A DREAM VERIFIED.
ON the following morning, to the astonishment of the miners of Cedar
Camp, Frank and his companions took their tools out of their claims and
shifted to the claims of the two men of the "solitary tent." Every one
asked himself what could be the meaning of this move, and the general
supposition was that they must have discovered that the two men had
struck upon rich ground. Scores of miners sauntered across during the
day, looked on, and asked a question or two; but the answers they
obtained threw no light upon the mystery. The ground looked most
unpromising; it was a flat some ten feet above the level of the
river-bed, and the spot where they were digging was twenty yards from
the edge.
Fifteen yards further back the ground rose abruptly to a height of
thirty or forty feet; the ground around was covered with bushes, through
which a few good-sized trees rose. The two men had dug through two feet
of alluvial soil, and about five feet of sand. Altogether, it was a
place which seemed to afford no promise whatever; and although, at the
first impulse, some miners who were doing badly had marked out claims
next to those staked out by Frank and his party, no steps were taken to
occupy them.
The first day was spent in getting out planks and lining the proposed
shaft, which was made much smaller than the hole already dug, which
extended over the whole of the two claims. The next day a windlass was
put in position, and the work began in earnest. At the depth of twenty
feet they came upon gravel, a result which greatly raised their spirits,
as its character was precisely similar to that in the bed of the stream,
and showed that Frank's conjecture was a correct one, and that the river
had at one time flowed along the foot of the high ground beyond.
When it was known in camp that the party were getting up gravel, there
was a great deal of talk. Some of the older hands came and examined the
place, and, noticing the sharp curve in the opposite bank above,
concluded, as Frank had done, that instead of being, as was generally
supposed, beyond the edge of the old river-bed, it was by no means
improbable that the party were working over what was at one time a point
which was swept by the main body of water coming down.
More claims were staked out, and although no one had any intention of
beginning in earnest until they discovered what luck attended the party
who were sinking the shaft, just enough was done each day to retain
possession of the claims. Before they had gone far into the gravel they
discovered specks of gold, and, washing a basinful from time to time,
found that it was fairly rich, certainly as good as any that had been
found a few feet below the surface of the ground at any other spot in
the camp. They determined, however, not to wash at present, but to pile
the stuff near the mouth of the shaft, to be washed subsequently, and to
continue to sink steadily.
A fortnight after the work had begun, the old man had gained sufficient
strength to make his way across to the shaft, and after that he spent
his whole time watching the progress of the work. His tent was brought
over and pitched close at hand. By this time, as their prospects really
looked good, Jim had told him the true history of the nugget he had
brought home, and how much they owed to Frank; and he so far overcame
his shrinking from intercourse with his neighbours, as to become really
cordial with Frank, who, when supper was over, often strolled across and
smoked a pipe with Jim in the tent.
Frank often wondered what could have brought a man of some sixty years
of age, and evidently well educated, and a gentleman, but, as was
equally clear, wholly unfitted by age, habits, and constitution for
rough labour in such a country as that. The son had not denied that he
was English, but as he had not admitted it in so many words, Frank
thought that his father might object to any questions on the subject,
and in their many conversations the past was seldom alluded to.
Turk, who was Frank's constant companion, took remarkably to the old
man, and in the daytime, when the latter was sitting watching the
baskets coming up from below, generally took up his position by him,
sometimes lying blinking lazily in the sun, at other times sitting up
and watching the operations gravely, as if he were thoroughly aware of
their importance.
While the ground was still unpromising, Frank and his party had bought
up, for a few dollars, the claims of several of the men who had staked
out ground next to their own, and now held six on either side of the
claim they were sinking on. Beyond these, as soon as the gravel was
known to contain gold, other miners began to work--for the most part in
parties, as the depth at which paying ground lay beneath the surface was
so great that it could only be reached by joint labour--and the flat so
long neglected now became one of the busiest points in the camp.
"The gravel is getting richer and richer every day," Frank said to the
elder Adams, five weeks after they began work. "I think now it would be
as well to hire half a dozen men to carry it down to the stream and wash
it there; you could superintend them, and one of us will work at the
cradle. The stuff will pay splendidly now, I am sure, and there's a big
heap on the bank."
"If you think so, by all means let us do so," the old man said. "I
should like to begin to get some gold; we are in your debt more than a
hundred dollars already, since you have been advancing money for our
living as the work has gone on."
"There is no hurry on that account," Frank said. "Ever since we washed
the first pail of gravel it has been evident that there was at least
sufficient gold to pay for washing out, and that my advances were
perfectly safe; so there is no hurry on that account. But at present it
has so improved that it would be rich enough to pay really well;
besides, we shall be getting it stolen. I fancy last night two or three
buckets-full were taken away at that edge of the bank; and as there has
been a perfect rush for staking out claims to-day, I have no doubt that
it was found to pan out very rich."
The result of the first day's washing more than realised their
anticipations, for when the cradle was cleared up over fifty ounces of
gold were found at the bottom; and at the end of three days the old man
paid Frank and his party their wages at four dollars a day each from the
time they had commenced working at the shaft.
Another fortnight and they reached the bed rock. Each day the find had
become heavier, but the climax was reached when they touched the rock.
It was found that just where they reached the bottom, the rock which
formed the bank bordering the flat came down almost perpendicularly to
the level rock which had formed the old bed of the stream. This was worn
perfectly smooth by the action of the water, and in the bed rock was a
great caldron scooped out by an eddy of the stream. This was filled up
with gravel, among which nuggets of gold were lying thickly; and when
its contents were taken to the surface and separated, the gold was found
to weigh over three thousand ounces. The lower part of the ground was
then dug out to the full size of the claim, and when all this was washed
it was found that the total amount of gold obtained from the claim was
over six thousand ounces.
As the work went on from day to day, Frank observed a gradual change
coming over the elder of the two men. At first he had been excited, and
at times irritable; but as each day showed increased returns, and it
became a moral certainty that the claim was going to turn out extremely
rich, the excitement seemed to pass away. He talked less, and spent less
of his time in watching the work going on, sometimes not even coming
down to watch the clear-up at the end of the day's work. Even the
discovery of the rich pocket in the rock scarcely seemed to stir him.
His son, upon the contrary, made no secret of his satisfaction at the
fortune which was falling to them. He shook off the reserve which had at
first distinguished him; a weight of care seemed to fall from his
shoulders, and his spirits became at times almost exuberant.
At first he had looked to Frank almost a middle-aged man, although his
face and figure showed that he could not be many years his own senior;
now he looked almost like a schoolboy, so full was he of life and
spirits. The old man had taken much to Frank, and although during the
latter part of the time he had talked but little, he liked him to come
into the tent every evening to smoke a pipe and chat with his son. He
had several times endeavoured to draw from Frank his reason for leaving
England and coming out to California at an age when many lads are still
at school; but he had obtained no reply to his hints, for Frank did not
care to enter upon the story of that incident at Westminster.
The evening when the claims had been worked out, and the last cradle
washed out, the old man asked Frank to bring Abe and his companions to
the tent after they had had their supper. The tent showed little signs
of the altered circumstances of its owners; a few more articles of cheap
crockery and a couple of folding chairs were the only additions that had
been made. Some boxes had been brought in now to serve as seats, and on
one in the centre were placed half a dozen bottles of champagne, which
the young man proceeded to open.
"My friends," the elder said, "I am going away to-morrow, and I trust
that your claims will turn out every bit as rich as ours has done."
"Even if they don't turn out as rich," Frank said, "there is no fear of
their not turning out well. We consider we have made a capital bargain
with you; we have been paid by you for our work in sinking the shaft,
and now it will be easy for us to work our claims. It was a lucky day
for us when we made that contract to sink your shaft."
"I am glad you think so, and very glad that you are likely to share my
luck; still, I feel greatly indebted to you. It was a bargain, of
course, but it was a bargain in which you were taking all the risk.
There is, as you say, every probability of your claims turning out well;
but there's no certainty in gold-mining, and at any rate we cannot go
away with a fortune without feeling that, to some small extent at least,
you will participate in it. Therefore I here hand you over each a bag
with a hundred ounces of gold, so that, come what may, your time and
labour here will not have been thrown away. You will not, I hope, pain
me by refusing," he said, seeing that the men looked doubtfully at each
other. "We owe it all to you, for when you threw in your lot with us we
were desperate and starving."
"Wall, if you put it in that way, I don't see that we can say no, mate,"
Abe said, "though we are well content with our look-out, I can tell you,
and could get a biggish sum for our claims to-night if we were disposed
to sell them. Still, what you says is true, though it isn't every one
who makes a good thing out of a bargain as is ready to go beyond it. It
was a fortunate day for you may be that you fell in with my mate here,
and it was a fortunate day for us when he fell in with you. When I goes
back east and settles down on a farm I has got my eyes on, I shall
always say as I owed my luck to my mate strolling over to talk to the
two men as was working what seemed a hopeless claim in Cedar Camp.
"Wall, I suppose you are going back with your pile to the old country. I
can only say as we wish you good luck thar, and plenty of enjoyment out
of your money. Here's luck."
The miners all emptied their glasses, and then, shaking hands with
father and son, filed out of the tent. Frank was about to follow them
when he was stopped by a gesture from the old man. He had not liked
accepting the present, but he did not wish to act differently from his
comrades, and he saw that his refusal would really hurt the donor.
"Sit down a bit, lad," he said; "James is going to the camp to get a few
things for our journey to-morrow, and I shall be alone, and now that
it's all over I feel the reaction. It has been an exciting time the last
month."
"It has indeed," Frank agreed, "and I have often thought to myself what
a comfort it was that they had established a regular way of sending down
gold twice a week with an escort; it would have been terrible if you had
had to keep all that gold by you."
"Yes, I often thought so myself, and your offer to keep the gold in your
tent on the days when the escort wasn't going was a great relief to me."
"It was safe enough with us," Frank said. "No one would venture to try a
tent with a pretty strong party; but with only your son and yourself
there might have been a temptation to some broken-down gambler to carry
it off. Besides, we have Turk as a guard, and I don't fancy any one
would venture to try any tricks with our tent while he is inside it."
"Well, I hope it will be your turn now," the old man said, "and that
before another two months are over you too will be setting out on your
way home with what your friend called your pile."
"I shall not be doing that," Frank said; "whatever we find, I have no
thought of going back to England."
"No? Well, lad, I don't want your confidence if you would rather not
give it; but I will tell you my story, and perhaps when you have heard
it you may be the more inclined to tell me yours. It is a painful story
to tell, but that is part of my punishment; and you, lad, have a right
to hear it, for I know that it is to you I owe my life, and that it is
through you that I am to-morrow going home to do all that I can to
retrieve my fault, and to wipe out the stain on my name. I was a
solicitor, with a good practice, in a town of the west of England,--it
does not matter what it's name was. I lost my wife, and then, like a
fool, I took to drink. No one knew it except my son, for I never went
out in the evening, but would sit at home drinking by myself till I
could scarce stagger up to bed.
"He did all that he could to persuade me to give it up, but it had got
too strong a hold upon me. At last we quarrelled over it, and he left
the house, and henceforth we only met at the office. He was engaged to
be married to the daughter of our Vicar. When the crash came--for in
these cases a crash is sure to come sooner or later--the business had
fallen off, and a bill was presented for payment which I had altogether
forgotten I had signed. Then there was an investigation into my affairs.
I could help but little, for there were but few hours in the day now
when my brain was clear enough to attend to any business whatever. Then
it was found that ten thousand pounds which had been given me to invest
by one of my clients had never been invested, and that it was gone with
the rest.
"I had not intended to do anything dishonest, that even now I can
affirm. I had intended to invest it, but in my muddled state put off
doing so, and had gone on paying the interest as if it had been invested
as ordered. When I knew that I had not enough in the bank to replace it,
I went into foolish speculations to regain what I had lost; but until
the crash came I had never fairly realised that I had not only ruined
myself but was a swindler. I shall never forget the morning when James,
who had been up all night going through my papers with my head-clerk,
came down and told me what he had discovered. I was still stupid from
what I had drunk overnight, but that sobered me. I need not tell you
what passed between my son and me. I swore never to touch liquor again.
He sold out of consols five thousand pounds which he had inherited from
his mother, and handed it over to the man I had defrauded, giving him
his personal bond that he would repay the rest of the money, should he
live; and on those terms my client agreed to abstain from prosecuting
me, and to maintain an absolute silence as to the affair.
"Then Jim broke off his engagement, and took passages for us in a
sailing ship for Panama, and so on to San Francisco. I need not tell you
the struggle it was to keep to my promise; but when Jim had given up
everything for me, the least I could do was to fight hard for his sake.
My thoughts were always fixed on California, my only hopes that I might
live to see the rest of the debt repaid, and the boy's money replaced,
so that he could buy a business and marry the woman he loved. I dreamt
of it over and over again, and, as I told you, three times I dreamt of
the exact spot where we are now sitting.
"Somehow, in my dreams, I knew that if I dug straight down under the old
tree that formed the centre of the dream I should find gold. This became
a fixed idea with me, and when we reached the gold-fields I never
stopped long in camp, so bent was I upon finding the tree of my dreams.
Jim bore with me wonderfully. I knew he did not believe in my dream, but
he was always ready to go where I wanted. I think now he thought that I
was going out of my mind, or feared that if he thwarted me I might take
to drink again. However, at last we found the tree--at least I was
positive it was the tree of my dreams. James tried to dissuade me from
digging in a place which looked so unpromising; but nothing would deter
me save death, and you see the result. We shall go back; the debt will
be cleared off, Jim will marry his sweetheart, and I shall live with him
to the end of my days. He is a grand fellow is Jim, though I dare say it
didn't strike you so when you first knew him."
"He is a grand fellow," Frank agreed heartily, "and I am truly glad, Mr.
Adams, that all has turned out so well."
"And now, can you tell me something of yourself, Frank? It is to you we
owe it that things have turned out well; and if, as I rather guess, you
have got into some scrape at home, I can only say that my son and myself
will be very glad to share our fortune with you, and to take one-third
of it each."
"I thank you greatly, sir, for your generous offer, but it would be of
no use to me. I have, as you suspect, got into a scrape at home, but it
is from no fault of my own. I have been wrongfully suspected of
committing a crime; and until that charge is in some way or other
cleared up, and the slur on my name wiped off, I would not return to
England if I had a hundred thousand pounds."
"And can nothing be done? Would it be any use whatever to set to work on
any line you can suggest? I would make it my own business, and follow up
any clue you could give me."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Adams; thank you with all my heart: but
nothing can be done, there is nothing to follow. It was not a question
of a crime so committed that many outside persons would be interested in
it, or that it could be explained in a variety of ways. So far as the
case went it was absolutely conclusive, so conclusive that I myself,
knowing that I was innocent, could see no flaw in the evidence against
myself, nor for months afterwards could I perceive any possible
explanation save in my own guilt. Since then I have seen that there is
an alternative. It is one so painful to contemplate that I do not allow
myself to think of it, nor does it seem to me that even were I myself
upon the spot, with all the detective force of England to aid me, I
could succeed in proving that alternative to be the true one except by
the confession of the person in question.
"If he were capable of planning and carrying out the scheme which
brought about my disgrace, he certainly is not one who would under any
conceivable circumstances confess what he has done. Therefore, there is
nothing whatever to be done in the matter. Years and years hence, if I
make a fortune out here, I may go home and say to those whose esteem and
affection I have lost, 'I have no more evidence now than I had when I
left England to support my simple declaration that I was innocent, but
at least I have nothing to gain by lying now. I have made a fortune, and
would not touch one penny of the inheritance which would once have been
mine. I simply come before you again solemnly to declare that I was
innocent, wholly and conclusively as appearances were against me.' It
may be that the word of a prosperous man will be believed though that of
a disgraced schoolboy was more than doubted."
"And is there no one to whom I could carry the assurance of your
innocence?" Mr. Adams asked. "Some one may still be believing in you in
spite of appearances. It might gladden some one's heart were I to bear
them from your lips this fresh assurance; were I to tell them how you
have saved me when all hope seemed lost; were I to tell them how all
here speak well of you, and how absolutely I am convinced that some
hideous mistake must have been made."
Frank sat for some time silent.
"Yes," he said, at last. "I have a little cousin, a girl, she was like
my sister; I hope--I think that, in spite of everything, she may still
have believed me innocent. Will you see her and tell her you have seen
me? Say no more until you see by her manner whether she believes me to
be a rascal or not. If she does, give her no clue to the part of the
world where you have come across me; simply say that I wished her to
know that I was alive and well. If you see that she still, in spite of
everything, believes that I am innocent, then tell her that I affirm on
my honour and word that I am innocent, though I see no way whatever of
ever proving it; that I do not wish her to tell my uncle she heard from
me; that I do not wish her to say one word to him, for that, much as I
value his affection, I would not for the world seem to be trying to
regain the place he thinks I have forfeited, until I can appear before
him as a rich man whom nothing could induce to touch one penny of his
money, and who values only his good-will and esteem. That is her name
and address."
And Frank wrote on the leaf of his pocket-book, "Alice Hardy, 354 Eaton
Square."
"I do not think you will have to deliver the message; it is hardly
possible that she should not, as my uncle has done, believe me to be
guilty. Still, I do cling to the possibility of it. That is why I
hesitate in giving you the commission, for if it fails I shall lose my
last pleasant thought of home. If you find she has believed in me, write
to me at Sacramento, to the care of Woolfe & Company, of whom I always
get my stores. There is no saying where I may be in four or five months'
time, for it will take that before I can hear from you. It may be, in
that case, she too will write. If she does not believe in me, do not
write at all; I shall understand your silence; and, above all, unless
you find she believes in me, say no more than that I am alive and well,
and give no clue whatever to the part of the world where we have met."
"I will discharge your commission," Mr. Adams said. "But do not be
impatient for an answer; I may not find a steamer going down to Panama
for some time, and may have to go thence to New York, and thence take
a steamer to Europe. I may find on my arrival that the young lady is
absent from home, perhaps travelling with her father, and there may be
delays."
"My uncle is not her father," Frank said; "she is a ward of his. But I
will not be impatient; not for six months will I give up such hope as I
have."
"There is one more thing before I say good night," Mr. Adams said. "I
have been in great need, and know how hard it is to struggle when luck
is against one, and I should like to give a small sum as a sort of
thank-offering for the success which has attended me. In a mining camp
there must be many whom a little might enable to tide on until luck
turns. Will you be my almoner? Here is a bag with a hundred ounces of
gold, the last we got to-day from our claim. Will you take it, and from
time to time give help in the way of half a sack of flour and other
provisions to men who may be down in the world from a run of ill-luck,
and not from any fault of their own."
"I will gladly do so," Frank replied; "such a fund as this would enable
me to gladden the hearts of scores of men. You can rely upon it, sir,
that I will take care to see that it is laid out in accordance with your
instructions."
After leaving the tent, Frank found James Adams sitting down on a log a
short distance away.
"I would not disturb you," the latter said, "as I thought perhaps you
were having a chat with my father--indeed he told me he should like to
have a talk with you alone; but I want myself to tell you how conscious
I am that I owe my happiness to you. Has my father told you how I am
situated, and that I am going home to claim the dearest girl in the
world, if, as I hope and believe, I shall find she has waited for me?"
"Your father has told me more," Frank said; "he has told me how nobly
you devoted your life to his, and why, and I am truly glad that so much
good has come of our meeting. More than that first little help I must
disclaim, for it was Abe and not I who believed in your father's dreams,
which I confess I had no shadow of belief in, though they have, so
unaccountably to me, been verified."
"Nothing you can say, Frank, will minimise what you have done for us.
You saved my father's life. If it had not been for you his dream would
never have been carried into effect, and he would now be lying in the
graveyard on the top of the hill, and I should be working hopelessly as
a day labourer. I only want to say, that if at any time you want a
friend, you can rely upon James Adams up to the last penny he has in the
world."
The next morning Mr. Adams and his son started for San Francisco, and
Frank and his party began to work their claims from the bottom of the
shaft. Although they paid well, they proved far less rich than they had
expected; they got good returns from the gravel, but found no pockets in
the bed rock, which was perfectly smooth and even. They found that on
either side of the Adams' claims the wall of rock behind swept round;
this, no doubt, had caused an eddy at this spot, which had worked out
the hole in the bed rock, and caused the deposit of so large a quantity
of gold here; and, singularly enough, Mr. Adams' dream had led him to
take up the exact spot under which alone the gold had been so largely
deposited. The party had taken on several hands, and six weeks sufficed
to clear out the paying stuff in their claims, and it was found that,
after paying all their expenses, there remained eight hundred ounces of
gold; a handsome result, but still very far below what they had reason
to expect from the richness of the stuff in the claims lying in the
centre of their ground.
This, however, added to the five hundred ounces they had received from
Mr. Adams, gave them a total of about a thousand pounds each. They held
a consultation on the night of the final clean-up. Two of the party were
disposed to return east with their money, but they finally came round to
Abe's view.
"A thousand pounds is a nice sum--I don't say it ain't--for less than
six months' work; still, to my mind, now we are here, with the chance of
doing just as well if we go on, I think it would be a fool's trick to
give it up. Five thousand dollars will buy a good farm east, but one
could work it with a good deal more comfort and sartainty if one had
another five thousand lying in the bank ready to draw upon in case of
bad times. We ain't fools; we don't mean to gamble or drink away what we
have made; it will just lie in the bank at Sacramento until we want to
draw it. If we work another year we may double it, but we can't make it
less; we have got our horses still, and I vote we go back to our work as
it was before, three of us digging and two carrying. We know that way we
can pay our expenses, however bad our luck may be, so thar ain't nothing
to loose in sticking to it for a bit longer, and thar may be a lot to
gain."
This view prevailed, and in a short time the party moved off to another
place; for Cedar Camp was getting deserted, the other claims taken up on
the flat had paid their way, but little more, and the men were off to
new discoveries, of which they had heard glowing accounts.
For the next two months no marked success attended the labours of Frank
and his comrades, they paid their expenses, and that was all. Frank
enjoyed the life; he was in no hurry to get rich, and it gave him great
pleasure to be able occasionally to give a helping hand to miners whose
luck was bad, from the fund with which Mr. Adams had intrusted him. The
work was hard, but he scarcely felt it, for his muscles were now like
steel, and his frame had widened out until he was as broad and strong as
any of his companions, and few would have recognised in him the lad who
had shipped on board the _Mississippi_ fifteen months before.
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