused Harry. "We'll hitch them." - -"What to?" - -"A wagon. I know where there are two wheels and an axle." - -"Where?" - -"In an old mud-hole. The front end traveled on, but the hind end -stayed." - -"Jenny won't pull single, and Duke won't pull at all." - -"Make 'em pull together, then." - -"What'll we do for the rest of the wagon?" - -"Make it." - -"Huh!" reflected Terry, trying to be convinced. "That'll be a great -outfit. Where'll we get our supplies?" - -"Maybe somebody'll grub-stake us, on shares. But no matter about that. -We'll learn not to eat when we haven't anything to eat. If," continued -Harry, "a couple of fellows our size, with a yellow mule and a -half-buffalo and two wagon-wheels, can't get through to the mountains, -I'd like to know who can! So it's high time we started. Come on." - -"What are you going to do first?" demanded Terry, bewildered by Harry's -sudden movement. - -"Educate Duke, of course. We'll put him and Jenny to the drag and give -them their first lesson. You be driving Duke in and I'll talk with -Jenny." - -Away hustled Harry, at his rapid limp, for a halter and Jenny, where in -a stall she was munching a feed of hay as reward after her trip to town. -With the interested Shep (shaggy black dog) at his heels, prepared to -help, Terry hastened into the pasture and rounded up Duke, the -half-buffalo, from amidst the other animals. Duke was now a -yearling--grown to be a sturdy, stocky youngster since Terry had -captured him and his brindled cow mother during the buffalo hunt with -the Delaware Indians last summer. - -Knowing Terry well, and tamed to everything except work, Duke submitted -to being driven out. In the ranch yard Harry was waiting with big, gaunt -Jenny, already attached by collar and traces to the drag. The drag was -only an old rail, heavy and spike-studded, used to uproot the brush when -the ranch land was cleared. - -It required considerable maneuvering to fit an ox-bow around Duke's -short neck, and yoke him to the drag. He seemed dumbly astonished. Jenny -laid back her long ears in disgust with her strange mate. - -"Be patient with him, Jenny," pleaded Harry. "He's only a boy, and part -Indian, while you're a cultured lady. I think," he said, to Terry, "that -I'll do the driving, for the first spell on this Pike's Peak trail." -Holding the lines attached to Jenny's bit (but Duke, ox-fashion, had no -lines), he fell a few paces to rear. "No," he added, "that won't answer. -You drive Duke and I'll drive Jenny. Get your whip." - -Terry stationed himself with the ox-whip at Duke's flank. Harry stepped -upon the drag, and balanced. - -"Gid-dap, Jenny!" he bade. - -"G'lang, Duke!" bade Terry. - -Jenny, sidling as far as she could in the traces, her ears flat, -started. Duke stayed. Consequently, Jenny did not get very far. - -"Duke! G'lang, Duke!" implored Terry, desperately, cracking his whip. - -"Pull, Jenny! Pull!" encouraged Harry, balancing on the drag now askew. - -Up went Jenny's heels, down went Duke's head, away went Harry on the -drag and Terry on the run. Shep, thinking it great sport, barked gaily. - -"Whoa, Jenny! Whoa now!" - -"Haw, Duke! Whoa-haw! Gee! Whoa!" - -And from the cabin doorway Father Richards clapped and shouted, and -Mother Richards called warnings. - -Harry was speedily thrown from the bouncing drag, but he clung to the -lines. Having careered, plunging and tugging and side-stepping, until -she was astraddle of the outside trace, Jenny stopped. Duke, who had -been bawling and galloping, half hauled, half frightened, stopped -likewise, the yoke crooked on his neck; and all stood heaving. - -"This'll never do," panted Harry. "Jenny's too fast for him--either her -legs are too long or his are too short. We'll have to train them singly -and hitch them tandem. That's it: tandem." - -"You mean one in front of the other?" wheezed Terry. - -"Yes." - -"Which where, then?" - -"Oh, Jenny for the wheel team and Duke for the lead team, I think," -decided Harry. "By rights, Jenny ought to have the lead, because she's -faster; and Duke ought to have the pole, because he's heavier. But Jenny -is quick-tempered with her heels, you know, and Duke is quick-tempered -with his head, so we'd best keep their tempers separated. We can teach -Duke to 'haw' and 'gee,' but Jenny's main accomplishment is simply to -'haw-haw.'" - -"Here comes George," announced Terry. "Now he'll 'haw-haw,' too." - -Through the gloaming another boy was loping in, on a spotted pony. He -was a wiry, black-eyed boy--George Stanton, from the Stanton ranch some -two miles down the valley. - -"Whoop-ee! Which way you going?" he challenged. "What is it--a show?" - -"Going to Pike's Peak," retorted Terry. - -"Tonight? With that team? Aw----!" - -"Pretty soon, though. We're practising." - -"Watch us, and you'll see us drive to the corral," invited Harry. "Let's -turn 'em around, Terry. Easy, now. I'll hold Jenny back and you hurry -Duke." - -"I'll help," proffered the obliging George. "Gwan, Duke." - -"Duke! Gwan!" ordered Terry. - -"Whoa, Jenny! Steady, Jenny!" cautioned Harry. - -With Harry hauling on the lines, George, pony-back, pressing against -Duke's shoulder, and Terry urging him at the flank, they all managed to -achieve a half circle. Duke, his eyes bulging with rage and alarm, -occasionally balked; Jenny flattened her ears and shook her scarred -head; but finally the corral bars were really reached. It seemed like -quite a victory. - -"First lesson ended," decreed Harry. "Too dark, and we're tired if they -aren't. We'll put 'em in together and they can talk it over." - -Released into the corral, neither Jenny nor Duke appeared to be in very -good humor. Duke rumbled and pawed, flinging the dirt; Jenny laid her -ears and bared her teeth. Suddenly Duke charged; whereat Jenny nimbly -whirled, and met him with both hind hoofs. Aside staggered Duke, to -stand a moment, glaring at her and rumbling; then he turned and stalked -stiffly to the other end of the enclosure. Jenny "hee-hawed" shrill and -derisive, and kneeling down, rolled and kicked; scrambled up, shook -herself, and began to nose about for husks. - -"Now they understand each other," remarked Harry. "They've agreed to -pull singly." - -"Say--are you fellows really going to Pike's Peak?" asked George. "With -that team?" - -"Yes, sir-ee. We're in training, aren't we, Terry?" responded Harry. - -"That's right. Dad said if we'd find our own outfit we could strike -out." - -"We've got the fever, too, sort of, down at our house," confessed -George. "That's what I rode up about. Now I guess I'd better go back and -tell the folks. Maybe I can join you," he added, waxing excited. - -"The more the merrier. That will make twenty-five thousand and three," -laughed Harry. - -"If I can't, I'll be coming later," called back George. - -"We'll locate a claim for you," promised Terry, grandly--as if he and -Harry were already on the way. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE "PIKE'S PEAK LIMITED" - - -"I'll tell you what I'll do," spoke Terry's father, finally. "I'll lend -you $100--'grub-stake' you, as they say, from the dust that I fetched -back last winter. That's half. And I'm to have half interest in whatever -you find." - -"Hum! This sounds like a good business proposition, if you mean it," -accepted Harry, scratching his nose. - -"Do you mean it, Dad?" cried Terry, overjoyed. "Supposing we find your -mine. Do we get half of that?" - -"That's part yours, anyway. But I don't think you'll find it unoccupied. -Doubt if you find it at all. You'll likely meet up with some of the -Russell brothers out there, though. You might ask Green Russell or -Oliver or the doctor if they have any recollection of my being along -with 'em, one of their Fifty-eighters, by name of Jones, and if they -remember where I got the dust. Yes, I mean it: you and Harry'll need -supplies, and you ought to have a little cash in hand besides." - -"But we can go to digging gold, the first day we get there, can't we?" -argued Terry. - -"You might be a bit awkward and break a pick or shovel, and want a new -one," remarked his father, drily. - -Anyway, the $100 was not to be sneezed at. To be sure, Harry, with Terry -assisting, had proceeded right ahead making ready. He was a wonder, was -Harry. He had brought the two wagon-wheels from the mud-hole, and (Terry -helping) had constructed a two-wheeled cart: had fitted a shallow body -on the axle-tree and attached a pair of long heavy shafts. Jenny was to -haul in the shafts, and the chains of Duke were to be run back to stout -eye-bolts. - -"You see," reasoned Harry, "some days when Jenny is tired and wishes to -stop, Duke will be pulling the cart and she'll have to come along -whether or no." - -Jenny's collar and Duke's wooden bow and single yoke (manufactured to -suit the case, from cast-off materials) were rough and ready, but no -worse than the rest of the harness. However, on the whole Harry was -rather proud of his work, and Terry was rather proud of Harry. Just now -they were engaged in stretching a canvas hood over the cart. - -As for Jenny, the yellow mule, and Duke, the half-buffalo--their days, -of late, had been exciting ones. While they were being trained to haul -tandem the ranch yard had resembled a circus-ring, much to the alarm of -Terry's mother, and to the entertainment of Terry's father and the -Stantons. - -George and Virgie (who was his little sister) came up, whenever they -could, to watch the preparation; and Mr. Stanton was considerably -interested, himself. But George was more than interested; he was -roundly sceptical--also, as anybody might see, envious. - -"Aw, you don't think you're ever going to get there with that -contraption, do you?" he challenged. "A rickety old cart, and an old -mule and a half-buffalo! You'll bust down." - -"I'd rather bust down than bust up," retorted Terry. - -"It'll take you a year. Look at how your wheels wobble." And George -added, somewhat oddly: "Wish I was going." - -"If it'll take us a year, you might as well wait and come on with your -own folks later," reminded Harry. "You'll probably travel in style, and -pass us." - -"That's right," hopefully answered George. "We'll pass you during the -summer. You see if we don't." - -"Said the hare to the tortoise," gibed Harry. "Terry and Jenny and Duke -and I may be slow, but we're powerful sure--if our wheels keep turning." - -He picked up a tar-pot and a stick, and stepped to the cart, on which -the hood at last had been stretched. - -"What you going to do now?" - -"Don't hurry me," drawled Harry. "This isn't a hurry outfit." On the -canvas he drew a letter. "What's that, Virgie?" - -"'P'!" - -"Right. And what's this?" - -"'I'!" - -"You're a smart girl--a smarter girl than your brother," praised Harry. -"Next?" - -"'K'!" - -"Next?" - -"'E'!" - -"Next?" - -"A--comma!" declared Virgie. - -"Oh, pshaw!" deplored Harry. "You go to the foot." And he finished the -word: "PIKE'S." He stepped back to admire the result. - -"Pike's Peak or Bust! That's what you ought to put on," yelped George. -"Pike's Peak or Bust! There was a wagon went down the valley yesterday -with that on it. And it had four wheels instead of two." - -"'Pike's Peak and No Bust,' is our motto," corrected Harry. He daubed -rapidly, until the words stood: "PIKE'S PEAK LIMITED." - -"I guess you're 'limited,'" sniggered George. "Anyway," he confessed, -loyally, "wish I was going with you. I'll trade you my pistol for a -share in your mine if you find one." - -"That old pistol with a wooden hammer?" scoffed Terry. "You come on out -and we'll give you a whole mine, maybe, if we have more than we can -work!" - -"I'll cook for you," piped Virgie. - -"All right, Virgie," quoth Harry. "George can shoot buffalo with his -pistol, and you can cook all he gets! You be ready tomorrow early, and -we'll take you aboard on our way down." - -"Do you start tomorrow?" blurted George. - -"Sure thing," asserted Terry. "Stop at Manhattan, is all, to get -supplies. Then we hit the trail for the land of gold." - -The painting of "PIKE'S PEAK LIMITED" had indeed been the final touch. -The start was set for the next morning immediately after breakfast. -That evening in the cabin they all tried to be merry and hopeful, but -Terry went to bed in the loft, where he and Harry slept, with a lump in -his throat after his mother's goodnight hug and kiss; and although he -dreamed exciting dreams of a marvelously quick trip and a row of -mountains blotched with precious yellow, he awakened to the same curious -lump. - -But Harry hustled about briskly, before breakfast, to feed and water -Jenny and Duke. Harry was always the first out. - - "Gold, gold, gold, gold! - Bright and yellow, hard and cold," - -he declaimed. "Eh, Jenny? Or should I say: - - "Jenny, Jenny! All pure gold! - Bright and yellow and hard to hold!" - -So Terry aided by carrying the stuff out, to be stowed in the cart. -After breakfast there was no delay. Presently Jenny and Duke stood -harnessed tandem, and rather wondering at the decisive manner with which -they were handled. They little knew that six hundred miles lay before -them. - -"All aboard for Pike's Peak!" announced Harry. "You're to walk behind, -Terry, for a piece, and pick up the wheels if they drop off. I'll -encourage Duke and Jenny not to look back. Good-bye, folks." - -"Good-bye, Mother. Good-bye, Father," repeated Terry. "Come on, Shep. -You're going. Of course!" - -Shep gamboled and barked. He was going and he did not care where, if -only he went. - -"We'll follow, in a month or two--as soon as we sell the place," called -Father Richards. "We and the Stantons, too, I guess. Get posted on the -country, and be careful. Good luck. Look up the Russells." - -"Yes, be very careful," enjoined Mother Richards. "Don't get lost, and -don't sleep in wet clothes, and don't fail to send word back often, and, -Terry, don't disobey Harry, and, Harry, don't you try to perform all the -work, and, both of you, don't have any disputes or quarrel with -_any_body, and don't omit to eat hearty meals----" - -"Oh, Mother Richards!" laughed Harry. "This is a _Do_ concern, not a -_Don't_. But we'll remember. You'll find us ready to trade you our gold -dust for a pan of good corn-bread. Good-bye. Gee-up, Duke! Step ahead, -Jenny! Whoop-ee! G'lang!" - -"Whoop-ee!" cheered Terry, stanchly, as now he trudged in the wake of -the creaking, lurching cart. "Hooray for the Pike's Peak Limited to the -gold mines!" - -They were on their way; they were real gold-seekers, bound for the -Pike's Peak country. In his cow-hide boots and red flannel shirt and -slouch hat, Terry felt that no one should make fun of their -rough-and-ready outfit. A half-buffalo, and a yellow mule, and a -two-wheeled cart with a regular prairie-schooner hood, and a tar-pot -hanging to the axle, indicated serious purpose. - -Black Shep loped happily from side to side, hunting through the weeds. -At the "near" or left of Jenny strode Harry, with a slight limp, a -willow pole in his hand to serve for occasionally touching up Duke. -Harry also wore cow-hide boots, trousers tucked in, and a battered -slouch hat, but a gray shirt instead of blue or red. However, a red -'kerchief for a tie gave him a natty appearance. - -"Duke! Hi! Step along!" he urged. And--"Not so fast, Jenny!" he -cautioned. Duke pulled steadily, keeping the chains fairly tight; Jenny, -her ears wobbling, but now and then laid back in protest at one thing or -another, slothfully dragged her long legs. Together they easily twitched -the lightly laden cart over the rutted road. - -George and Virgie were waiting in front of the Stanton ranch, to see the -gold-seekers pass. Mrs. Stanton waved from the ranch-house door, and Mr. -Stanton from the potato field. - -"Where are your guns?" demanded George, first crack, much as if he had -expected to see them heavily armed on this peaceful trail down to -Manhattan. - -"Got a shot-gun in the cart," answered Terry. - -"How'll you fight Injuns, then? Where are your mining tools--picks and -spades and things?" - -"Get 'em later." - -"Coming, Virgie?" hailed Harry. - -Her finger in her mouth, Virgie shook her head in its pink sunbonnet. - -"I can't. My mother needs me." - -"All right. Sorry. We need a cook. Duke! What are you stopping for? -Gwan! Hump along, Jenny!" And to creak of top and jangle of fry-pan and -tin plates and cups, and water bucket clashing with tar pot, the Pike's -Peak Limited pressed on. - -"We'll see you later, though," promised George, gazing after wistfully. -"Good-bye." - -"Good-bye, George." - -All down the valley people called and waved good-bye, for the word that -the "Richards boys" were going to Pike's Peak had traveled ahead. And -many a joke was leveled at Duke and Jenny and the two-wheeled cart -bearing its Pike's Peak sign. But who cared? Everybody seemed bent upon -following as soon as possible; and as Harry remarked: "We're doing -instead of talking!" - -Manhattan town was a day and a half, at walking gait. - -"No ranch house for us tonight," quoth Harry. "We'll start right in -making our own camp. And we'll have to start in with a system, too. -First we'll noon, for an hour, to rest the animals--not to mention -ourselves. My feet are about one hundred and ten degrees hot, already. -And we'll make camp every evening at six o'clock. If we don't travel by -system we'll wear out. There's nothing like regularity." - -So they nooned beside a creek; had lunch and let Duke and Jenny drink -and graze. That evening, promptly, they camped, near water. Harry had -elected to do the cooking and dish-washing, Terry was to forage for fuel -and tend to the animals. - -Jenny was staked out for fear that she would take the notion to amble -back to the ranch. Duke, who appeared to think much more of her than she -did of him, could be depended upon to stay wherever she stayed. Harry -boiled coffee, and fried bacon, and there was the batch of bread that -Mother Richards had baked for the first stages of the journey. - -When everything had been tidied up and the camp was ship-shape, in the -dusk they "bedded down," each to his coverings. Whew, but it felt good -to shed those hot boots! They also removed their trousers, and used them -and their coats for pillows. - -Harry sighed with luxury. - -"First camp--twelve miles from home," he said. - -"Wonder how many camps we'll make before we get there," proposed Terry. - -"Some forty, I reckon," murmured Harry. "Six hundred miles at an average -of fifteen miles a day--and there you are. But we have to make only one -camp at a time." - -"Hello!" cried a voice, through the dusk. - -Shep growled, where he was curled, but instantly flopped his tail, and -with a quick look in the direction of the voice, Harry called, gladly: - -"Hello yourself. Come in." - -"Hello, Sol," welcomed Terry. - -They sat up in their blankets. A horseman approached along the back -trail, and halted. He was a lean, well-built man, with long hair and -full beard, and sat erect upon a small but active horse. He wore a -peaked, silver-bound sombrero or Mexican hat, a black velvet Mexican -jacket half revealed under a gaily striped blanket over his shoulders, -tight black velvet trousers slashed with a white strip, and on his heels -jingling spurs. The saddle was enormous, and the bridle jingly and -silver-mounted. But he was no Mexican; he was Sol Judy, the American -horse-trader, who had been in California and on the plains, and was -counted as almost the very first friend made by Terry and his mother -when they had started in to "ranch it," a year ago, while waiting for -Mr. Richards to come home. And a very good friend Sol Judy had remained. - -"How's the Pike's Peak Limited by this time?" he queried, with a smile, -as he sat looking down. "On the way to the elephant, are you, and as -snug as a bug in a rug?" - -"'Light, 'light," bade Harry. "Have a cup of coffee, Sol. Wait till I -put on my pants." - -"No, no; thank you," declined Sol. "I've eaten and I'm going on -through." It seemed as though Sol was always bound somewhere else. "I -passed the ranch and stopped off a minute, and they told me you'd gone. -So I knew I'd probably catch you. I'm on my way, myself." - -"To the mines, Sol?" - -"Yes, sir-ee. Just got back; been in Leavenworth a short spell, and am -headed west again, for more of the elephant." - -"What elephant?" - -Sol laughed. - -"The big show. 'Seeing the elephant,' they call it, now, when they set -out for the Pike's Peak diggin's--because there are folks who don't -believe there is any such critter." - -"Did you see him, Sol?" - -"Well, you know we've seen a goose-quill or two containing a few -freckles from his hide." - -"What trail's the best?" queried Harry. - -"I went out by the Santy Fee Trail and came back by the Platte -government trail. But those are too long for you. I hear tell a lot of -people are going to try the trail straight west, up the Smoky Hill. If I -were you, though, I wouldn't tackle that. The water peters out. You'd do -better to cut northwest from Riley or Junction City, over the divide -between the Solomon and the Republican, and strike the Republican. Jones -and Russell, the Leavenworth freighters, are going to put on a line of -stages by that route, and they know what they're about. They've surveyed -a route already, and I shouldn't wonder if you'd find some of their -stakes. Anyway, the stages'll overtake you, and then you'll have their -tracks and stations. On the divide you'll keep to the high ground and -head the creeks and save a lot of trouble. Always travel high; that's my -notion. The fellows that try to follow the brush river-bottoms are the -ones who get stuck. You may have to make one or two dry marches, but you -can keep your water cask full." - -"What's doing out at the mines, Sol?" - -"Doing? There were about two hundred people there when I left. They'd -had a nice mild winter; only one cold snap at Christmas. They're all -collected at Cherry Creek; they've started two towns opposite each -other, near where the creek joins the Platte. The one on the west side -the creek they've called Auraria; the one on the east side was St. -Charles for a time, but now it's named Denver, after Governor Denver of -Kansas Territory. Auraria's the bigger, to date. What it'll be in a -month or two, can't tell. That's where they're all living, anyhow: in -Auraria and Denver. S'pose you've read in the papers that last fall they -held a meeting and set off the Pike's Peak country as 'Arapahoe County' -of Kansas, elected a delegate to the Kansas legislature, and another to -go to Washington and get the government to let 'em be organized as a new -separate Territory. He hasn't done much, though. Congress won't listen -to him. It's all too sudden. Proof of the elephant hadn't reached there -yet." - -"Are they digging lots of gold, Sol?" asked Terry, eagerly. - -"You could put all the gold I saw in two hands," declared Sol. "It's -mostly color, and flake gold washed from the creeks. They haven't got -down to real mining, and some of the people who counted on an easy time -at getting rich quick are plumb disgusted. What's been done since I left -I can't say. But the gold's in the mountains, and it'll take work to dig -it out." - -"How far are the mountains from the towns? How far's Pike's Peak, Sol?" -demanded Terry. - -"The real mountains are about forty miles, I judge; and that Pike's Peak -we're all hearing of is near a hundred. 'Cherry Creek' diggin's is a -heap better name for the place than 'Pike's Peak.' Pike's Peak is away -down south and there aren't any mines there, yet. Well, how's your -outfit behaving? Does the mule pull with the buffalo?" - -"First-rate," answered Harry. "They're used to each other." - -"That's good. Usually a mule's got no love for a buffalo. You want to -watch out when you get into the buffalo country or you'll have trouble, -sure, with one or the other of your critters. And I'd advise you to peg -along as fast as you can and keep ahead of the crowd or there won't be a -piece of fuel left as large as a match, to cook with." - -"Jiminy! That sounds like a rush," exclaimed Harry. "Then what the -papers say is true--about twenty-five thousand people." - -"Twenty-five thousand!" laughed Sol. "I've been at Leavenworth, and -Kansas City too, and every steamer from the south is loaded to the -stacks. You can't see the steamers for the people! Those two cities are -regular camps--streets jammed, merchants selling tons of supplies, -wagons and critters hardly to be bought for love or money, and the -country around white with wagons and tents of folks making -ready--waiting for a start. Same way up at Council Bluffs, where the -crossing is from Iowa into Nebraska to strike the Platte River Trail. In -a month the Platte Trail will be so thick you can walk clear from the -Missouri to the mountains on the tops of the prairie schooners. So you -do well to peg along early. The rush is begun." Sol reined up his horse, -preparing to leave. "Good luck to you, boys. I'll see you at the -mines." - -"We've got one waiting for us, maybe, you know, Sol," reminded Terry. -"And--" - -"All right," answered Harry. "We'll see you in the land of the elephant, -anyway. So long." - -And Sol galloped south, into the darkness. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -DUKE ON A RAMPAGE - - -Before noon of the next day Harry, in the advance guiding Jenny and -Duke, swung his hat and cheered. - -"Did you ever see the like!" he cried. "The rush has begun, all right." - -"I should say!" gasped Terry. - -They had arrived in sight of the town of Manhattan, just above the mouth -of the Big Blue, on the Kansas River emigrant trail from the east. The -prairie for half a mile around was alive with campers; the smoke from a -host of dinner fires drifted upon the clear air, and a great chorus -arose--shouts of men, cries of children, bawling of cows and oxen, -barking of dogs. - -"And this is only one trail from the Missouri," said Harry. "Hurrah! -Gwan, Duke, Jenny! Gwan!" - -As they proceeded down the valley road, for the town, presently they -struck the overflow of the encampment, and began to be greeted from -every side. Duke and Jenny apparently attracted much attention. - -"Whar you think you're goin', boys?" - -"Why don't you get astraddle an' ride?" - -"Is that a genuyine buff'lo?" - -"Who invented that rig?" - -"I'll trade you a cow for your mule, strangers." - -"When do you give your show?" - -And so forth, and so forth. Men laughed, women and children stared, dogs -barked, and Shep, bristling, took refuge under the cart. To all the -sallies Harry, and sometimes Terry, made good-natured reply, for this -was a good-natured crowd. - -Many wagons besides theirs bore signs. There were several with "Pike's -Peak or Bust," which evidently was popular. "To the Land of Gold" was -another favorite scrawl. One wagon announced: "Mind Your Own Business." -Another proclaimed: "From Pike County for Pike's Peak." And another: -"We're Going to See the Elephant--Are You?" - -As they entered the main road they turned in just ahead of a rickety -farm wagon with flimsy makeshift cotton hood, containing a strange -medley of children, women, household furniture, what-not. It was drawn -by a cow and a gaunt horse, a goat was led at the rear, a dusty, sallow -man trudged alongside. The wagon-hood said: "Noah's Ark." - -"How'll you swap outfits, strangers?" sung the man. - -"Nary swap," laughed Harry. - -"Whar you from?" - -"Up the Blue." - -"We're from Injianny," quavered one of the women, on the front seat. -"It's a powerful long way to the gold fields, isn't it?" - -"You've hardly started yet," replied Harry. "But just keep a-going." -And--"Whoa, Duke! Look out, there! Gee! Gee-up!" He thwacked Duke -smartly on the shoulder with the willow pole, and ran to his head. The -road before and behind was thronged with the travelers, and Duke, not -accustomed to so much confusion, had been waxing restive. He snorted, -his eyes bulged, his little tail jerked, and he made a side-ways jump at -an annoying dog. Out flew Shep, rolled the dog over and over until he -fled yelping, while with rapid commands Harry quieted Duke. Even Jenny -the yellow mule was showing symptoms of rebellion. - -"We'll never get into town, this way," panted Harry. "Let's drive around -and on to the river and unspan for noon. Then you watch Duke, and I'll -ride Jenny back in for supplies." - -So, picking their path, they began to circuit the little town. To do -this was considerable of an undertaking, for the tents and wagons and -people were scattered everywhere over the prairie, and Duke much -resented the shouts and laughter and smoke and barking dogs and the -incessant orders from Harry. His eyes bulged, he rumbled indignantly, he -shook his head, the froth dripped from his lips. - -On a sudden a mean little cur darted from one side and nipped him in his -heel--and this was the last straw. With a lunge and a kick away he -bolted, dragging the surprised Jenny until she also lost her temper, and -together they dragged the cart. - -Harry ran, shouting. Terry ran. Shep yapped excitedly. - -"Stampede!" - -"Look out for the buffalo!" - -"Hi! Hi!" - -"Head 'em off!" - -Women hastily clutched children, men waved their arms and hats. - -"Duke! Jenny! Whoa! Whoa!" vainly yelled Harry and Terry, following at -best speed in the wake of the lurching cart. - -Through among the camps galloped Duke and Jenny--Duke cavorting, Jenny -plunging, the cart bounding and skidding, the pails and cooking utensils -rattling, people scampering from the path; and Harry and Terry, in their -heavy boots, pursuing, wild with alarm. Something serious was likely to -result. - -There! A dinner group was shattered--away rolled the pot, and the fire -flew. There--down collapsed a tent, as the cart struck the guy-ropes! -Into a clearing burst the two animals--but straight for a wagon and ox -team facing them, beyond! The wagon had no hood, and its principal -occupants were a black-bearded, black-hatted, red-shirted man on the -seat and a large barrel in the box. - -Duke must have been seeing red, by this time. His head down, he charged -at the wagon, or oxen, or both. The man on the seat yelled; swung his -arm at Duke; swung his whip at his own team--tried to turn them; and -then, in a great panic, with a mighty leap landed asprawl and losing his -hat, legged for safety, his boot-tags flopping and his shaggy hair -tossing. - -"Ha, ha!" roared the spectators. And the man did indeed look funny. - -The yoke of oxen suddenly awakened to the danger, and sharply veered. -Duke just missed them, at an angle--he and Jenny both, but the cart -struck the rear of the wagon, tilted it, tilted the barrel, and there -stayed, locking wheels with it, while Duke and Jenny were brought to a -quick stand. - -Up raced Harry and Terry, to investigate damages. At the same time back -clumped the man, aglare with rage. - -"Oh, crickity!" gasped Terry. "It's Pine Knot Ike!" - -"Hyar!" he bellowed. He searched for his precious hat and clapped it on -his ragged locks. Now his hair and whiskers stood out all around his -face. "Hyar! I want to ask what you mean by rampagin' through a peaceful -collection o' citizens an' endangerin' the life an' property of a man in -pursuit of his lawful okkipation? I air mild, strangers; I kin stan' a -good deal, but now I air after blood. My name is Ike Chubbers, but most -people call me Pine Knot Ike, 'cause I air so plaguey hard to chaw. That -thar air your buffler, air it? Waal, I will now perceed to eat him." - -With that, Ike whipped a huge revolver from his belt--and instantly -Harry sprang like a cat for him--grabbed the arm--"None of that, Pine -Knot Ike!"--bang went the gun, and the bullet plinked somewhere, but not -into Duke. - -"None of that, Mr. Ike Chubbers!" repeated Harry, stoutly forcing the -muzzle upward. "You can't shoot any animal of ours. Besides, no damage -had been done." - -"Yes; you can't go shooting promiscuous through a camp like this, -friend," spoke somebody in the crowd that had gathered. "Those boys -aren't to blame for their stampede. Put your gun where it belongs." - -"Why didn't you stay with your wagon?" demanded somebody else. - -Pine Knot Ike slowly relaxed. Harry released his grip on the revolver, -and Ike glared around. His fierce black eyes came back to Harry, who -stood breathless but ready. - -"We have met before, stranger," he growled. "You air the schoolmaster -who nigh murdered me in this hyar very town. You know me, I reckon?" - -"I am the schoolmaster who made you dance, with your own revolver, after -you'd threatened to kill me if I didn't drink liquor for you," retorted -Harry. "Yes, I know you for a big bulldozer." - -And Terry well remembered the first encounter, last summer, between -Harry and Pine Knot Ike, when Harry not only had refused to drink but -had cleverly snatched Ike's gun and ordered him to dance as a penalty. -Yet Ike was as large in body as two Harry Reveres. - -"Haw, haw!" laughed the crowd. - -Ike glared around again. - -"I cherish no bad feelin's," he alleged. "I air a man o' peace. I air so -peaceful that I hain't bit a nail in two for nigh a full week. I mostly -drink milk." His breath did not _smell_ milky! "I air so peaceful that I -gener'ly lay down an' let folks walk on me. But I would ask if a -peaceful man pursuin' a lawful okkipation, on his way to build up a -civi-_li_-zation in them Rocky Mountings air to be run over by two boys -an' a wild buffler an' a yaller mule?" - -"Hey! Your whiskey's leakin'!" called a voice. - -And that was so. Pine Knot Ike exclaimed and leaped for his wagon. The -odor in the air had not been entirely from his breath. The bullet -intended for Duke had punctured the barrel near the top; and now the -wagon was dripping. - -Ike hastily clambered in. First he tried to stop the hole with his -thumb; next with his hat; and while the crowd hooted he shamelessly -stooped and glued his lips to the spot! - -"Haw, haw! There's his 'lawful okkipation'!" - -"That's his idee of 'civi-_li_-zation,' is it?" - -"Pity the hole isn't at the bottom instead of near the top," remarked -Harry, disgusted. "Come on, Terry." - -With a little help they freed the cart from the Chubbers wagon; and -driving the now quieted Duke and Jenny, proceeded on their way. Behind, -they heard Pine Knot Ike haranguing the crowd, proclaiming that he was a -"ruined man." But he seemed to get scant sympathy. - -Without more adventure they completed the half circuit of Manhattan -town, crossed the main road and between the road and the Kansas River -found a shady spot where they might noon comfortably. Duke was tied by a -fore-leg to a tree (they knew better than to tie him by the horns, for -he was strong enough to break any rope, that way); and after lunch -Harry rode Jenny bareback, down to town, for supplies. - -The road up-river was one line of outfits toiling onward under a cloud -of dust. They were interesting to watch. Was the whole United States -moving westward for the mountains? The constant procession -passed--wagons of all descriptions, men horseback and muleback, men, -women and children afoot; a party of men accompanying a push-cart hauled -by two of them in the shafts. The "Noah's Ark" wagon passed. And Pine -Knot Ike's wagon, with Ike swaying tipsily on the seat. And now a man -wheeling a wheel-barrow. But he did not pass, after all. He turned -aside, and deposited his laden barrow and himself under a tree near -Terry. - -He ate his lunch, and eyed Terry, Shep and Duke. - -"How'll you trade?" he asked. That was the customary challenge. - -"No trade," answered Terry, promptly. "Are you going clear to Pike's -Peak with a wheel-barrow?" - -"Yes, sir. I'll push across. I've got the best outfit of anybody. Only -my own mouth to feed, and don't need to look for grass. When I make a -dry camp I'm the only sufferer. I can set my own gait, too--can cover -twenty miles a day. Well, my name's McGrew. What's your name? Where you -from, where'd you get that buffalo, who's with you, and what trail do -you calculate on taking?" - -He seemed to be a very cheerful, plucky man, and Terry replied in -fashion as friendly. - -"My name's Terry Richards. My partner's Harry Revere--he's the same as a -brother. We're from up the Big Blue. This buffalo is half cow; I caught -him when I was hunting with the Delawares; his name is Duke. We're -thinking of taking the Republican trail." - -"Oh, you're the boys from the Big Blue, are you? I might have guessed. -I've heard about you." - -"Have you?" responded Terry, curious. - -"Yes. Sol Judy rode through last night and told me to keep an eye out -for you; but you seem able to take care of yourselves, all right, -judging from your little set-to with that whiskey peddler. I only wish -the shot had gone lower, but the chances are he'll empty his barrel -himself before he gets to the diggin's." - -"Which trail do you think you'll follow?" asked Terry, in turn. - -The wheel-barrow man scratched his head. - -"I travel light. Believe I'll tackle the Smoky Hill route, straight west -from Riley. It's shortest. Sol favors the Republican, on account of the -stages. The majority of the people are going by the Smoky, though, or by -the Santa Fe Trail--except those who are already striking the Republican -farther to the north of us. The California and Oregon Trail, up along -the Platte, of course will be the main trail." - -Harry returned with a sack of flour, a side of salt pork or sow-belly, -some sugar and coffee and beans, matches, a hatchet, and a few other -articles. His arms were filled, and Jenny was almost covered, much to -her disgust. She hee-hawed at Duke, and Duke stared wonderingly through -his matted forelock. - -"Best I could do," hailed Harry. "Never saw such a mob. The stores are -near cleaned out. I couldn't get picks or spades for love or money, but -I reckon we can find them at the other end, or maybe at Junction City -beyond Riley." - -"Well, I'll see you boys at the diggin's," spoke the wheel-barrow man, -rising and grasping the handles of his barrow. And away he trudged, to -skirt the procession on the dust-enveloped road. - -"He says he's going to try the Smoky Hill trail," informed Terry, -"because it's shorter." - -"It may do for him," answered Harry. "But the more haste the less speed, -for some of the rest of us. I believe we'd better take Sol's advice, and -break our trail across to the Republican until the stages catch up with -us." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE TRAIL GROWS LONESOME - - -Fort Riley was fifteen miles west. Progress was slow, on the crowded -road, and at six o'clock the "Pike's Peak Limited" was glad to draw -aside out of the dust and camp for the night near to a wagon labeled -"Litening Express." The owner was a heavy, round-faced German, with a -family of buxom wife, and of six girls ranging from big to little. He -had a chicken coop, a large cook stove set up for the evening meal, a -feather mattress, and an enormous bale of gunny-sacks that formed a seat -for him while he watched the supper-getting. - -Harry and Terry called easy greeting, and pretty soon he strolled over. - -"Iss dat a wild boof'lo?" he queried. - -"He was wild once, but he's tame now." - -"You are de boys who made dot man loose his whiskey, mebbe." - -"I guess we are," laughed Harry. It was astonishing, the speed with -which news traveled among the overlanders. - -"Dot was a goot t'ing. How far you say to dose gold mines, already?" - -"'Bout six hundred miles. What are you doing with all those sacks?" - -"I t'ink I poot my gold in dem, an' bring it back home." - -"That'll be quite a load, won't it?" smiled Harry. "You know gold weighs -mighty heavy." - -"I haf a goot team," replied the German, not at all worried. "I fill my -sacks, an' poot dem in my wagon, an' I come home in time for winter, an' -den I am rich. I will be one of de richest men in Illinois. Mebbe next -year I do it over." - -"A very fine plan," remarked Harry, gravely. And the German returned to -his own fire, much satisfied. - -"Jiminy! Is that the way?" blurted Terry, suddenly excited again. "We -ought to've brought sacks." - -"We've a sack of oats and a sack of flour, and I wouldn't trade 'em for -his sacks of gold--yet," retorted Harry. - -This night the flickering camp-fires of the other gold-seekers twinkled -all along the road. Fiddles were tuned up, to play "Monkey Musk," "My -Old Kentucky Home," "Yankee Doodle," and other tunes, and voices joined -in. What with the playing and singing, the barking of dogs and the -noises from cattle, sleep was difficult except for persons as tired as -were the "boys from the Big Blue." - -At Fort Riley, which was a new army post, with massive stone buildings, -near the juncture of the Smoky Hill River from the west and the -Republican River from the north, here forming the Kansas River, the -number of outfits lessened. Some struck north, some took a short cut -south for the Santa Fe Trail at the Arkansas River. - -At Junction City, beyond, the last of the white settlements, the route -of the remaining "Pike's Peak Pilgrims" again split. The main portion of -the travelers seemed to favor the new trail straight westward, up along -the Smoky Hill River, and on they toiled, to "get rich in a hurry." It -was the common report that the Smoky Hill River could be followed clear -to the mountains, but this, as Harry and Terry afterward heard, proved -untrue. - -Another portion turned off southward, for the Santa Fe Trail again. A -good government road led down to it. Only a few had decided upon -attempting the newest trail of all: that to the northwest, for the -Republican by way of the divide between the Solomon River on the left -and the Republican, far on the right. - -"We're on our way," tersely remarked Harry, as the "Pike's Peak Limited" -left Junction City for the unknown. "It's liable to be lonesome, till -the stages come." - -However, several wagons had preceded; and this first night camp was made -at a creek, and close to another party also camped. - -"Whar you boys from?" That was the first question. - -"Do you calkilate to get thar with a buffalo and a yaller mule?" That -was the second question. - -"How'll you swap dogs?" That was the third question. - -And--"Do you figger on diggin' out your pound of gold a day?" was the -fourth question. For Eastern papers had asserted that this was the -regular output of the Pike's Peak country: a pound of gold a day to each -miner! - -"Half a pound a day will suit us," responded Harry. - -"Dearie me!" sighed the woman--a nice, motherly woman, the sight of whom -imbued Terry with a little sense of homesickness. "We all count on a -pound a day for one hundred days, so as to buy a farm back in Missouri. -Maybe, if the children and I dig, we can raise it to two pounds a day. -That'll be two hundred pounds, which is a right smart amount of money." - -Junction City having been put behind, now there was not even a cabin to -be seen. The high plain between the valley of the Solomon on the south -and the valley of the Republican on the north stretched wide and -unoccupied save by the squads of antelope, the scant trees marking the -creek courses, and the scattered white-canvased wagons ambling on. - -It was a go-as-you-please march. Outfits wandered aside, seeking better -trail or better camping-spot. Occasionally one had broken down, and was -halted for repairs or rest. Already the chosen route was dotted with -cast-off articles, abandoned to lighten the loads. Bedsteads, trunks, -mattresses, chairs--and Harry, pointing, cried: - -"There's the 'Lightning Express' stove!" - -For the German's heavy cook-stove reposed, by itself, on the -prairie--and odd enough it looked, too. - -"Wish we'd come to his feather tick, some evening," quoth Terry. - -Fuel, even buffalo chips (which were the dried deposits left by the -buffalo, and burned hotly) were scarce. The "Limited" aimed to camp each -evening at a creek, if possible, where trees might be found; but most of -the dead wood had been used by other travelers, or by Indians, and the -green willow and ash smudged. The sage and greasewood burned well, but -burned out very quickly. - -Duke and Jenny footed steadily, making their twelve and fifteen miles a -day, up and down, into draws and out again, and the "Limited" seemed to -be gradually forging ahead. For a time, each night camp might be -established (a very simple matter) in company with other pilgrims; and -the spectacle of the half-buffalo and the yellow mule pulling in, or -already waiting, invariably excited the one conversation. - -"How far to Pike's Peak, strangers?" - -"Five hundred miles or so, yet, I guess," would answer Harry, politely. - -"It's an awful long trail, this way, ain't it? How far to the -Republican?" - -"That I can't say." - -Then the outfits would exchange travel notes and personal history. - -But the trail was petering out, as Harry expressed, more and more, as -the creeks were being headed, and anxious gold-seekers swerved aside -looking for the Republican Valley and better water. - -About noon one day a giant, solitary tree waited before. Several -wagon-tracks led for it, and Duke and Jenny followed of their own -accord. It was a big cottonwood, with half the bark stripped from its -trunk by lightning. - -"A store of good wood, there," remarked Harry. "Wonder why nobody's -chopped it down." - -"It's got a sign on it," exclaimed Terry. "See?" And--"'Pike's Peak Post -Office,'" he read, aloud. - -The sign was plain; and presently the reason of the sign was plain. On -the white surface of the peeled trunk was scrawled a number of names and -other words. - -"Pike's Peak or Bust!" - -Underneath: "Busted! No wood, no water, no gold. Boston Party." - -Also: - -"Keep to the north." - -"Climb this tree and you won't see anything." - -"The jumping-off place." - -"The Peoria wagon. All well." - -"Bound for the Peak, are you?" - -"'Litening Express'!" announced Harry. "Our German friend is still -ahead." - -"'Mr. Ike Chubbers'!" spelled out Terry, with difficulty. "Aw, shucks! -He's this far already." - -"Yes, and there he went!" laughed Harry, gleefully. "Those are sure his -tracks. He's sampling his barrel." - -And by token of a weaving, wobbling, sort of drunken pair of wagon-wheel -tracks that made a wide swing for the north, Pine Knot Ike evidently had -continued in a new direction. - -"He's hunting the Republican," agreed Terry. "Hope we don't run into -him." - -"Nope," declared Harry. "Once is enough. Hurrah!" he uttered. And he -read: "'Stage line here. Sol Judy.'" - -"That's so." And Terry peered. "But I don't see the line. Wonder which -way he went. There's a double arrow, pointing both ways. Wonder if it's -his. Wonder when he wrote here. If somebody hadn't written on top of him -with charcoal, a fellow might tell." - -"Anyway, we won't turn off yet," declared Harry. "And if we stand here -'wondering' we won't get anywhere at all. He said to keep northwest by -the high ground. Maybe that wagon track ahead is the Lightning Express. -We'll keep going. Gwan, Duke! Jenny!" - -"Sort of wish we'd gone by the Smoky Hill, don't you?" ventured Terry. -"We'd had more company." - -"When we strike the Republican we'll find plenty company," asserted -Harry. "This _is_ getting rather lonesome, I must confess." - -Not a moving object was in sight. The "Pike's Peak Post Office" tree -stood here all by itself, as if waiting for the stages. And yet, Terry -well knew (unless the sights at Manhattan had been a dream), north and -south of them thousands of people were trooping, trooping westward in -long, human rivers of creaking wagons. - -He and Harry gave a last look behind and on either side, searching the -brushy expanse for other outfits; then they left the friendly cottonwood -and headed westward again, in the tracks of the wagon before. But -suddenly Harry stopped. - -"Pshaw! We forgot." And he limped hastily back to the tree. With his -pencil he wrote on it. Of course! Terry returned to see. - -"The Pike's Peak Limited. April 20, 1859. All well," announced this -latest inscription. - -"Somebody will read it," quoth Harry. "It'll show we got this far -ourselves." And they returned, better satisfied, to the cart. - -"There's one thing sure," continued Harry: "The less company we have, -the more fuel and forage we'll find. We're getting into the buffalo -country, too. See?" - -For the surface of the ground was cut deeply by narrow trails like -cattle trails, but made by buffalo wending probably from water to water. -Some of the trails had been freshly trodden. - -"That means we'll have to look sharp after Duke and Jenny," warned -Terry. - -They proceeded. - -"Well, here come a party," remarked Harry. "But they're going the wrong -way." - -"Maybe it's some of the stage line surveyors." - -The party, of three men, two of them horseback and one of them muleback, -drew on at trot and rapid walk. The men were bearded, roughly dressed, -and well armed with revolvers and rifles. Meeting the Pike's Peak -Limited, they halted. So Harry and Terry halted. - -"Howdy?" - -"Howdy yourselves. Where you bound?" - -"For the land of gold," cheerfully answered Harry. - -"Land o' nothin'!" rebuffed the spokesman of the party. "Turn back, turn -back, 'fore you starve to death." - -"Why? Are you from the Pike's Peak mines?" - -"We're from the Cherry Creek diggin's, young feller, but we didn't see -any mines there nor nowheres else. It's all a fake, and we're on our way -to tell the people so and save 'em their bacon." - -"Aren't you bringing any gold?" exclaimed Terry. "Have you been there -long?" - -"Long! Gold!" And he turned his pocket inside out. "That's the size of -your elephant. We've been there since last November, sonny, and the gold -is in your eye. That Pike's Peak craze is the biggest hoax ever -invented. It's just a scheme of a few rascals to sell off town lots. -They want to get people to come out yonder; and gold is the only thing -that'll persuade 'em into the barrenest, porest country on the face of -the 'arth. We've been thar, so we know. We couldn't get out, in the -winter; but everybody's leavin' now, to tell the folks along all the -trails to face back and go home." - -Terry felt a sinking of the heart. Harry also seemed to sober. - -"What gold is it that's been sent out of there, then?" he asked. - -"Californy gold! Fetched through from Californy. Never was taken out of -that Pike's Peak country at all. Californy gold, used to fool the people -with, back in the States." - -"But my father brought home two hundred dollars in gold, and he found -it there somewhere, himself--near Pike's Peak," argued Terry, with -sudden thought. "We've already got a mine!" - -"He did, did he? Waal, if he did he was lucky, and he was luckier to get -out with it. Thar may be a little gold--thar's gold to be washed from -'most any mountain stream, but you can't eat gold. Yon country's a -freezin' country and a starvation country and an Injun country, fit for -neither civilized man nor beast. The government'll need to step in and -forbid people goin' to it. The hull of it ain't wuth an east Kansas -acre." - -"All right. Much obliged," said Harry. "So long." - -"Goin' on?" - -"We'll try a piece farther," said Harry. "How's the trail ahead? Did you -see any stage line stakes?" - -"Stage line stakes! What you dreamin' of? That stage idee is another -hoax. You'll find that out, together with a few other things. But if -you're _set_ on bein' a pair of young fools, _go_ on. We haven't more -time to waste with you." - -And forthwith the party spurred on its eastward way. - -"Look out for Injuns," called one, over his shoulder. - -"Humph!" mused Harry. "Doesn't sound very encouraging, but we can't -believe everything we hear, for and against, both. If we did, we'd never -know _what_ to do. A fellow has to act on his own hook, sometimes, until -he can judge by his own experience, where he can't depend on the -experience of others. That party may have secret reasons for talking -so." He eyed Terry. "Shall we go on, clear through? I don't think a few -discouragements will turn the wheel-barrow man back." - -"I don't, either!" declared Terry, bracing. "Let's go on." - -"Duke! Jenny! Hep with you!" responded Harry. "Hurrah for the Pike's -Peak Limited, and maybe the Lightning Express, too! But no German with a -wife and six girls and a feather bed shall beat this outfit. We're -liable to come on a stake, any time. And the next will be only a few -miles, and the next another few miles, and at that rate we'll hit the -Republican River smack." - -But to Terry, surveying the monotonous, empty landscape, single stakes -planted maybe days' journeys apart seemed rather small landmarks. - -In mid-afternoon they did indeed overtake the "Litening Express." It was -halted beside a small, stagnant water-hole, as if making early camp. The -wife and the six girls were sitting around, in disconsolate manner, and -the German himself was soaking his naked feet in the water. - -"What's the matter here?" hailed the cheerful Harry. "Broken down? -You're pointing the wrong way." - -For that was so. The one wagon track beyond had doubled, and the wagon, -from which the team had been unspanned, was heading east instead of -west. - -"Yah," stolidly answered the German. "We go back. Dere iss no elephant. -Now we go back again home quick. We haf met some men who haf told us." - -"Oh, pshaw!" uttered Harry. "You're half-way. Better go the rest of the -way and see for yourself. You mustn't let a few wild rumors stop you." - -"Don't you intend to fill your sacks?" added Terry. - -"Dere iss no gold, so dey say; an' notting else," insisted the German. - -"Once you believed there was, and now you believe there isn't," laughed -Harry. "You might as well believe the first as the second, as far as you -know." - -"And there is gold, because we've got a mine," encouraged Terry. - -"Nein." And the German shook his head. "I set out to fill my sacks; dose -men say I cannot fill dem. So I go home. I t'ink you better go home, -too. You camp here with us, an' I fix my feet, an' we haf a goot supper, -an' den in mornin' we travel togedder." - -"Nope, we're bound through," replied Harry. "This is no time of day for -us to camp." And Terry was relieved to hear him say so, for the stagnant -pool, with the German's feet in it, did not look very inviting. "What -did you find ahead?" - -"Notting an' nobody," grumbled the German. "All joost like dis." And he -swept his arm around to indicate the bare stretch of plains. "Purty soon -you see where I turn to go home, an' den you be all by yourself. I do -not like it. I like peoples. So I go home." - -"You didn't see any stake, did you?" queried Terry. - -"What stake?" - -"To mark the stage line." - -"What for would dey poot any stage line where dey ain't peoples?" -demanded the German. - -"All right: how'll you sell your mining tools?" asked Harry, with alert -mind. "You've no use for them." - -"Mebbe I dig garden. But I sell dem to you for one dollar an' half--de -whole lot." - -"Done!" cried Harry. "And how about those sacks?" - -"Dey iss goot potato sacks. But what will you gif me for dose sacks?" - -"Four bits." - -"Well, I guess you take dem. You t'ink to poot potatoes in dem? Nein, -nein; you iss crazy. It iss as crazy as to t'ink to poot gold in dem." - -When they left the German, who had resumed the soaking of his sore feet -in the general pool, they were possessed of two new picks, two new -spades, a cask of sauerkraut, and the bale of sacks. - -"What'll we ever do with the sacks?" inquired Terry. - -Harry scratched his long nose. - -"Blamed if I know, yet," he admitted. "But you never can tell." - -In about an hour they passed the place where the "Litening Express" had -turned about. Now there was no trail at all, except the endless buffalo -trails. Somewhere they had lost even the hoof-prints of the three -horsemen. - -They made late and solitary evening camp on the farther side of a deep -creek bed, whose banks had been broken down by crossing buffalo. There -was so little water that Terry had to dig a hole, in order to get a -pailful for supper and breakfast. But in wandering about searching for -buffalo chips in the gloaming, he shouted gladly: - -"Here's a stake--a new one! It says: 'Station 11'!" - -Harry limped to inspect. - -"Bully!" he enthused. "We don't care where the other ten are. This shows -we're on the right road. Well, Mr. Station Master, I want supper and -beds for two, and a guide to the next station. What's the tariff, and -what'll you trade for sauerkraut and gunny-sacks? But I wish your -company'd make your stations a little bigger, for this is a powerful big -country." - -However, tiny as it was, the stake appealed as a human token. There were -signs, also, of an old camp, near the creek; and from the stake -hoof-marks led away westward, as if to the next stake. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -TOUGH LUCK FOR THE LIMITED - - -"I suppose," reflectively drawled Harry, in the morning at breakfast, -"that by the looks of things we're in for a dry march or two before we -strike the creeks on the other side. Anyway, we'd better fill the water -keg, sure. And I opine you're to go ahead, to keep those horse tracks, -while I follow with the cart." - -"Pike's Peak or Bust," responded Terry. - -They started early, to push on at best speed. Duke grunted, Jenny -sighed, the cart creaked, Harry whistled, Shep scouted before and on -either hand, sniffing at the buffalo trails and charging the prairie -dogs and little brown birds, and Terry, trudging in the advance, -faithfully kept to the hoof-prints. - -Perhaps the Pike's Peak pilgrims who had turned off had been wise, for -the water certainly was failing. Now there were only a few shallow -washes, and these were dry as a bone, showing that the top of the low -prairie divide was being crossed. Still, with a full water keg, which -would give several good drinks to all, and with the horse tracks to -follow, and the Republican side of the divide somewhere ahead, there was -no cause for worry. - -Duke and Jenny stepped valiantly. Terry felt a pride in the thought that -the Pike's Peak Limited was the first overland outfit on the new stage -trail. He wondered if they would beat the wheel-barrow man in to the -diggin's. Maybe they would! He wondered when they would sight the -mountains. Tomorrow? No, scarcely tomorrow. The horizon ahead was a -complete half-circle, broken by never an up-lift. In fact, 'twas hard to -believe that any mountains at all lay in that direction. - -At noon Harry guessed that they had covered ten miles, and he figured on -covering another ten miles before evening camp. He was anxious to reach -the next water. The cart was not much of a drag, and both Duke and Jenny -were strong. So at the noon camp everybody had a little drink, and Duke -and Jenny had a little grass, and a little doze. Shep snored. A good -dog, Shep. - -"It's queer how little game we've seen, except measley rabbits," -observed Harry, that evening. "Only some antelope, and one old buffalo -bull at a distance." - -"And no Indians, either," added Terry. - -"Well, expect the Indians are with the buffalo or else begging along the -main trails," reasoned Harry. "But we'd better hobble both animals -short, anyway, so they won't stray off looking for water." - -The sun had set gloriously in a clear and golden west. While camp was -being located in the open, the broad expanse of rolling plain quickly -empurpled; and in the twilight Terry staked out Duke, by a rope and a -strap around his fore-leg, and Jenny by a rope around her neck. When -supper was finished, and the dishes scoured with twigs to save the -water, the first stars had appeared in the sky. - -Just before closing his eyes to sleep, Terry from his buffalo robe gazed -up and sighed contentedly. It was a fine night. - -The coyotes and the larger wolves seemed unusually busy. Their yaps and -howls sounded frequently. Several times during the night Terry was -conscious that Shep growled, and that Duke and Jenny were uneasy; he -heard also a low rumble, as of distant thunder, but he was too sleepy to -sit up and look about. When he did unclose his eyes, to blink for a -moment, he saw that the stars were still vivid in the blue-black sky -overhead. - -This was the last thought--and next he awakened with a start, to pink -dawn and Harry's ringing shout: - -"Buffalo! Great Scott! Look at the buffalo!" - -Harry was up, standing near the cart and gazing to the east. Up sprang -Terry, too, and gazed. The rumble was distinct. A miracle had occurred -between darkness and dawn--all the plain to the east was black with a -living mass which had flowed upon it during the night. - -Buffalo! - -"I should say!" gasped Terry. - -"Must be ten thousand of them," called Harry. - -"Look out for Jenny and Duke!" - -Jenny was snorting, as the morning breeze bore the reek of the vast herd -to her nostrils. No, mules did not like buffalo. Duke's head was high, -as he stared. Harry had partially dressed; now he hurried to quiet the -team. Terry drew on his trousers and boots and hastened after. - -The buffalo were grazing, and seemed to be drifting slowly this way. The -hither fringe was not a quarter of a mile from the camp. Bulls bellowed -and pawed and rolled, calves gamboled and breakfasted, and around the -mass prowled great gray buffalo wolves, waiting their chances. All was -wondrously clear in the first rays of the rising sun. - -Harry led the restive Jenny to the wagon and tied her short. - -"I think we'd better get right out of here," he announced, as he helped -Terry and Shep drive the equally restive Duke in. "The coast ahead is -clear. But if we wait for breakfast or anything, that herd's liable to -be on top of us." - -"Let's hustle, then," agreed Terry. "They're coming this way, sure. I -heard 'em, in the night, but I didn't know what it was." - -"Same here," confessed Harry, as they hustled to put Duke and Jenny to -the cart, and pitch the camp stuff inside. "Funny where such a mob rose -from. Reckon something set 'em traveling." - -Jenny was quite ready to leave, but Duke was more reluctant. However, on -started the Pike's Peak Limited again. - -"We'll stop for breakfast when we're at a safer distance," quoth Harry. -"Hope we reach water tonight." - -Yes, the great herd was perceptibly nearer when they pulled out. But at -the rate it was moving it could be left behind while it peacefully -grazed. The thin brush was a-sparkle with scant dew, soon dried by the -bright sun. The hoof-prints of the second horseman party showed plainly -in the sod and sandy gravel. Terry acted as guide, Harry, following with -the cart, urged on Duke and Jenny. - -"Reckon we'll come to another stake today," called back Terry. - -"Reckon we will," answered Harry. - -The rumble of the herd gradually died. The sun mounted higher, and Terry -was thinking upon breakfast, when a sudden hail from Harry halted him. - -"Wait! Listen!" - -Harry had stopped. - -"Whoa!" And Duke and Jenny stopped, not at all unwillingly. - -Terry stopped, poised. Another dull rumble! More buffalo? Nothing was in -sight before or on either hand. The rumble came from behind--and yonder, -against the sun, welled a cloud of dust. - -"They've stampeded!" he cried. - -"Sounds like it. And the question is, which way are they going?" - -That was speedily answered. - -"Gee whillikens!" exclaimed Terry. "They're coming this way!" - -A swell of the prairie had concealed all save the dust; but now atop the -swell had appeared black dots, succeeded instantly by a long wave of -solid black, as over and down surged the whole herd, covering the back -trail and pouring on with astonishing, not to say alarming rapidity. -The flanks extended widely; there was no time for escaping to one side -or the other. In fact, the cart seemed to be right in the middle of the -broad path. - -Harry acted quickly. - -"Watch the animals!" he ordered. "I'll tend to this end. Don't lose your -head, Terry. We can split 'em." - -He limped to the rear of the wagon. Terry ran back to Duke--and saw that -Harry had jerked the shot-gun from where it was stowed, and was posted -out behind the wagon. The crowded ranks of the buffalo were so close -that the earth trembled. Jenny trembled, also, and Duke was pawing and -staring side-ways. Shep, barking wildly, took refuge underneath the -wagon. - -Terry seized the whip, dropped by Harry, and threatened Duke from -before. - -"Steady, Duke! Jenny! Whoa! Whoa, now!" - -"Steady, everybody!" yelled Harry, above the up-roar. The stampeding -herd was upon them. Three or four of the fleetest cows raced past, -galloping, heads low, little tails cocked, with the peculiar rolling -motion of the running buffalo; and close after pressed the whole mass--a -crowded frontage of thundering hoofs, shaggy heads, bulging eyes, -lolling tongues, huge shoulders lunging, lion-like manes tossing, and -slim, smooth hind-quarters bobbing up and down. And back from the front -rank, these were all mixed together--solid! - -Terry's heart beat wildly. An instant more, and----! Why, the cart -outfit was only a speck in the path of this darkly rushing avalanche -which would swallow them all in a jiffy and never know; would mash them -flat! - -He caught his breath, while trying to quiet Duke and Jenny. There was no -use in running away--Harry stood braced--how small he looked--but he was -plucky--and now he actually ran forward, a few steps, right against the -onward plunging rank--waved his hat--shouted--and bang! bang! warned the -shot-gun, belching its challenge into the buffalos' faces. - -"Duke! Jenny! Whoa!" shrieked Terry, desperately--and now gladly, for -another miracle had occurred. The foremost buffalo, as if suddenly aware -of the cart, and the human beings, had veered aside, to right and left, -avoiding Harry, and the cart, and all; and following their leaders, to -right and left were veering the others, here at the middle, so that the -divided herd began to stream past in a heaving, jostling current, on -either hand. It had been split, by Harry; and the Pike's Peak Limited -was an island. - -Harry continued to yell and wave his hat and arms. He stood there -fearlessly, at the split. At first the split was narrow--Terry almost -could touch the shaggy forms as they lurched by. He started to yell and -wave, also, and help widen the split--for it did widen--but speedily he -had to quit. Duke and Jenny were nervous enough already. Jenny snorted, -reared; Duke shook his head and strained from side to side. - -"Duke! Whoa! Steady, boy! Back, Jenny!" - -The pounding of the incessant hoofs was like the long-roll of a great -drum. Thick rose the dust, but not so much from the earth as from the -big hairy bodies, to which had clung dried dirt. Bulls, cows, and -calves; cows, calves, and bulls--forming a stifling, living lane of -constant motion. - -Terry scarcely could hear himself. - -"Duke! Whoa, boy! Steady, there! Whoa, Jenny!" - -Would the herd never be past? Yes, yonder it was thinning--and farther -beyond, the stragglers were in sight. Good! - -"Duke! Be careful, Duke!" He was growing more unmanageable. Terry danced -before him, and threatened. "Whoa Jenny! Whoa, Duke!" And--"Duke! Duke! -DUKE! Whoa-oa! DUKE!" But no use; with shake of angry head and flirt of -wickedly cocked tail Duke bolted; dragged Jenny and the cart together, -knocked Terry sprawling--Terry clutched vainly at the cart, was dragged, -himself, a few feet, staggered up, hatless, stumbled on the frightened -Shep, and gazed after with a wail: "Oh, jiminy!" - -They were away, in the dusty wake of the flying herd: Duke galloping, -Jenny galloping, the cart bounding. - -Harry had turned just in time to witness. His sweat-streaked face gaped, -amazed, perplexed, and hardened into sudden resolution as whirling he -sprang forward. But Terry was as quick. Grabbing up his hat as he went, -he launched in the pursuit. Out-stripping him, Shep ran furiously, -barking, and Harry kept close behind. - -The cart was plainly visible, in an open place among the stragglers at -the rear of the herd. Duke lumbered, Jenny lumbered, the cart lumbered, -and holding to the chase lumbered in their heavy boots Terry and Harry. - -Soon it was evident that a harnessed buffalo was no match for free -buffalo. Duke's outfit was being left; buffalo after buffalo passed it, -until presently Duke and Jenny and the cart were traveling alone. But -they kept going, on a stampede of their own, imitating the insensate -herd. - -"Darn that Duke!" panted Terry. And he shouted: "Sic', Shep! Turn 'em! -Sic', sic'! Catch 'em, boy!" - -Shep darted gaily. He fairly tore through the brush. Now he had reached -the cart--and now he was barking alongside the crazy team. Would he do -it? _Could_ he do it? Yes, he was trying to head them. He had gained the -front; yapping, darting, snapping, he was crossing back and forth before -Duke's nose. Down lower dropped Duke's burly head; he charged; Shep -dodged, and returned. - -The cart swung and tilted, and out was bounced the cask of sauerkraut. - -"Hurrah!" cheered Harry. - -On at a tangent lumbered Duke and Jenny--Shep was bothering them -seriously--and out bounced the water keg. - -"Great Scott!" gasped Harry. "Don't let's lose that keg!" - -"Shep'll stop 'em! Shep'll stop 'em!" panted Terry. "Hurrah!" His throat -was tight, his heart thumped tremendously, his legs were like lead, but -he had hopes. - -Shep knew his business of turning cattle. Now wherever the enraged and -frantic Duke headed, the pesky, yapping, snapping dog was under his -nose. Jenny was growing tired of being dragged hither-thither; she -detested dogs, and she despised buffalo, tame or wild. Duke, at his -wits' end, and tired also, stopped short; she stopped; Duke pawed and -shook his locks and rumbled, keen yet for just one good chance at his -tormentor--and Shep, sitting down, with tongue dripping, held the way. - -There they were when, breathless, Terry and Harry arrived, to scold the -runaways, to praise Shep, and to take stock of damages. - -"Not a thing broken, is there?" pronounced Harry, still panting, after -the hasty survey. - -And that appeared to be the case. Of course, the stuff inside the cart -was pretty well jumbled; but the frame and wheels seemed all right, and -the harness was whole, and only Duke and Jenny themselves were the worse -for wear. Their drooping heads and heaving flanks proclaimed that they -had run quite far enough. - -So, thought Terry, had he and Harry. He felt as though he had run a mile -or more. Whew! - -"All's well that ends well," asserted Harry, regaining his spirits. -Nothing downed Harry. "Now, first thing to do is to get that keg of -water. But I don't suppose we'll ever find the trail. The buffalo must -have tramped it out--and we're away off the track, anyway. Shucks!" - -"Where is the keg?" asked Terry, peering. - -"There it is--that first dot. See? The gunny sacks are beyond, and the -sauerkraut last. Let's turn the critters about. You bring them on and -I'll go ahead. Maybe something else was jounced out." - -Duke and Jenny were turned, after considerable shouting and shoving; -Harry set off on a straight line for the keg, and Terry followed more -slowly with the team and cart. It did seem rather tough luck that they -had lost the horsemen's trail to the next stake; now they'd simply have -to guess at direction, unless they happened to be near the stage line -and a stage came. - -Golly, but he was thirsty! His mouth was glued. He hoped that they -all--that is, Harry and he and Shep--would get a good drink from that -keg. As for Duke and Jenny, they did not deserve a drink, although -doubtless they needed one. And what about something to eat? - -Harry was waiting at the keg, a queer look on his perspiring, grimy -face. He had set the keg on end. - -"Thirsty?" he queried. - -"Thirsty's no name for it," panted Terry. - -"So am I. But we'll have to go easy. The bung flew out of the keg, and -half the water's followed. I found the bung, but I can't find the -water." - -Harry evidently tried to speak lightly, but Terry read concern in his -tone and face both. - -"Can you stand a short drink?" encouraged Harry. "There'll be plenty on -ahead somewhere." - -"Sure," declared Terry, manfully, feeling thirstier than ever. "We've -got a little, haven't we? And if we strike that trail maybe it'll lead -us to a creek." - -So they hoisted in the keg, tightly stoppered again (but it was -suspiciously light), and Harry trudged ahead once more, to find the -gunny sacks. - -"We'll never mind the sauerkraut," he called back. "Let it stay. The -lighter we travel, the better, from here to water." - -Shep went with him. They dipped into a shallow, narrow draw; Terry heard -Shep barking, and then Harry hallooing. And when, urging Duke and Jenny, -he could see into the draw, Harry was there, at one side, beckoning and -shouting to him, and at the same time examining some object on the -ground. - -"Haw, Duke! Haw! Hep with you!" Along the shallow draw they toiled, for -he was afraid to leave the team. - -Harry was kneeling, Shep was nosing and busily waving his tail. They -were engaged over that object. It could not be the gunny sacks. The -gunny sacks had not rolled so far from the back trail. - -"Whoa-oa, Duke, Jenny! Stand, now!" And Terry trudged a few steps to -join the investigation. He stopped short, astounded. - -Harry and Shep had found a man--no, looked more like a boy; lying -crumpled and motionless in a little saucer-shaped hollow amidst the -brush. - -"Say! Is he dead?" gasped Terry. - -"No. Hasn't even been stepped on, I think," answered Harry. "But he -needs food and water mighty bad--'specially water. Open the keg, -quick." - -[Illustration: "TERRY FLEW TO THE CART ... FLEW BACK AGAIN WITH THE -PRECIOUS FLUID"] - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -JUST IN TIME - - -Terry flew to the cart, wrestled with the keg until he might pour from -it, and lavishly plashing a tin cup full, even to running over, flew -back again. - -Harry sopped his handkerchief and mopped the up-turned face of the -cast-away; trickled a few drops, now and then, in between the cracked, -parted lips; wet the thin wrists. Skin and lips seemed to absorb water -like a dry sponge. - -The unconscious refugee was small and exceedingly thin; he could not be -over eighteen or nineteen at the most. He wore coarse shoes and -trousers, and a flannel shirt open at the chest. Harry wet the white -chest. Terry and Shep watched expectantly. - -"He must be a stray from some pilgrim outfit," remarked Harry. "Got -lost. Expect he tried to strike across country by himself, and had no -food or water. Queer that the buffalo didn't harm him. They went right -over him." - -And that was so. All the brush, save in this oasis, was crushed, and the -ground was stamped and furrowed by the myriad plunging hoofs. But -somehow they had leaped the little hollow, or avoided it. - -"Did you find him?" asked Terry. - -"No; Shep found him. More water, please." And Harry passed up the -emptied cup. - -When Terry returned with it filled again, a change had occurred in their -patient. His eyes were fluttering, and he was feebly moving his bony -hands. He greedily gulped for the water, and even tried to seize the cup -when Harry removed it. Some of the water flowed over his face, but some -of it was swallowed. - -Terry hated to see any of it wasted on the ground. He was thirsty -himself; so were they all--Duke bawled hoarsely and Jenny essayed to -beg, smelling water and asking for it. - -The patient appeared to be attempting to speak--signed for more, more. - -"A little at a time, a little at a time," repeated Harry. "You're all -right. You're among friends, but you mustn't drink too much at once. -Might make you sick. Another swallow? There you are." - -The second cup was emptied. The patient was beginning to mutter thickly -and seemed to be seeing--signed for more, more. A slight color tinged -his smooth sunken cheeks. - -"He's coming round," declared Harry. "Next thing is to get him out of -this sun and into the cart. We can't stay here. Whew, this sun is hot! -Watch him and shade him as much as you can, will you, while I fix -things?" - -Having fumbled inside the cart, away limped Harry, and returned lugging -the bale of gunny sacks. He cut the binding with his knife, and opened -the bale--spread the sacks in the cart, for a bed, and leaping out with -a buffalo robe, brought it to the hollow. - -"Now let's put him on this and hoist him aboard." - -That was done, Terry tugging from inside the cart and Harry lifting from -outside. The sacks and the buffalo robe made a very comfortable, snug -bed, and wedged the sides so as to hold the patient securely. - -"Water," feebly implored a voice. - -"One cup full, this time," granted Harry. "Drink slowly--slowly, now." - -The boy clutched the cup with both hands, and Harry with difficulty -prevented his draining it at a gulp. But having drained it, he sank back -with a sigh. - -"Ho, hum!" And Harry paused, to sigh too, and wipe his streaming face -with his handkerchief. Duke and Jenny had their heads turned, -expectantly; Shep was sitting, his tongue out, his eyes eager, likewise -demanding a share from the keg. "I suppose we'll all have a small drink -apiece, but we've got another mouth to supply." - -"We won't have enough, will we?" anxiously asked Terry. "We hardly had -enough before." - -This did loom as tough luck: to have been limited in water anyway, then -to have lost the trail, and to have lost part of the water, and to have -used half of the valuable day in getting nowhere in particular, but in -being made thirstier than ever, and now to have added still another -thirsty mouth to the company. Of course---- - -"Never mind," asserted Harry. "Everything's all right. Don't you see--if -the stampede hadn't come Duke and Jenny wouldn't have run, and if they -hadn't run, we might not have lost the trail, and if the things hadn't -bounced out we wouldn't have back-tracked to gather them, and if we -hadn't back-tracked, we would never have found the boy, and if he hadn't -been found today, he'd have died, down there in that hollow. Now we'll -all get through. We won't stop to eat, but Duke and Jenny will travel a -little faster for a drink, and so will the rest of us. Half a cup for -you, and half a cup for me, and half a pail for them, to wash the dust -out of their throats, and a dozen laps for Shep. And one more cupful for -our new partner, when he needs it." - -"Well," said Terry, dubiously, "I don't know whether there's that much -in the keg or not." - -There was, and a swash left. The boy in the cart didn't understand. -"Water! Water!" he kept begging, as the Pike's Peak Limited ("limited" -indeed) again toiled on through the monotonous flatness, Harry guessing -at the right direction and Terry trudging beside the rear wheels. That -incessant cry for "water, water," grew rather annoying. The new boy -already had had four cupfuls and probably'd get another! And every -cupful counted now. But of course----! - -"We must go on as far as we possibly can, before dark," had said Harry. -"Or until we strike water, first." - -When would that be? Duke and Jenny were sluggish on their feet, and -frequently stumbled as they groaned along with their stringy tongues -dangling. It was slow work, and hot work, and awfully thirsty -work--Terry wasn't certain that he could hold out much longer without -another drink. - -"Do we drink again pretty soon?" he stammered. - -"I don't think we'd better, do you?" answered Harry, as if trying to -speak cheerfully. "We've got to save some for Duke and Jenny, and our -passenger. We can't get him through without them to haul him." - -"Tha' so," agreed Terry, his mouth gluey. "Thasso." - -"Yesh, thasso," encouraged Harry. "You an' I awright. We unnerstan'. -They don't." - -"Water! Water!" babbled the passenger. His voice was the clearest of -any. - -Trudge, trudge, creak, creak, over the dry plain, on for that quivering -horizon which might contain water but never drew nearer. They did not -know where they were going; they probably had passed another of the -stage station stakes; bushy black Shep was lagging, Duke and Jenny -stumbled, Harry limped doggedly, the passenger pleaded ever more faintly -and piteously until Harry, halting abruptly, without a word grimly gave -him half a dozen swallows; and when they resumed, Terry had decided that -he'd rather have a drink, himself, than all the gold of Pike's Peak. - -However, Harry took none; and so he didn't ask for one. - -The sun was low, streaming into their faces, and dazzling and blinding. -Soon it would set; soon they must stop; one spot would be as good as -another, if they didn't come to water--and just how he was to get -through a dry night, following a dry day, Terry could not imagine--did -not like to imagine, anyway. - -That keg, when Harry had tilted it to give those few swallows to the -passenger, had sounded alarmingly emptier than before. Water evaporated -mighty fast on these plains. - -Turning a moment, to shut the sun from his tortured eyes, now Terry saw -something, quartering behind, on the right, which was the north. What? -Antelope? No; too much dust. Antelope didn't raise such dust. Buffalo, -then? More buffalo? Or Indians! No--and a wild hope surged into his -heart and strengthened his voice, as he cried, to Harry: - -"Harry! Hurrah! There's somebody else--another outfit!" - -Harry, who had been plodding on, stopped to gaze; and instantly the -exhausted Duke and Jenny stopped. - -"Freighters," decided Harry. "Great Scott! Hurrah! Or maybe some of the -stage-line people. We'll have to head 'em off and make 'em see us. Come -on. Hurrah! Duke! Jenny! Gwan! Water! Water! Barrels of it--gallons of -it!" - -Duke and Jenny seemed to appreciate--they started gallantly. - -"Gee--gee with you, Duke!" bade Harry, hobbling. - -"Do you think they _will_ have water?" panted Terry. - -"Of course. But we'll have to catch 'em. Duke! Jenny! Hep!" - -The dust cloud yonder had resolved itself into quite a large outfit, -traveling briskly. There was a herd of animals--mules or horses; and two -wagons following, drawn each by four span; and several men afoot, and -others horseback. - -"They'll have to camp pretty soon. We'll come into 'em, if we keep -going," encouraged Harry. And he added, suddenly: "Look at Jenny! She -smells water. And so does Duke!" - -For both Duke and Jenny were alertly stretching out--sniffing, tugging, -trying to increase their pace. They almost trotted. Could they really -smell water in barrels, away off there--or did they guess? At any rate, -the two routes were drawing together. - -The sun sank below the horizon, and a pleasant coolness flowed over the -landscape. Now in the twilight the freighter outfit had halted, and -bunched. Going to make camp? No--there it started again. Pshaw! But -no--some of it had remained: not the wagons, but several of the loose -stock, and two men, and a heap of stuff. - -"Hurrah!" gasped Harry. "That's enough. Enough for us." - -Duke and Jenny were trying to break into a gallop, and their owners had -hard work to keep up. The party at the camp had seen them coming, and -were pausing in their camp-making to stare. Now at a staggering lope and -trot the Pike's Peak Limited fairly charged in--would have run right -over the camp had not the two men there rushed out and waved their arms -and shouted. - -The camp was on the edge of a muddy creek course. That was what ailed -Duke and Jenny; only by main force could they be held back. - -"What's the matter? Plumb crazed?" scolded one of the men. - -"Their critters are plumb crazed, don't you see?" reproved the other. -"Unhook 'em and let 'em go, or they'll drag cart and all in." - -Harry hustled, Terry hustled, the men helped--and on sprang Duke and -Jenny, into the mud, into the water, to drink, and gulp, and drink -again, and stand there, belly deep, soaking. Terry yearned mightily to -join them, but Harry was more polite. - -"Whar you from? You look nigh tuckered out, yourselves," accused one of -the men. - -"So we are," gasped Harry. "We're down to our last drop--we've a man -aboard the cart who's worse off still--picked him up this morning. But I -can't talk till I have a drink." - -"Never mind the creek; it's too roily. We've a barrel full." And the -other man promptly passed over a brimming dipper. Harry took it; his -hand trembled. - -"You first, Terry," he said. - -Terry shook his head. - -"We'll take turns," he proposed. "You drink and then I'll drink." - -Ah, but that water, warmish and brackish, was good! Together they -emptied the dipper, and at once emptied another--and by this time the -two men had lifted the boy from the cart and were attending to him, -also. He was too weak to talk, but he seemed to know, and smiled when he -likewise had drained a dipper. - -"Give him a little broth, later," grunted one of the men. "He had a -narrow squeak, I reckon. Mustn't overfeed him. We'll stew him some -buff'ler meat. 'Xpec' you fellers are hungry, yourselves, by this time." - -"Haven't eaten all day," laughed Harry, in spirits again. "But where are -we? We're looking for the stage line, and the Republican." - -"You aren't near the Republican yet, by a long shot. But this is a stage -station, all right. Fust stages will be through tomorrow and after that -two at a time every day, till the trail's well broken. We're part of the -supply outfit. It drops some of us off every so far along the line, -ahead of the stages, so we'll have meals and lodgin' and a change of -mules ready. You needn't do much unpackin'; we've grub enough, and you -can bunk with us and put that sick boy in the tent." - -"Yes, and the stages'll take him on tomorrow," spoke the other man. -"You'll have to lie by, anyhow. You can't start your critters out till -after they've rested a bit. That's a great team you've got--a buffalo -and a mule! Where you from?" - -"The Big Blue," answered Terry. - -"Oh! You're the boys from the Big Blue, are you? You're the ones who -spilled Chubbers' whiskey." - -So even they knew! - -The station agent and his helper were a hospitable pair. Harry -volunteered to attend to the cooking while they straightened the camp a -little, for the night. The supply wagon had dumped off a tent, a stove, -a barrel for water, a bale of hay, bedding, sacks and boxes of -provisions, several bunches of fire-wood, etc. The tent was erected, the -rescued boy placed inside and given a little broth. He immediately went -to sleep. - -This was Station Twelve--a dinner station for the stages. The next -station, Number Thirteen, about twenty-five miles farther on, was a -night station. The stations would average about twenty-five miles apart, -through this region, to the diggin's. Farther east, in the settlements, -the stations were closer. One hundred stages and a thousand mules would -be put on the run, at a cost of $800 a day. The company, Jones & Russell -of Leavenworth, already had spent $300,000. The fare from Leavenworth to -the mountains was $100 gold, and shorter trips were twenty-five cents a -mile. Time to the mountains, twelve days--maybe less when the trail was -well broken, and if the Indians didn't bother. - -"Two stages travelin' together will hold off the Injuns," remarked the -station agent. - -"Heigh-ho!" drowsily yawned Harry, after dusk, from his blankets. "All's -well that ends well--but I was getting a trifle worried." - -He and Terry had decided to wait for the stages, and to let Duke and -Jenny rest during at least half that next day. The fact is, they were -willing to rest, themselves. - -Toward noon the station men paused in their tasks, to gaze more and more -frequently into the east. - -"Thar they come," quietly informed one; and now all gazed, expectant. - -"Right on time." - -Upon the surface of the vast plains to the south of east had appeared a -dot. It rapidly enlarged, and resolved into two dots, one behind the -other. They were coming--they were coming: the first stagecoaches, sure -enough; each drawn by four mules, driver on seat, other people on seat -and roof, heads protruding from windows, mules at a gallop. - -"Yes, sir-ee! On time to the minute." - -Swaying and lurching and dust-enveloped, with creak of leather and -sudden grind of brake-shoes, the leading stage slackened at the station, -stopped abruptly, and setting the brake more securely the driver tossed -his lines to the ground and in leisurely fashion descended. He was in -slouch hat, white shirt-sleeves (or whitish, rather), yellow kid gloves -and shiny boots. Somewhat of a dandy, he. - -Another man swung down from the seat, after him; so did the passengers -atop the coach, and those within piled out. The second coach arrived in -like fashion. - -The first coach was painted red, the second green; and both were gilt -striped and bore, in gilt letters, the announcement: "Leavenworth and -Pike's Peak Express Company." - -The station-agent's assistant bustled to unhitch the mules and put in -fresh ones. The station agent served the dinner, of cold boiled buffalo -meat, bread and coffee. The passengers ate out of doors, sitting on the -boxes and a nail-keg. - -One of the passengers who had ridden on top of the coach was a busy, -inquiring man with a full brown beard and a blue eye and a long linen -duster. After he had eaten he walked over to Harry and Terry. - -"I'm Henry Villard, from the Cincinnati _Commercial_," he said, -genially. "The station agent tells me that you boys have had quite an -exciting experience on this new trail. Buffalo stampede, and a rescue, -and all that. I'd like to hear about it and send it to my paper. It -ought to make a good story." - -The man who had occupied the seat with the driver also came over. - -"A buffalo, a mule and a two-wheeled cart, eh?" he commented. "Well, I -guess you'll make it, if you've got so far. But there are five thousand -other pilgrims behind us, some with worse outfits than yours, and all -pushing on by this same trail, to find the 'elephant.'" - -Journalist Villard took notes; he even interviewed the boy in the tent. -The boy was now able to talk. He said that his name was Archie Smith. He -and two others had started from Ohio, to walk to the diggin's. They had -tried to cut across north from the Smoky Hill trail and had got -lost--and the last he remembered he was wandering alone, so weak from -hunger and thirst that he had fallen down. - -The man who had spoken of the five thousand pilgrims behind (his name -was Beverly D. Williams, and he was the stage-line superintendent, on -his initial tour of inspection), helped Archie into the red coach. - -"All aboard!" summoned the drivers, climbing to their seats. The -passengers hastily took their places. As the red coach started with a -jump, from the window Archie waved his hand at Harry and Terry, and -called again: - -"Thanks. I owe you a lot. I'll see you at the mines. Don't forget. I'll -see you at the mines." - -With a jump the green coach started also. And away rolled, tugged by -their galloping mules, the first stages for Pike's Peak, bearing -Journalist Henry Villard of the Cincinnati _Commercial_ and -Superintendent Williams, and those passengers who, like Mr. Villard, -were bent on discovering just how true the "elephant" stories were. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -SHEP DOES HIS DUTY - - -The Pike's Peak Limited prepared to follow. - -"Five thousand pilgrims! Did you hear that? All coming along behind!" -exclaimed Terry, as he and Harry "hooked" the now rested Duke and Jenny -to the cart. "These are new ones. He didn't say anything about the other -trails." - -"We heard how they were, before we left," reminded Harry. "And we saw a -right smart smattering of folks at Manhattan, remember. Oh, I don't -think we'll be lonesome." - -"All you've got to do now is to follow the stage tracks," directed the -station agent. "You'll come to stations every so often. But you'd best -keep your water keg filled. There's no knowin' what'll happen on these -plains." - -"Yes, sir," concurred his helper. "And keep your weather eye peeled for -Injuns. Don't let 'em bamboozle you or if they don't take your scalps -they'll steal you blind. When Injuns come in, hang tight to your -scatter-gun." - -"Haven't seen any, so far," remarked Harry. - -"No; but you can't tell. In my opinion that buff'lo stampede was caused -by Injuns--like as not that was why the buff'lo drifted down on you in -the fust place. And if you hadn't got out when you did, in a hurry, -you'd have had more trouble, plenty." - -The stages had long since disappeared in the west, but the tracks were -plain. Tomorrow there would be other stages, and the next day others, -and so on, had said the station men; and before the Limited had even -sighted the mountains some of these same stages would be met coming -back. That made travel at a walk seem rather slow, especially when gold -was waiting only to be found. - -A second pair of stages passed them, with a swirl of dust and a cheer, -late the next afternoon, but they found them spending the night at -Station Thirteen, on the bank of another creek. Here they also camped. - -"Twenty-five miles again," sighed Harry, satisfied. "We'll get there." - -Duke and Jenny had indeed footed sturdily. The hurrying stages seemed to -be an inspiration to them. They felt that they, also, were now going -somewhere. - -The coaches had been full. There were two women, who slept in the -station tent. The men passengers slept on the ground, under a canopy of -gunny sacking stretched over stakes. For their own comfort the station -employees were digging a cave in the side of an arroyo or dry wash, -where they might house themselves and cook, in bad weather. Could fight -off the Indians from it, too, they said. - -The talk among the passengers was mainly of buffalo, Indians and the -other sights along the trail. The Indians had been bothering the timid -pilgrims considerably, with begging and stealing, but had not bothered -the stages. - -"We'll take no chances, though," declared the stage-driver. "Never let -an Injun think you're afraid of him--that's the secret. Once start to -give in, and you're lost. Most of these pilgrims never've had experience -with the plains Injuns. They try to please 'em and buy their good-will -by giving 'em something for nothing, and the Injuns don't understand. -Giving something for nothing isn't Injun way. It amounts to being -afraid. Why, we passed at least half a dozen outfits who'd been so good -to the Injuns that they didn't have a critter left--every head driven -off, some in broad daylight, and there the wagons were sitting. One -wagon had said at first 'Pike's Peak or Bust,' and now it said, 'Busted, -by Thunder!'" - -"Must have been Kiowas or Cheyennes. The 'Rapahoes aren't ranging so far -east, are they?" suggested the station agent. - -"Oh, they're all ranging everywhere, now, following the buffalo and -begging from the pilgrims," quoth the driver. "Kiowas, Cheyennes and -'Rapahoes--they're in cahoots. But I hear tell that the main band of the -'Rapahoes under old Little Raven are sticking 'round Cherry Creek, -camped there on their winter grounds, along with the whites, instead of -chasing the buffalo. It's easier." - -The Pike's Peak Limited pulled out early, bent on making time and not be -overtaken by those five thousand rivals who were still coming. In about -an hour and a half the stages passed at a gallop, while the drivers -saluted with a flourish of whips. And the Limited proceeded to plod -after. - -Buffalo had become quite abundant. They were constantly in sight--large -bunches and small; but Duke seemed to have had his fill of rampaging, -and paid little attention to his kin-people. However, as Harry remarked, -where there were buffalo, there likely were Indians. - -"If any do come in on us," he said, "I'll grab the gun and you tend to -Jenny. If there's one thing a mule hates worse than buffalo, it's -Injun--and Jenny's powerful sensitive, poor thing." - -"Maybe we ought to mount guard tonight," proposed Terry. "I'll sit up -and then you sit up." Mounting guard for fear of Indian attack would be -another fine story to tell to George Stanton. - -"Not yet," decided Harry. "We'll stake Jenny in close, and she's awake -all night anyway. At least, with her grunts and groans she sounds like -it." - -"I suppose Shep would make a racket, too." - -"W-well," mused Harry, "I believe I'd rather trust to Jenny's ears and -nose than to Shep's--there's more _of_ them." - -The buffalo before and on either side grazed peacefully; but about three -o'clock that afternoon a commotion was evident behind. The buffalo were -scampering, and afar on the trail appeared a little cloud of dust. - -"Can't be another stage already, can it?" questioned Harry. - -"Injuns!" exclaimed Terry. "But they wouldn't be raising dust, would -they? Or maybe they're chasing a stage!" - -Harry paled slightly. - -"We'll soon see. But they won't get this outfit without a heap of -trouble. We're going through to the diggin's." - -However, it wasn't a stage. It was a light open wagon, drawn by two -horses at a furious pace. Anybody might have thought that the horses -were running away, except for the fact that a man on the seat was using -the whip. - -"Great snakes!" ejaculated Harry. "We'll have to clear the track. Gee, -Duke! Jenny! Gee! Gee-up! Whoa-oa!" - -He turned out just in time. The on-comers were in a tearing hurry. The -horses, red-nostriled, staring-eyed, lathered and dust-caked, looked -like chariot racers in full career--two men were on the seat, one -driving, the other plying the whip, and both constantly gazing backward. -They wore visored caps and belted blouses and knee trousers--revolvers, -knives, field-glasses; up and down in the wagon jolted a mass of camp -stuff, and guns, and provisions. This much Terry saw during the last -minute in which the equipage arrived, dashed half-way past, and there -was pulled short with a suddenness which set the two horses on their -haunches. - -"Injuns!" cried the two men, over their shoulders. "Cut loose for your -lives!" - -One was a blond, pinky-skinned man, the other was not so fair; but the -faces of both were faded to a dead, dusty white by fear. Their eyes were -curiously poppy. - -"Where? How many?" demanded Harry and Terry, in the same breath. - -"Chasing us! Five hundred of 'em! Raiding the stage line! Plundering the -stations! Killing the emigrants! Burning the settlements! Cut loose! -Ride for your lives!" answered the two men, in a sort of duet. - -"Five hundred are quite a parcel to be chasing two men," drawled Harry. -"Where'll we ride to, and how?" Mighty cool Harry was, in the midst of -alarm, thought Terry. "All right," continued Harry, briskly. "One of -us'll get on this mule and you can take the other in your wagon and----" - -"No, no! No room!" they protested. "We've a load. We can't wait. Cut -loose. You'll catch us. Ride for your lives. How far to the next -station?" - -"'Bout ten miles," drawled Harry. - -"Gid-dap!" Down swished the lash, forward sprang the horses. "There they -come!" yelled both men. "We're all dead----" and away they tore again, -leaning forward on the seat, shaking the lines and plying the whip, and -constantly looking back up the trail. - -"Jiminy!" gasped Terry. "They said five hundred. What are we to do? We -can't fight off as many as that. You--you can have Jenny," and he -choked. "I'll ride Duke. Hurry!" - -But Harry appeared to be in no especial hurry. He scratched his long -nose reflectively, and surveyed the trail behind. - -"Don't see 'em, do you?" he invited. "'Five hundred of them'--'raiding -the stage line'--'plundering the stations'--'killing the -emigrants'--'burning the settlements'!" He was mimicking the two -fugitives. "Five hundred fiddlesticks! That's too many Indians at one -time. Besides, there aren't any settlements 'round here to burn, except -at the mountains, and those two lunatics haven't been to the mountains -yet. And if we 'cut loose' and 'rode for our lives,' where'd we ride to? -Might better save our strength and dig a hole." - -"Don't you believe them, then?" - -"No. You can't believe cowards. I don't blame them any for running away -from five hundred Indians, but it was right mean to run away from _us_. -So I sized up that a husky outfit who'd leave a lame man and a boy to -escape on a mule and a buffalo while they went ahead with a good team -and wagon couldn't be depended on in talk or action either. Why, they -had guns enough there to fight a week! Guess they were on a hunting trip -across, and are nervous. G'lang, Duke! Jenny! Let's keep going." - -"There are Indians coming, just the same," presently informed Terry, who -could not help but peep behind. - -"Two--three--five," pronounced Harry. "They're the five hundred whittled -down to fact. We needn't pay any attention to the four hundred and -ninety-five others yet. You watch Jenny, and Shep and I'll watch these -fellows." - -The Indians, five of them, were rapidly approaching at a lope, down the -stage trail. When they were within two hundred yards Harry, uttering a -sudden "Whoa!" fell back to the rear of the wagon and, grabbing the -shot-gun, faced about, and raised his hand as sign for them to stay -their distance. They slackened in a jiffy, but one rode ahead, to talk. - -They were armed with bows and lances; half clothed in blankets and -moccasins; appeared very dirty but seemed good-natured. The old fellow -who rode ahead was a stout, grinning Indian--chief, evidently, by the -feather in his greasy hair. - -"How?" he grunted, from his ambling spotted pony. "No shoot. 'Rapaho. No -hurt um white man. Chase um. Heap fun. See wagon men? Heap fun." - -"Keep back," warned Harry, over the barrel of the shot-gun. "No fun -here. We don't run." - -"There's Thunder Horse, Harry!" hissed Terry, who, guarding the team, -had an eye also upon the Indians. - -The stout spokesman on the spotted pony was really quite good-looking; -three of the others were not much worse; but the fifth in the squad was -entirely different--his hair was cut short on the one side and left long -on the other, instead of being in two braids, and his naturally ugly -face was pitted with small-pox scars. His blanket was the dirtiest of -all the blankets, his features the greasiest, his mouth the coarsest; -and now as he also tried to smile, his blood-shot eyes glared fiercely. - -Thunder Horse, the Kiowa, he was, again: the outlaw Indian whom Terry -had first encountered among the Delawares on the emigrant trail into -Kansas, a year ago, and who had been an enemy ever since. He was a -drunken rascal, was Thunder Horse; nothing seemed too mean for him to -try. He even had stolen George and Virgie Stanton; but Terry had helped -them to get away. - -Terry recognized Thunder Horse--and Thunder Horse evidently had -recognized Terry, and Shep, too. Terry had pelted him with eggs, and -Shep had nipped him in the calf. So Thunder Horse smiled at Harry and -scowled at Terry and Shep. - -"Which one?" asked Harry, aside. "The ugly one?" - -"Yes. Look out for _him_. You'd better." - -"All good. Like um white boy. White boy give 'Rapaho shoog, coff," -wheedled the chief, advancing; and now another of the Arapahoes rode -forward. - -"Him Little Raven; big chief," he said, speaking English very clearly. -"Me Left Hand. Little Raven talk not much English. I talk for him. Where -you going?" - -"To the mines, of course." - -"You see two men in wagon?" - -"Yes." - -"We no harm them. They run, then we yell and they run faster. Little -Raven want to ask if you give him a little sugar and coffee." - -"Haven't any to spare." - -"Give him a little sugar, little coffee, little bread, and mebbe he show -you where heap gold in the mountains." - -"No, no," refused Harry. "Stand back, all of you," for the other -Indians were edging toward the wagon, from either side. Jenny smelled -them, and had grown restive---trembled, snorted, and Shep maintained a -constant growling from underneath the wagon. - -"All right." And Left Hand spoke gutturally for the information of -Little Raven, who nodded. "Brave boys. Not foolish and run. Good-bye." - -Little Raven insisted on shaking hands with Harry and with Terry. -"G'bye," he grunted. "Heap boy. No run," when suddenly Terry cried, past -him, to a figure on horseback: - -"Get out o' there!" - -During the leave-taking Thunder Horse had sidled in with the others, and -pressing along the wagon, behind Harry (who had considerable to watch -with one pair of eyes and one gun), was stealthily thrusting his arm in -under the edge of the canvas hood. - -"Get out o' there!" yelped Terry. - -Harry turned hastily--but there was a snarl, a whoop, and back careened -Thunder Horse, on his pony, with Shep hanging to his moccasin. The -moccasin and the foot within it, extending below the cart, and so -convenient, had been too much for Shep. Besides, their owner was up to -mischief! Shep knew him of old. - -Thunder Horse kicked vigorously--and while the other Indians laughed -and shouted, and Shep held hard, shaking and worrying, he jerked his -knife from somewhere--flung himself low and stabbed at his black shaggy -tormentor. - -"Shep!" called Terry, alarmed. "Quit it! Here!" - -With a final dodge, Shep tore the moccasin loose and carried it under -the cart. Glaring a moment at the cart, at Terry, at Harry, Thunder -Horse, scowling blackly, rode on. The four Arapahoes, laughing among -themselves, followed. The way with which Shep had astonished Thunder -Horse amused them greatly. - -The next noon, when the Pike's Peak Limited passed the stage station, -the agent hailed with the question: - -"Say! Was it your dog that bit that Kiowa in the foot?" - -"Yes. He'd tried to steal from the cart." - -"Well, served him right. 'Twasn't much of a bite, but he had a powerful -sore foot when he and those 'Rapahoes went out this mornin'. They camped -here all night." - -"Teeth scurcely broke the skin; but he's been so pizened with whiskey -that any least scratch on him's liable to make a bad sore," added the -agent's helper. - -"Did two men with a team and a wagon get here in a hurry, yesterday -evening?" asked Harry. "Ahead of the Indians?" - -"Yes, sir!" laughed the agent. "Those hunter greenhorns, you mean, -flying from a massacre? We calmed 'em down, let 'em hide in the tent, -and told 'em if they'd stay behind the massacre it wouldn't catch 'em. -So they waited until the massacre left, then they left." - -For the next week and more the Pike's Peak Limited kept hearing, from -station to station, of Thunder Horse and his sore foot. His foot had -swollen, his leg had swollen to the knee, it had swollen above the -knee, it was still swelling--and he was very surly, and evidently in -much pain, and drunk whenever he could obtain any liquor. - -The hunters' wagon disappeared, between stations, as if on a short-cut -to the Republican; and soon thereafter the Chief Little Raven squad, -including the then much distressed Thunder Horse (whose leg, said the -last agent, ought to be cut off), disappeared also. - -The Pike's Peak Limited plodded along. At some time every day a stage or -two stages from Leavenworth on the Missouri River passed, usually full, -but occasionally half empty. The Valley of the Republican was close -before, and behind was pressing nearer the van of that great procession. - -"They're beginning to raise a dust," remarked Harry, gazing back. - -"Yes; but you can see a dust ahead, too," said Terry. "Hope we get there -first." - -That night the camp-fires of the leading outfits on the trail behind -were plainly visible, winking through the darkness; and down in the -broad Republican Valley scattered other camp-fires were winking. - -"An early start for us in the morning, remember," enjoined Harry. - -It was almost noon when, just beating a faster-stepping team trying to -overtake, the Pike's Peak Limited, first pilgrim outfit through by the -new stage route, filed into the well-trodden, dusty trail made now by -stage and gold-seekers combined up the wide valley of the Republican. - -"Hee-haw!" exulted Jenny; but Duke the half-buffalo only flirted his -little tail at sight of the new company. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE TRAIL GROWS LIVELY - - -Yes, plenty of company now. The procession had penetrated a short -distance before, but stretched a farther distance behind or eastward: -white-topped wagons of all descriptions, their canvases torn by hail, -stained by rain and dingy with dust, drawn by ox-teams, mule-teams and -even cow-teams, and accompanied by men, women and children afoot, a few -ahorse, every individual and every animal striving to reach the Pike's -Peak country and the Cherry Creek diggin's there. - -The pilgrimage was about to "noon"; and with Duke and Jenny pulling -bravely, making their best showing, the Limited skirted the line, while -good-naturedly replying to the various welcomes. - -Pretty soon the road ahead was blocked, as the overlanders spread right -and left to cook and eat dinner. - -"Let's drive off to the side, yonder, Terry," bade Harry. "That looks -like a good spot near to that 'Root Hog or Die' outfit." - -"How are you, boys?" greeted the proprietor of the "Root Hog or Die" -wagon. "We're most of us from Ohio. Where are you from?" - -"From the Big Blue Valley, Kansas Territory, farther east," answered -Harry. - -"We came by the stage trail," added Terry. - -"I see. Well, we took a vote and decided on the Republican Valley, and a -hard time we've had, but here we are. What do you say to cooking our -dinner on the one fire, and we'll swap notes?" - -He seemed to be an extraordinarily well-spoken man, notwithstanding his -untrimmed beard and rough garb. Was a college professor, as happened, in -Ohio; and was going to the mountains for his health as well as to make a -fortune. So here he was, with his wife and little girl, accompanying a -lot of other Ohio people. - -Leaving Duke and Jenny to graze a little while longer, after dinner the -"boys from the Big Blue" strolled about, to inspect other outfits and -exchange information. The noon camp was rather quiet, with the men and -women and children resting or finishing their dishes; but back down the -trail there appeared to be a commotion--as of people gathering around a -wagon from which a man was making a speech. - -"Come on. We might as well see all the sights on the way," bade Harry. - -The speech-maker's back was toward them. Terry figured that if he talked -as rapidly as he flourished his arms, his speech would soon be ended for -lack of words. However, the words were still flowing strong. Something -in the loud tone, and the gestures, and the long unkempt black hair, and -the high thick shoulders in the ragged shirt, and the greasy slouch hat, -struck Terry as familiar. - -"Pine Knot Ike!" he exclaimed. - -"The very man--our valued acquaintance and fellow citizen, Ike Chubbers, -'half wild hoss and half grizzly b'ar,'" chuckled Harry. "We'll stand -off and listen to his discourse." - -They halted on the edge of the little throng, from where they could view -Ike's hairy profile as, beating the air with his fists, above the -up-turned gaping faces, he delivered his harangue. - -"I air the only man who ever roped an' rid an alligator in its native -swamps," he was proclaiming, and already he was quite hoarse. "I air the -only man who fit off five hunderd of the wust savage Injuns that roam -these hyar plains, an' killed nigh every one of 'em. Gentlemen an' -feller citizens: Look at this hyar bar'l. Count the bullet-holes." And -by main force Ike held aloft his whiskey barrel. It certainly was well -peppered with holes. "When the savage Injuns come down on me I war -alone, travelin' my peaceful way to help civilize the diggin's, but I -war too tough to kill. Injuns make a mistake when they attack a man o' -my nater, gentlemen, for I air slow to wrath, but I air a powerful -fighter when anybody, red or white, goes to twist my tail. I air a -ring-tail twister myself, gentlemen. So I tells my bulls to charge them -Injuns, an' I forts myself behind this bar'l an' opens up with my -pill-slingers. We fit for a runnin' mile, until this bar'l war as you -see it now, gents, an' what Injuns warn't dead had fired all their shots -an' skeedaddled. Then I gets out an' cuts off the head of the chief of -'em all, an' puts it in the bar'l, an' hyar it is on exhibition. The -head complete of a real, native wild Injun, ladies an' gents--the actual -head of old Roarin' Buffler, big chief o' the combined Sioux, Kiowa, -Cheyenne an' 'Rapaho nations, most o' who air still layin' out thar on -the desolate plains, sculped by my own hands. Old Roarin' Buffler -hisself put seven holes in this bar'l 'fore his head went in. The head -air nicely pickled an' perfectly natteral, ladies an' gents; an' for the -privilege o' seein' it I ax only a small collection. Will you kindly -cirkilate my hat, an' be keerful not to take out more'n you drop in." - -Whereupon, having handed down his battered slouch hat, Ike paused, wiped -his face with a dirty bandanna, and seated himself upon his scarred -barrel. - -"He put every hole in that with his own revolver, I bet you!" whispered -Terry. "The old fraud!" - -"A convenient way of drinking the whiskey," murmured Harry. "If the -barrel wasn't his, he can claim the Indians did it, you know." - -"Well, we can tell him about the first hole, all right," scolded the -indignant Terry. "And so can other people." - -"Now for the head," invited Harry. - -The hat had been returned to Ike, who eyed the contents doubtfully, -shook them over, and stowed them in his pocket with a scowl. - -"Six bits air a mighty measley sum to pay for the privilege an' -eddication o' seein' the actual head o' the biggest, fiercest Injun who -ever terrerized the West till he tuk arter the wrong pusson, but I'll -show him to you, jest the same." - -So saying, Ike reached into the barrel, and extracting his prize, held -it up. Harry nudged Terry; staring, Terry saw, recognized, gasped. - -"Thunder Horse! Aw----" - -"Do you know, I kind of expected that," alleged Harry. "I kind of felt -it was coming." - -The face of the severed head was assuredly the hideous face of Thunder -Horse, the drunken Kiowa; and the hair was the Kiowa's hair. - -"Thunder Horse died because of his leg, and Ike found him and cut off -his head!" scoffed Terry. "I'm going straight to the wagon and show the -whole thing up. We'll make Ike look sick--that old blow and his barrel -and his 'big-chief' head!" - -"No," opposed Harry. "Wait. There's no use in showing Ike up now. We'll -save our ammunition." - -"Well, I'm mighty glad old Thunder Horse is gone, anyhow," observed -Terry, as they went back to the cart. "He was bad medicine." - -The Ohio party were starting on. So the boys from the Big Blue put Duke -and Jenny to work again and fell in with the procession wending broad -way up the shallow valley of the Republican. - -Once every day the procession opened to give passage to the stages -westward bound on the trail; and at last stages eastward bound, -returning to Leavenworth, were met. They were assailed with all kinds of -questions, but they brought little news of importance, and apparently -little gold. - -Many people eastward bound, ahorse or afoot, also were met. - -"Turn back, every one of you," they advised. "Folks are going out -faster'n they're coming in. Some of 'em don't even stop to unhitch their -teams. Picks and spades are offered at fifteen cents apiece, and no -takers, and the man who makes fifty cents a day is lucky." - -"Auraria's burned and we've hanged the boomers," proclaimed another -squad. - -And another squad, trudging along, warned earnestly: - -"Look out for the man with buckskin patches on his breeches. He's the -leader of the gang who's robbing the pilgrims. Remember the buckskin -patches. There's no elephant--only jackasses." - -Not few in the procession did turn back, especially when the water and -fuel began to fail, as wider and more bare and sandy the valley became. -Soon there were several marches without water at all, for the river had -sunk into the sand. The choking dust floated high, the sun was burning -hot. The majority of the animals were sore-footed, from the gravel and -cactus and brush. Duke, who had been behaving nobly, seemed to have -strained his shoulder and was limping. Jenny was gaunter than ever. - -The trail had veered to the southwest--to strike, it was reported, some -creeks, and Cherry Creek itself. - -"That's another trail yonder to the south, isn't it?" spoke Harry, one -morning. - -"Yes; and wagons on it!" exclaimed Terry. "Maybe it's the Smoky Hill -trail, or the people from the Santa Fe trail." - -The "Root Hog or Die" professor, who tramped with them while his oxen -followed of their own accord, consulted a map that he carried. - -"I think they must be from the Smoky Hill route," he said. - -The two lines of travel approached each other, and at evening were about -to join. Terry uttered a cheer. - -"I see the wheel-barrow man!" he cried. "They're the Smoky Hill crowd, -all right." - -"They look pretty well used up," remarked Harry. "Must have had a hard -trip." - -The wheel-barrow man, pushing bravely, was in the van. His barrow -wobbled, and the wheel was reinforced with rawhide, but he himself was -as cheery as ever when the Big Blue outfit welcomed him. - -"Yes, terrible hard trip," he acknowledged. "Some of us near died with -thirst, and I hear tell that several wagons were burnt for fuel, so's to -cook food and keep the folks from starving. But those of us who are left -are still going." - -"Same here," asserted Harry. "How far to the mountains, do you reckon?" - -"Better than a hundred miles, but we'll get there." - -The next day the pilgrims from the Smoky Hill trail and the pilgrims -from the Republican trail traveled on together, with every eye eagerly -set ahead, for the first sight of the mountains. - -"I see 'em! Hooray! - -"There's the land o' gold, boys!" - -"Those are the Rocky Mountains! We're almost through." - -"They're awful small for their size, aren't they?" quavered a woman. - -They did appear so. They were like a band of low hummocky clouds in the -western horizon. But the next morning, when the outfits climbed over a -gravelly ridge that grew a few pines, one after another they cheered -joyfully again. Hats were waved, sunbonnets were flourished. The -mountains seemed much closer--they loomed grandly in a semi-circle from -south to north; their crests were white, their slopes were green and -gray. - -"Where's Pike's Peak?" - -Everybody wanted to know that. The "Root Hog or Die" professor consulted -his map, for information. - -"I rather think Pike's Peak is the last peak we see, to the south," he -mused. "That to the far north is called Long's Peak." - -"Where are the diggin's, then?" - -"Well, they're somewhere in between." - -From the piny ridge the route descended along the side of a brushy -valley pleasantly dotted with cottonwoods and other leafy trees, and -struck the head of a creek course--and presently another trail on which, -from the south, still other pilgrim outfits were hastening northward at -best speed. - -Where the trail from the east joined with this second trail from the -south a signboard faced, pointing north, with the words: "Santa Fe-Salt -Lake Trail. Cherry Creek Diggin's, 70 m." - -"Cherry Creek at last!" affirmed Harry, that evening. "Whew, but that -mountain air tastes good!" - -Now this combined trail on northwest to the diggin's was a well-traveled -trail indeed, deep with sand and dust. Occasionally it dipped into the -creek bed, which in places was wide enough and dry enough for the teams. -The mountains were on the left--distant thirty miles, declared the -professor, although the greenhorns declared they were within a short -walk. High rolling plains were on the right. - -A few prospectors were encountered, already digging and washing in the -creek, or scouting about. From the last night's camp a little bevy of -lights could be seen, ahead--the diggin's at the mouth of the creek! -During the next morning---- - -"There's the river! There's the Platte!" announced voices, indicating a -line of cottonwoods before. - -Wagons coming down from the north, by the Platte trail, also could be -seen, making for a collection of tents and huts gathered near where the -Cherry Creek apparently emptied into the Platte. - -Much excitement reigned throughout the procession. The wheel-barrow man -already had trundled ahead. Duke limped gamely, and Jenny kept her long -ears pricked forward. Now it was every outfit for itself, in order to -secure the best location and get to work. - -In mid-afternoon the trail forked, and signs directed: "To the left for -Auraria, the coming metropolis," and "Straight ahead for Denver City." -Men were stationed here, beseeching the pilgrims to settle in Auraria, -or in Denver, and make their fortunes. The men were red-faced and -perspiring and earnest. - -Auraria was the older, and on the mountain side of the creek--had the -newspaper! Denver was the better built, and the more enterprising, was -on the trail side of the creek and had the stage office. - -"What'll we do, Harry?" panted Terry, as momentarily the Limited halted, -held by the confused press in front, bombarded and undecided. - -"Keep a-going straight ahead," said Harry. "That's been our program. If -we don't like Denver we can cross to Auraria, but blamed if I can see -much difference between 'em." - -And that was true. On the flat ground along the shallow Cherry Creek lay -sprawled an ugly collection of log huts and dingy tents and Indian -tepees of buffalo hides, with people moving busily among them, and a -host of emigrant wagons and animals and camps on the outskirts. All the -flat on both sides of the creek was dingy and dusty, with the brush -crushed down or gleaned clean for forage and fuel. - -East stretched the wide plains; west was the cottonwood timber marking -the Platte River, and beyond the river, some distance, were bare hills, -grayish and reddish, and behind them the real mountains, rising rocky -and high until their snow crests gleamed against the sky. - -Distant, a line of gold-seekers with wagons and with packs seemed to be -traveling into the mountains; and down along the Platte were entering -Denver, from the north, other gold-seekers, to take their places. - -A hum of voices welled, filling the air with excitement. - -"Shucks! Is this all there is?" complained Terry. "I don't see any -city. The whole thing isn't as big as Manhattan, even." - -"And not half as good-looking," added Harry. - -But there was not much space for halting to criticize. The procession -was pressing on, jostling, crowding--spreading out, some of it to find -camping spots at once, some to drive farther on. With the cart creaking, -and Duke limping badly, Jenny stumbling and grunting, and Shep, dusty -and burry, pacing soberly at the rear, the Pike's Peak Limited entered -Denver City. - -"Hope we see Sol," ventured Harry, as they threaded their way among the -first tents, and several roofless cabins, located out where signs stuck -in the bare ground proclaimed: "Denver City Town Co. Fine building lots -for sale." - -In front of the tent flaps, and in the cabin doorways, men in boots, -with trousers tucked in, and in flannel shirts, red or blue, were -sitting, gazing abroad, but none of these was Sol. - -Further along, the road took on the semblance of a street--thronged with -emigrants; booted, whiskered men in their flannel shirts, and wearing -revolvers; Indians, Mexicans, oxen, and dogs. - -"I don't see Sol, though," commented Terry, searching about among those -faces, every one of which was strange to him. - -"No, but I see plenty of men with buckskin patches on their breeches," -answered Harry. "They're the old-timers, I reckon. Wonder if the name of -any of 'em is Russell." - -The passage of the half-buffalo and the yellow mule hitched tandem -attracted considerable attention, and a volley of bantering remarks. But -a chorus of whoops and a general rush made Harry and Terry glance -behind. - -"A stage is coming. We'd better get out of the way, hadn't we?" -suggested Terry. - -"Right-o!" And Harry, driving, drew aside to a clear place opposite a -long one-story canvas-roofed log building which announced: "Denver -House." This was the hotel. - -The stage jingled up; and while the passengers piled out was surrounded -by a jostling crowd of whiskered, red-shirted and blue-shirted and -buckskin-shirted (as well as buckskin-patched) residents. - -As it rolled away again, to put up for the night, Terry heard himself -and Harry hailed by a familiar voice, at last. - -"Well, I declare! Got through, did you--buffalo and mule and dog and -all! What kind of a trip did you have?" - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -NOW WHERE IS THE "ELEPHANT"? - - -It was Journalist Villard, tanned and whiskered, and already booted and -shirted and armed like the rest of the inhabitants. He shook hands -vigorously with them. - -"Pretty fair," replied Harry. "We've just got in. You seem to be the -only person we know here." - -"I won't be that only person long," laughed Mr. Villard. "The ends of -the world are gathering here at the rate of a thousand a day. Why, by -that very stage arrived a banker I used to know well in Cincinnati, and -another friend at whose house in New York I've often eaten dinner. But -the reason I met the stage was that I rather expected to find in it -Horace Greeley and A. D. Richardson. They're on the way." - -"Not Horace Greeley of the New York _Tribune_?" queried Harry, as if -astonished. - -"Yes; that's the Greeley. Mr. Richardson represents the Boston _Journal_ -and some other Eastern papers. All we newspaper fellows will write the -truth about the gold fields." - -"How near is the gold?" eagerly asked Terry. "Can you show us where to -dig? Have you dug?" - -"Not very much. Not for a dollar and a half a day--and that's the most -anybody is getting hereabouts. The whole creek bed is being turned -upside down. But you see that line of pilgrims trailing out into the -mountains, west across the Platte?" - -"Yes." - -"That's a rush to some new diggin's. They're following a new strike. -It's reported on good authority that a Georgian named John Gregory has -found the mother vein, as they call it, about forty miles out. It's a -pound-a-day strike, according to the say, and the gold down below has -been washed from that vein. The people are flocking in by the five -hundred at a time. I haven't been up there myself yet, but I hope the -news is true. Another month and we'd have had a riot in these Cherry -Creek diggin's. As it is, about half the in-comers have pulled out for -California, or home--and there's been talk of hanging D. C. Oakes, who -issued a 'Pike's Peak Guide' last winter, and Editor Byers, of the -_News_." - -"Are those new diggin's on the Platte?" asked Harry, keenly. - -"No. There're up Clear Creek, and nowhere near the Platte." - -"Oh, jiminy!" sighed Terry. "Aren't there mines closer than that? My -father was out here last summer and found one just a few miles away, up -the Platte River." - -"A Fifty-eighter, is he? Is he here now, and where's his mine?" - -"No, sir; he came home sick, at Christmas; and he doesn't remember. But -he had some dust." - -"Those early claims didn't amount to much, as I understand," stated Mr. -Villard. "That's what has fooled the people." - -"Are any of the Russell brothers hereabouts?" asked Harry. - -"The original boomers? Yes, they're all here now. Dr. Levi Russell has -spent the winter here; but Green Russell and J. Oliver have just got in -from Georgia with another party of some one hundred and fifty. You'll -find them over at Auraria, though. You know, Green Russell located -Auraria and named it for his home town in Georgia. The Aurarians and -Denverites don't mix much, except when the stage comes. The Russells -will likely be at the Eldorado Hotel this evening." - -"And where's Archie Smith? Did you bring him through all right?" - -"Yes. We landed him here. But I think he's joined the rush into the -mountains. What are you boys intending to do now? Camp and refit, I -suppose, before you look for your mine. Which are you going to -be--Denverites or Aurarians?" - -"Both," laughed Harry. "But Auraria's flying the United States flag, I -see." - -"That's over their hotel, the Eldorado. Mrs. Murat made it. Her husband -claims to be an Italian count. He does barbering, and she takes in -washing--and together, at the prices they charge, they're getting rich a -great deal faster than most of these gold-seekers. Auraria's proud of -that flag, because it's the only one in the state. Denver pretends to -poke fun at it, and says it's a laundry sign, manufactured from old red -and blue shirts and Mrs. Murat's white petticoat." - -"What state?" demanded Harry. - -"The new State of Jefferson--the future new state. Things move fast out -here. A convention was held last month by the miners, to organize for -another convention on June 8 when a state constitution will be adopted -and sent to Congress. Some people wanted the state named Pike's Peak. -You'll see the convention call in the _Rocky Mountain News_. Ah----!" -and Mr. Villard gazed aside. "There's a man I ought to talk with. -Good-bye; meet you later, I hope." - -"I don't believe we'll wait for that convention," proposed Harry. "And I -don't believe we ought to put in much time hunting for your father's -mine. We'll get right into the new diggin's before every spot's taken." -Harry evidently was catching the fever. "First, though----" - -"Paper? _Rocky Mountain News!_ Fresh off the press! Buy a paper, Mister? -Tell you all about the latest strikes, and where to go." - -He was a very slim, tall young man whose trousers were finished off -below the knees with gunny sacking, in order to cover his long legs. - -"Yes. Let me have one," responded Harry. And added, to Terry, while -handing out a dime: "That'll give us the quickest information." - -The tall slim young man was turning the dime over and over in his palm. - -"No good," he said. "Nothing less than a quarter goes, out here." - -"But they told us picks and spades are fifteen cents." - -"In trade, maybe. But these papers are a quarter, Mister. Two bits. -That's the smallest change in camp. Dust or coin." - -"Hum!" grunted Harry, producing a quarter. He scratched his nose as he -glanced at the paper. "At this rate we'll soon be busted." - -The paper was entitled "_Rocky Mountain News_, Cherry Creek, K. T."--the -initials standing, of course, for Kansas Territory. W. N. Byers was -proprietor. It was printed on a coarse brownish paper--seemed to be full -of items about gold being brought in from "gulches"--a number of -advertisements and announcements--had the convention call-- - -"We'll read it in camp," quoth Harry. "Gwan, Duke! Jenny! Haw!" - -"Want to sell that buffalo, stranger?" interrupted another voice. - -This man was a square, stubbly faced, red-faced and red-haired -individual, in a faded cotton shirt and old army trousers belted at the -waist with a rope. - -"Why--I don't know," replied Harry, reflectively, scratching his nose. - -The man walked around Duke, scrutinizing him. - -"He's got a buckskin patch on. We'd better watch out," whispered Terry, -to his partner. So he had: the whole seat of his trousers was buckskin -coarsely stitched in place. - -"Half the men in camp have buckskin or other patches," chuckled Harry. -"That gives me an idea." - -"Offer you $25, dust, stranger," abruptly spoke the man. "He's lame. You -can't use him. He'll be no good in the diggin's." - -"What'll you do with him, then?" questioned Harry. - -"Put him in my show. He won't have to work. And he's too tough for -butchering. But he'll be all right on exhibition." - -"Hum!" mused Harry. "My partner and I'll talk it over. We're going to -camp over night before going on." - -"If you're aiming for the mountains, you'll have to leave him, anyway. -The trail is straight up--takes twenty oxen to haul half a ton. I'll -give you $35, dust, for buffalo and cart. I'll exhibit 'em both." - -"We'll talk it over," repeated Harry. - -"So long, then. You can find me. Name of Reilly." - -"What do you say, Terry?" queried Harry, as they continued on to a -camping spot. "Duke's yours." - -"No, he's part of the outfit. We're in together, aren't we? But I'd hate -to sell him unless he'll be treated well. Maybe we ought to sell him; -he's lame. Haven't we any money left?" - -"Mighty little. And we're nearly out of grub, too. If newspapers are -twenty-five cents each, what'll a sack of flour cost? I was thinking of -a shave and a hair-cut, but----! I'll shave myself and we'll cut each -other's hair." - -"If that mine is somewhere around yet, we may not have to sell him." - -"And we'll need the cart to pack our gold in," added Harry. "But Duke -and the cart wouldn't be much good up in the mountains, I should think." - -They were fortunate in finding a camping place, with wood and water, -near the mouth of Cherry Creek, at the Platte, and there tied Duke and -Jenny out. The first thing to do was to wash--the next thing to write -home--and the next, to have an early supper. - -"We'll go back in before the post-office closes, look for some of the -Russells, and do all that we can; and be ready to start right along -somewhere or other in the morning." - -"That's it," agreed Terry. "Whew, but there must be a lot of people -hunting gold. Wonder if all of those on that trail are bound for the -Gregory diggin's! We'll have to hurry." For he was getting the fever, -too. - -"We will," promised Harry. - -When they had left Shep on guard and had hastened back into Denver, a -line of men extended for one hundred yards from the window in the stage -office labeled "Letter Express." Harry stood in the line until almost -sunset. He returned to Terry with puzzled face. - -"We got a letter, all right, but it cost twenty-five cents extra, and -the one I mailed cost another twenty-five cents, just up to Fort Laramie -on the North Platte. Then the government takes it on. There's only a -private express out of here, for mail, and it's doing a great business." - -However, that letter from the Big Blue was worth the twenty-five cents. - -Now, with the approach of night, Denver and Auraria, its neighbor, were -lively. The Denver House hotel seemed to be devoted mainly to drinking -and gambling. The long bar was crowded with all sorts of people; and -behind the card tables sat men, some of them in white silk shirts and -black broadcloth suits, urging bets. - -Across the street was a collection of Indian tepees--an Arapahoe -village, according to report. The women and children stayed among the -lodges, but their husbands and fathers strolled everywhere, in blankets -and buffalo robes, saying little and seeing much. - -"There's Chief Little Raven--and Left Hand, too!" exclaimed Terry. "Wait -a second. I'm going to ask them about Thunder Horse." - -Little Raven and Left Hand soberly shook hands with their former -acquaintances. - -"Thunder Horse he dead from his leg," explained Left Hand. "Dog bite -poison him--mebbe he poison dog. Whiskey bad, make him fool. One day he -die; the two foolish men who run away in that wagon take him on in wagon -and sell him same day to one big-mouth man near the Republican trail. -Now his head is in Aurary. You want to see?" - -"Pine Knot Ike's come!" asserted Terry, as he and Harry proceeded to -Auraria, whither they were bound anyway. "I don't want to see him." - -"I'd a heap rather see Sol," answered Harry. "But we'll try to see the -Russells. That's important." - -The creek was so nearly dry that several tents and log shacks had been -placed in its sandy bed. The banks were about four feet high here, and -a shaky log foot-bridge crossed from town to town. - -Auraria was larger than Denver City, but the buildings were rougher, -whereas the Denver City logs had been surfaced and trimmed. Still, -Auraria seemed to have the principal store building, as yet--a story and -a half high, with a lumber roof. The upper floor was occupied by the -_Rocky Mountain News_. Through the glass window the printers might be -seen setting type. Under them was a noisy saloon. - -Miners, emigrants, Mexicans, Indians--flannel shirts, heavy boots, -moccasins, much whiskers and long hair: in this respect the Auraria out -of doors was like the Denver out of doors. - -"I hear Ike," said Terry. - -At the corner just beyond the Eldorado Hotel somebody stationed beside a -flaring pitchy torch was declaiming in a loud voice, before a large -tent. But it wasn't Pine Knot Ike. It was the red-headed Mr. Reilly. On -a placard across the tent front was the announcement, rudely charcoaled: - - "SEE IT! SEE IT! SEE IT! - The Ferocious Head of Chief Bloody Knife! - Cannibal of the Plains! - Slain in Hand-to-Hand Conflict by the Noted - Frontiersman Black Panther! - Admission 50c gold." - -Evidently this was the show to which Mr. Reilly had referred. Standing -on a barrel, and occasionally coughing from the smoke of the torch -fastened to an upright against the barrel, he strenuously invited the -public inside. He accepted the price, and waved each patron to pass -within. However, business was not at all brisk; and suddenly catching -the eye of Harry, he beckoned. - -"Go inside, gentlemen," he bade. "It's my treat. Walk in; view the -ferocious cannibal head and the equally ferocious scout who cut it off -after killing the wearer of it." - -"Aw----!" attempted Terry; but Harry, with a nudge, interrupted him. - -"Go on in, Terry. I'll talk with Mr. Reilly a minute." - -The tent contained several whiskered, booted miners and emigrants, -gazing at the hideous head of Thunder Horse, also on a barrel--Ike's -barrel--and on a stool beside the barrel was seated Ike himself, alias -the "noted frontiersman, Black Panther." Ike's thick black hair and -whiskers were shaggier than ever. He was attired in the same greasy -slouch hat, but furthermore in a shabby, red-flannel-trimmed buckskin -shirt whose gaudy fringes fell to his boot-tops. Around his waist were -belted two revolvers and a butcher-knife, and against his knees rested a -battered, large-muzzled yager or smooth-bore musket--fortunately -harmless by reason of lacking a trigger. - -From amidst his hair and whiskers Ike stared before him fiercely and -fixedly, occasionally slowly blinking in the light of a tallow candle -lantern. - -It all was so perfectly absurd that--but hold on! Look out! Bang! Bang! -Without a word a red-shirted miner who had been intently gazing and -swaying as if drunk had whipped out his revolver and fired. At the first -shot, away spun the head, and simultaneously with the second shot away, -uttering a loud shout, had dived Black Panther the noted -frontiersman--half through the tent and half under the tent, -disappearing while almost tumbling the canvas on top of the company. He -was gone before his stool had ceased rolling. - -"Set 'em up ag'in!" roared the red-shirted miner. "Fetch on the rest o' -that Injun! Whoop-ee! Whar's that air Panther man? I want to show him -some shootin'! I'm an Injun killer myself from Pike County, Missoury!" - -Into the tent, now filled with shouts and laughter and powder smoke, -rushed Mr. Reilly, close followed by the alarmed Harry. The miner's -friends led him out. Mr. Reilly picked up the head, which, weathered as -hard and as dry as a mummy's head, now was drilled right through from -nose to back of skull--which did not improve its face any. But Mr. -Reilly seemed delighted. - -"That bullet hole's the best thing yet," he declared. "I'll have to -change the name of the scout to Dead-Shot Bill. But wait till I ketch -that other man--the measley rabbit, ripping my tent to pieces and -disgracing the clothes I lent him. How'd one of you boys like to be -Dead-Shot Bill, for a spell?" - -"Nope, thank you," laughed Harry. "Come on, Terry. We've got more -business to 'tend to." - -"Well, we can sell him the cart and Duke for $50," informed Harry, -outside. "He's getting together a show. It will be a soft job for Duke; -no heavy hauling, just standing 'round and eating and looking wild." - -"I wouldn't sell him Duke if Ike's to be in the show, too," declared -Terry. - -"Ike," assured Harry, "will never be back. He's probably running yet. -And maybe we won't have to sell Duke. Now for the Russells, anyway. -We'll try the Eldorado." - -But they were relieved from entering the crowded Eldorado by -encountering Journalist Villard and another man just stepping out. - -"Ah!" spoke Mr. Villard, recognizing them, in the dusk. "If you wish to -ask Mr. Green Russell anything, here he is." - -"Yes; we want to ask him if he remembers a man in his party of last -summer by the name of Jones," said Harry, quickly, for it was apparent -that Messrs. Villard and Russell were in a hurry. - -"I shorely do," responded Mr. Russell. He was a broad-shouldered man, -with sparse beard and long-pointed moustache--had a cool eye and a -deliberate speech. - -"He is this boy's father," continued Harry. "He came home with some dust -and claimed to have located a mine about a day's travel from here, on -the Platte." - -"If that was Fifty-eight, 'tain't wuth looking after now," decided Mr. -Russell. "Too close in. I reckon it was yonder whar we had some dry -diggin's that we-all worked out, 'round Placer Camp." - -"Captain Russell's an old miner, you know," put in Mr. Villard. "He's -prospected through here pretty closely, since he came out first, and so -have his brothers; and they're convinced that the only paying mines will -be found in the mountains." - -"Yes," drawled Mr. Russell. "These hyar sandy creeks peter out. You have -to get up higher, into the gravel and rock." - -He and Mr. Villard passed on, only to be repeatedly stopped and -questioned in their progress. - -"That settles us, I think," said Harry, as he and Terry turned for their -camp. "We'll pack Jenny and light out for the Gregory Gulch region. -We've got to have a mine ready for your father when he comes, so as to -pay him back the 'grub-stake.'" - -"And another ready for George to work," reminded Terry. "He'll expect an -elephant, too." - -As the two partners recrossed the foot-bridge into Denver City, night -had cloaked the mountains in the west and had enfolded all the plains. -Down here lights flickered in tents and through the chinking of -windowless, floorless and sometimes roofless cabins, twinkled among the -other gold-seekers' camps spread over the broken brush, and on the -trails in north and south and yonder for Gregory Gulch. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -FORWARD MARCH TO GREGORY GULCH - - -"What'll we do with all our gunny sacks?" queried Terry, when after an -early breakfast they drove across for Auraria, to deliver Duke and the -cart and make their purchases. - -"They don't weigh much, but they take up a lot of room. I have a scheme, -though," answered Harry. - -Early as they were, the emigrant camps on the plain, and Denver City and -Auraria in the midst, were astir: smoke was welling from camp-fires and -chimneys, shouts and calls arose as outfits prepared to journey onward, -people were moving busily, and the procession beyond the Platte was -wending in a long file mountain-ward. - -Already another announcement was displayed on Mr. Reilly's show tent. -"Also (it said) the Only Genuine Wild Buffalo Now in Captivity, and the -Identical Wagon That He Drew Across the Plains." - -Mr. Reilly was working on the first announcement, to make it read, "The -Bullet-Pierced Head of the Ferocious Chief Bloody Knife," and to change -the frontiersman's name from "Black Panther" to "Dead-Shot Bill." - -"It's a pity one of you fellers won't hire out to be my scout," he -proffered. "'Tother one might take in the tickets at the door. I got the -shirt and weepon back from that man Ike, but he won't work again. -Anyhow, you can unhitch and help me get that buffalo inside this tent, -out of sight. We'll tie him to a stake, and roll the wagon in -afterward." - -This was done, after the flaps had been thrown wide. Duke limped in -rather gladly, was stationed at the far end beside the head of the late -Thunder Horse, and the wagon, unloaded of its few goods, was pushed and -pulled to another position. - -"You might stay with Jenny and the stuff, while I do our marketing," -proposed Harry to Terry, as he shouldered the big roll of gunny sacks, -for some mysterious purpose, and lugged it away. - -He disappeared in the doorway of the store under the _News_ office. -Jenny hee-hawed after him. She missed him and Duke. - -Harry soon returned jubilant, without the sacks. - -"All right. We're fixed," he proclaimed. "I traded them in for a sack of -dried apples. The man didn't appreciate their value, at first, but I -explained. Value No. 1: Most of the cabins hereabouts have only dirt -floors; the sacking will be fine for carpets to keep the dust down. -Value No. 2: It will be handy for covering windows, to keep out the -wind. Value No. 3: It will be useful to patch pants with, instead of -buckskin. Value No. 4: It will lengthen pants--in fact, the pants of -that _Rocky Mountain News_ peddler gave me the idea. Value No. 5: It -will make good ticking for straw mattresses. To tell the truth, it is -so valuable that I wouldn't part with any of it except for dried apples. -Now we can have pie!" - -They bestowed on Duke and the cart a friendly good-luck slap, shook -hands with Mr. Reilly, and proceeded to the store with Jenny. The -purchases amounted to considerable. First, a pack-saddle, not brand new, -but of ash and rawhide in excellent condition; a sack of flour, the sack -of dried apples, a quarter of antelope meat--the only cheap meat, at -four cents a pound; five pounds of coffee (very dear), soda, salt, -sugar, soap, a square of rawhide for soling their boots, two miner's -pans for washing out the gold, etc., etc. - -These, with the picks and spades, and the bedding, and the cooking and -eating utensils made quite a problem. No wonder that Jenny groaned when -the saddle was cinched upon her. - -However, with her pack bulging on either side and atop, the tools -projecting and the cooking utensils jingling, she accepted her fate, and -stepping in cautious, top-heavy fashion submitted to being headed out of -town into the trail for the Platte River crossing. - -Terry, the shot-gun upon his shoulder, and Harry, shouldering a pick and -spade that had not fitted anywhere, followed close after. So did Shep, -who carried nothing but his shaggy coat. On the whole, no one could deny -that this was a real prospecting outfit. - -"Forty miles, they say, to those Gregory diggin's," remarked Harry. -"Wonder if they mean forty or four hundred? You see that flat-top -mountain--the first mountain in the northwest? How far do you think it -is?" - -"Five miles," asserted Terry. - -"Well, it's _eighteen_ miles! They call it Table Mountain. That's where -we go in. So when a fellow's looking five miles, in this country, he's -looking eighteen, and that makes forty miles about one hundred and -fifty." - -The trail was becoming crowded as other outfits converged from the right -and left for the Platte crossing. It was a procession much like the -procession on the Pike's Peak trails--oxen, horses, mules, cows, dogs, -wagons; and men, women and children either afoot or riding. But there -were more men with packs on their backs and more animals packed like -Jenny. - -The long-legged Jenny, her pack swaying and jingling, could be urged -past the slower travelers--and well that was, for ere the Platte was -reached, the wagons in the procession had stopped. They formed a waiting -line several hundred yards in length. Forging to the front, Terry and -Harry might see the occasion. The Platte evidently was to be crossed by -means of a flat-boat ferry, running back and forth on a cable. So the -wagons need must bide their turn. - -Harry went forward to investigate. He came back with a rueful face. - -"Two dollars and a half for a wagon outfit; a dollar and a half for our -outfit," he reported. "The ferry's run by a couple of Indian traders -named McGaa and Smith. Wonder if we can't ford." - -"Nary ford, this time o' year, strangers," reproved a red-shirted -miner. "See those wagons; they'll be out o' sight by noon! Quicksand!" - -Several wagons foolishly had tried to ford; and there they were, -abandoned, some of them even only a few rods out. Already just the tops -of two were visible above the surface. - -"Guess we won't risk it," agreed Terry. - -So they paid their fee, and squeezing in aboard the ferry, were carried -across. - -The trail continued, entering amidst low rolling swells of sandy gravel -and sparse, tufty grass and stiff brush, between which and over and on -toiled the pilgrimage for the new diggin's where one John Gregory and -others were harvesting their pound of gold a day. The Gregory claim was -said to be so marvelously rich and yellow that no strangers had been -permitted to see it. - -From the high places glimpses were given, on the right, of a creek -course below, bordered by willows and cottonwoods. This was that Clear -Creek on whose headwaters in the mountains the Gregory strike had been -made. But the landmark of Table Mountain drew near so gradually, in -spite of the haste by everybody, that not until evening did it loom -close at hand, shadowed with purple and rising a wall-like six hundred -feet. - -Here the trail ran along Clear Creek itself, and the procession was -halting for night camp, to water and graze the animals and to rest. On -both sides of the creek prospectors had settled, to wash out gold; but -now the most of them had quit work and in front of their tents and -bough lean-tos were preparing supper. - -"Better stop off, boys," warned a hairy miner, who, squatting over a -little fire, was deftly cooking flap-jacks--tossing them one by one from -a fry-pan into the air and catching them other side down. "You can't go -much farther till mornin'. There's a trail ahead so steep your mule'll -have to turn over an' prop herself with her ears to keep from slidin' -backwards." - -"Sounds like good advice," accepted Harry. "You going on in, or are you -making your pile here?" - -"Makin' a pile o' flap-jacks, if those hungry partners don't eat 'em -faster'n I can cook. Yep, we're goin' on somewhere, if this creek -doesn't pan out better. We've been followin' the gold all the way from -Pike's Peak an' the Boilin' Springs, an' the best diggin's alluz seem -forty miles ahead." - -"Where are the Boiling Springs?" asked Terry. "Do they boil?" - -"Haven't you heard o' them yet? They're down at the foot o' -Pike's--tremenjous good water, sody an' iron both an' a lot o' other -minerals, I reckon; bubblin' an' poppin', an' liable to cure anything. -Sacred to the Injun, they were, but they're powerful good for white -man." - -Jenny, her pack removed, took a hearty roll, and a shake, and a long -cold drink, and fell to browsing. Terry built a fire and prepared camp; -Harry got out their own fry-pan and the coffee pot, and while the water -in the pot was coming to a boil he proceeded to mix batter. - -"What'll it be?" queried Terry, hungry. - -"Flap-jacks." - -"I didn't know you could make them." - -"I didn't, either, to date. But I can." - -The first flap-jack stuck confoundingly, and would not turn at all -except by pieces. So it burned, and they gave it to Shep. The next -sailed free and high, and landed, dough side down, in Terry's lap. Terry -started to laugh, but changed his tune and frantically tore the hot -dough loose, then executed a war-dance while he sucked his fingers. - -"Too much flap," commented Harry. "Once again." - -This flap-jack flew straight for his face and he ducked only just in -time to prevent being plastered. - -"Everything goes to Shep," he complained. "I can make 'em, all right, -but I haven't the knack of turning 'em." - -"You can shout there's a knack, Mister," agreed the other flap-jack -performer, who now had stepped over to watch. "You'll not be a true -miner till you can toss a flap-jack up the cabin chimbley an' ketch it -again outside, turned over. Where you boys from?" - -"Blue River Valley, Kansas. We were the Pike's Peak Limited; now we're -the Extra Limited," explained Harry. - -"The Russell brothers are somewhar in this hyar procession, aren't -they?" - -"Are they? All of them?" - -"So I heard tell. They left Aurary today, for the new diggin's." - -"Are the Gregory diggin's full of gold?" eagerly invited Terry. - -"Mebbe so, for people who know how to find it. Trouble is, this -country's fuller of people who don't know how to find it." - -He went back to his own fire. Harry turned the rest of the flap-jacks -with a knife, and they were very good. He really had become an excellent -camp cook. - -"Jiminy! Wish we could see Sol Judy at the diggin's," voiced Terry. "He -knows all about gold. He was in California." - -"Yes, Sol knows gold, and I have an idea we don't," answered Harry, with -sober reflection. - -"I suppose when we see something yellow we'll save it," hazarded Terry, -more hopefully. - -Forward, march, with morning light, to Gregory Gulch! Clear Creek had to -be forded; and while, soaked to the knees, they trudged on behind the -shambling Jenny, and Terry was wondering how they were to climb Table -Mountain, the trail left the creek, veered to the right, and traversed a -deep narrow gulch whose rocky bottom, scored by wagon-tires, made rough -going. - -"Great Cæsar's ghost!" uttered Harry, as they rounded a shoulder. - -High above them, before, was a portion of the procession: wagons, -animals, and people, far aloft, zig-zagging up a mountainside by another -trail (or was it the same trail?), clinging for footholds and every now -and then pausing as if to breathe. - -Several of the wagons were drawn by eight and ten yoke of oxen; several -of the wagons with one and two yoke were apparently stuck fast; teams -and people alike--particularly the pack animals and the people carrying -packs--seemed to be having all they could do to advance yard by yard. -Wagons also were descending, and raising immense clouds of dust. - -"Do we go up there?" protested Terry. - -"I guess," decided Harry, "that's where Jenny props herself with her -ears." - -Yes, the start of the climb was only a short distance ahead. The canyon -almost closed, and at a sharp angle the trail zigzagged right up the -steep flank of the mountain--not Table Mountain, but another, higher. - -Jenny pricked forward her long ears, in inquiring fashion, and halted of -her own accord to survey. Here at the base of the mountain other outfits -likewise had halted: wagons unloading, or waiting for teams to return -and help them up; pack animals having their packs readjusted; foot -travelers sitting and resting while gazing upward. - -The wagons descending were dragging behind them huge boughs, as brakes. -These boughs raised the dust. From the zigzag the grinding of iron -tires, the popping of whips and the shouting of drivers echoed -incessantly. - -Along the line in the canyon welled a cheer; and accompanying it there -forged past, for the climb, a large party who must have numbered one -hundred and fifty, mostly men. They were well equipped with horses, -oxen, wagons and pack mules. Two men rode confidently in the lead. One -was Captain William Green Russell; the other looked a little like him, -but had whiskers that flowed down upon his chest. A third man, who -looked a little like both, but whose whiskers flowed clear to his -saddle-horn, brought up the rear. - -"The Russells!" - -"Those are the Russell brothers and their party!" - -The man who rode beside Captain Green Russell was said to be Dr. Levi J. -Russell. The long-whiskered man at the rear was the other brother, J. -Oliver Russell. - -On and up toiled the Russell company, bound for the Gregory diggin's; -and encouraged by the sight, the halted procession bestirred to follow. - -"Jenny," appealed Harry, "are you good for it, if Terry and I shove?" - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -RICH AT LAST! - - -Up, up, up, with Jenny digging in her toes, snorting and puffing and -picking her way over the roughness of the worn rocks. Occasionally there -was a brief level spot where one might stop and pant and rest. Indeed, -this was a hard trail for anybody, man or beast, and Terry felt -considerable sympathy for the laboring ox-teams and the straining horses -that drew the jolting, groaning wagons. - -The outfits descending seemed to have almost as difficult a time, for -the wagons, their heavy brake-shoes smoking and their boughs dragged -behind, enveloping them in dust, threatened to run over the teams. - -But it was a stirring scene, although whether any of the people coming -down were bringing gold could not be learned amidst such racket and -confusion. - -Part way up another friend was encountered. He was the wheel-barrow man, -halted to breathe so as to be able to push his barrow to the next -resting place. - -"Tough sledding," he wheezed, as he sat upon his barrow handles and -wiped his brow with a bandanna handkerchief. "Wust yet, but I'm bound to -get there." - -They left the wheel-barrow man behind. At every turn they expected to -see the summit beyond, but the climb required over an hour and a half of -steady work. - -Here, on the top, they were high above Table Mountain. - -"Whew!" gasped Harry. The top was flat, and they drew aside, while they -rested. Everybody halted here to rest. It was a fine view. Down below, -whence they had come, was the trail, with other outfits zig-zagging up; -and farther was the trail along Clear Creek, and farther, the Platte -River; and farther, the plains, and Cherry Creek, and Denver and -Auraria, all wonderfully sharp in the perfectly transparent air. The -people at the foot of the trail and beyond looked like pigmies, and the -wagons like toys. - -Before, the trail stretched across the mountain top and appeared to aim -straight into a tremendous wild country of much higher mountains, -timbered with evergreens and capped with snow. - -The gold-seeker companies were again starting on. - -"Do we reach Gregory gulch today?" inquired Harry, of a returning party. - -"No, sir; not by a long shot. 'Tisn't any use, anyhow. Every foot of -ground is taken up. There are two thousand people in that gulch already, -and the same in the other gulches. The Gregory folks have the best -claims. Nothing left for us later comers." - -The trail continued to follow a high ridge, amidst pines and bright -flowers and grass; crossed icy cold streams where the ridge dipped; and -by night had arrived nowhere in particular. So camp was made, the -pleasantest camp of the whole trip from the Big Blue valley, because the -air was so fresh and pure, and the water and wood abundant, and the -grass so sweet for Jenny. - -"I reckon we're getting into the Promised Land," hazarded one of the -Extra Limited's neighbors. - -The next noon the mountain divide seemed to have been crossed; for at -one side, far down, was Clear Creek again, like a silver thread -traversing a dark seam that was a canyon. About two miles ahead it -divided, and over the north branch hung a thin bluish film of smoke. The -sounds of ax and hammer and ringing pick--yes, the faint sound of -voices--drifted up. - -Gregory Gulch? That must be it, under the smoke, for the procession was -hastening, and presently down, down, down they all plunged, for the -bottom where the north branch of the creek glimmered. This trail was as -steep as the zigzag trail on the east slope. The wagons used boughs as -drags; oxen and horses held back hard; and Jenny, bracing her forefeet, -slid and pitched and grunted. Faster and faster they all moved--could -not stop--until in twenty minutes they fairly tumbled, one after -another, into the water and the mouth of Gregory Gulch! - -"Well, I should say she was crowded!" exclaimed Harry. - -He and Terry gazed, consternated. Gregory Gulch extended westward from -the North Clear Creek; it was narrow and quite long, and all up and down -the creek and as far as eye could see up the gulch, people were -swarming like bees, while the newly arrived gold-seekers looked on, -bewildered. - -Tents had been erected, cabins were rising, bough lean-tos served as -other shelters; men were feverishly delving with spades, washing out the -dirt in their pans, or dumping dirt and water into wooden boxes that -rocked like cradles; and other men were searching the bottoms and slopes -for vacant spots and there hurriedly driving in stakes. A few women were -in sight--one woman was helping her husband dig; several were sitting in -doorways or trying to tidy their premises. - -No wonder that the newly arrived people were bewildered. Some grew -gloomy at once and discouraged, but some waxed the more excited. - -"First thing is to find a camping spot," proposed Harry, briskly. "And -then to find our mine." - -"How'll we find it?" asked Terry. "Where is the gold? I don't see any." - -"This is Gregory gulch, is it?" queried Harry, of the nearest miner--a -red-headed, red-stubbled little man squatting in mud to his ankles -beside a trickling stream, and twirling a gold-pan. He was muddied all -over his tattered trousers and red shirt, and also to his elbows. - -"It is; at laste it's the Gregory diggin's." He spoke with a strong -Irish brogue. - -"Have you found lots of gold?" invited Terry. - -"Oi? Not a cint, b'gorry--an' here's another empty pan." As if in -disgust the little man straightened up and surveyed them. "But that's -not sayin' Oi won't. Oi've got a foine claim right under me feet. Did -yez jist get in? Would yez like to buy a nice claim?" He eyed them -shrewdly with his twinkling eyes set in his grimy, sweaty face. - -"Not yet, thank you," responded Harry. "Where's the gold?" - -"Gold? Faith, all yez got to do is foind it. Sure, ain't it here in -Gregory gulch, an' don't yez see all the people diggin'? Didn't Gregory -an' five men take out $972 in wan week from their vein, an' afterward -sell for $2,100 an' lend the men who bought it $200 so they could go -ahead?" - -"Where are they? Where is that vein?" - -"Up yonder on the side o' the gulch; but yez can't get annywhere near -it, for the people an' the stakes. They don't want visitors. Jist drive -your stakes where yez can, an' begin work. My name's Pat Casey. What -might yez be called?" - -They told him. - -"Well, Oi'll see yez ag'in, boys," promised Pat, grasping his spade to -refill his pan. "Who knows but in a few days we'll all be rich -together?" - -"All right, Pat," laughed Harry. So they left Pat engaged with his -spade, hoping to strike it with the next pan full. - -They toiled along, eyes alert for a camping spot. A tent bore the sign: -"Groceries for Sail." Another was announced as "Miners' Hotel"--although -where it slept its guests was a problem. Another tent, through the flaps -of which might be glimpsed a woman, stated: "Back East Biscuits." - -Dinner of course was a hurried affair. Other gold-seekers were still -descending the hill and spreading out wherever they could. So no time -was to be lost. They each slung on a gold-pan by means of a thong tied -through a hole in the rim; and with pick and spade (Shep staying to -mount guard) they sallied forth. - -"I reckon," mused Harry, "we'll have to do like the rest do: scout about -and whenever we see a goldish-looking spot, try it out." - -"Dad showed us how to work a gold pan. I don't suppose we've forgotten," -panted Terry, as they hustled. - -"Yes, but he didn't show us how to find the gold," reminded Harry. "We -ought to locate near water." - -For an hour they trudged up and down, and never sunk a spade or tried a -pan. All the creek and all the side streams seemed occupied. Once they -halted and were just about to dig, when a voice bawled: "Get off my -ground!" - -"Excuse me," apologized Harry. The owner of the voice was some distance -away. "Is this your claim?" - -"You bet you! The best claim in the diggin's." - -"How big is a claim?" demanded Harry. - -"Well, a hundred feet by fifty and as much more as I can get. Now -vamoose." - -They "vamoosed." - -"Two thousand people, claiming a hundred feet and as much more as they -can get, doesn't leave much room for the rest of us," sighed Harry. - -"Hello, there!" hailed another voice, more cheery. It was the "Root Hog -or Die" professor. He also was equipped for mining, but he appeared to -be a wanderer like themselves. - -"Have you struck anything?" asked Terry, as soon as they had shaken -hands. - -"Not a sign. Have you?" - -"No. Can't find a place to dig in, even." - -"This prospecting is more of a science than I had thought," confessed -the professor. He looked tired out. "I've been at it since morning. I -had an idea the gold would show on the surface." - -"So did we," admitted Terry. "But the ground all looks alike--just -common dirt!" - -"Yes, even where they're actually washing gold out," said the professor. -"I've seen some gold, though. I saw one miner with a pan that gave about -a dollar and a half, and I saw a clean-up in a sluice that netted eight -dollars." - -"What's a sluice? One of those wooden troughs?" - -"Yes; but lumber for them is hand-sawed and costs a dollar a yard, and -people are asking as high as a thousand dollars for a claim. I believe -it's cheapest to hire somebody to locate a good claim for a fellow. The -Russells and Gregory and some others who have had experience are hiring -themselves out at $100 a day, I understand. There goes Green Russell -now." - -"A hundred dollars a day! Whew!" gasped Terry. - -Captain Green Russell halted in passing. - -"Got here, did you?" he greeted, in friendly fashion. "Made your fortune -yet?" - -"We may be standing on it, for all we know," answered Harry. - -"For all you know, you may," drawled Mr. Russell. "That's the trouble. -The people come in here, like they do at Cherry Creek, and think the -gold shows at grass-roots. But Gregory didn't find his lode by any pure -luck, and the rest of us old-timers are here to teach the folks how, if -they want to learn." - -"Could you put me on a good claim?" inquired the professor, eagerly. - -"Yes, sir; I'll prospect for you at $100 a day. You'd save time and -probably money." - -"All right. I'll go with you and we'll talk it over." And on strode the -professor and his instructor. - -"Hum!" remarked Harry. "The secret of making money is to have something -the other fellow will pay for: sometimes that's goods, and again it's -knowledge." - -The gulch really was a fascinating place. Such a hive of industry--saw -and hammer at work, as well as pick and spade; but amidst it all there -seemed to be no place for the Extra Limited. A general disappointment -was in the air, with so many persons working hard and as yet getting -nothing. - -"We'll travel 'round to Pat," quoth Harry, after a time. "He may have -struck something by this." - -As they approached Pat, he suddenly uttered a loud whoop, and danced a -jig. His neighbors dropped their tools and rushed for him. - -"Sure, Oi'm rich!" cheered Pat. "There's gold in my pan! Hooray! Rich Oi -am. Half o' yez can look at a time till yez all are done, an' the other -halves kape away so yez won't carry off me gold on yez feet." - -Yes, in the bottom of Pat's pan was a trace of yellow, not to speak of a -pebble about the size of a pea which he proclaimed to be gold also. - -Scarcely hearing the congratulations, Pat fell to work again. - -"Jiminy!" protested Terry. "We've got to stake out a claim somewhere, -and have a mine ready for dad and George. Let's go clear up the gulch." - -Pat's success was encouraging, at least. But as up the gulch they went, -the crowd was no thinner, and presently Harry stopped. - -"This pick and shovel weigh a ton," he said. "And so do my feet. I vote -we knock off work, quit locating gold and try to locate supper. First -thing we know it'll be dark and we can't find even Jenny and Shep." - -"W-well," agreed Terry. "And tomorrow we'll start out again early. Wish -I knew just what kind of dirt had the gold in it." - -"That," quoth Harry, "evidently is the secret." - -Scarcely had they turned to retrace their steps when another call hailed -them. Somebody was running for them, from the other side of the gulch. -He was a slim, muddy figure, in boots and trousers much too large for -him, with long hair flapping on his bared head. - -They paused and stared. - -"Aren't you the Pike's Peak Limited fellows?" panted the boy. - -"Why, Archie Smith! Hello, Archie!" - -"I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure." Archie was completely out of -breath, and very red in his thin cheeks. He panted and coughed. "What -are you doing? Prospecting? Have you struck anything? Do you want a -claim?" - -"We're looking 'round. No, we haven't struck anything yet," they -answered. "Have you? How long have you been here?" - -"Do you know of any good place to claim?" added Terry. - -"Yes. And you won't have to drive a stake! When did you get in? Where's -your camp?" - -"Down yonder somewhere. We got in this morning." - -"Gee, but I'm glad to see you," panted Archie. "Hurrah! Let's go to your -camp and move your stuff. What you got? The cart? Didn't buy a tent, did -you?" - -"No. We came in with just the mule. Expect we'll fix up a bough hut till -we strike it rich," explained Terry. - -"No, you needn't. You're to stay on my place. I've got a cabin and a -stove and--and----" here Archie lowered his voice, "boys, I've struck it -rich, myself! I've got the best claim in these diggin's!" - -"You have! How long have you been here?" - -"About two weeks. Come on and I'll tell you about it. Do you know -anything about mining?" - -"No," they confessed, ruefully. - -"I didn't, either," admitted Archie, as together they pressed on for -Jenny and Shep and the packs. "So I bought a claim. There was a man here -who couldn't stay--he had to go down to Denver; and I bought his claim -for only $500. First I'd prospected for myself, and didn't find -anything, and then I came across him just in time. Gee, I was lucky. He -wouldn't have sold, only he was obliged to get out. Of course, I panned -samples of it before I bought, and in the very first pan there was four -dollars' worth of gold! He sold me his cabin and stove and everything. -Boys----" and Archie's voice sank again, "you may not believe it, but -I've already taken out near $80, by myself, and I can't dig very long at -a time, either." - -"How'd you pay for it?" blurted Terry. "Did you have the money with -you?" - -"Yes. Our outfit had put in $200 apiece, for the trip across the plains, -and we'd spent only half, and I carried that because I was treasurer. I -paid for the stage ride from the station, though; but in Denver I worked -at the hotel--and--and I nursed a gambler who was sick, and when he -found out that I'd studied medicine he said I'd saved his life and he -gave me $250 as a doctor's fee. But I'm not a regular doctor yet. Now -you fellows are to come and work the mine. It's named the Golden Prize, -and it's _yours_!" - -Harry stopped short. Terry scarcely could believe his ears. - -"What?" challenged Harry. - -"Aw, get out!" scoffed Terry. - -"But it is," insisted Archie. "I've been just praying that you'd come -along. I didn't really save that gambler's life, though he was right -sick. But you saved mine; and if he thought what I did was worth $250, -I reckon what you did was worth three or four times that because you -risked your lives, too. And anyway, I can't stay. It's too high for me -up here. I lose my breath. I feel a heap better down on the plains, and -I guess I'll go back home for a spell. If I don't give the mine to you -somebody'll jump it. There isn't anybody up here I can trust." - -"But, great Cæsar!" expostulated Harry. "We'll work it, if you want us -to, while you're gone. We won't accept it forever, though." - -"I should say not!" affirmed Terry. "We can find our own claim." - -"No, you can't. The trained miners are the ones who find the best -ground, and you're not trained. All right: you can work it just as if it -were your own, and you can have all you find till I come back." - -"Cracky, but that will make us rich, won't it?" cried Terry. - -"Of course it will. I've taken $80 in four days and I tell you I've just -dug a little bit. It tires me all out to dig; and the water's so far. -But you fellows can put in a sluice--I'll lend you enough dust to buy -boards with, if you haven't enough----" - -"We've got a little, and if we haven't enough we'll dig out more," -declared Harry, quickly. - -"And with a sluice running you can just _pile_ up the yellow!" - -"Whoop-ee!" cheered Terry, wildly. "We're rich at last." - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -PANNING THE "GOLDEN PRIZE" - - -The Golden Prize property appeared to be a very snug proposition. It was -located about a mile up Gregory Gulch, and right in the midst of things. -There was a good enough dug-out, set partly into the slope at the bottom -of one of the rocky hills in the gulch, with log walls surrounding the -single room and a sod roof. It contained a rusty stove (better than a -fireplace) and a bunk and a slab table and a slab stool, all on a dirt -floor. The cooking utensils were hung on the wall. The door, of split -logs, like puncheons, swung by leather hinges and fastened with a wooden -pin and latch-string. - -But the mine of course was the most important. That was really the first -thing to be inspected. Archie showed it rather proudly, although it did -not look very imposing, being only a deep trench into the hillside just -beyond the cabin. - -Down the shallow side draw that helped to form the hill ran a small -stream of muddy water, which finally joined the main drainage stream, -below. - -"You see," said Archie, "I have to carry all my dirt to that stream so -as to wash for the gold, and, gee! but it's hard work. About breaks my -back. The digging and the climbing up and down are too much for me. A -fellow ought to lead the water nearer, some way." - -"Why didn't you?" asked Terry. - -"I did think of digging a ditch, but that's an awful job, and I'd have -to squat with a gold-pan just the same. I suppose if I'd stayed here I'd -have built a sluice or hired one built. I couldn't build it myself, -because the boards are too heavy to handle. And anyway, I want to go -out. I can't breathe up here. I don't feel as good as when I came in, -and mostly I just sit and puff. I felt lots better down on the plains. -If I can't work the mine, what's the use in having it? But I'd a heap -rather give it to you fellows than sell it to strangers." - -"We won't take it, but we'll work it for you, on shares," again asserted -Harry. - -Archie stubbornly shook his head--and his thin cheeks were crimson. - -"Nope. You can share together but you can't share with me. You work it -and keep all you find; I owe it to you. I'm so tickled I can hardly -see." - -"Where do we begin?" cried Terry, excited. "Which is the best spot, -Archie?" - -"I'll show you in the morning. I'll show you everything," panted Archie, -"before I go. We'll wash out some color, anyway." - -"We'd better get our stuff unpacked before dark, Terry," reminded Harry. -"The mine will keep. We know it's there. Whew, but this is a big stroke -of luck. Doesn't seem as though we'd earned it." - -Dusk settled early in the gulch, and by the time they had stowed their -stuff away, and Jenny had been turned out to browse among the rocks and -pines on the hillside, most of the camps in the gulch had ceased their -work of the day and had changed to the work of the evening. Smoke was -welling from chimneys and from open fires, far and near; wood was being -chopped and men and women were cooking. The gulch suddenly seemed -cheerful and homelike: a miraculous contrast with the dark timber rising -above on all sides, where the wild animals, bear and bobcats and elk and -wolves, probably sniffed in astonishment. - -Harry made a big batch of flap-jacks and a pot of coffee; Shep curled in -a corner and snuggled for comfortable sleep; the air outside was chill, -but within was warm, and a candle that Archie produced gave light enough -to eat by. - -Archie was awarded the bunk, for a good rest. Harry and Terry spread -their beds on the floor. They were used to sleeping on the ground, but -Terry found it hard to go to sleep. He wanted to talk--he fairly itched -to be out with spade and pan, digging gold from "their" mine. Think of -it! A mine, a genuine gold mine, at last! Now they could pay his father -back easy, and also show him and George how to get rich. - -"I know how you feel," said Archie, from the bunk. "They say that when -Gregory discovered his lode after tracing it for miles, and found four -dollars in his first pan, he kept his partner awake till three o'clock -in the morning, talking, and he was still talking at breakfast time." - -"Wonder how he discovered it," hazarded Terry. - -"He just started in on lower Clear Creek, at the Platte, and kept -panning, and panning, on up, until above this gulch the gold quit. Then -he turned into this gulch, because it seemed to yield the most color, -and the gold was the coarsest, and he kept panning and panning until the -color quit again. Then he knew he'd come to the place where the gold -below was washed from. So he went back to the Platte and got a partner; -and they sized up the natural lay of the gulch, at the highest spot -where the color had quit--and they struck rich diggin's with the very -first spadeful. That was the sixth of May. After they'd located a lot of -ground for themselves and their friends the news got out, and now look -at the mob!" - -"Well, I'll bet we've got something just as good," declared Terry, -confidently. - -Immediately after a hurried breakfast they started in to pan their own -claim, under the direction of Archie. - -"I've always found the most gold in that spot there," he instructed. -"There was another spot, where I panned first, but it's quit on me. -Expect, though, you'll find a lot of 'em. Let's dig and try out some of -the dirt in our pans." - -Into the spot Terry plunged the spade. The dirt was gravelly and -soft--two strokes of the blade were more than enough to loosen -sufficient for the three pans. The pans were sheet-iron and about the -size and shape of a large milk-pan. In a moment they three were trailing -down to the little creek, each with some two inches of the dirt in the -bottom of his pan. They squatted to fill the pans with water, and -carefully twirled to slop it out again along with the dirt that ought to -float off. - -This was an anxious process. Archie finished first, because he was in -practice. - -"I didn't get anything this time," he announced, gaily. "But I don't -care. I'm going out." - -Terry's dirt had practically all flowed off. He picked out the bits of -gravel--they were only pebbles and flakes of rock. He peered for -yellow--yes, there it was! A glint mingled with a seam of coarse sand. - -"I've got some!" he yelled. "See here? I've got some!" - -Archie looked in. - -"That's right. Let me finish it for you. I'll flirt that sand out." - -So he did, with a dexterous twirl that sent part of the sand out and the -rest against the sides, and left the heavier yellow in the middle. - -"Reckon I've landed a little, myself," remarked Harry. - -He had! Perhaps a trifle more than Terry, and the two pans together -weren't enough to cover the point of the knife-blade with which they -scraped the yellow up and carefully deposited it in Father Richards' old -buckskin bag, brought for the purpose. - -"Gold's worth $21 an ounce and that's about a pennyweight, I guess," -encouraged Archie. "Ninety cents--but it's a beginning. Of course, where -you dug I'd been digging before. You'll find a better place. You see, -I've already taken out $80. So go ahead and keep panning, and I'll -travel." - -Archie had arranged to leave with a wagon outfit who were disgusted -because they'd discovered nothing. The two new proprietors of the Golden -Prize stopped operations long enough to bid him good-bye, and watch him -trudge away, his pack on his back. - -"When you want some of your gold, come back or let us know," called -Harry, after. - -"It's all yours," he retorted. "That's why I bought the mine." - -"Jiminy!" exclaimed Terry. "That's big pay for what little we did--just -giving him a drink of water and toting him in a cart." - -The next few pans didn't yield anything at all; then Harry made a -"strike," as he called it, and scraped out as much yellow as would cover -a finger-nail. He'd got the dirt from a new spot, "for luck," and from -the same spot Terry managed to extract about as much. - -"We'll have to try about," counseled Harry, "until we find spots like -those of Archie's. We've got a lot of space yet." - -As Archie had said, this digging and panning was hard work. At every -stroke the spades clinked against rock--a boulder or a ledge--and to -chip away with a pick was about as bad. And then, to trudge back and -forth with the pans! But Harry hit upon the idea of dumping the dirt -upon a piece of gunny sacking and thus carrying several spadesful at a -time, to be panned. - -They scarcely stopped for dinner, and by evening had greatly widened the -trench. When they knocked off for supper and sleep the buckskin sack -was apparently as flat and as light as in the early morning, and they -were mud from soles to waist. But nevertheless, the sack contained gold! -Peeking in, one might see it! - -"We'll have to get a pair of scales," proclaimed Harry. "And we'll have -to go about this more scientifically. Panning's too slow." - -"How much did we find, do you think?" invited Terry. - -"Five dollars' worth, maybe--and we're hungry enough to eat five -dollars' worth of grub. But that's all right. We're just starting in, -and we own all the ground from the cabin to that little creek, and from -half-way up the hill down to the bottom. Hooray!" He grabbed Terry and -they war-danced, while Shep barked gladly. - -"I'd rather dig gold than potatoes, wouldn't you, now?" demanded Terry. -"We're liable to make a hundred dollars 'most any day. We haven't done -much more than scratch." - -"What do you want for supper?" asked Harry. "Let's celebrate with -antelope steak and apple pie." - -"Sure!" cheered Terry. "We don't have to save on grub." - -They were sitting down, on the stool and the edge of the bunk, to a -sumptuous supper, when a step and a grunting sounded outside, Shep -growled, and into the half-open doorway was thrust an inquiring face. It -was the red face of Pat Casey. - -"Good evenin' to yez," he proffered, blinking. - -"Come in, come in. Glad to see you. Sit and have a bite." And Harry -changed from the stool to the bunk-edge beside Terry. - -Pat, muddy like everybody else, clumped in, agrin. - -"Sure, Oi've had my supper, but Oi'll set a bit," he answered. "Oi've -been a-lookin' for yez. An' are yez at home already?" - -"Yes, sir-ee," pronounced Harry, triumphantly. "Here we are." - -"An' have yez located? 'Tis the sick boy's property, ain't it? Oi saw -him goin' out this mornin'." - -"All ours now, till he comes back again; cabin, claim, everything." - -"And we're to have all we find," added Terry. "We've panned over five -dollars already and we're only learning. He took out $80, but there's -the whole claim left yet: tons of it! We're going to put in a sluice and -do a lot other improving and fix things up right." - -"B' gorry, mebbe yez have a bonanzy," congratulated Pat. "Gold is where -yez find it. Oi've washed out a matter o' wan dollar an' sixty-siven -cints meself, but didn't Oi tell yez we'd all be rich together, some o' -these days?" He sniffed and gazed over the table. "Faith, is that a pie? -A genuyine pie?" - -"That's what. Have a piece, Pat?" - -"'Tis wan thing Oi can't refuse," admitted Pat, modestly. "'Specially -apple pie." - -Harry cut him a generous piece, and having dissected it with his knife -into large mouthfuls, he accepted the invitation to finish the half; -Harry and Terry ate the other half. - -"Ye made it?" he inquired, of Harry. "Glory be! Sure, now, Oi wish ye -were in the business. Couldn't ye make me a pie, occasional? Oi'll pay -ye two dollars apiece annytime." - -"Can't promise that yet, Pat," laughed Harry. "But whenever we have a -pie you're welcome to help us eat it." - -"Not me," protested Pat. "A rale apple pie is worth two dollars of anny -man's money; an' if that ain't enough Oi'll pay ye more." - -But of course pie was a small item in comparison with a gold mine that -might yield $100 a day, under proper management. However, Pat lighted -his short black pipe and spent the evening, and they all talked gold, -gold, gold. - -"I think," said Harry, after Pat had left, with much good-will and -another reference to pie, and the two partners prepared for bed, "that -tomorrow we'll make a tour around the camp, to see what other folks are -doing, and then we'll know how to go about it the quickest way. Panning -is too slow for _us_." - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -READY FOR BIG BUSINESS, BUT * * * ! - - -When after breakfast they started out, "for (as Harry said) the latest -wrinkles in getting rich quick," the gulch was already astir and at -work. And a busy, inspiring sight it was, alive from side to side and -apparently from end to end with cabins, completed or begun, some -plank-roofed, some roofed with pine boughs; with dug-outs, tents, -wagons, oxen, mules, and with men digging, burrowing, toiling at spade -and pick, squatting over gold-pans, or manipulating the boxes set on -rockers, while the few women were attending to dishes or hanging out the -family washing. - -"Washing $3 a dozen," announced a sign in front of one tent. - -The gulch was long and broken, and of course not half the sights were to -be seen from any one point. - -"Let's walk up a piece, first," suggested Harry. - -So they did, in confident manner. Only day before yesterday they had -come in as tenderfeet--not knowing a thing and not owning a foot of -ground. Now they were regular residents, actual miners, with a paying -claim and a cabin, and might hold up their heads. The very dirt on their -clothes proclaimed their rank. Terry felt like a wealthy citizen. - -The man who evidently owned the claim next above theirs paused to greet -them. He was another young man, with a blond beard, and a smile that -disclosed white even teeth, and although he was roughly dressed in -ragged red flannel shirt, belted trousers and heavy cow-hide boots, his -chest, showing under his shirt, which was open at the throat, was very -white, and now as he rested his foot upon his spade and shoved back his -slouch hat, his forehead also was very white. - -"How are you, neighbors?" he accosted. "Made your pile yet?" - -"No, sir," promptly responded Harry. "But it's right there waiting for -us. All we've done is a little panning, and with proper development work -we've got a bonanza." - -"We sure have," supported Terry. "We panned out five dollars in color, -first thing. But that's too slow." - -The man smiled good-humoredly. - -"You're in luck, then." He wiped his brow. "I haven't seen my color yet, -but I suppose it's around in here somewhere. Anyway, I'm getting plenty -of exercise. We're all crazy together. I expect I'm as crazy as the -rest. You know what Virgil says--_facilis decensus Averni_, eh?" and he -eyed Harry inquiringly. "Did you find that so?" - -"'Easy is the descent to Avernus,' eh?" translated Harry. "Hum! Well, we -did come down in here at a good gait. How we'll get out again is a -question. But you must be a college man." - -"Yes, and also a preacher. 'Whom the gods destroy they first make mad' -is another favorite reflection of mine, among these diggin's. Are you a -college man, too?" - -"Yes; University of Virginia." - -"I'm Yale. Glad to meet you. Well, it's a great place--all kinds of us -jumbled and digging and sweating, talking gold and eating gold and -dreaming gold, when most of us could accomplish more and make more where -we came from." - -"I reckon the thing we don't know how to do always looks easier than the -thing we do know how to do," reasoned Harry. - -"Exactly. But where are you bound for?" - -"We're going to put in improvements," spoke Terry. "Do you know where we -can get a sluice?" - -"Make it, if you can buy the lumber. But you'll have to stand in line -and grab the boards as fast as they fall from the saw. By the way, you -don't object to my using that water, do you? I'm not certain whether -it's on your land or mine; it's pretty nearly between, as I figure." - -"We thought it was on our side, but use all you want, certainly," -replied Harry. - -They left the preacher to his digging and proceeded. - -The farther they went up the gulch, the more intense seemed the fever -for work, and the thicker the camps and people. Yes, and there was gold, -too! Three men were operating a "rocker." This was one of those wooden -boxes on rockers like a cradle; one man shoveled in dirt, another poured -in water, a third rocked the box from side to side, and the water and -dirt flowed out through a slot at the lower end. - -The Golden Prize proprietors halted to watch. When the water and dirt -had escaped, in the bottom of the box were to be seen several cleats -nailed across, and caught against these cleats was gold! The men figured -that there was eight dollars' worth right there! - -Up here were a few sluices, too: the long troughs, also with cleats -nailed across the bottom inside, to catch the gold as the water and dirt -flowed over. Into some of the sluices water had to be poured by hand, -but others led from streams and the water flowed through without having -been dipped. The shorter sluices were called "Long Toms." - -"That's what we want," decided Harry. "A regular sluice, running right -across our claim." - -"There's the wheel-barrow man!" exclaimed Terry. - -And so it was, standing in front of a tent which bore the sign, "W. N. -Byers. The Rocky Mountain News," and nearby was a stake and a sign: -"Central City." - -They shook hands with the wheel-barrow man. - -"What's this?" demanded Harry. "A town?" - -"Yes, sir! Mr. Byers has named it. It's the best location. Right in the -middle of the Gulch." - -"Is he going to stay here?" - -"Nope; but he's pushing things along. What's happened to you boys? You -look as if you'd been prospecting." - -"We have," laughed Harry. "Haven't you?" - -"Yes, a little." And he suddenly called: "Hello, John. What's the matter -down there?" - -"They've got wind of another strike," answered the man, striding on. He -was a black-bearded man, and seemed very busy. - -"That's John Gregory himself," explained the wheel-barrow man. "The -original boomer of this gulch. But watch the people pile out, will you!" - -"Yes; there's a big strike south of here, I understand," from the -doorway of his tent spoke Mr. Byers himself: a stocky, pleasant-faced -man, with a close-trimmed brown beard. The diggin's had as great a -variety of beards and whiskers as it had of people. - -So he was the pioneer newspaper man, was he--the man who had brought a -printing-press, and a stock of paper already printed on one side at -Omaha, clear from the Missouri River to Cherry Creek. But Terry was -given scant opportunity to stare. Harry clutched him by the sleeve: - -"Come on, quick! I've got an idea." - -Away they hastened, back down the gulch. Before, at the lower end, the -confusion was increasing. Outfits were hurrying away--drivers swinging -their lashes, men footing fast; camps were breaking, and on their claims -miners and prospectors were shouldering pick and spade and pack and -hastening after the procession now crossing the creek. - -The movement spread up the gulch, communicated from camp to camp and -claim to claim. - -"What'll we do? Get more land?" puffed Terry. - -"No, no." - -But the lower end of the gulch was not by any means deserted, as they -arrived. It was mainly the frothy overflow that had bubbled out, and -when the eddy had settled there appeared to be almost as many people as -before. Even the claims which had been abandoned were being quickly -re-occupied. However, Harry dashed to one man who had packed up and on -his cabin was tacking a sign: "Keep Off!" while his partner waited. - -"Going to leave?" - -"Mebbe so. Want to buy this claim? She's a humdinger." - -"No. But I'll buy your sluice. How'll you sell it?" - -"That sluice? Seventy-five dollars." - -"Whew!" - -"It's forty feet long, of three boards; that means 120 feet, and -lumber's $300 a thousand feet and you have to put in your order a week -ahead. With the props and the cleats and the nails there's over $40 of -material in that sluice, and I reckon the labor of hauling and building -is wuth the balance." - -"I'll give you $50," snapped Harry. - -"Sold. But hurry up. We can't wait long here to sell a sluice. There's -too much doing 'round the corner." - -Harry fished out three gold pieces--two twenties and a ten--and passed -them over. - -"Better take it off this property quick or somebody else will," advised -the man; and away he and his partner strode, for the strike in Bobtail -Gulch just across a little divide south. - -"Lucky again!" jubilated Harry--who, Terry saw, had been smart. "Cost a -lot of money, but we couldn't have made it much cheaper ourselves and -we'd have been held up waiting for boards. You sit on it while I go for -Jenny. We haul the whole thing at once." - -"Maybe we could have got it for nothing, after they'd left," proposed -Terry, with an eye to the general grab-all as various persons swarmed -over the abandoned claims. - -"It wasn't ours, was it?" retorted Harry. "But it is now." And he left -at a fast limp. - -He returned with Jenny, harnessed, and they triumphantly dragged away -the sluice, carrying also the scissors props on which it had rested. Its -joints indeed threatened to part, but by picking their path they arrived -with it intact at the Golden Prize. - -Their preacher neighbor greeted them with a wave of hand and came over -to inspect. - -"Looks as though you were going right into business," he asserted. "I -thought maybe you'd join the rush for Bobtail." - -"No, sir; we stick," assured Harry. "A bird in the hand's worth two in -the bush." - -"Well, depends on the bird," answered the preacher. "Now, my bird's an -old crow, I'm afraid, and if I could see a fat turkey in the bush I'd -drop my crow pretty quick, like those other fellows." - -After dinner Harry rather ruefully examined his money belt. It was flat -and limp. - -"Ten dollars left," he said. - -"And our dust, you know," reminded Terry. "We've the five dollars we -washed out, and we can wash out more whenever we want it." - -Harry brightened. - -"That's right. We're rich. You can try panning again, this afternoon, -and I'll go down to the grocery and lay in provisions and any other -stuff we'll need, and then we can set up the sluice and pile up the -gold. Get to have everything running before Father Richards and that -George Stanton come in." - -"We can buy a claim for them, too," proposed Terry. "Or find one that's -been left." - -"No crows," corrected Harry. "Turkeys only." - -Terry went at his panning with enthusiasm, bound to make a showing. -Panning was slow, but it was rather exciting because there always was -liable to be something yellow right under your eye, if you looked close -enough. Panning was a one-man job; you did it all yourself. - -The preacher strolled over to watch. - -"How's the dirt paying now?" he queried. - -"Pretty good. I've found _some_ more," truthfully answered Terry. "About -a dollar's worth, I guess." - -"A pinch, eh? How'd you like to take over my claim?" - -"Haven't any money yet. I mean, we won't have money till we get the -sluice to going." - -"I'll tell you what I'll do," proffered the preacher. "Just to make the -transaction binding, I'll sell you the claim for your next pan. -Preaching is my business, not mining, you see. If you buy my claim, then -nobody can accuse you of jumping it." - -"All right," accepted Terry. - -"Play fair, now," laughed the professor. "Take your dirt from a good -rich spot." - -Spots looked mainly all alike to Terry. The hole where he had been -digging was laying bare the hard rock, but he scraped up a quantity of -dirt and loose splinters from a crevice---- - -"You're giving me principally rock, aren't you?" criticized the -preacher, good-naturedly. "But let it go. I'll be game." - -However, as the pan cleared and Terry threw aside the splinters, they -both exclaimed. Yellow was plainly visible--and moreover there was a -blackish, cindery fragment the size of a crushed hazel-nut that glinted -and weighed suspiciously as Terry lingered in the act of tossing it away -also. - -"Here! Hold on!" And the preacher took it. "Nugget, isn't it? Fifteen or -twenty dollars, I'll wager--and ten dollars more in flakes!" - -"That's a rich pan, boys, as I reckon," interrupted a voice, accompanied -by crunching footsteps and a growl from Shep. - -The speaker was a miner over six feet tall and broad in proportion--a -veritable giant of a man, in clothes as rough as the roughest, and with -a revolver at his belt. In his black-whiskered face his eyes were small -and deep-set, and close together, or as close as an enormous nose would -permit. He was carrying a sack on his shoulder, which he deposited in -order to investigate the pan. - -"Yes, sir-ee. A $40 pan, countin' the nugget. Does all your dirt run -like that?" - -"No, sir; not yet," replied Terry. "But maybe it will when we sluice -it." - -"Goin' to sluice, are you?" The giant's close-set little eyes roved -about inquisitively. "This your claim, is it?" - -"Yes, sir. This and the next one." - -"Where'd you get that lucky pan o' dirt?" - -"From that hole." - -The giant strode up, carelessly poked about in the hole with his -boot-toe, filtered some of the dirt through his fingers. - -"You're down to bed-rock already," he pronounced, returning. "I -calkilate you may have struck a leetle pocket, but I don't count much on -these shallow slopes. Some gold ketches, most of it's washed down. He -your partner?" and he indicated the preacher. - -"No, sir. My partner's down to the store." - -"Older'n you?" - -"Some." - -"Waal," and the giant picked up his sack, "you'll have most of your work -for nothin'. May strike an occasional pocket, an' may not. You've got -one o' them pore locations. Mostly rock." With that he stumped on into -the little draw down which flowed the side rivulet. Once he paused, to -cast a glance behind at the stream and the waiting sluice; and then he -disappeared around a shoulder up the draw. - -"We're no better off for _his_ opinion," quoth the preacher. "Don't -believe he's quite the style of a man I'd cater to, anyway. But our -bargain holds, does it? I'll make you out a bill of sale." - -"Sure," manfully assented Terry, trying not to regret that this was the -one big pan. - -Harry presently arrived, laden with purchases. - -"Meat's fifty cents a pound," he panted. "We may have to eat Shep or -Jenny. Flour's snapped up at $15 a sack, and milk's fifty cents a quart -from the cows of some of the emigrants. Whew! Couldn't find any -gold-scales; we'll do our weighing at the grocery store till the express -office or post office is opened. Everything's payable in dust. But I -invested in a treat for us; see?" and he produced a can of oysters! -"That's our bank. The groceryman says oyster-cans are the popular things -for holding gold, in the diggin's. It cost two dollars, but it'll be -worth a heap more than that when it's full. I'm nearly strapped, though. -Have you added much to our pile?" - -"Added the preacher's claim," blurted Terry, and 'fessed up. "It was a -big pan, too," he concluded. "I've found only a little color since." - -"Color helps," encouraged Harry. "That will be a claim for George. Good! -We can work both with the same water." - -The preacher brought the bill of sale of the "True Blue" claim, as he -had named it; and that evening they had him in to join them in making -merry over the can of oysters. Harry thoroughly washed out the emptied -can and set it aside to dry, for the "bank." - -The "improvements" on the True Blue claim consisted of merely a few -holes and a lean-to of pine boughs covered with a piece of ragged -canvas. The preacher jovially carried away his personal belongings on -his back; he was, as he expressed it, "traveling light." - -Left in possession of both claims, the two partners decided to fill -their oyster-can from the Golden Prize first, and they jumped into the -work of setting up the sluice. - -This proved to be a bigger job than it had appeared before being -tackled. The sluice was heavy and had to be moved about by sections; and -to place it conveniently and yet give it the proper slant, the ground -had to be leveled or mounded or lowered; and a little dam had to be -made, with a race or ditch to supply the water to the upper end of the -sluice: and what with disconnecting, and shifting hither-thither, and -re-connecting, and all that, two days were consumed. - -There had been no time for panning, but now, at last, they might start -in washing by wholesale, so to speak. - -They lugged the dirt on gunny sacking to the sluice, dumped the dirt -into the running water, and while Harry stirred it Terry followed down -along the sluice to throw out the rocks and clear the riffles or cross -cleats. A back-breaking and also muddy job this sluicing was, for the -sackings of dirt were heavy and the sluice of course leaked at the seams -and joints, so that the ground underneath was speedily soaked and made -slippery by the constant trudging. - -By noon the riffles were filled with gravelly mud, and Harry decided -that they should be cleaned. So the water was turned off. - -Now for the test! - -"I see yellow! I see yellow!" asserted Terry, running from cleat to -cleat, and eyeing the deposits against each; and indeed it did seem to -him that the little dikes glistened roguishly. - -"You see more than I do, then," retorted Harry, rubbing his long nose. -"What I see is more panning, after all, to sort that stuff." - -They dug the lodged stuff out with their knives, and panned several -cleatsful at a time. Harry found a nugget (small one); little by little -the gold left in the pans increased (hurrah!), until, at the wind-up---- - -"How much, do you think?" demanded Terry, excitedly. - -"Mighty near an ounce, and the nugget besides; say $40." Harry's dirty -face was abeam. "And we've washed as much dirt in half a day as we could -pan by hand in a week. At this rate we'll soon have both claims skinned -to the rock, and'll need others. But I reckon we can find 'em, or buy -'em." - -"Looks as though we were going to be powerful rich, doesn't it?" said -Terry, awed by the very thought. "We'll fill our oyster can." - -"Shucks!" remarked Harry. "I saw one sluice where they'd cleaned up $138 -in a day--but there were four men working it, and they had more loose -dirt than we've got. Our dirt's mostly rock. Anyway, we'll lay aside -that $100 we owe Father Richards and have something to show extra before -he and mother and the Stantons come in." - -However, the afternoon clean-up netted them, although they had dug the -dirt from a deeper place which looked very promising, scarcely color! -And when early, before breakfast, in the morning, Terry sallied out to -survey about and plan for a big day, to his astonishment the rivulet was -dry, except for a dribble! - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -PAT CASEY HELPS OUT - - -He hastened back to the cabin with his eyes popping. - -"Our water's gone!" - -"What!" - -"It is. There's not enough to fill a tin cup!" - -"Great Scotland!" And setting aside the skillet and dropping his fork, -Harry rushed out to see for himself. - -"Wonder if the blamed thing's drying up," he hazarded. "Well, we've got -a pailful for drinking and cooking, anyway. And after breakfast we'll -try to find out what's happened." - -They had not yet explored the little draw down which the water drained; -it was shallow and uninteresting; but they did not need to go far to -find out "what had happened." Around the shoulder of the first bend they -arrived at a branch draw on the other side of their low hill, and were -in the midst of some more claims. - -Water from a spring had been feeding the little draw and the branch draw -both; but now a sluice had been set up, taking away so much that there -was none left for the little draw. - -Several men were at work with the sluice. They paid no attention to -their visitors until Harry interrupted the nearest. - -"Look here. You men have taken our water." - -The man turned around short. He was the giant who had commented on -Terry's big pan and on the condition in general of the Golden Prize -prospect. - -"What you talkin' about?" he growled. "Who are you an' where you come -from? Oh, it's you, is it?" he added, to Terry--and Terry had the notion -that he had known perfectly well who they were and where they were from, -before speaking. - -"Yes," answered Terry. "And this is my partner. You aren't leaving us -any water for our own sluice." - -"You have all that comes, haven't you?" - -"We haven't all that ought to come, though," answered Harry, a bit -sharply because the giant's tone was decidedly rough. "You've dug the -ditch to your sluice higher up than necessary, and it lowers the level -of the spring so much that no water enters our gulch at all. The stream -used to split, didn't it?" - -"Split nothin'. Trouble is, your gulch is runnin' dry. You ought to've -figgered on that, now that the snow's all melted off and sunk in. Most -of those little gulches dry up, come toward summer." - -"The stream used to split, and feed through this gulch, just the same," -insisted Harry. "You can see the channel. I hold that we're entitled to -a share of this spring. And if you'd move your ditch a foot or two we'd -get enough, and you'd have plenty yourselves." - -"You're entitled to just what drains into your gulch, an' we're entitled -to what drains into ours," growled the giant. "This water's in our -gulch, ain't it--spring and all?" - -"I don't know that it is, by rights," retorted Harry. "The spring's -pretty close to being at the dividing point. And anyway, we're not -asking you for your water; we're asking for ours." - -"Now look-ee here," and the giant tapped his revolver butt: "By miners' -law we're entitled to a share o' what water comes down our gulch, an' by -miners' law you're entitled to a share o' what water comes down your -gulch, alluz considerin' there's any to share. If your claim was wuth a -picayune I'd advise you to hold on till next spring, when mebbe you'd -get a leetle water again from natteral drainage; but as it ain't wuth a -picayune I'd advise you to get off an' look elsewhar. Anyhow, you get -off this ground mighty quick; for if you're huntin' trouble you'll find -it in a bigger dose than you can handle." - -"It looks to me like a deliberate scheme to run us off," began Harry, -hotly. But he checked himself. "Come on, Terry," he bade. - -"Did you see Pine Knot Ike?" exclaimed Terry, as they returned, with -heads up, to their own ground. "I did--he was down below, with another -man." - -"Yes, I saw him." Back at their sluice again they stood undecided. Harry -scratched his long nose and surveyed about. "Confound 'em! It's a dirty -mean trick. If they'd change the head of their sluice ever so little -we'd have enough water and so would they. But they've fixed it so that -when they shut off to clean up the water all flows the other way. Let's -see. We can get water for the cabin from that creek down below. Might -pan with it, too--only we'd spend most of our time carrying the dirt -down or the water up." - -But when they went down to the creek, to investigate, they were curtly -told by a camper there that his claim and others extended all along on -both sides, and that they were entitled to the water themselves. - -"You can help yourselves to drinking water, and that's all," he granted. -"I'm sorry, strangers, but if you're on a dry prospect I reckon you'd -better get out." - -"Not yet!" retorted Harry. "Not," he added to Terry, "as long as we can -make _pie_! Come on. We'll find Pat." - -They had not seen Pat Casey for several days. As they descended the -gulch, it seemed busier and more crowded than ever. Five thousand people -were here now, according to report, and all the surrounding gulches were -thronged, also. Sluices were running, others were being set up--and the -thought of their own dry, useless sluice, and the gold that _must_ be -waiting, and the way they had worked to prepare for getting it, made -Terry half sick. His father would laugh, and George would be a pest. -Yes, George would poke all manner of fun at them. - -Pat wasn't where they had expected to find him. - -"Pat Casey? The red-headed Irishman, you mean? He's across yonder, and -he's struck it rich. You'll find him over there, strangers, washing out -$50 and more a day." - -So Pat had moved. He was waist deep in a trench that showed signs of -soon being a tunnel; and when from the brink they hailed him, he -clambered out. All mud and perspiration was Pat. - -"B' gorry, Oi'm glad to see yez," said Pat. "Oi've been thinkin' o' yez, -but what with gettin' rich Oi've no time for calls. Oi bought out the -men who were gopherin' here, an' now the deeper Oi go the richer Oi am. -Sure, yez are lookin' at a millionaire, 'most. An' how are things with -you boys?" - -They told him. Pat scratched his head. - -"Too bad, too bad. An' a dirty trick. But, faith, there ain't water -enough to go 'round, an' that's a fact; not sayin', though, that they're -actin' square, at all. For they ain't. Are yez in need?" He winked. -"Jist come into me house a minute." - -He led them into his bough hut, and from underneath his bunk fished out -an oyster can. - -"Heft it, wance," he invited. - -It was heavy. - -"Help yourselves, lads," he insisted. - -But Harry laughed. - -"Not yet, thanks, Pat. We've got a little to tide us along. What I want -to know is, how's your appetite for pie?" - -"Two dollars apiece for pie, an' two pies a day: wan for breakfast an' -wan for supper; an' on Sunday wan for dinner besides," promptly answered -Pat. - -"It's a go," pronounced Harry. - -"Will it take the both o' yez to make pie?" queried Pat. "Sure, ye look -like a husky boy," he said, to Terry. "Let your partner make the pies, -an' ye turn your hand to helpin' me at the sluice. Oi need another good -worker. Oi fired the wan Oi had only this very mornin' because he sat -down too frequent. Oi'll give ye a dollar an' a half a day, an' ye can -fetch down me pies." - -"That's a bargain," accepted Terry. "Wait till I get my spade." - -When he and Harry arrived again at their own property they found the -giant there. He was standing in their hole, and inquisitively poking -about. - -"Here! What are you doing?" challenged Harry. - -"No harm meant," apologized the giant. "But you're down to bed-rock an' -that's a fact. Still, a man might wash out a little dust, from spots, I -reckon, if he had the water. Now, the truth is we're sorry for you boys. -You've put consider'ble time an' labor in on this prospect, an' we're -willin' to do the right thing. How'll you sell?" - -"For how much?" demanded Harry. - -"The property's no good to you; never would amount to anything great -anyhow; it's too rocky. But I'll tell you what we'll do: We'll give you -$100 for your claim, to save hard feelin's, an' we'll take the chance o' -pannin' out enough when there's water, to pay us back. I expec' we'll -lose, but we'd rather lose than have the hard feelin's. You get the -hundred dollars an' the experience." - -"We'll keep the experience and the claim, too; eh, Terry?" Harry -answered. "And there's something you men can keep: you can keep _off_. -What's that in your hand? A piece of our rock? Drop it!" - -[Illustration: "THE GIANT SAT DOWN WITH AN EXPLOSIVE GRUNT, AND HARRY -STOOD OVER, SCARCELY PANTING, REVOLVER DANGLING IN HAND"] - -"Cock-a-doodle-do!" jeered the giant. "Mebbe I picked up this rock here -an' mebbe I picked it up somewheres else. But I drop it when I get -ready. You crow mighty loud for a young rooster without any spurs." - -The giant was standing confidently agrin, resting at ease on one leg, -his hand on his hip--but he did not know Harry. With a single jump Harry -had reached him, quicker than the eye could follow had jerked the -revolver from its scabbard and at the same time with a twist of the foot -had knocked loose the propping leg. The giant sat down with an explosive -grunt, and Harry stood over, scarcely panting, revolver dangling in -hand. - -"We wear our spurs on the inside, like a cat's claws," he said. "Now you -sit there till you drop that piece of rock." - -But the giant looked so ugly and menacing, as he glared about, that -Terry flew to the cabin for the shot-gun. He was back with it in a -jiffy--and the giant was already slowly rising to his feet. He had -dropped the piece of rock. - -"'Tisn't wuth sheddin' blood for," he grunted. "Your hull property isn't -wuth the lead in a bullet. But I admit you did for me mighty clever. -Where'd you l'arn that trick?" - -"We're as full of tricks as you are," retorted Harry. "Here's your gun. -You needn't keep him covered, Terry. He's going." - -"Then you refuse our offer, do you?" - -"Yes. You can't buy even the privilege of walking across this land for a -hundred dollars or a thousand dollars." - -"All right. You can squat here till you starve an' dry up, then. Mebbe -you have the trick o' livin' on nothin', but I doubt it. I'd like to -know that wrestlin' trip, though--I'll give you an ounce o' dust to show -me." - -"No, you can't buy that, either," laughed Harry. - -"That preacher feller gone away?" queried the giant, with a jerk of the -head toward the True Blue claim. - -"Yes," said Harry, shortly. "He's quit." - -With a calculating glance around, the giant stalked off. They watched -him go. Harry picked up the piece of rock. - -"Wonder what he wanted of this," mused Harry. "It doesn't look any -different from lots of the other rock. White quartz, I reckon, with iron -rust in it. We could have given him a bushel of the same. He didn't find -it lying loose, though. He cracked it off from somewhere. That's a fresh -break." - -They searched about curiously a minute for the source of the fragment. -It was a smooth knob, the size of a large walnut, showing rusty white at -the fracture. - -"We can't wash rock, anyhow," quoth Terry. "It just clogs up the sluice. -We wash the dirt." - -"And we can't wash even that now. It seems queer, though, that that -outfit would want to buy this claim after saying it's worthless. You -didn't want to sell, did you?" - -"No," stoutly declared Terry. "Not unless we have to, to pay dad back." - -"Not as long as we can sell pies and make day wages, at any rate," added -Harry. "There are just as good ways of getting money as digging it out -the ground. If those fellows bother us we've tricks for all their legs -as fast as they bring 'em over." He stuffed the piece of rock into his -pocket. "I'll keep this for luck," he said. - -Harry alertly started in on preparations for his pie-baking; he had -hopes of enlisting other customers than Pat. Terry shouldered spade and -pick, and trudged off to help Pat. - -He found Pat much excited. - -"Have ye heard the grand news? No? Why, sure, the great editor man, -Horace Grayley, be comin' to the diggin's! He's on his way already--him -an' other cilibrated citizens all the way from New York. The boys are -arrangin' a rayciption for 'em tomorrow; an' b' gorry, 'tis mesilf will -have the honor o' lettin' the great Grayley, who be the editor o' the -New York _Tribyune_, wash the gold with his own hands from this very -pit. Faith, if Oi don't make his pans rich for him my name's not Pat -Casey." - -When that evening Terry, wet and dirty and tired, went home, the word of -the approach of Editor Horace Greeley and party had aroused much -interest through the gulch. - -He found everything ship-shape but quiet at the cabin, where Harry had -baked several pies and a batch of bread and hung out some washing. A -sign, of wrapping paper and charcoal lettering, now announced: - - GREGORY GULCH BAKERY - Apple Pie - Bread, Etc. - HARRY REVERE & CO. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -HORACE GREELEY COMES TO TOWN - - -The Horace Greeley party arrived early the next morning, and breakfasted -at the lower end of the gulch before proceeding upon an inspection of -the diggin's. Their visit was deemed of the utmost importance, for, as -Pat explained to Terry, they were here to see the gold with their own -eyes and handle it with their own fingers, so as to print the truth in -the New York "_Tribyune_." - -Sure, whatever Horace Greeley said, the people would believe. - -In order to make certain that the report would be a good one, it had -been arranged to pilot Mr. Greeley to the richest of the claims, and -invite him to wash from these for himself. Pat's was the lowest down and -therefore the first--and now Pat seemed to think that the reputation of -the gulch rested on his shoulders. - -He had donned a fresh shirt, ahead of time, and evidently had tried to -slick up generally. The water had been turned off from the sluice as if -in preparation for a postponed clean-up. - -"Take it 'asy," directed Pat, when Terry, having delivered the two pies -contracted for, was about to spring into the pit and begin the business -of the day. "Let the sluice be, so His Honor can clane up some o' the -riffles by himself. An' we'll jist be loosenin' the dirt a bit here an' -yon, for the sake o' keepin' busy an' makin' the place convanyent for -him." - -In fact, Pat was so particular in "jist loosenin' the dirt a bit" that -Terry suspected him of not wishing to soil his shirt. - -"Well, I'm thinkin' they're comin'," pronounced Pat. "Out o' the pit -with ye an' wash your hands an' face so ye'll be a credit to the gulch. -Sure, ye might have put on a clane shirt yourself--but mebbe 'tis better -wan of us looks like a hard worker." - -Terry had a notion to retort that probably Harry was wearing the clean -shirt; they had only three shirts for the two of them, and the extra -ought to go to the cook, of course. - -All around, the other miners were unusually busy, so as to impress the -great Horace Greeley, but they kept an eye directed down the gulch. Now -a party, on muleback, were drawing near. They numbered half a dozen, -conducted by John Gregory himself, and a little squad of onlookers -trailed behind. - -Occasionally they stopped, to survey operations; Pat, pretending to dig, -awaited nervously. - -"Mind ye, let me do the talkin'," he cautioned, to Terry. "An' be polite -to His Honor, yourself. He's a great man. An' in case Oi ask ye to dig, -take your dirt careless loike from the corner beside that white rock, -for the rock's a lucky stone." - -The party halted at Pat's pit and gazed in, and Pat and Terry, pausing -in their show of work, looked up. Besides John Gregory, there were in -the party Green Russell and Mr. Williams, the stage company -superintendent, and Editor William Byers of the _Rocky Mountain News_, -and--yes, Mr. Villard, the Cincinnati reporter. - -Terry did not know whether Mr. Villard would remember him, or recognize -him, anyway, in those clothes, which were much worse than when worn in -Denver. - -"This is one of our promising gulch claims," was saying John Gregory. -And--"Good morning to you, Pat," he addressed. "How are things looking -with you today?" - -"Foine, thank ye, John," assured Pat. - -"Come out a minute, Pat. Mr. Greeley, I want to make you acquainted with -Mr. Casey, a leading citizen of the Gulch. And Mr. Richardson--Mr. -Casey. And Mr. Villard--Mr. Casey." Pat, who had clambered out, removed -his hat and rather bashfully shook hands. - -So that was Horace Greeley, was it; the editor of the New York -_Tribune_! He didn't look like an editor of a big paper such as the -_Tribune_. Rather, with his square hat and his rosy face surrounded with -a fringe of short white whiskers, and his roly-poly figure, as he sat -his mule, his legs sticking straight out, he looked more like a church -deacon or a prosperous "back East" farmer. - -Mr. Richardson, who probably was that reporter for the Boston _Journal_, -as spoken of by Mr. Villard in Denver, was a tall, wiry man with soft -hat and full brown beard, and wore a Colt's revolver. - -"These gentlemen are out from the East, Pat," continued John Gregory, -"to see if it's true that we're all starving hereabouts and that the -gold is in our eye. Mebbe you've no objection to their doing a little -investigating on their own account down in your hole there." - -"Faith, Oi'd be proud if their Honors would touch their fingers to me -dirt," asserted Pat. "Would they loike to get down in, or shall Oi pass -a bit up to 'em?" - -Mr. Greeley and Mr. Richardson and Mr. Villard dismounted and peeked in. - -"About how much are you washing out a day, Pat?" invited Green Russell. - -"Oh, a hundred dollars a day, more or less, dependin' on the clane-ups," -answered Pat. - -"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mr. Greeley, adjusting a pair of spectacles, -the closer to peer. "I was scarcely prepared to find that a fact." - -"You're ready to make a clean-up, I see," spoke Mr. Byers. "Suppose you -show Mr. Greeley and these other gentlemen. How long will it take?" - -"A matter o' two hours," replied Pat. "But would His Honor loike to try -a pan, first? Sure, a pan or two from the pit, an' a couple from the -riffles--that's a fair tist." - -"Yes, I believe I should like to see the evidences of a pan," declared -Mr. Greeley. - -"There's no need of His Honor gettin' down in," averred Pat. "It's no -place for the feet of a gintleman. Terry, me lad, pan a spadeful, will -ye, an' show Mr. Grayley the color so the New York _Tribyune_'ll tell -the world all about it?" - -Something in the slant of Pat's eye reminded Terry to dig his dirt from -beside the white rock in the corner; seizing the spade, he did so, and -dumped into the pan always handy. The ditch that fed the sluice was only -a few steps from the shallow edge of the pit. Squatting over it, Terry -deftly panned the dirt. No one could have done it better--and the result -certainly was amazing. Terry handed up the pan, but he scarcely could -believe his eyes. Mr. Horace Greeley would require no 'specs to see -_that_ color! - -"Between two an' thray dollars, Your Honor," assured Pat, as amidst -exclamations the remarkable pan was passed about. "Even a boy can get -the rale stuff in these diggin's. Will Your Honor keep the dust for a -token? An' will ye be after tryin' a pan for yourself? Sure, everything -ye find is yours." - -"You might try a pan from the riffles of the sluice, Mr. Greeley," -suggested Mr. Byers. - -"I will." Mr. Greeley promptly rolled up his sleeves, and settled his -square hat more firmly on his head. "Let me have the pan, if you -please." He carefully scraped the color from the pan and deposited it in -a buckskin bag that he carried. "Where shall I take from?" - -"Annywhere, annywhere, Your Honor," bade Pat. - -"Why not about the middle, Mr. Greeley?" proposed Journalist Richardson. -"That would be fair." - -"Let him alone, gintlemen," urged Pat. "Let His Honor do it all himself. -Come out, Terry, lad. Ye'll be gettin' in His Honor's way." - -That was not one bit true, because Mr. Greeley would not be anywhere -near Terry. However, Terry trudged out, to please the anxious Pat; and -now Mr. Villard hailed him. - -"Why--hello, Pike's Peak Limited! I thought that was you. Where's your -partner, and how are you making it in the mines?" He shook heartily with -Terry, in spite of the mud on Terry's clothes--not to speak of -considerable on Terry's hand. - -"Harry's up at the cabin. We're doing pretty well, thank you," answered -Terry. - -"Well, I should rather say you were, if you wash out two and three -dollar pans! I was hoping to see you. Mr. Richardson has a message for -you. Richardson, this is one of the partners in that Pike's Peak Limited -outfit you've inquired about." - -"Oh, yes." And Mr. Richardson, the Boston journalist, also shook hands -with Terry. "Glad to meet you. Mr. Greeley and I passed some people on -our way out by stage. That is, they spent the night near us, at one of -the stage stations. They asked us, if we saw the Pike's Peak Limited -boys at the diggin's anywhere, to say they were coming. There were two -families traveling together. One was Mr. and Mrs. Richards----" - -"They're my father and mother!" exclaimed Terry. - -"And the other was Mr. and Mrs. Stanton, and a boy and a little girl." - -"I know 'em!" cried Terry, excited. "The boy's name is George and the -girl's name is Virgie. The Stantons are near neighbors of my folks, in -the Big Blue Valley. Are they near? When'll they get here?" - -"Oh, they were some distance out yet," smiled Mr. Richardson. "But they -had spanking good teams and were pushing right through. They'll----" - -"Ha, ha! Watch our old friend Horace! He acts like an expert," laughed -Mr. Villard. - -For Mr. Greeley, after having deliberately selected the packed dirt from -several of the riffles at the middle of the sluice, was proceeding to -wash his pan at the ditch. - -"Why, His Honor might have been in the diggin's all his life!" praised -Pat. "Sure, isn't he a Californy Forty-niner?" - -Mr. Greeley was not so swift in his motions as a skilled prospector, but -he evidently knew the correct method. He dipped, and tilted the pan, and -twirled out the dirt and water; and peered, and dipped and twirled -again. - -Each time that he peered he seemed to be more interested, and his -smooth, chubby face grew redder. - -"Have you struck it rich, Mr. Greeley?" - -"Upon my word!" And straightening, he returned with the pan held close -under his nose. "Marvelous! If this is gold--and I judge that it -is--these are very rich diggings indeed." - -They all crowded forward to inspect the pan. The bottom of it was -absolutely yellow! - -"Hurrah for Mr. Greeley!" congratulated the other journalists, and hands -patted him roundly on the back. - -"Gold!" proclaimed Pat. "Faith, an' if 'tain't a twinty dollar pan I'll -ate it. Wance I washed out siventeen dollars myself, but never a pan -like that from mere a few riffles. Keep it, Your Honor. Would ye like -to try ag'in?" - -"Oh, no, no," declined Editor Greeley, considerably flustered as he -painstakingly transferred the flakes and dust to his buckskin sack. -"This is proof enough. Now I have worked with my own hands and seen the -results with my own eyes--I have the results in my very pocket! Nobody -can gainsay the richness of these new Western mines, and the truth shall -be announced to the world as far as my paper can carry it." He smiled -boyishly on Terry. "I beat you, my son, didn't I? Well, well!" - -"This is one of the Pike's Peak Limited boys, Mr. Greeley," explained -Journalist Richardson. "You remember a party of emigrants on the trail -sent word by us to them, in case we ran across them at Cherry Creek or -elsewhere." - -"Yes, yes. That is so," and the great Horace Greeley extended his hand -to Terry. "You must be Terry, then--the son of that Mr. and Mrs. -Richards in one of the wagons." - -"Yes, sir," answered Terry, wondering how Mr. Greeley could remember. -"They're my father and mother. The other outfit lived on the next ranch -to us in the Big Blue Valley." - -"And they had another boy, and a little girl beside," said Mr. Greeley. -"That's good. I'm glad to see young blood entering this vast new country -of the United States. When I return to New York I think I shall print as -a motto: 'Go West, young man; go West.'" - -After shaking hands again with Pat, the Horace Greeley party rode on up -the gulch, for further investigations. Pat respectfully watched them; -then he clapped on his battered hat and faced Terry with a droll wink. - -"B' gorry, that was good wages for an hour's work. Oi'm thinkin' Mr. -Grayley'll be wishin' to sell his _Tribyune_ an' dig in the dirt along -with the rest of us here." - -"I should say!" agreed Terry. "Jiminy, this is awful rich ground! I -didn't know there was so much gold in here, did you? We must have opened -up a regular layer yesterday." - -"Don't ye tell anybody," whispered Pat, "but Oi opened up me oyster-can -a bit, an' sprinkled a few pinches jist to make the visit by His Honor -the more interestin'. Sure," continued Pat, "ye wouldn't want a man like -the great Horace Grayley to soil his hands for mere a dollar or two, -would ye? An' it's all right. The same gold came out o' here in the -first place, an' wance Oi tuk siventeen dollars an' fifty cents from a -single pan, myself. He might have done as much without my help, if he'd -struck the proper spot, an' I only made matters 'asy for him. Now he can -print the news with an exclamation point. Well, let's clane up the -sluice, an' give back to the oyster-can what's due it an' more -besides." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -TWO TENDERFEET ARRIVE - - -Word was spread through the Gulch for a mass-meeting this evening to -listen to a speech by Horace Greeley; but of far more importance, in -Terry's mind, was the news that his father and mother and the Stantons -were on the Pike's Peak trail! Yes, sir; coming! They must have cut -loose sooner than expected. But when would they arrive at Cherry Creek? - -Mr. Richardson had not said; still, he had said that they were well -equipped and were "pushing right along." They could not have arrived -yet, of course; the Greeley stage had got in only two or three days ago, -and the stage coaches traveled mostly at a gallop and fast trot so as to -cover fifty miles a day, including stops for dinner and sleep. The best -teams could cover only twenty miles a day. Anyway, they were coming, and -he was wild to tell Harry--and Shep. - -So as soon as he might knock off work on the Casey claim he bustled to -the cabin, and unloaded the news. - -He and Harry united in a war dance. Shep barked. "That," quoth Harry, -when they had quieted down again, "is a joke on us." He rubbed his long -nose and surveyed Terry quizzically. "Which of us will wear the clean -shirt, to receive them in?" - -"Dunno," grinned Terry. "But if they don't get here pretty quick there -won't be any extra shirt. And one of your boots is plumb gone, already!" - -"I know it," admitted Harry. "I'll have to make moccasins. But we can't -get clothes till we pay our debt." - -"No, sir!" agreed Terry. "We'll have to get that hundred dollars ahead, -first." For upon this they were determined. - -"We sure will," confirmed Harry. "We wrote that we were rich with a gold -mine, and told your father the hundred dollars would be waiting here for -him, and a lot more besides! Huh!" - -"They think we're rolling in wealth," asserted Terry. "Now they'll -laugh." - -"No, I don't believe they'll laugh," said Harry. "We did make a long -brag, though. But chances are they didn't get that letter before they -started. We'll write them, to Denver, and just say we're doing well. -Then they'll know where we are." - -"George'll laugh," insisted Terry. "He'll laugh when he finds you're -cooking pies and I'm working by the day for Pat Casey! I told him I'd -have a claim ready for him, so he could start in digging." - -"Ha, ha!" cheered Harry. "Well, we've got the claims, haven't we? And he -can dig all he wants to. We're doing the best _we_ can. You're earning a -dollar and a half a day, and I'm the champion cook of the diggin's--I -sold three pies and a batch of biscuits today, all for dust." - -"How much've we got in our oyster-can, I wonder?" - -"Quite a lot, after you've been paid off," alleged Harry, cheerfully. -"But trouble is, flour and apples and soda and salt cost so plaguey -much--and we have to eat, ourselves. So that means coffee and meat -and--pshaw! But not a stitch of clothes do we buy, mind you, till we're -square with Father Richards." - -"Don't believe Dad'll need the hundred dollars," declared Terry. - -"Maybe he will and maybe he won't," answered Harry. "But we let on we -had a bonanza, and now we've got to make good. That's the joke." - -"Shucks!" bemoaned Terry. "We can't go down to Denver or Auraria in -these rigs, to meet real folks. We look like--like--I don't know what. -Your pants are split clear across the knee." - -"No worse split than yours," retorted Harry. "And my best boot is better -than your best one!" - -"We'll have to stay out of sight in the mountains," asserted Terry, -"till we get enough dust to buy clothes with." - -"Well," said Harry, "here's where we belong. We're all right for Gregory -Gulch--and we don't know when to meet the folks, anyway. By the time -they turn up we may have our can heaping full from my pies and your -wages, or we may be regularly sluicing out the gold from the Golden -Prize and the True Blue, and go down to Denver in time to put on -broadcloth and brand new boots!" - -"If we only had water," sighed Terry. - -"That's the one thing that keeps us from being millionaires," sighed -Harry. "And it's one thing or another with most people--or else we'd -all be millionaires. Counting up beforehand is the easiest part of -getting rich." - -"Just the same, I know this much," blurted Terry. "Some day all of a -sudden George Stanton will come straight into this gulch, with his pick -and spade, looking for the gold that he'll say we promised him." - -"Then we'll put him to work baking, or digging with you and Pat," -laughed Harry. - -The mass meeting that evening to hear Horace Greeley speak was a great -affair. Everybody went--that is, everybody who wanted to. Clothes did -not matter. At least 2,000 people gathered, and they wore all kinds of -garb, from buckskin to rags. They stood about, or sat upon the ground -and stumps and logs; and Mr. Greeley, in a long whitish coat, addressed -them, after having been given three cheers. - -He said that his day's trip through the diggin's had convinced him that -this was a gold region as rich as California, and now he was of the -opinion that a new State should be formed. He urged the miners to work -hard and faithfully, and not drink or gamble. It was work instead of -gambling and running about that would make them successful. He hoped -that they all would live honest, upright lives, just as though their -home folks were with them; and if anybody would not so live, he should -be placed upon a horse or mule and told to ride and not come back. He -said that one purpose in his visiting the Pike's Peak country was to -find out the truth regarding the mines; but that another purpose was to -cross the continent and get information that would hasten the building -of a railway--the Pacific Railway, to extend from the Missouri River to -the Pacific Ocean! - -Hooray for Horace Greeley! And again hooray! - -Mr. Richardson spoke, and so did Mr. Williams, the Pike's Peak Express -Co. superintendent, and others. They all were cheered, also. - -"It's funny we don't see Sol Judy anywhere, isn't it?" remarked Terry, -as after another rousing round of cheers for the visitors, and the -Gregory Diggin's, and a new State of Jefferson, the meeting broke up. "I -thought we might 'spy him in that crowd." - -"So did I," admitted Harry. "But he'll turn up again. He always does." - -The Horace Greeley party spent the next day in the diggin's, and then -went back to Denver. It was understood that they had decided to make a -favorable report to their papers, saying that there was plenty of gold -to be found by those who knew how to find it; but that people who were -doing well in business and on their farms in the East ought to stay -there instead of starting off on a wild-goose chase. - -"That's right," supported Harry. "Only about one person in ten in this -very gulch is making any money mining. The rest of us are just living -and hoping." - -He continued his cooking, and Terry continued to work for Pat. That was -hard work, too--all day in the muddy soil, digging, and dumping the -heavy spadesful into the sluice, and stirring, and running along to -follow the dirt down, and once or twice each day cleaning up the -sluices. But Harry had no easy job, either. Fire wood was getting -scarcer and needs must be carried farther--and the rusty stove burned a -terrible amount. And water must be carried up by the bucket. And Jenny -must be attended to, so that she should have water and grazing. And the -washing done. And the meals got, the same as ever. And there was the -worry over obtaining a supply of flour and dried apples--especially the -dried apples, for the pies. - -The pies contracted for by Pat were the chief source of income in the -cooking line, although occasionally Harry did sell a pie or some bread -to other customers. But more women were arriving in the gulch, and they, -too, did cooking. - -The oyster-can grew heavier only very slowly. What with the high prices -of flour and apples and other stuff, and what with the amount of -provisions they ate themselves, there really was not so much profit in -cooking, after all. - -But toward the last week of June Harry calculated that the dust in the -oyster-can was approaching the $100 sum. And now they both began to -wonder again when the folks and the Stantons would appear. - -Then the not unexpected occurred. - -Terry was deep down in Pat's pit and toiling lustily, and was already -mud and dirt from crown to soles, when from above somebody hailed him. -George Stanton, of course! Not only George, but Virgie, too. They were -peering in, George afoot and Virgie from the back of the Indian pony -that last year had been captured from Thunder Horse, the mean Kiowa. - -George wore a natty buckskin suit, and his revolver, of make-believe -wooden hammer; and with a blanket roll on his back, and a new pick and -spade on his shoulder, and a new gold-pan slung at his side, he -evidently was all prepared for business. Virgie wore a sunbonnet and a -cleanish gingham dress. They both looked so spic and span that Terry -realized how different he looked, himself. But with an instant whoop of -welcome he clambered out to shake hands. - -"Hello, George! Hello, Virgie! Cracky, I'm glad to see you! When did you -get in? Where are the folks?" - -"Down in Denver," answered George. "Virgie and I came up with some -people we met on the trail. Is this your mine? Did you find one for me, -too?" - -"You're awful dirty," accused Virgie, wiping her hand on her dress. - -"I reckon I am, Virgie," agreed Terry. "So'd you and George be, if you -weren't tenderfeet. How'd you know where to find us? Did you get our -letters?" - -"Yes; got the one you wrote from Denver--got it at Manhattan, just as we -were starting. We came through in twenty-one days. Your dad and mine -have a cracking good team apiece. And we got another you wrote to Denver -from these diggin's. Found it waiting for us. Is this your mine? Where's -Harry? Did you discover one for me? Where's the gold? We hear you've -struck it rich! The folks sent us up to see. Do you want them, too?" - -"Who told you we'd struck it rich?" demanded Terry. - -"A sick boy down at Denver. He heard us asking for our mail, and asked -if your father was any kin of yours. He says he knows your mine; it's -the Golden Prize, and it's a bonanza; regular humdinger! So I was -looking for it, and I saw the top of your hat, and I told Virgie: -'There's Terry Richards' hat, and I bet he's under it!' Is this the -mine? Is that other man working for you? Where's Harry? Shall I get down -in and dig, too? I'm not afraid of dirt." - -"Naw, this isn't the Golden Prize," confessed Terry, bluffly. "It's -another mine--belongs to Pat Casey. I'm helping him. But I'll quit and -take you over to the cabin. 'Tisn't far. Wait till I tell Pat." - -Pat likewise was out of the pit, and had visitors: two men talking at -him hotly and gesturing with their fists, while Pat responded in kind. -They all seemed to be having an angry argument. - -"Oh, Pat!" appealed Terry. "I'm going over to the cabin a minute, if you -don't mind. I've got some friends to show about." - -"Sure, go on," bade Pat. "Stay the mornin', if ye like. There'll be no -more dirt turned on this property till afternoon ag'in, annyhow--barrin' -Oi don't start a graveyard in your absince." - -That was an odd remark, but Pat appeared to be so enraged at something -or other newly come up that Terry did not delay to interfere farther. - -"All right; let's go," he said to George and Virgie. - -He led off; George stumped behind, weighted with blanket roll, -wooden-hammer revolver, pan, and pick and spade; Virgie followed on her -pony. Terry, in his mud and ragged clothes, felt like an old-timer, as -he conducted these "tenderfeet" to the cabin home in the busy gulch. - -"Golly, there are a lot of people in here, aren't there?" panted George, -impressed by the many curious sights. "Are they all making their pile?" - -"No, I should say not, yet. But they're all trying." - -"How much do you think you've got already? A thousand dollars?" - -"Uh-uh. We haven't weighed it; haven't any scales." - -"I want to see some gold," piped Virgie. - -"I'll show you some when we get to the cabin," promised Terry. - -"Is Harry at the cabin?" queried George. - -"Yes; we'll surprise him." - -"What's he doing? Is the cabin at your mine? Is he mining there while -you're mining at that other place? Who's Pat Casey? Why don't you and -Harry mine together?" - -"I guess he's cooking. Somebody has to cook," explained Terry. "And -clean up." - -"Well, you need cleaning up, all right," asserted George. "Reckon you'd -better not let your mother see you in _those_ clothes! She'd have a -fit." - -"Aw, we old miners all dress like this," retorted Terry. "It's only -tenderfeet who fix up." - -"Nobody'd take you for a millionaire, that's sure," scoffed George. -"Say!" he added. "You sold Duke, didn't you? I saw him in a show, there -at Denver--or Auraria, I mean, but it's all the same thing. What'd you -do that for? They're going to match him with a bear as soon as they can -find the bear--have a fight!" - -"Oh, shucks!" deplored Terry. "Did you see Thunder Horse's head, too?" - -"Was that Thunder Horse? Didn't look like him now! Where'd they get his -head? Thought Pine Knot Ike had it. You said so in your letter." - -"Yes, he did have it on the trail. But Mr. O'Reilly bought it for the -show. And Pine Knot Ike's in here. He's with a gang not very far from -us." - -"I don't like Thunder Horse, and I'm hungry," piped Virgie. - -"We'll have something to eat in a jiffy," comforted Terry. "There's the -cabin." - -"Which one?" queried George. - -"That one with the sign on. See? On that little rise." - -"What does the sign say--'Pike's Peak Limited'? Or 'The Golden Prize'?" -urged George. "'Golden Prize Mine,' I bet." - -"I see Harry! We're going to s'prise Harry," rejoiced Virgie. - -That seemed evident, for Harry was sitting against the cabin wall, under -the sign, and busily engaged. - -"He's panning gold, isn't he?" exclaimed George, excited. - -"Naw," said Terry, weakly. "He's panning dough, I reckon." - -"Oh, look!" cried Virgie. - -For Harry had sprung up at the approach of another man around the corner -of the cabin--was telling him to get out--the man would not go--jumped -for Harry--got the pan of dough square on the head--and they closed and -swayed, wrestling. Shep appeared, to circle and bark and snap. - -Virgie screamed. - -"That's Pine Knot Ike!" gasped Terry, jumping forward. - -And George, dropping pick and spade and ducking from his blanket roll, -fairly streaked it, shouting and flourishing his wooden-hammer revolver. -He easily beat Terry. - -Suddenly Pine Knot Ike went staggering from one of Harry's clever trips, -and saw George and the big revolver. Away he lunged, legging it and -making an odd sight with his head and shoulders plastered by dough, and -Shep nipping at his trousers' seat. - -"You'd better get," threatened George, pursuing, "or I'll shoot you into -little bits!" - -Harry quickly drew back his arm and threw--the piece of rock struck Ike -between the shoulders. Whereupon, as if thinking that he really had been -shot, Ike uttered a loud yelp, gave a prodigious leap, and legged -faster. - -"Bang!" shouted George. - -When Terry and Virgie arrived, George was returning, considerably -swelled up with the triumph of his wooden-hammer gun, and Harry was -laughing. - -"There go four dollars' worth of dough and my pocket piece. Howdy, -Virgie? Hello, George! Much obliged. Where are the other folks?" - -"They're down at Cherry Creek. We came----" - -"What was the matter? What'd he want?" interrupted Terry. "The big -lummix!" - -"I don't know. He was hanging 'round--I 'spied him poking about on that -other claim yonder, and when I ordered him off with the shot-gun he said -something about 'taking it out of my hide.' So he sneaked in on me when -I wasn't looking. I don't think my hide would pan out much, but he might -get good color out of Terry's and my clothes." - -"Aw----!" blurted George, who now had read the sign. "'Gregory Gulch -Bakery! Harry Revere & Co.'! What do you mean by that? I thought you had -a gold mine!" - -"So we have," chuckled Harry. "At two dollars a pie, and a dollar and a -half a day loading Pat Casey's sluice." - -George indignantly flung his hat on the ground. - -"But I didn't come 'way out here to bake pies or work for a dollar and a -half a day," he accused, as if they were to blame. "We-all thought you -were rich, and I was going to dig on my own hook and get rich, too." - -Virgie, who did not understand, but sensed a disappointment, began to -wail. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -ANOTHER CALL FOR HUSTLE - - -They calmed Virgie, George stalked out and glumly brought in his brand -new pick and spade, and during dinner Harry and Terry tried to explain. - -"You see, we've got our mines ready, all right," concluded Terry, "but -we can't work 'em." - -"Why don't you make those fellows give you water, then?" demanded the -spunky George. "Let's all go over there tonight with our guns and open a -ditch. If my gun would shoot I'd go alone." - -"Trouble is, their guns do shoot, I reckon," drawled Harry. "And another -trouble is, the water all around is petering out anyway. That stream -below is scarcely a trickle. Pretty soon we'll be carrying our drinking -and cooking water from Clear Creek, and that's a mighty long tote." - -"Pat says there's talk of digging a big ditch and fetching water into -the gulch from a river over yonder," informed Terry. "But it will cost -money, and anybody who uses the water will have to buy by the inch." - -"Why don't we wait for it?" proposed George. "You've got some money -saved up, and you're making more, aren't you? Your father didn't say -anything about wanting his hundred dollars. He grub-staked you, on a -chance." - -"Yes, and his chance is powerful slim," retorted Harry. "He can do more -with the hundred dollars than he can with a dry prospect. A hundred -dollars is all we've been offered for it, and so his half interest -amounts to only $50, and he'd lose out. We'll pay him what we borrowed -and we'll do the waiting." - -"Did they sell the ranches?" asked Terry. - -"Part trade, and the rest is to come out of the crops. Guess they -haven't got very much cash yet," answered George. - -"That settles it," pronounced Harry. "When you go down you can take our -dust. I reckon there's near a hundred dollars." - -"I'm not going down, for a while," declared George. "I'll throw in with -you fellows. Guess I can find something to do." - -"What!" - -"That's right," and George stubbornly wagged his head. "Maybe I won't -get rich, but I can stick. I can dig around here, can't I? And tote -water and help with the cooking?" - -"Hurrah!" cheered Terry. "He can have the True Blue and dig there; but I -shouldn't wonder if Pat would hire him. We need another man." - -"I can dig better than I can bake," admitted George. "I'll do something -to earn my keep. I mean to stay and help out, Virgie can go back in the -morning with those people who brought us in. They're just looking -about. Where does the True Blue lie? Can I have it? Have you dug much -there?" - -"No. It's a drier claim than this. The water was on our side, so we -thought we'd clean up the Golden Prize first." - -"How much land is the True Blue?" - -"One hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, same as the Golden Prize. We -run one hundred feet from the cabin and into that little draw, and then -the True Blue begins." - -George stood up and gazed. His new property did not seem to impress him -very favorably; and indeed it was not especially inviting, being a bare -rocky slope, pitted here and there with the shallow prospect holes of -the preacher. - -"Shucks!" he criticized. "It's mostly dirt and stones. I haven't got -even that trough." - -"You mean 'sluice,'" grandly corrected Terry. "'Trough' is a tenderfoot -word. All you can do is pan, anyway, with a bucket of water. But I've -got to go back to Pat." - -"Might as well ask him for a job for me, will you?" responded George. -"I'll take it unless I strike things rich first, and can make more money -panning." - -Terry trudged away. George helped Harry with the dishes, then carried a -bucketful of water to his claim and proceeded to "mine." This was -working under difficulties, and Virgie, who had followed close after, -proudly lugging his spade, soon returned. - -"I don't think that's much fun," she stated. - -"Well, it isn't," agreed Harry. "And 'most of the folks who expected to -get rich easy think the same way." - -Presently George gave up, out of humor. He was not only tired, but hot -and grimy, too. - -"There's not a blamed sign of gold in that whole claim," he crossly -declared. "You fellows got cheated. You can have it back again. I'll dig -for Pat Casey. Will he pay me a dollar and a half a day?" - -"He ought to pay you the same he pays Terry. That's three dollars a day -for you two, and four dollars a day for me, and some days I make -five--one day I made seven, and on Sundays I'm sure of six--! Why, -there's a gold mine in itself. We'll be flying high," encouraged Harry. - -George braced up. But-- - -"Huh!" he grunted. "'Tisn't a pound a day, though." - -"Terry's coming," piped Virgie. - -So he was--not only coming, but bringing his tools with him, and also a -decidedly disgusted aspect. - -"Don't you work any more?" called George. "Doesn't he want me?" - -"Naw!" growled Terry, throwing down his pick and spade. "He's busted. -And he doesn't want any more pies, either. Here are the last two. He -can't eat 'em--says he has indigestion." - -"Well, don't step on them," warned Harry. "We can eat them. But how is -he 'busted'?" - -"It isn't his claim," answered Terry. "That is, maybe he doesn't own it -at all. Some men he was arguing with this morning say it's theirs. So -nobody'll work there till things are settled up. And Pat's as mad as a -hornet. They say all the dust in his oyster-can is theirs, too, because -he got it out of that hole." - -"Whew!" mused Harry. "The Extra Limited & Co. seem to be more limited -than ever. And that's hard luck for Pat." - -"What'll we all do, then?" queried George, aghast. "Light out and go -down to Denver?" - -"Not by a jugful!" And Harry swung the two pies. "We're here to stick. I -reckon three able-bodied men and a dog and a nice yellow mule can earn a -living somehow." - -"I'll stay," asserted Terry. - -"So will I," asserted George. - -"I'll stay. I'll help Harry cook," proffered Virgie. - -Harry picked her up and kissed her. - -"No, you can't, Virgie. You go to the folks and tell them we're well and -hustling and never say die, and pretty soon we'll be millionaires. But -you see you can't stay with us, because we're liable to be traveling -'round, looking for the gold, and we may have to sleep in the rain, and -sometimes there won't be much to cook." - -Virgie wept. She was only a little girl, you know. - -"But I want a mine," she said. "Don't I get any mine?" - -"Of course you do," assured Harry. "You can have the mine George was -working on. It's named the True Blue. George doesn't want it. And it's a -real mine--see those holes?" - -"Sure. You can have it, for all of me." - -Virgie's tears dried instantly. - -"All right. I'll dig in it." And off she hurried, with George's pan, in -a moment to be occupied poking into the dirt with a stick. - -"Let's hold a council, boys," proposed Harry. "Pat was my best customer, -for pies, and I don't think I'll bother any more with this cooking -business. I reckon we'll have to make a tour of the diggin's and offer -the services of three men and a mule. Jenny'll need to help, if she -expects to eat. There's not much free grazing left around these claims." - -While they were discussing ways and means, Virgie toiled in from her -"mine," carrying the empty pan. - -"I sha'n't dig any more," she announced. "I'm tired." - -"What have you got in your hand, Virgie?" - -"A piece of my mine," and Virgie extended her prize. "I'm going to take -a piece of my mine down to show papa." - -"That's a good idea," approved Harry. "Take him a sample, so as to prove -to him." - -"Is it gold?" invited Virgie. - -"I shouldn't wonder," said Harry, kindly. "It looks just like the -pocket-piece I threw at Ike. Wait. I'll see." - -But although he searched among the stones and bushes at the place where -the pocket-piece might have bounded from Ike's back, he did not come -across it, and neither did Terry nor George. - -"It was the same kind of quartz, though," he insisted. "Where did you -find your piece, Virgie?" - -"Over there," answered Virgie, vaguely. "I don't remember. Can't I have -it? Isn't it gold? That's a gold mine." - -"Maybe it is gold, from the True Blue mine. You can tell your father you -mined it," bantered Harry. - -"Goody!" And Virgie tightly clutched it. "And I can buy Duke with it. -They're going to make him fight a bear and I don't want him to fight a -bear." - -"What's that?" Harry's voice rang sharply. "Who said so?" - -"Sure," affirmed George. "We saw him, in a show. And there's a sign up -telling folks to bring in a bear and have a match." - -"Great Scotland! Why didn't you mention it before?" Harry was visibly -disturbed. - -"I did, to Terry." - -"Yes, he did, but I'd forgotten," supported Terry. "I was intending to -speak about it, but these other things put me off the track." - -"What'd you sell him for?" taxed George. "Shouldn't think you'd have -sold him. He's awful peaked, shut up there." - -"Well, we didn't sell him for that, anyway," declared Harry. "Good-bye. -You fellows stay here. I'm going." - -"Where?" - -"Down there--to Denver and Auraria. We'll go and rescue Duke, won't we, -Virgie?" - -"_You_ don't need to go, do you? The folks can rescue him. We'll tell -Virgie to ask them to," proposed Terry. "They'll do it." - -"No, sir!" rapped Harry. "I got him into that mess and I'll get him out -if it takes every cent we have. We can pay Father Richards by selling -the mine, if necessary; but Duke sha'n't fight any bear. That wasn't the -bargain." And he bolted into the cabin. - -Terry gazed at George; George solemnly gazed at Terry. It was a day of -sudden changes in plans. - -"Shucks! Duke oughtn't to be made to fight a bear, though," murmured -Terry. - -"I should say not--I call that downright cruel," agreed George. "But the -bear wasn't there yet. Anyway, maybe the man won't sell." - -"He'll have to, if Harry once gets after him. And the folks will help -now," reminded Terry, hopefully. - -"I'll help," chirped Virgie. "I'll help with my mine." - -Harry bustled out. He had his blanket and a small package in some -sacking. - -"Of course there's no use in the rest of you going," he said. "I've -taken most of our 'pile,' Terry, but I've left you a pinch of dust and -the two pies, and there's flour and stuff yet. I'll leave you Jenny, -too. You and George and Jenny can be getting me a job while you're -getting for yourselves. I'll be back as soon as I save Duke from being -bear meat. If you can't find any paying jobs here, sell the blamed old -claims, and we'll prospect in better diggin's. Climb on your pony, -Virgie. Tell 'em good-bye." - -"You mustn't sell my mine," objected Virgie, from the saddle of the -Indian pony. "I don't want it sold." - -"Well, they can sell the Golden Prize, if they have to," laughed Harry. -"So long, fellows. You'll see Duke and me later." - -Away he strode at rapid limp--dear old Harry!--with Virgie on her -ambling pony keeping pace beside him, into the gulch and on. - -"Guess we'll have to rustle," spoke Terry, to George, as they watched -him and Virgie out of sight. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -NEVER SAY DIE! - - -Gregory Gulch was now very different in appearance from that same gulch -into which the Extra Limited had entered about a month ago. It resembled -a noisy, booming new town. Almost every foot of lower ground was -occupied. A great deal of the timber had been cut from the ridges and -slopes, to be used in cabins and sluices and for fuel; and the axes were -merrily ringing, in tune with the staccato of hammers and the thud of -picks. - -More families had arrived, so that women were frequently seen, and some -of the cabins looked exceedingly "homey." There were many more grocery -stores and general supply stores, in tents or log buildings. Where -Editor William Byers' tent had stood, half-way up the gulch, town lots -for the new Central City had been staked out and were selling as high as -$500 apiece! - -Flour was $20 a sack of 100 pounds, eggs were $2.50 a dozen, and milk -fifty cents a quart. But money was very cheap, and prices seemed to cut -little figure, for were not men digging, digging, digging, and emptying -their dirt into rockers, or carrying it in gunny sacks and in sleds -over pine-trunk tracks, to their sluices, and washing out the dust (some -of them) to the amount of $200 a day? - -At night the hundreds of camp fires lighted the gulch redly from side to -side; and already there had been a great forest fire, on the new trail -in from the Platte, which had burned to death three men and a dog. - -The trail itself was lively, said George, with gold-seekers still -trudging into the mountains, singing, "I'm bound to the land of gold," -and under Table Mountain had been started, on Clear Creek, a town named -"Golden City." It contained about thirty cabins and nearly a thousand -people, living in the cabins or camping! - -And Denver and Auraria were booming, also. - -Amidst such apparent prosperity it did seem as though persons anxious to -work could find work that would pay. But the trouble was that Gregory -Gulch had become over-populated. The newcomers asserted that the -old-timers, like the Gregory crowd, had located too much ground, and -that the claims ought to be cut down from one hundred feet to -twenty-five feet, so as to give more people a chance. This movement did -not prove out, because when a miners' meeting was held, to make changes -in the regulations, the old-timers put in their own men as officers and -won. - -Consequently, what with the high prices of food and lumber, and the many -claims that yielded scarcely anything, and the constant rush to get -other claims wherever possible, a lot of people were glad to turn their -hands to any kind of work. - -Terry and George tramped clear up the gulch, inquiring at sluice and -rocker and prospect hole, and even at tents and cabins. - -"Need any help?" Or: "Do you know of a job we can get?" Or: "Could you -use a couple of husky boys around here?" - -Some parties were so busy that they only shook their heads, without -pausing. Others directed them on, or to right or left. But after having -volunteered in vain as miners, carpenters, and even as wood-choppers, -they reached the head of the gulch, and turned back. - -"Well, guess we'll go down to the other end," sighed Terry. - -"This sure is a tough proposition," said George, using professional -language. "Anyway, we've got enough to live on for a day or two, haven't -we? Wonder when Harry'll be back." - -"He won't come back till he has Duke; you can depend on that. Maybe he -hasn't money enough." - -"He can borrow from the folks." - -"He won't, though. He'd rather work and earn some more." - -"You can sell your mine, can't you, if you have to?" asked George. "He -said sell it. And we can sell the True Blue. I'd as lief." - -"We gave it to Virgie," reminded Terry. - -"Aw, she wouldn't care. It's no good, is it? It doesn't own any water." - -"Well, 'tisn't as good as the Golden Prize," admitted Terry. "Maybe -we'll sell the Golden Prize and find something better. But I'd like to -wait till Harry comes. I'd hate to sell it to that Pine Knot Ike gang." - -"They offered you $100, though, didn't they?" - -"Y-yes," admitted Terry. "It's better than nothing, of course." - -They two (for Shep had been left to guard the cabin) were retracing -their steps by a slightly different route down the opposite side of the -gulch, so as not to miss any chances, and now came upon the wheel-barrow -man. - -"Why, hello, young Pike's Peak Limited," he greeted. "How's the -gold-seeking business?" - -"We're not gold-seeking, we're job-seeking," explained Terry. "Do you -know of a job for a couple like us?" - -The wheel-barrow man appeared to have packed up. His blanket roll and a -fry-pan and tin cup were laid ready in front of his closed cabin. - -"What's the matter? Didn't your prospects pan out?" he queried. - -"We haven't any water, so we quit. Then I worked for Pat Casey, and he -quit, and we can't even sell pies," confessed Terry. - -"Where's your other partner?" - -"He went down to Denver and Auraria, to buy our buffalo back. They're -trying to match Duke against a bear." - -"Pshaw! That so? I'm going down to Denver myself, to look about in time -before snow flies. I understand it begins to snow up here in September, -and everybody'll be driven out." - -"What'll you do with your mine? You've got one, haven't you?" asked -George. - -"Sure pop, young man. And it's recorded, too, on the district books; and -if anybody jumps it while I'm gone there'll be a heap of trouble for -him. It's in black and white, described according to miners' law. -Say--if you boys really want to work, you go on to Gregory Point, near -the mouth of the gulch, and maybe you can get a day's work, or several -days' work, on the new church they're putting up there for a preacher." - -"Come on, George," bade Terry. And--"Much obliged," he called back. -"Where's your wheel-barrow?" - -"Played out at last. Don't need it, anyway. Can carry all I've got on my -back." - -"What's 'recorded'?" queried George, as they hurried off. "Are our -claims recorded?" - -"Don't think so," puffed Terry. "Nobody told us to record 'em. They're -ours, and we've been sitting on them right alone. I'll ask Harry when he -comes back." - -"Or we can ask Pat Casey," proposed George. - -They did not find Pat. His pit was idle and he was away--hunting -witnesses to the sale by which he had bought the prospect. But they -found the church, or rather the site of the church, on Gregory Point, as -that was called, near the mouth of the gulch. Already a platform like a -floor had been constructed; several men were busy hauling logs and -leveling the ground with spades for another building; and the Yale -preacher from the True Blue claim had his sleeves rolled up and was -working with the rest. It was to be his church! - -He warmly welcomed Terry, and shook hands with George also. - -"Yes, indeed; plenty of work here," he jubilated--and Terry's heart beat -expectantly. "We need strong arms. Bring along ax and spade, and pitch -in. But," he added, "everything is donated, of course. The labor, -material, ground--all is a gift to help the good cause. The people in -the gulch are mighty generous, and their payment will come in this -opportunity regularly to worship God instead of always worshipping gold. -They can't live in a civilized fashion without a church. So the quicker -we have such a place, the better. What do you say? Want to help?" - -Terry looked at George; George looked at Terry. - -"I'd rather do that than do nothing," blurted George. "Only----" - -"So would I," answered Terry. "But you see," he said, to the preacher, -"those claims have played out----" - -"That's too bad," sympathized the preacher. "Both of them?" - -"Yes, sir. We can't mine 'em till we have water. The water's gone. And -our jobs busted, and I reckon we'll have to earn our keep. But we'd as -lief help here till we strike another job." - -"All right. Bully for you! To work once in a while for something besides -money never hurts anybody," assured the preacher. "I have to do a lot of -that myself. Bring down your tools whenever you feel like it. I expect -some of the men will be working here all night because they can't spare -the time during the day. We're going to finish the church and my cabin -before Sunday. But maybe you'd rather wait till morning. It's nearly -supper time now. Come after supper, though, to the prayer-meeting. We -hold the first prayer-meeting, around this platform. And I'll want you -to join the Sunday-school." - -They left the enthusiastic preacher and his volunteers building the -first church in the diggin's. - -"Might as well go home, I guess," remarked Terry. - -Twilight was empurpling the hills when they arrived. This had been a -lively day, but not a very successful one. - -"Anyway, we've got enough to eat," quoth George. "And if we work on the -church that may lead to something else. We'll keep busy." - -"Sure," agreed Terry. "Keep a-going, as Harry said, all the way out. -Keep a-going." - -By the time that they had finished supper and washed the dishes the -gulch was again redly outlined by the hundred camp fires. The sounds of -axes and picks and saws had ceased, and there arose the hum of -conversation, broken by shouts and laughs and occasional bits of music. - -As they stumped along their way to the prayer-meeting (which was quite -an event) they passed a tent where somebody was playing the violin--and -farther on, in a cabin, a group of men were singing "Home, Sweet Home," -to the tune of an accordian. - -The prayer-meeting was being held, sure enough. There on the point was -the platform, lighted by torches and surrounded by a throng of people -sitting on the ground and stumps and boxes and logs, listening to the -preacher. Or--no! - -"That's the Lord's Prayer! They're all saying the Lord's Prayer!" -uttered George, awed. - -So they were--or at least from this distance the cadence sounded like -the Lord's Prayer, repeated in unison by those whiskered men of flannel -shirts and high boots and revolvers and by the tanned women in shabby -calico dresses. A great sight that was--and a very good sound, for these -parts or any parts. - -"There's another meeting!" whispered Terry, for he did not feel like -speaking aloud when the Lord's Prayer was being recited. "Haven't got -two preachers, have we?" - -For just below the prayer-meeting a man was standing in an open wagon -and addressing another crowd. He was talking fast, the listeners jostled -and craned, and the flare of the pitch-pine torch planted on the wagon -lighted their hairy, up-turned faces. - -"We'll have to go and see," uttered George; who, as a tenderfoot, was -eager to see everything. - -Presently the words of the man in the wagon-box could be heard above the -refrain of the Lord's Prayer around the platform. He was somebody whom -Terry never had noticed before in the gulch--a thin, slab-sided man with -carroty hair and beard and dressed in prospector's clothes; wore a -revolver; no preacher, he. Certainly not, for---- - -"Yes, gentlemen," he was saying, "not more'n fifty miles from here -there's a place where every one o' you can wash your pound o' gold dust -to a man per day. Me and my partners are the first white men in there; -we've made our locations and our laws and have started a new camp -that'll be a world-beater. Tarryall, we've named it; in the big South -Park: the best and richest country on the face o' the earth. As soon as -I get provisions here I'm goin' back in, and I'll take any o' you who -want to go with me, on the understandin' you'll respect our rights as -first locators. There's plenty room, gentlemen--and a pound o' gold a -day per man waitin' to be dug. It's yours, gentlemen, if you want it. -We'll welcome you to Tarryall. Only fifty miles to fortune, remember. -I'll show you the way, but I start early in the mornin'." - -The crowd jostled excitedly. On the outskirts George clutched Terry hard -by the sleeve. - -"Let's go!" he exclaimed. "Did you hear? A pound a day! That beats these -diggin's. Cracky! I knew there was some place where a fellow could dig -his pound a day. We can go and make our strike, and then 'twon't matter -whether we sell these claims in here or not." - -"All right; let's," agreed Terry, fired with the same idea. "We'll -locate for ourselves and Harry, too; or if they won't allow boys to -locate in their own names we'll locate in Harry's name and my dad's and -your dad's! Harry'd never go to any of those other big strikes--the -Bobtail, or the one in Russell Gulch, or a lot more. We've stuck here, -when we might have been getting rich somewhere else." - -"Come on back to the cabin and pack up," urged George. - -They turned, when a voice at their elbow stayed them. - -"Got the fever again, have you?" - -He was the "Root Hog or Die" professor. - -"Guess so," grinned Terry. "You've been away, haven't you? Did Green -Russell find you a mine? Do you know that man in the wagon? Has he made -a big strike?" - -"Never saw him before and don't know anything about him," answered the -professor. "Yes, I've got a few prospects, but I'm holding them for more -water. Just now I'm recorder for this district. They elected me only the -other day. How are you doing? Where's Harry?" - -"We're waiting for water, too. He's down at Denver, but he's coming -back. Will you record our claims? Do we have to record them?" - -"No, you don't have to. It might be safer, though. But I can't record -them tonight. The books are locked up. What are they?" - -"The Golden Prize and the True Blue. They're over there." - -"I know. You look me up at the office first thing in the morning and -we'll record them." - -"We won't have time. We're going to follow that man in the wagon to the -new strike," explained Terry. "Nobody'd said anything about recording -until this evening. But we'll be back." - -"Well, I'll make a memorandum, then," proposed the professor, "so you'll -be safer. Nobody's liable to jump your claims while you're gone, if they -can't be worked. The gulch is full of such claims. But you look me up -as soon as you can." - -"All right. Much obliged," replied Terry. "Maybe we won't want those -claims after we've been to the new strike." - -"We'd better be going. We've got to find Jenny and pack our stuff," -urged George, impatient. - -"Good luck to you," called the professor, as they hastened away. - -"I'd like to surprise Harry with a regular gold mine, by the time he -sees us again," uttered Terry. - -"Sure. We'll leave a note in the cabin saying we've gone to get rich," -enthused George. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -TO THE POUND-A-DAY - - -There was very little time to be lost. When in the morning they had -eaten breakfast and had packed Jenny (who did not seem to object to a -change from doing nothing all day) with a buffalo robe and a blanket and -the picks and spades and cooking stuff and some provisions, and had -placed a note for Harry--"Gone to get rich. Will see you later"--and -sallied down the gulch, Terry with his shot-gun on his shoulder and -George with his wooden-hammer revolver at his belt, and each with a -gold-pan slung on his back, the procession for the new diggin's already -had started. - -It looked quite like business, too--a long file composed of men riding -horses or mules, and of men driving pack animals, and of other men afoot -and carrying their packs, pressing south, out of the gulch, evidently -following the lead of the Tarryall man. - -"Once we locate our pound of gold a day, these other diggin's can go -hang, can't they?" puffed George, as they hurried. - -"I should say!" concurred Terry. "All we'll do will be to come back and -get Harry and sell to that Pine Knot Ike crowd, and then we'll light -out again. Glad we didn't say where we're bound for. When we sell we can -pretend to Ike that we're plumb disgusted." - -"Sure. Let's push up in front." - -They were fast-footed and Jenny was long-legged, and they passed one -after another of their rivals, until they were well toward the van. The -wagon-man guide could be seen in the advance, guiding up a steep divide -between the North Clear Creek and the South Clear Creek. The route -appeared to be by an old Indian trail; and the divide itself grew into a -mountain. Higher and higher led the trail--a tough climb that made the -procession straggle. - -It was a great relief when the trail conducted down again, on the other -side, to South Clear Creek, and crossed, and turned up, through a -beautiful country, to a couple of lonely lakes. But presently it began -to climb over another mountain! - -Terry limped, George limped, everyone afoot limped, no stop had been -made for lunch. Everybody was afraid that somebody else would get to the -pound-a-day first. - -"Wonder how far we've come now?" panted George. - -"You're a tenderfoot. You're petered out already!" accused Terry. "We -aren't half there." - -"I don't limp any worse than you do," retorted George. - -"Keep a-going." - -"Keep a-going." - -On top of this mountain they all in the advance ran into a snowstorm, -while the people lower down, behind, evidently were warm and -comfortable. Then night fell--a real January night--and camp had to be -made. - -However, George was game. He proved to be a good campaigner, for a -tenderfoot; and as an old-timer Terry of course needs must pretend that -this kind of camping was nothing at all. So they pitched in together and -cooked supper like the rest of the crowd, and went early to bed on top -of the blanket and underneath the buffalo robe. - -"Jenny won't thank us any for bringing her from summer right into -winter, I reckon," murmured George, as he and Terry spooned against each -other, to keep warm. - -"No," replied Terry. "This 'pound of gold a day' song doesn't mean -anything to her yet. But it'll be warm down in Tarryall, they say--just -like back at the Gregory diggin's." - -"We ought to get there tomorrow." - -"Depends on how many more of these mountains there are," reasoned Terry. -"Without that Tarryall man to guide us we'd all be lost, sure." - -On and on and on, into the south and southwest, continued the march: -down and up, across more creeks, across more mountains, into canyons and -out again; and when night arrived, no South Park and Tarryall diggin's -were yet in sight. Nothing was in sight but thick timber and wild rocky -ridges extending to snow-line. Near or distant, before, behind, on -either side, the landscape was the same. - -"A few miles, boys, and we'll be there," promised the Tarryall man. -"'Bout tomorrow noon, say. Then for your pound a day." - -"Seems as though that pound of gold a day was always ten or forty miles -ahead of a fellow," complained Terry. "First it was at Cherry Creek, -then it was at Gregory Gulch, and now it's somewhere yonder. He said -fifty miles, and I bet we've hoofed a hundred and still we haven't -struck it yet. Guess Harry and I'll have to sell the Golden Prize so as -to get us some boots. Look at mine!" - -"We'll make moccasins or trade for some with the Injuns," consoled -George. "When you're getting your pound a day you won't care." - -The straggling procession was well worn out by two days of long, hard -marching afoot and ahorse, and most of the animals were foot-sore. But -tonight's camp was more cheerful, because the new diggin's lay close -before, over the next divide. Yes, the Tarryall man had promised truly, -for about eleven o'clock in the morning the head of the procession -shouted and cheered and waved. - -"South Park, boys--and Tarryall's in sight!" - -"Hooray!" cheered everybody, as the news spread back from mouth to mouth -and ear to ear. - -"Gwan, Jenny!" bade George, clapping her on the gaunt flank; and driving -her, he and Terry limped faster. - -Because they were boys they had been well treated, on the way over, but -now when new diggin's were so close at hand they might expect no favors. -Every party must rustle for itself. - -"Jenny! Gwan! Do you want to be left? Gwan! Hep with you!" - -"Hep with you!" echoed Terry. - -Jenny did her best; before and behind, the other outfits were doing -their very best--crashing recklessly through the brush and timber and -sliding and tumbling over the rocks. The head of the procession had -disappeared over another little rise--perhaps was already in and at work -locating the best pound-a-day claims! - -"Jenny! Jenny! Yip! Gwan!" urged George and Terry. And with their rivals -treading on their heels they, too, mounted the little rise, gained the -top, and now in the clear could gaze anxiously beyond. - -"I see it! I see the camp!" exclaimed Terry. - -"So do I. But, whew! this is a big place, isn't it?" puffed George. - -South Park was indeed large, and also beautiful; being an immense flat, -miles wide and miles long, grassy and green and dotted with timber -patches and bare round hills--yes, and with buffalo and deer, too!--and -well watered by winding streams and the snows of high encircling -mountains. The sight might well make one gasp, but another sight should -be attended to first: that of the leading gold-seekers spurring their -horses and mules diagonally across in a race for a glimmer of tents set -amidst willows and pines against the west edge. - -And pellmell, hobbling and shouting and straining, all the ragged -company strung out after. - -"If we won't be first, we won't be last, just the same," panted Terry. - -The Tarryall diggin's resolved into three or four tents and several -bough huts along a creek where it formed a broad gulch as it issued from -the mountains. The gulch was being worked with rockers and pans, and -claim stakes seemed to be planted clear through, from side to side. In -fact, when, breathless, their eyes roving eagerly, Terry and George -arrived, business-bent, it looked as though the whole ground had already -been occupied by the discoverers! - -"Tarryall! This isn't Tarryall--it ought to be named Grab-all!" was -denouncing one of the leaders who had won the race from the last ridge. -"What do you think, boys?" he addressed, as the other Gregory Gulch -in-comers paused and jostled uncertainly. "There are twelve of these -Tarryall fellows, and they've each of 'em staked off two thousand feet! -That means twenty-four thousand feet of claims--nearly five miles! Is -that fair? No! By miners' law a claim's one hundred feet." - -"You're right. One hundred feet." - -"Tear up those stakes." - -"No thousand or two thousand foot business goes with us!" - -"They've invited us in here. They've got to give us a show." - -"Grab-all! Grab-all! That's the name for this camp: Grab-all!" - -The murmur of responses was instant. The Gregory Gulch men surged -angrily. The Tarryall men--twelve, now that the guide from Gregory Gulch -had joined them--stood in a compact little group. They were a sturdy, -rough-and-ready squad, well armed and able to take care of themselves. -Their spokesman, a burly, shaggy-bearded individual, stepped out a pace, -and tapped the butt of his revolver significantly. - -"That's tall talk, gentlemen," he said, "but it's wasted on us. This is -our camp. We've discovered this ground. We came in here first, where no -white men ever prospected before and where the Injuns are liable to -raise our hair any moment; we've drawn our own regulations, and I reckon -we're going to hold what we've got. No white men, or Injuns either, can -tell us what we're to do. If you want peace you can have it; if you want -a fight, you can have it; for here we are, and anybody that tries to -jump a claim that we've got marked out will be making his last jump--you -can bank on that. There's plenty ground left; don't you touch ours." - -For a minute things looked ugly, as the Gregory Gulch crowd growled -indignantly, and the Tarryall squad waited, watchful and unafraid. Then -the other man spoke. - -"Let's have dinner, boys. After that we'll prospect 'round and hold a -little meeting, and see whether this camp is to be Tarryall or Grab-all. -Tarryall is what we were invited to join, but if these fellows think -we're in here to buy them out because we can't find anything else to do, -they're mighty mistaken. It's a smooth scheme, but it won't work." - -"We can run 'em out, all right, if they don't play fair," boasted -George, as he and Terry imitated the rest of the company and prepared -dinner. - -"I don't know. There'd be a lot of men killed," reasoned Terry. "They -were in here first, and we promised to respect their rights as -locators." - -"We weren't told they'd staked out all the ground, though. They're -allowed only a hundred feet at a time." - -"That's the Gregory Gulch rule, but this isn't Gregory Gulch; it's a -different district," argued Terry, who felt that he'd rather prospect -than fight. "Maybe we all can find thousand-feet claims." - -"Well, we can't find 'em in Tarryall," stormed George. "And Tarryall's -the place we were brought to. I guess they expect us to buy. It's a -put-up job." - -The meeting was held immediately after dinner. Hot speeches were made, -and several resolutions were passed: one changing the name from Tarryall -to "Grab-all," and another declaring that all claims should be one -hundred feet. However, nobody seemed quite up to enforcing this new rule -on the claims already staked. Amidst threats and bluster and glowering -looks the Tarryall squad warily resumed their daily work, and gradually -the Gregory Gulch crowd spread out, searching here and there for color, -but taking care not to trespass. - -"No fight," decided George, as if disappointed. "It's going to be just a -grab-all. Get your tools if you want your pound a day." - -"That's what we came for," reminded Terry, as they shouldered pick and -spade apiece. "We won't wait for any fight. Come on; leave the stuff -here." - -"Somebody'll steal your shot-gun." - -"Don't think so. I can't carry that, too! But I can put it in one of -those Tarryall tents." - -"I'll wear my revolver. I don't leave that," pronounced George, wagging -his head. - -"Sure. You ought to travel well heeled, in these parts, sonny." One of -the Tarryall men had strolled over. "If you don't, that Dutchman will -take your scalp." - -"What Dutchman?" demanded Terry. - -"He's holed up in a gulch about a mile yonder. He's like the rest of us -original discoverers--what he has he's bound to keep. We all give him a -clear field, and I'd advise you to do the same. It's an unhealthy -neighborhood hereabouts for claim jumpers. You're two plucky lads. Any -more in your party?" - -"No, sir. We're our own outfit," informed Terry. "But we've got another -partner, and some prospects, back in the Gregory diggin's." - -"Do you know where we can dig a pound a day here? That man who brought -us in said you were digging a pound a day," challenged George. - -"So we are--or will be as soon as we get our lumber in place for -sluices. But you newcomers won't locate any pound a day ground in this -gulch. We've seen to that and we don't propose to be bullied out of our -rights as discoverers. We risked our lives to come in here; but of -course we'd be glad of company. We own the ground and we own the water. -You fellows find your ground and your water, and all together we'll -stand off the Injuns. I thought I'd warn you about the Dutchman, -though--you two boys, at any rate. I don't want to see you harmed. You -were speaking about leaving your scatter-gun," he concluded, more -gruffly, to Terry. "That's all right. I'll keep an eye on it for you. If -you don't bother the Dutchman he won't bother you." - -"He'd better not," asserted George. "I'm going to wear _my_ gun. Who is -he and what does he want around here?" - -"Crazy, I told you. Thinks he has a strike, and maybe he has. But it's -well to let a crazy man alone, and as long as he stays away from us we -stay away from him. The park's big enough for that. Dutchman Diggin's, -we've named his gulch. One of the boys happened in there, by accident, -and was run out at the point of a shot-gun. All we see of the Dutchman -is when he's hunting, and even then he's not far away from home, you -bet. Now, that gulch is just beyond the second bunch of timber, south. -See? And I'm warning you, friendly, because you're young." - -"We'll watch out. Much obliged," promised Terry. - -"Yes, but he'd better watch out, too," blustered George. "We're no -tenderfeet. This gun of mine is a humdinger. He won't know it's got a -wooden hammer, and it might shoot." - -"Pshaw, now!" laughed the Tarryall man. "You certainly walk kind of -tender-footed. But go ahead and find your pound a day." - -"Guess we'll try south, just the same," said Terry, to George, as they -struck off. "We can dodge the Dutchman, and there aren't many of the -crowd down that way." - -"Where'll we begin?" queried George, keeping pace. - -"Whenever we come to a low place where there's water we'll pan for -color. That's the only way," instructed Terry. "The gulches are the best -places." - -"Well, we'll have to locate our own diggin's pretty quick and hustle -back for Harry, or we'll be all out of grub," declared George. - -This search for color was fascinating work, especially when they had the -field practically to themselves. There were so many likely places, one -after another. Terry planned to pattern after John Gregory, and follow -the color right to the source--that is, follow it when once they had -found it. But to find it was the chief difficulty. - -They panned faithfully clear up the first gulch, to its head--passing a -few other "panners." Then they took the trail of a side draw and crossed -over to another gulch and panned there. Once they thought that they had -struck something, but it proved to be only a trace, and they lost even -that. The country was getting wild and lonely. - -"Don't suppose there are any Injuns watching, do you?" suddenly -suggested George, as they were crossing a little pass that appeared to -lead to still another draw or gulch. - -"No." Pine and rock basked peacefully and innocent in the afternoon -sunshine. "Nobody said anything about 'em. Shep would smell 'em. He -hates Injuns. We'll try this next gulch and come out at the lower end, -and then make tracks for camp. The sun's going to set." - -They crossed over the ridge and descended. - -"She looks like a good one, this time, doesn't she!" appraised George, -while they strode and slid and leaped down the short slope, with Shep -scouting on either hand. - -"We're too high up for water, though," criticized Terry. "Can't pan -without water." - -The gulch was a small one, and dry. They followed along the bottom, -where a stream course had worn the pebbles round and scored the soil -into banks. - -"I hear water," uttered Terry. "There's a stream ahead, all right." - -The gulch was joined by another gulch entering at an angle--and by a -stream, as well. - -"Here's your good place to pan," exulted Terry. "See the gravel and the -bars? Sort of an eddy. Regular pound-a-day place!" - -"Yes; and somebody else has been digging, too!" growled George, -disgusted. "Can't we ever discover anything?" - -"They aren't digging now. Those are only gopherings. We'll get deeper. -That's where the big strikes lie--down deep on bed-rock," encouraged -Terry. - -"Dig deep, boy," bade George. - -"Dig deep, for a pound a day." - -And they set to work. George's spade clinked on rock, and at blade -length he carefully dumped dirt and gravel into his pan. - -"Golly, I believe I see gold!" he breathed. Terry paused to await -results. George panned feverishly--grew more and more excited. "Hurrah! -Look-ee here! We've struck it!" His pan, not yet fully cleared, was -sparkling and yellow all over the bottom! "We've struck it!" - -"We've struck it!" cheered Terry, forgetful of his own pan awaiting. - -They danced. Shep barked and gamboled. And a heavy voice broke in with-- - -"Ja! You struck it. Maybe not! Maybe you get struck mit a club! Hold -your hands up an' keep quiet until I see what kind of robbers you are -dot come into my gulch." - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -MILLIONS IN SIGHT - - -George dropped his jaw and almost dropped the pan. He and Terry stopped -short in their dance, Shep growled, they all stared; stared into the -muzzles of a double-barrel shot-gun projecting over the top of a big -boulder not fifteen steps at one side, and also into the eyes of a man -squatting concealed and squinting over the sight. He was bare-headed and -tow-headed. - -He slowly arose, with shot-gun leveled, and proved to be a pudgy fat man -in dirty checkered shirt and faded blue overalls with bib and straps; -regular barnyard overalls. - -"Gee, the crazy Dutchman!" gasped George. - -"Dot is one lie," corrected the man, steadily. "Joost like American -boys, who haf no respect. You come into my gulch to steal mein gold und -you call me 'crazy' und a 'Dootchmann,' und for dot I haf a mind to blow -off your heads off. Ja!" In his anger he spoke with a stronger German -accent than ever. "Vat you want, anyhow? Where you from?" - -"Oh--I know you!" exclaimed Terry, gladly. "Sure I do. And you know me. -You're the Lightning Express. Remember, you sold us your sacks. I -thought you'd gone home. What are _you_ doing in here?" - -Now the German gaped and stared. He slowly lowered his gun, and grinned -widely. - -"Ja, ja. Sure! You are one of dose Pike's Peak Limited boys. Ja, ja! You -wass driving a mule an' a boof'lo. Ja, ja! Well, well! An' where is dot -partner--dot nice young man? And who is dis odder boy? An' what you -doing in my gulch--say!" - -"We didn't know it was your gulch. This boy is George Stanton. He's my -partner, too. My other partner's down at Denver. We've been over in the -Gregory diggin's." - -"An' are you prospecting alone? Dere is more of you?" demanded the -German, suspiciously. - -"No, we're alone," assured Terry. - -"Well, well. Is dot so? Den you needn't be afraid. I would not harm goot -boys. Nein, nein." Now apparently in fine humor, he waddled forward to -shake hands. - -"We're not afraid," replied Terry. - -"I should say not," alleged George. "Your gun wasn't cocked, and we -could have ducked. You'd have had to fight the two of us at once, -besides the dog. That's a powerful dog. He's licked an Injun." - -"Is dot so?" repeated the German, eying Shep. "I stick my one foot in -his mouth an' kick him mit de odder. But no, no. Fighting is not goot. I -only fight to protect my gulch. Come on down; come on down to where I -lif, an' we haf supper." - -"This is your dust, isn't it?" queried George, proffering the pan. -"It's out of that dirt. Do you own all the gulch?" - -"Ja; my gulch. But nefer mind. You keep what you find. I haf plenty, -plenty. Come on down now an' I show you somet'ings. You odder boy wash -your pan. Den we all go." - -Terry delayed not in washing his panful while he had the permission. It -yielded fully as much yellow as had George's! Whew! They had struck rich -pay-dirt, at last, and--shucks! It belonged to somebody else. -However---- - -"Keep it, keep it," bade the German, with grand gesture. "It is not -worth my bodder. I haf plenty. I gif you so much, but I do not want you -to steal it." - -So they carefully scraped the treasure into George's new buckskin sack -already open. "We'll divvy," proposed George, "but let me carry it, will -you?"--and accompanied the German down the main gulch. - -"Ja," he explained, to Terry, "I did start myself back an' I sell you -an' dot odder partner my sacks an' my tools an' my sauerkraut. An' den, -when dose stages begin to pass me, an' peoples begin to come, I t'ink -maybe I was one fool again, so I turn 'round." - -"How did you get in here, though?" asked Terry. "Are you the first? Did -anybody else come with you?" - -"Ja, I am the first. No, nobody else come--joost me an' my family an' my -wagon an' my oxen. People said 'the mountains, the mountains, the gold -is not at Cherry Creek, it is in the mountains'; so we go into de -mountains, an' we climb up an' we climb down, an' when we get to where -dere is plenty gold, we stop. Dose fellers in dot odder gulch dey come -later, but I pay no attention to dem, except when one is in my gulch an' -den I drive him out." - -How the Lightning Express ever had managed to achieve all that "climbing -up" and "climbing down" until it finally arrived here in this remote -spot, Terry could not figure out--and the German seemed not to know, -himself. He certainly had earned his luck. He had spoken truly, too, for -now the gulch widened, and there, before, was his headquarters--a -homelike camp, with the two oxen grazing, and the wagon whose torn top -still displayed the legend "Litening Express," and a bough-roofed -dug-out, and a clothes-line with washing waving from it, and his family -hovering around the cook stove set under a tree. - -"I find my cook stove an' pick him up," he announced. "Ja, we haf lots -to eat, but no sauerkraut. Only deers an' boof'lo an' chickens an' -fishes." - -The menu sounded very alluring, the Mrs. German and all the six girls, -even the youngest, smiled welcome, and the two guests were disposed to -stay for the promised supper. But first their host, who seemed -extraordinarily good-natured and hospitable, mysteriously beckoned them -aside; led them to the wagon. - -"Now I show you somet'ings," he said. "Let's get in mit us." He -laboriously clambered in under the hood. They followed. - -Evidently the wagon was being used as a sleeping place, for the feather -tick and blankets were spread, and two red-flannel night-caps hung -against the frame-work. The German turned back the blankets and tick -part way and exposed several fat gunny sacks wedged in amidst other -stuff, all of which formed a floor. - -"Dere!" he grunted. "Isn't it? Ja! I told you once I fill my sacks. Now -I do so." - -"What's in 'em?" blurted George. - -"Gold. My gold." - -George's eyes bulged; Terry heard him pant, and he caught his breath -himself. - -"In every sack?" - -"Ja." One of the sacks had a rent in the upper side. The German inserted -his fingers and thumb and extracting some of the contents, displayed the -sample in his pudgy, calloused palm. The sample was black sand, all -yellowed and asparkle with glittering grains. - -"I wash him cleaner when I get time," announced the German. "First I -fill all my sacks up tight. Den maybe it winter an' I must go away. My -wife an' I an' two leetle girls sleep in here on top; dose odder girls -sleep under; nobody get my gold. I fill my sacks in my wagon, an' some -day I hitch up my oxen an' drive off alretty." He smoothed down the bed -again, over the treasure. "I am a smart man. I save some sacks, dot time -when I sell." - -"But you've got millions!" exclaimed Terry. "I should think you'd go out -instead of staying. You can't use that gold here." - -"It is notting," asserted the German. "My gulch is so much gold I cannot -dig him fast enough. If I go away somebody come in an' steal." He -blinked at Terry with his fat eyes. "Maybe I sell, to goot boys who -would stay an' watch while I go an' come back. Den we could all work -togedder." - -"Sell all the gulch?" - -"No, no. Maybe I sell one piece. I sell dot piece where you wash out -dose pans. I haf plenty more an' I do not like to walk so far. I sell -him cheap--it is notting to me, but I will not be stolen from. I sell -him to goot boys for $100." - -"One hundred dollars!" gasped Terry and George. They could scarcely -believe their ears. - -"Ja. So cheap. I will not gif him away. It is better for boys to pay a -leetle somet'ings, an' when dey haf bought, den dey haf rights. One -hoondred dollar--you bring in dot odder partner an' dig all you want to -an' you watch my gulch, an' when I come back we all dig togedder an' get -rich." - -"But how much land will be ours to dig in?" - -"I do not care," and the German airily waved his hand. "Dere will be -t'ree of you? I sell you the right to six hoondred feet. Dot is two -hoondred feet apiece. Ja. An' you watch an' don't you let anybody -steal." - -Terry looked at George. George was fairly purple with excitement. - -"Guess we'd better take it." - -"Guess we had," agreed George, gruffly. - -"That's a bargain, then." - -"We haven't got a hundred dollars here, though," stammered Terry, to the -German. "We'll go back to Gregory Gulch right away and get it, and get -our partner, and we'll hustle in here." - -"Dot's all right," agreed the German. "Dot's all right. You are goot -boys. I wait. I haf one sack not yet full alretty." - -"We won't stay for supper," proclaimed Terry. "We'll hustle. It's nearly -dark, anyway. Come on, George!" - -He piled out. George piled out. The German rather tumbled out. They -grabbed their tools. "Goot-bye, goot-bye," answered the German, and in a -moment they were hurrying down the gulch. - -"We'll sell the Gregory claims," panted Terry. "Sell to Ike. That's -where we'll get the hundred dollars." - -"Sure," panted George. "Talk about your pound a day! We'll make more -than that in here." - -"I should say! Reckon we washed out ten dollars in just those two pans." - -"And there'll be millions!" - -"That German has a million now!" - -"Wait till we tell Harry about the sacks." - -"Not a word of this to those Tarryall and Grab-all folks. Keep mum!" - -"You bet. Don't want any stampede. We'll pretend we're going out -disgusted." - -"Wonder if the German expects us to stay in all winter?" - -"We don't care. We can build a cabin and kill buffalo and deer." - -"And pile up the sand and wash cleaner after the snow comes." - -"Shall we start tonight? Ought to be making tracks." - -"N-no," said Terry. "It'll be dark before we can pack up. Shucks!" - -For the sun had set early behind the high peaks and already the dusk was -creeping into the hollows. - -"We'll start first thing in the morning, then," declared George. -"Hurrah! We've struck it, haven't we?" - -"That's so." The fact was so stupendous that Terry felt almost -frightened over the great good fortune. - -"Two days there and two days back again." - -"He said he'd wait. He's got a sack to fill." - -"Hope we don't talk in our sleep," babbled George. - -"If we don't, nobody'll guess we're rich. We mustn't go grinning 'round, -just the same," babbled Terry. - -"No. We'll act mad, like the rest." - -And so, this evening, they were careful to appear very solemn. But of -course the night was a difficult one for sleep, when a fellow's brain -thronged with golden secrets. - -And as early as they two were in their morning start for Gregory Gulch, -others were as early. This camp of Grab-all was largely a disgruntled -camp. There was no lumber on hand for sluices, the conveniently worked -ground had already been taken up by the Tarryall men, most of the -newcomers were short on provisions, nobody knew but that winter would -set in before many weeks; and so everybody from Gregory was planning to -leave as soon as he had located a claim. - -In fact, when Jenny finally was packed, and in the pink dawn unwillingly -stepped forth at the bidding of "Gwan! Hep, now!" from Terry and a slap -on the flank from George, half a dozen outfits were heading up the -trail. - -Urged to make the most of her long legs, Jenny pressed after. - -"You boys are in more of a hurry to get out than you were to get in, -seems to me," challenged one party whom they passed. "Must have heard of -a new strike, eh?" - -"Yes, sir-ee!" affirmed Terry, daringly. He had to say that much, or -he'd burst, but of course the man did not believe him. - -They made the trip in best time, and arrived at Gregory Gulch soon after -sun-up of the third morning. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -TERRY MAKES A DEAL - - -Even in the short time that they had been absent the Gulch had -improved--for now on Gregory Point stood the preacher's church. However, -they might not stop to congratulate him and to explain why they had not -helped. All this fuss and furor in Gregory diggin's seemed small -business to anybody who knew just where not merely one pound a day but -several pounds a day were to be made easy. - -"If Harry hasn't come we'll sell to the Ike crowd, anyway," declared -Terry. - -"He told us to--he said we might, if we needed it. Then one of us can -rustle back to that other gulch and the other can stay for Harry," -planned George. - -"Somebody's there, all right. The chimney's smoking." - -"Must be Harry getting breakfast." - -"Jiminy Christmas, though!" cried Terry, as now they neared the cabin. -"What's going on? Looks as if he'd brought in my dad and your dad, and -they're working the claims!" - -Sure enough: the sluice had been moved and slanted in another direction, -water was pouring from the lower end again, and two figures were busy -beside it, with spade and pick. - -"Well, they won't want to work it long, when they know what we know," -vaunted George. - -The two figures were engaged across from the cabin, shoveling and -pecking, stooped over, and apparently did not notice the Jenny outfit. -So the home-comers aimed straight for the cabin, and were just about to -whoop to surprise Harry, when Harry stepped out. But no, not Harry! - -It was Pine Knot Ike! He emptied a dish-pan of water, and surveyed -Terry, George, Jenny and Shep. They stopped short and surveyed him. - -"Say! What are you doing in that cabin?" accused Terry, so much -astounded that his voice cracked on him. - -"Those aren't our dads, either, over there," whispered George. - -"I air livin' hyar, I reckon, but 'tain't your cabin," replied Ike, -calmly, and chewing his tobacco. - -"I'd like to know why it isn't our cabin, and our land, too!" retorted -Terry. - -"'Cause you moved off an' we moved on. When one party doesn't develop a -prospect, an' doesn't record it, an' quits, an' another party takes it -up an' perceeds to develop, I reckon fust party loses out," drawled Ike. - -"But it is recorded. We recorded it before we left. And the only reason -we didn't develop it was because you took our water," furiously answered -Terry. "And we didn't move off. We went away for a day or two, that is -all." - -"That's right," blustered George. "I heard him tell the recorder. And -you'd better move off, yourselves, or we'll have you put off!" - -Pine Knot Ike squirted a prodigious stream of filthy tobacco juice. - -"Waal, now, the books don't show," he asserted. "We're hyar, with our -improvements, workin' a claim that looked to be abandoned, an' I reckon -that'll count. We take our water off an' what's your prospect wuth to -you, anyhow?" - -"He's a big bully," whispered George. - -"We want to sell, though," reminded Terry. Ike seemed to be giving them -the opportunity. So--"It's worth more than nothing, just the same," he -replied. "That's our cabin and our sluice and our ground. You needn't -think you can come over and jump things this way. We've got plenty of -friends right in this gulch, and down at Denver, too." - -"Reckon that sort o' talk doesn't amount to much. Possession air nine -points o' the law, young feller," sneered Ike. "I air a man o' peace, -but when anybody says 'fight,' I can riz on my hind legs as quick as ary -b'ar." - -"You won't amount to much, either," accused Terry, with sudden thought, -"after I tell people how you got that Injun head and how you shot your -own barrel full of holes, and how you skedaddled out of that tent in -Auraria and how Harry made you dance at Manhattan last summer!" - -Pine Knot Ike stared and glared and ruminated. - -"Mebbe you know somethin' an' mebbe you don't," he admitted. "But I air -a man o' peace an' so air my pardners. To save hard feelin's, an' -argufyin', how'll you sell what you call your rights in this hyar -property, dust paid down on the spot?" - -"We'll sell for a hundred dollars," offered Terry. - -"Whar's your pardner--that lame feller?" - -"He'll be here; but he told me I could sell. Didn't he, George?" - -"Yes, he did. I heard him. He said to sell if we wanted to," confirmed -George. - -"Whoop-ee!" summoned Ike, to the two men at the sluice. They dropped -their tools and crossed over. One was the giant, before encountered. -With an occasional side glance at George and Terry, they and Ike -consulted together in low tones for a minute or so. Ike disappeared into -the cabin, came out and, advancing a few steps, tossed a limp buckskin -bag at Terry. - -"Thar's your hundred dollars in dust," he said, "'cordin' to agreement. -You stick your name an' your pardner's on a bill o' sale, an' that other -boy'll be witness, an' no hard feelin's." - -"How do we know this is $100?" challenged Terry, suspicious, and -resolved upon being businesslike. One hundred dollars they had to have. -But what luck! - -"Take it to some scales and weigh it, and have it certified to, fust, -then," rapped the giant. "You won't find us gone when you come back. -We're hyar to stay." - -That sounded like a fair proposition. - -"We can get it weighed at a store," prompted Terry to George. "Come -on." - -"Quick work, boy!" praised George, as with Shep and with Jenny (who had -been waiting to be unpacked) faithfully shambling after, they hastened -for the nearest store. "One of us can skip out with it for Dutchman's -Gulch and close our deal there, and the other can stay for Harry. Wish -he'd turn up." - -"There he is now! See? Good!" - -"Where? He sure is! Riding horseback! And my dad and your dad and Virgie -and Duke! He's got Duke!" - -"Yes, and Sol! That other man's Sol Judy!" cried Terry, rejoicing. -"They've all come in! Bully for them! We can all go to Dutchman's -Gulch--work our claim and find others--just pile up the dust! Hi-oh! -Hurrah!" - -They shouted and waved, and cut down farther into the gulch to head off -Harry's party, now filing up as if for the cabin. - -"Hello!" - -"Hello yourselves!" - -"Hello, Dad! Hello, Sol!" - -There was a great shaking of hands all around. - -"Where you going? How's Duke? Hello, Duke!" - -"Going to our mines, of course," answered Mr. Stanton. - -"Where are _you_ going?" demanded Harry. "What's Jenny packed for?" - -"We're going out," informed George. "We've made the biggest strike you -ever heard of--pounds a day--in another place, and we've bought tons of -pay dirt for only $100, and we've sold the Golden Prize to the Ike -crowd, and we're going to that other place just as quick as we can get -there, and so are you, all of you, too!" - -"Sold that other property? What for?" chorused the men. - -"To pay for the new one. We hustled back on purpose. Just got in, and -now all we have to do is weigh Ike's dust to make sure he isn't cheating -us, and give him a bill of sale, and then we'll show you the other -place. George and Harry and I have six hundred feet already, but -there'll be more, and anyway we can all work," bubbled Terry. - -"How do you know what's in those other diggin's?" queried Sol. - -"Because we saw it! We washed out over ten dollars in two pans, and the -German we bought from has _sacks full_!" proclaimed George. "Regular -sacks full!" - -"He's the Lightning Express German," added Terry. "Harry knows him. He's -there all by himself. He wants us to watch his diggin's while he takes -his gold out and comes back. That's why he sold so cheap." - -"Great Cæsar!" murmured Harry. "Sacks full? Thought we'd bought all his -sacks and he'd turned home?" - -"So he had, but he changed his mind. And he's struck it rich, rich!" - -"Where are those new diggin's? Have you got any of the dust with you -that you say you washed out?" invited Sol. - -"They're over near Tarryall or Grab-all, in the South Park; only about -fifty miles," answered Terry. - -"And here's our dust, too," proffered George. - -Sol opened the little sack and fingered the contents. - -"Gold!" he snorted. "Yes, fool's gold. That's nothing but iron -pyrites--'tisn't worth a cent a ton! Don't you know the difference -between gold and iron pyrites yet? Thought you were miners." - -"But it's from the German's diggin's," stammered Terry--for George -appeared staggered out of his wits. "He said it was gold and he's got -sacks full, right in his wagon." - -Sol laughed. - -"Sacks full, eh? Did anybody ever see gold dust by the gunny sack full? -He's the same crazy German who was washing fool's gold from the Platte, -I reckon--thought he had the real stuff and wouldn't believe otherwise. -I met him, myself, when he was traveling on in for fear somebody'd rob -him." - -"Oh!" groaned George. "We thought----" - -"Have you closed the sale of that property yonder? Haven't given a -transfer yet, have you?" sharply demanded Terry's father. - -"N-no; we've got the money, though. We were going to weigh it. They're -waiting--they're there, working." - -"Who?" - -"Ike and two other men. We found 'em there when we came back." - -"By ginger! Jumped it, did they?" ejaculated Sol. "Looks like we were -just in time." He spurred on, Harry after. - -"You boys don't go a step farther," ordered Mr. Richards. "You come -along with us. Lucky you didn't give any bill of sale, or we might have -serious trouble." - -"But Harry told us we might sell," faltered Terry. - -"Harry didn't know, either. Why, there are thousands of dollars in those -claims, according to Sol. The Ike crowd know, all right. Where you're to -blame is for having gone off on a wild-goose chase and left the claims -and then been bamboozled by such nonsense as sacks full of iron pyrites. -Gold dust is soft and dull; pyrites are hard and bright." - -"What makes you think the Golden Prize is so rich, though?" stammered -Terry, as he and George tried to keep up with the horses. - -"The Golden Prize is liable to be a fortune, but we're banking on that -other claim, the one you gave to Virgie. She happened to show Sol the -piece of rock she brought down, and he says it's the best kind of gold -quartz--fairly oozing." - -"And not float, either. It's from a surface lode close at hand," put in -Mr. Stanton. - -"Aw, shucks!" sheepishly said Terry to George. "Guess we weren't so -smart as we thought we were. Now Pine Knot Ike's there and maybe we -can't get him off." - -"Well, he may assert you abandoned the claims, but Sol knows all the -mining laws and we've got right on our side," consoled his father. - -When they arrived at the spot, Sol and the Pine Knot Ike party were -hotly arguing. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE "VIRGINIA CONSOLIDATED" - - -"According to miners' law of this gulch or any other district," was -declaring Sol, "when a party can't work a lode claim by reason of lack -of water or proper machinery, they've a right to let it lie a certain -length of time; can go out, and come back to it again, in the -meanwhile." - -"Yes, mebbe so," returned the giant. "But they got to give their -intentions to the recorder, an' there ain't any such intentions on -file." - -"There are, too--or there ought to be," contradicted Terry, freshly -excited. "I told the recorder myself--didn't I, George? I told him what -was the matter, and that we were going away, and I told him to record -the claims, and he said he would till we got back." - -"Oh, you did, did you!" rasped the giant. "That'll do for talk, but -whar's the proof?" - -"When did you see the recorder, Terry?" asked his father. - -"The very night before we left. He said the books were locked up, but -he'd remember." - -"Sure he was the recorder?" - -"Of course he was. He'd just been elected. He's the 'Root Hog or Die' -professor. I know him and so does Harry." - -"That's the man!" exclaimed Harry. "I'll go and get him." And away sped -Harry. - -"Furthermore and besides and notwithstanding, we've regularly bought -this hyar property, and thar's the witness to the transaction," -continued the giant, pointing to George. "We paid the price and it's -been accepted, and when money has changed hands, that settles things." - -Attracted by the dispute, other gulch people had begun to gather. - -"That's right," pronounced two or three. - -Terry felt his heart sink. Had he made a botch of the matter, with his -hurry? George also was frightened, for he had paled. - -"What property do you think you've bought, then?" demanded Sol. - -"Everything: cabin and sluice and all. And you can't touch 'em." - -"Where's the bill of sale?" - -"We don't need any bill o' sale to put us in possession. We've paid the -money, an' hyar we air," replied Pine Knot Ike. "An' we're bad when -we're riled. Nothin' riles us like bein' robbed, an' thar's nobody as -bad as a man o' peace when once he's riled, stranger." - -"But you couldn't buy that True Blue prospect," rapped Sol. - -"Why not? We took what was offered. The two claims go together. Nothin' -was said different." - -"Why not? Because the Golden Prize and the True Blue aren't owned by the -same party; that's why. The True Blue's the property of this girl -here--has been transferred to her in due legal form, and her father -holds it in trust for her, and these boys couldn't have sold it if -they'd wanted to!" - -"It _is_ mine," piped Virgie. "It's been given to me and it's written -down and those mean men sha'n't touch it. They're getting it all wet!" - -"Whar are your papers an' whar are your witnesses?" challenged the -giant. - -"There's one witness," and Mr. Stanton pointed at George. "You heard the -words when the claim was given to Virgie, didn't you?" he asked. - -"Yes, I did," affirmed George. - -"And that other boy was one of the owners who agreed, and here comes the -second former owner who signed the transfer for both." - -"Down at Denver, before a notary public," panted Harry, arriving with -the "Root Hog or Die" professor. "And it's been recorded." - -"That is true," nodded the "Root Hog or Die" professor. "And I do -acknowledge that I was asked to record this other claim also, and that I -was told of the intentions and reasons when it was temporarily left -unoccupied. I am responsible for there being no official memorandum, but -I entirely forgot. However, the verbal agreement is sufficient. I -remember perfectly." - -"That remains to be seen," growled the giant--who seemed to be the -spokesman for the Pine Knot Ike party. "As for that other prospect, we -don't fight gals. It's a dry claim, anyhow; hasn't any water of its own -an' never will have. As for this claim we're standin' on, we'll keep it. -It's been duly bought, paid for, an' it's workable, an' that's enough. -Ain't I right, boys?" he appealed to the gathering crowd. "When money's -passed an' accepted, that binds the sale." - -[Illustration: "YOU DARE TO LAY HAND ON THIS OR INTERFERE IN ANY WAY AND -I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A CALIFORNY FORTY-NINER KNOWS ABOUT PROTECTING -PROPERTY"] - -The crowd shifted and murmured. Plainly, they were not very approving of -the Pine Knot Ike party methods, but they had a strong sense of legal -rights. - -"'Pears like it was a deal in good faith," remarked somebody. - -"You claim that cabin and everything in it, do you?" inquired Sol. - -"Yes, sir! Everything on this hyar ground--fixtures an' improvements, -an' don't you touch a finger to 'em," boomed the giant. "You an' your -gal have got that dry prospect. Go over an' mine. Mebbe you can mine an' -mebbe you can't, for you'll be drier'n ever as soon as we move that -sluice to whar it belongs." - -"Haw, haw!" gibed Ike and the other man. "You can wait for a dew." - -"No! You can wait for that sluice!" retorted Sol. He spurred his horse -and in a jiffy was beside it. "You dare to lay hand on this or interfere -in any way and I'll show you what a Californy Forty-niner knows about -protecting property." - -"Ain't that our sluice?" - -"Not an inch, now. You claim the cabin and all improvements on that -other prospect--we claim the sluice and all improvements on this -prospect. I reckon what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. -This sluice is all on the True Blue ground." - -"Hooray!" cheered the willing crowd. - -"You'll have a sluice without water. Mebbe that's how they mine in -Californy!" jeered Pine Knot Ike. "That thar water's ourn as soon as it -comes down the leetle draw ag'in. So we'll jest natterly turn it off on -you." - -"Not by a jugful!" objected Sol. "That girl's filed on her water rights -in this little draw, when her claim was recorded." He ran rapid eye -along the Golden Prize surface. "And I reckon there doesn't any water go -with that other prospect, anyhow! I've an idee the hundred feet ends -short of the water." - -"So have I," asserted Harry. "Give me room, gentlemen. Just to prove -that my notion's correct I'll measure. That claim was only stepped off, -in the beginning." - -Harry fished a surveyor's tape from his pocket (evidently he had come -prepared) and from the first claim stake, near the cabin, measured the -length of the Golden Prize ground. The one hundred feet ended three -yards away from the little stream course! - -"The two properties join, so that puts the natural water on the True -Blue ground," triumphantly proclaimed Sol. - -"Mebbe, when thar is water; but thar won't be any after we've started to -use again on our other workin's up at the head," retorted the giant. - -"You tried that once, but you can't do it a second time. We've filed our -rights on the water coming down this draw, and here it is, and by -miners' law we're entitled to our share." - -"So are we, then, by thunder!" shouted the giant. "As long as there's -water flowin' past, we're goin' to have some of it. That's miners' law, -too. We can ditch some of it over----" - -"No, you can't!" A new voice struck in, and a new figure appeared. -Archie Smith! He held his side and panted for breath. - -"What _you_ got to do with it? Why can't we?" - -"Because you couldn't have bought this claim even if you paid over the -money. Do you want to sell? Do you want them for neighbors?" demanded -Archie of Harry. - -"We should say not!" - -"Well, then," resumed Archie, panting, and addressing the Pine Knot Ike -party, "you didn't buy the Golden Prize, because you couldn't. The boys -didn't own it. They wouldn't take it from me; they said they'd work it -while I was gone, and now I'm back and I won't sell--to _you_. And I -order you to get off." - -Terry looked blankly at Harry, Harry smiled at Terry. - -"That's so." And it was so, now that they thought. - -"B' gorry, the same thing happened to me," announced the voice of Pat -Casey, "an' Oi lost me diggin's. Sure, it doesn't seem fair play--though -Oi'm a friend to the boys." - -"It is fair play, in this case," asserted Sol. "You see, gentlemen," he -said to the crowd, "these two boys, Harry and Terry, came in here and -proceeded to work this ground. They had the water and they hustled to -put in a sluice, and were beginning to wash out pay dirt, when those -mean whelps, suspecting these prospects were richer than they looked to -be, turned off the water to which this ground naturally was -entitled--just hogged it, made the waste run the other way, to render -these claims useless so they might either be jumped or bought for a -song. The same whelps sneaked around, prospecting, until they located -some of the richest gold quartz you ever laid your eyes on; then they -told the boys the ground was no good, anyway--mostly pockets and barren -bed-rock, had no water, and all that sort of thing--and tried to get 'em -to move, for $100. But the boys stuck, so as to pay off a debt. One of -them sold pies and the other worked for a dollar and a half a day. Then, -while they were temporarily absent, these whelps jumped both claims--and -look at the rock they've already taken out!" - -"B' gorry, they ought to be hanged!" declared Pat Casey. "The lads are -honest lads, Oi'll say that for 'em. An' if somebody'll fetch a -rope----" - -"No, no, gentlemen," appealed Sol, as the crowd began to surge angrily. -"When the dirty deal was started there was no law in the camp; but you -have laws now, and if those fellows want to fight we'll fight them with -law. But they're licked, and they know it." - -"Waal," conceded Pine Knot Ike, "if we're licked I reckon we're licked, -an' no hard feelin's. We air men o' peace. We bought this hyar property -in good faith, but bein' as the other party ain't satisfied we'll take -our hundred dollars in dust an' move off." - -"Where's their dust, Terry?" asked Harry. - -"Hold on a bit," objected Mr. Richards. "Hold on! How much gold have -they taken out already, since they jumped these prospects? They've been -running that sluice for at least a couple of days." - -"We'll leave you that thar pile o' sluice tailin's; it's too coarse for -washin'," replied the giant. "And thar's a clean-up waitin', in the -sluice. But you got to give us back the hundred dollars' purchase price, -an' do it mighty quick." - -"Don't rile us," warned Ike. - -"I'll tell you what I'll do, Ike," spoke Harry. "We'll be fair. I'll -wrestle you for that $100. If you throw me, you can have it, and if I -throw you we can keep it. You've already got more than that out of this -ground--but we want to be fair." - -"Don't you do it, Harry!" protested Father Richards. "There's no need of -such foolishness." - -"That's what I say," added Mr. Stanton. "We won't allow it." - -"I know what I'm about," replied Harry, with a wink at Terry and George -and the breathless Archie. - -"Young feller," solemnly said Ike, "I ekcept, ketch as ketch can, but -keep back your dog. I air a tough proposition in a wrestle, but I don't -aim to come to grips with man and dog at the same time." - -Harry alertly threw aside his hat and stepped forward; Ike did the like. - -"David an' Goliath!" cheered the crowd; and indeed the match did -resemble that, with Harry so slight and slim and the shaggy Ike -appearing to be a foot taller and a foot broader. - -"Has he any show? Do you think he _can_ throw him?" whispered -Archie--referring, of course, to Harry. - -"Sure he can," asserted Terry. "Can't he, George?" - -"He usually does what he sets out to do," agreed George. - -Now, arms half out-stretched and shoulders forward, Harry and Ike were -circling each other, in watchful, eager fashion. Ike rushed--"Look out, -Harry!"--but Harry dodged. Ike rushed again; this time, quick as light, -Harry darted to meet him, and they were locked--locked with arms and -legs, while they tugged and swayed and Ike grunted, and their boots -crunched upon the rocks and gravel. - -"Harry's got the under hold!" gasped Terry. - -"Yes, but Ike'll break him in two!" gasped George. - -Virgie was crying and calling, Shep was barking, the spectators were -shouting all sorts of advice. And swallowed in Ike's great arms, Harry -seemed quite helpless, simply clinging to Ike's waist, with his face -pressed against Ike's shirt, and letting Ike dash him hither-thither, -trying to upset him. - -But somehow, Harry always landed on his feet. Once he was lifted clear -in air--only to come down again with a thump. Twice he was lifted--this -time actually by the seat of the trousers! Ike tried to pull him in and -bend him backwards, but Harry stiffened and bowed his back. Then -suddenly he did come in--but lightning fast, he side-stepped a little, -thrust himself part way past Ike, stopped farther, and, shifting his -grip to Ike's thighs, tilted and heaved. - -Up rose Ike, pawing and kicking--up, a foot off the ground, and over -Harry he shot, almost horizontal, like a diver from a spring-board, to -plough the ground beyond with his shoulder. - -"Ah!" - -"Ah!" - -"That war a trick!" scolded Ike, sitting up and rubbing his tousled -head. - -"All right," answered Harry, panting and laughing. "We'll make it two -falls out of three, then. I've a couple more tricks." - -"No, young feller," grumbled Ike, still rubbing his head. "I can wrestle -a b'ar, but I ain't built for wrestlin' ary combination of eel an' -alligator tail. If you're a schoolmaster, what'll you take to teach me -that holt?" - -"That's not for sale, either," laughed Harry. "But here's your sack of -dust. We don't want it, after all." Thus saying, he tossed over the -buckskin sack, and limped to get his hat from Terry. - -So the result was that the Pine Knot Ike party left good-naturedly, and -the crowd dispersed good-naturedly, and the Golden Prize and the True -Blue claims remained in undisputed possession of the victors; all of -which was better than threats of further row. - -Harry shook hands with Archie. It was his first opportunity. - -"Have you come back to stay? Hope so. It's your mine, you know--and it's -going to be a rich one; richer than you ever imagined, if that vein from -the True Blue extends through. We'll help you work it while we're -working the True Blue, but the True Blue's enough for us." - -"I don't care. It's yours, just the same. I gave it to you once and I -give it to you again," insisted Archie. "This time I'll make out a -regular transfer. I'm here just for a little visit, and then I'm going -back East to stay a while." - -"Where'd you find Sol, Harry?" asked George. - -"Down in Denver and Auraria. While I was dickering for Duke he turned -up. He'd been at Pike's Peak, and everywhere else. He turned up just in -time." - -"Isn't Mother coming? Don't I see Mother?" queried Terry of his father. - -"We may send for her and George's mother after we get things -straightened out here. But you'll see her in Denver, anyway. You and -Harry'll have to go down there for some clothes pretty soon. She wants -to see _you_ mighty bad." - -"Is this rock gold rock? Doesn't look so. How do you know?" - -"Sol says it is. Some of it, I mean. He knew as soon as he saw that -piece Virgie brought down. And we're lucky that he's with us. He's an -expert." - -Sol had been tramping about with a spade, scraping here and there on -both claims, and examining. He joined the group. - -"There's considerable rotten quartz that can be sluiced, and probably -some loose dirt to be washed; but there's a thundering fine vein or lode -running right across. The best surface showing is on the True Blue, -where that piece of rock came from, but I reckon that when we get down -into what those fellows pretended was the bed-rock on the Golden Prize -we'll find it just as rich. So part of us can be sluicing, while the -rest of us rig some sort of a contrivance to crush the quartz and wash -it with mercury, till a regular quartz mill is 'stablished near us." And -Sol continued, using words and terms that only the men understood. - -"Shucks!" acknowledged Terry. "We were looking for dirt; we didn't count -the rock." So he turned to George, who was lifting Virgie from her pony. - -"You did it, Virgie, with your piece of quartz. Now you're going to be -rich." - -"I don't want to be rich all alone," objected Virgie. "I don't want to -be any richer than you or George or Harry or Sol or--or anybody of us." - -She looked as if she were about to weep over it! - -"Of course not, Virgie," called Harry. "You won't have to be rich all -alone. That's a miserable state. But you can share with your father and -Sol, and Terry and Father Richards and I have a mine, too, you know; and -just to make sure that nobody'll be any richer than anybody else in the -crowd, we'll all join together and we'll name the company the Virginia -Consolidated!" - - -THE END - - * * * * * - - THE BAR B SERIES - - By EDWIN L. SABIN - - -BAR B BOYS; - -OR, THE YOUNG COW-PUNCHERS - -A picturesque story of Western ranch life. Illustrated by Charles -Copeland. - - -RANGE AND TRAIL - -The Bar B Boys in winter and on the long trail from New Mexico to the -home ranch. Illustrated by Clarence Rowe. - - -CIRCLE K; - -OR, FIGHTING FOR THE FLOCK - -The ranchmen are here engaged in the sheep industry, and the story has -the same real Western flavor. Illustrated by Clarence Rowe. - - -OLD FOUR-TOES; - -OR, HUNTERS OF THE PEAKS - -The two boys, Phil and Chet, Grizzly Dan and others, figure in this -fascinating account of hunting, trapping, and Indian encounters. -Illustrated by Clarence Rowe. - - -TREASURE MOUNTAIN; - -OR, THE YOUNG PROSPECTORS - -Tells of the locating of an old gold mine near the top of a mountain -peak. One of the liveliest books in the series. Illustrated by Clarence -Rowe. - - -SCARFACE RANCH; - -OR, THE YOUNG HOMESTEADERS - -Two young heroes here take up some government land and engage most -successfully in cattle raising on their own account. Illustrated by -Clarence Rowe. - -Each Volume 8vo, cloth, 75 cents. - - * * * * * - - Also by MR. SABIN - - -PLUCK ON THE LONG TRAIL; - -OR, BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES - -A stirring narrative of packing, trailing, and camping in the West. -Illustrated by Clarence Rowe. 12mo, cloth. - - -BEAUFORT CHUMS - -Tells of the adventures of two boys, a boat and a dog on the -Mississippi. Every boy will read it eagerly. Illustrated by Charles -Copeland. 12mo, $0.75 - - * * * * * - - THE "SILVER FOX FARM" SERIES - - BY JAMES OTIS - - -THE WIRELESS STATION AT SILVER FOX FARM. - -Illustrated by Charles Copeland. 8vo. - - A bright, vividly written narrative of the adventures of Paul - Simpson and Ned Bartlett in helping the former's father start a - farm for raising silver foxes on Barren Island, twelve miles off - the Maine coast. - - -THE AEROPLANE AT SILVER FOX FARM. - -Illustrated by Charles Copeland. 8vo. - - An absorbing story of the building and working of an aeroplane on - Barren Island. - - -BUILDING AN AIRSHIP AT SILVER FOX FARM. - -Illustrated by Charles Copeland. 8vo. - - Encouraged by their success in aeroplane-building, the boys of - Silver Fox Farm go in for a full-fledged airship. - - -AIRSHIP CRUISING FROM SILVER FOX FARM. - -Illustrated by Charles Copeland. 8vo. - - A further account of the marvels performed by the Silver Fox - Farmers, including the story of the thrilling rescue of a - shipwrecked yachting party by means of their great air-cruiser. - - * * * * * - - BOY SCOUT BOOKS - - - BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS. - BOY SCOUTS IN A LUMBER CAMP. - -12mo, illustrated. Each, 75 cents. - - * * * * * - - - OTHER BOOKS BY JAMES OTIS - - -FOUND BY THE CIRCUS. - -12mo, illustrated. 75 cents net. - - - Joel Harford - Joey at the Fair - Two Stowaways - -12mo, illustrated. Each, 75 cents postpaid. - - - A Short Cruise - Aunt Hannah and Seth - Dick in the Desert - Christmas at Deacon Hackett's - How the Twins Captured a Hessian - How Tommy Saved the Barn - Our Uncle the Major - The Wreck of the Circus - - -8vo, illustrated. Each, 50 cents postpaid. - - -Dorothy's Spy - -12mo, illustrated. 50 cents. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pike's Peak Rush, by Edwin L. 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