GOOD LUCK AND BAD.
As the captain wanted to save every grain of gold in the pan, he washed
very carefully, and it was fully five minutes before the last of the
sand and dirt was disposed of and they could come to a calculation as to
the value of the yellow metal left.
For gold there was, true enough, shining brightly before their eyes--and
there was more than this, too, for some of it was of a blackish color.
The others could not believe in the value of this until Foster Portney
assured them that he had frequently heard of black gold being turned up
in the Yukon district.
"Half an ounce at least," was the verdict arrived at by both the captain
and Mr. Portney; "and that's eight dollars."
"Then we had better stay, hadn't we?" said Earl.
"Why, of course, Earl; you didn't expect to do much better than that,
unless you struck nuggets."
"One fellow over to Gold Bottom said he was taking out a hundred dollars
to the panful," put in Randy.
"Fairy stories, my lad," answered the captain. "A claim as will turn
out eight dollars to the pan is mighty good--as good as I'm a-lookin'
fer just now."
"And we haven't gone very far into this gulch," put in the doctor. "It
may be better further up."
"And it may be worse," said Foster Portney, "although I'm inclined to
think it will be better. We had best stake out our claims without
delay."
This was readily agreed to, and before they went back to the tents they
had staked out three claims, one for each of the men. Earl might have
taken up a claim, too, being just old enough, but the three covered all
the ground which the party thought of any account. Each claim was five
hundred feet long and the upper one covered both gulches, which was an
excellent thing, as it would give them a fair amount of water by which
to do their washing. The posts firmly planted and marked, they walked
slowly back to camp, talking over the prospects and mapping out their
future work.
It was decided to move the tents to a more convenient locality, and a
spot was readily found at a point above where the two gulches joined, or
rather where the one gulch split into two. The transfer to this new
home-spot was made the next day by Earl, Randy, and the doctor, Mr.
Portney and the captain going back to uncover several other portions of
the claims, to ascertain, if possible, just what their values might be.
The next week was a busy one. The camp removed and put into comfortable
shape, the next work was to dam up the gulch where the pocket had been
found, so that all the water might flow through Mosquito Hollow, as the
doctor had facetiously dubbed the new diggings,--a name that stuck to
it. This work was done by Randy and Dr. Barwaithe, while Earl joined the
captain and his uncle in burning down the brush and getting rid of the
tundra.
Before turning the water from Prosper Gulch into Mosquito Hollow, Foster
Portney advised sinking several holes along the latter gulch, that any
gold washed along by the flow would be caught. The captain put these
down, and then came the long labor of cleaning the sand and dirt from
the bedrock below. As it would have taken all summer to clean out the
entire bottom of the gulch, only the deeper part was attacked and here a
runway for the water was made, a foot to two feet wide.
The water had just been turned along Mosquito Hollow and washing begun
when a party of prospectors from Forty Mile Post came along and espied
the claims. They at once wished to know the particulars of the find
made, and, assured that there was gold there, one of the men lost no
time in putting up his stakes below them, while two others went above.
Inside of a week after this the Hollow boasted of eight claims, and a
little settlement sprung up at the Fork, as the miners named the spot
where the Portney crowd had located.
"We'll have a town here before the summer is over," said Earl; but he
was not sorry to have company, especially as the newcomers were all
hail-fellows-well-met and apparently honest to the core. Among them was
a young lawyer from Dakota, and he and Dr. Barwaithe soon became the
warmest of friends.
The short Alaska summer was now reaching its height, and flowers and
berries were growing everywhere in the wildest profusion, while during
the middle of the day the sun beat down so fiercely that they were often
compelled to seek the shade for hours at a time.
"My gracious, the Hollow is like a pepper box!" said Randy one day, as
he came into camp with his shirt wet through with perspiration. "Not a
breath of air stirring."
"And the hotter it is, the worse the flies are," added Earl. "I declare,
they seem to bother me more than even the mosquitoes."
Usually it cooled off toward seven or eight o'clock, even though the sun
still shone well up in the sky, but this night proved as warm as the day
had been, and most of the party went to sleep outdoors, unable to stand
it inside of the close tents. Outside, they had to wind their heads and
necks in mosquito netting and cover up their hands, to keep from being
pestered to death. It was the most uncomfortable twenty-four hours they
had yet put in.
"The old Harry take Alaska!" burst out Dr. Barwaithe, finally. One
mosquito had alighted on his nose, and two others on his neck. "It's
worth all the gold you can get, and more, too, to stand these impudent
pests. Oh!" And making half a dozen wild slashes he finally scrambled up
and ran around the tents to throw his tormentors off.
The captain was suffering from a slight attack of scurvy, brought on by
eating so much salt food. The doctor had given him some medicine, but
this did little good, and the captain was getting into a bad way when
one of the old miners, who had just come in, came to his aid.
"Eat tomatoes, cap'n," he said. "Best thing on airth fer scurvy. Bill
Watson wuz down with it wust way an' nuthin' helped him but tomatoes. He
eat 'most a bushel o' 'em, an' they made a new man o' him. Eat
tomatoes."
"Tomatoes may be very good," said the doctor. "They are a very strong,
green vegetable, you know. You might try them."
And the captain did try them, first using up some of the cans brought
along, and then buying a quart of fresh tomatoes at Dawson City, for two
dollars. Sure enough, the tomatoes helped wonderfully, and about a week
later the scurvy left him.
Nearly a month had now passed since the party had located at Mosquito
Hollow, and in that time they had taken out three small nuggets worth
probably fifty dollars apiece, and a little short of a hundred and
fifty ounces of gold dust. Counting the gold dust as worth sixteen
dollars an ounce, this gave them, in round figures, twenty-five hundred
dollars for their labor.
"Twenty-five hundred dollars!" said Earl. "That's a good deal more than
we could earn at home."
Captain Zoss gave a deep sigh and shook his head. "I ain't satisfied,"
he said. "I didn't come up to Alaska to work fer no five hundred a
month. I'm goin' elsewhar fer luck."
"You won't stay here?" asked Randy, quickly. He had begun to like the
captain very much.
"No, lad; I'm yere to make a fortune or nuthin'. I quit the hollow
ter-morrow."
"Well, you have that right, captain, although I'm sorry to see you go,"
said Foster Portney.
"Which means thet you an' the boys stay," answered the captain, quickly.
"I'm sorry ye won't go with me. I want ter try Hunker Creek."
"I think I'll stay," said Foster Portney, quietly. "I'll give the gulch
a few weeks longer, for the way I look at it we're making wages and have
the chance to make a strike. What do you say, boys?"
Randy was in for following the captain, but a look from Earl made him
change the words on the end of his tongue. "I'll do as you think best,
Uncle Foster."
"And so will I," said Earl.
Then they looked at the doctor, who was kicking the toe of his boot
against the tent pole in speculative way. It was several seconds before
the medical man spoke.
"I--I think I'll go with the captain," he said finally. "Not but that I
hate to part company," he added hastily. "But I came up here to make a
big hit, and if I wanted to work for what we've been making here, I
could get it easier by going into Dawson City and hanging out my
shingle--you all know that. I hope we part the best of friends."
"We will," said Foster Portney. "We'll divide our gold as per agreement,
and also the outfits."
"And I'll give you my share of this gulch free," said the captain, and
the doctor said the same.
Of this, however, Foster Portney would not hear. He insisted on paying
each of them a hundred dollars, and drawing up regular papers, which
were signed in the presence of two of the outside miners. On the day
following the doctor and the captain packed up their traps, hired four
Indians to help them, and set off, first however, giving Mr. Portney and
each of the boys a hearty handshake. In a few minutes they were out of
sight.
"And now to work the Hollow for all it is worth," said Foster Portney,
when they were left alone. "And remember, from henceforth, whatever we
turn up belongs to us and to nobody else."