STRIKING IT RICH.
TWICE the party of gold-diggers shifted their location, each time
following a rush to some freshly-discovered locality; but no stroke of
good fortune attended them. At the end of each week a few ounces of gold
remained to be added to the pile after the payment of expenses, but so
far the earnings of the carriers far exceeded those of the diggers. One
day, as Abe and Frank were just starting on their way down to
Sacramento, they met three men coming along, each leading two laden
horses. As the two teams met there was a shout of recognition.
"Hello, Abe! I have been asking for you of every one since we got here
six months ago, but no one seemed to know your party."
"We have been asking for you too," Abe said. "It seems curious that we
should be here so long and never run agin each other; but there are such
a lot of mining camps, and every one works too hard to spend much time
thinking about his neighbours. I expected we should run across each
other one of these days. And how goes it with you? How's every one?"
"We are broke up a bit," John Little said. "It wasn't to be expected as
we should hang together long after we once got out here; one thought one
place best, and another another; but I and my two mates here, and long
Simpson, and Alick, and Jones, we have stuck together."
"And where are you now?" Abe inquired.
"Well, I will tell you, Abe, and I wouldn't tell any one else; but I
said to you, 'If we ever makes a strike you are in it.' We have been
prospecting up in the gulches of the North Yuba. We found as we couldn't
get places worth working in the other camps, so we concluded it war best
to find out a spot for ourselves; so we six have been a-grubbing and
digging up among the mountains, and I tell you we have hit it hot. We
three, washing with pans for four hours one morning, got out
eight-and-twenty ounces of gold."
"That was something like," Abe said, in admiration.
"I reckon it war. Well, we covered the place up, and left our three
mates to look arter it, telling them not to dig or make any sign until
we came back. We sold the waggons and teams when we first got over, for
they were no good to us in the mountains, and bought horses so as to
keep ourselves supplied with provisions. We agreed before we began work
we would come down to the town and get enough to last us, then we would
move up quietly at night to our find, stake out our claims, and begin to
work. Now if you and your four mates likes to join us, you are welcome."
"Well, that's a downright friendly offer, mate, and you bet we accept
it. We had one capital stroke of luck, but since that worked out we
haven't done much at digging, though Frank here and me has done very
fair, trucking goods up from Sacramento. Where are your women?"
"Well," the other said, "we had some trouble about them. You see thar
ain't many women up at the camps, they are rough places, and not fit for
them. So we agreed that for the present it were best they should keep
out of it. So we bought a little place with ten or twelve acres of
ground, down at the foot of the hills, and there our wives and the kids
are stopping. There's a big orchard, and they are raising vegetables,
and when we goes down for supplies we brings up a load or two of fruit
and vegetables, and rare prices they fetch, I can tell you, more nor
enough to keep them all down there. But we have agreed to bring two of
them up now to cook and wash, and leave the others to look arter the
place and the kids. Simpson and Jones ain't married, you know. Women
have a right to claims as well as men, and of course we shall take up
for those we bring up, as well as for two big lads; so that will give us
ten claims, besides the extra claims for discovery. So with your five
claims we can get hold of a tidy bit of ground. We are going to take
these stores up now, and leave them in charge of our friends in the
gulch, who will keep them hid in the woods, and then we can go back and
bring up the women and a cargo of vegetables."
"Well, in four days we will meet you here. I will take all the horses
and load them up. We were going to bring up flour for the storekeeper,
but now we will get stores for ourselves. We will bring as much as we
can get along with. We can sell what we don't want, for there is sure to
be a rush in a short time. Frank shall go back and tell the storekeeper
we ain't a-coming with the flour."
This was arranged, and four days later Abe and his party arrived at the
spot agreed on, and an hour or two later the cavalcade, with the three
men, two women, and two boys of fifteen or sixteen years old, came up,
and the united party started together. It was some fifty miles to the
spot where the gold had been discovered. Sometimes they wound along in
deep valleys, passing several camps in full operation. At the last camp,
which was a small one, a few questions were asked them as to their
destination.
"We are just going a-prospecting for the mountain of gold," Abe replied,
"and as we have got six months' stores aboard we mean to find it. We
will send you down a few nuggets when we get up there."
"We shall have some of them after us in a day or two," John Little said;
"every one suspects every one else; and they will make a pretty story of
it, I guess, thinking as we shouldn't have brought the women up all this
distance without having some place in our minds."
At last they arrived at their destination, the mouth of a little gorge
running off the deep valley of the north Yuba. The gorge widened out
into a narrow valley, and the party made its way among the pebbles and
boulders at its bottom for a quarter of a mile, and then three men came
out from among the trees and greeted them heartily.
"No one has been up here?" John Little asked.
"Two chaps came up and prospected about a bit, but they did not seem to
hit on the right place; at any rate they went away again."
"All the better," John said. "Now let us stake out our claims at once,
then we are all right, whoever comes."
The spot selected was at the head of the little valley; it ended here
abruptly, and the stream came down forty feet precipitously into a
hollow.
[Illustration: GOLD-WASHING--A GOOD DAY'S WORK.]
"This looks a likely spot, indeed," Abe said; "there must have been a
thundering great waterfall here in the old days. I expect it wore a hole
for itself in the rock, and if it is as rich as you say on the surface,
there is no saying how rich it may be when we get down to the bed rock."
They had already settled that the two parties should work in
partnership, and as, including the women and boys, they numbered
fifteen, and could take up the five claims which, by mining law, the
discoverer of a new place was entitled to, they had in all twenty
claims, which gave them the whole of the little amphitheatre at the foot
of the fall for a distance of fifty yards down.
The men all set to work with their axes, and by nightfall much had been
done. Frank's party had their tent, and the two small tents of the other
party were allotted to the married couples. A rough hut was got up for
the rest of the men; this was to act as the kitchen and general room. A
storehouse was erected of stout logs, with earth piled thickly over it
to keep out the wet, and here their stores were securely housed. The
tents and huts were on the slope, where the rocks widened out twenty
yards below the bottom of their claim.
It was late in the second evening before the work was done. All were
anxious to test the ground, but it was agreed not to touch it until they
had housed themselves. At daybreak they were at work, and soon all were
washing out pans of gravel at the stream; the results fully justified
their expectations,--there being a residuum of glittering grains at the
bottom of each pan varying in weight from a pennyweight to a quarter of
an ounce.
"Now," Abe said, "I should suggest that we makes a big cradle, fifteen
feet long by three feet wide, and hang it on cross poles so as to be
able to rock it easily; then we will dam up the stream at the top of the
fall, and lead it down straight through a shoot into the cradle; of
course the shoot will have a sluice so as to let in just as much water
as we want, and that way two men will do the work of eight or ten
washing."
Abe's plan was agreed to, and all the men set to work to construct the
dam, cradle, and shoot.
It took two days' hard labour before all was in readiness, and then the
work began in earnest. Two men swayed the cradle, four others shovelled
the gravel and dirt into it, three continually stirred the contents and
swept off the large stones and pebbles from the top, while the other two
carried them away beyond the boundaries of their claims.
At the lower end of the cradle was a sheet of iron perforated with
holes, large at the top, but getting smaller lower down, and altogether
closed four inches from the bottom; through these holes the sand and
gravel flowed away. All day they worked vigorously and without
intermission, and great was the excitement when, at the end of the day's
work, they proceeded to clear-up by emptying the cradle and examining
the bottom. A shout of satisfaction arose as the particles of gold were
seen lying thickly in the gravel at the bottom of the cradle. Very
carefully this was washed out, and it was found that there were over
fifty ounces of gold dust.
"I believe," Abe said, "that we have hit upon the richest spot in
Californy. Ef it's like this on the surface, what is it going to be like
when we get down to the bed rock?"
The next morning two diggers arrived on the scene; they saw at once by
the methodical manner in which the place was being worked that the party
must have found gold in paying quantities.
"Is it rich, mates?" they asked eagerly.
"Ay," Abe replied, "rich enough for anything. There are the boundaries
of our claims, lads, and ye are welcome to set to work below them."
The miners threw off their coats, and at once set to work, and a shout
of exultation greeted the result of the first bucket of stuff they
washed out.
"Another week," Abe said, "and every foot of ground in the gulch from
here down to the Yuba will be taken up. The news will spread like
wildfire."
His anticipations were justified, and no one who came along a fortnight
later would have recognised, in the scene of life and activity, the
quiet wooded valley which Abe and his party had entered. The trees on
the lower slopes were all felled; huts and tents stood along on the
slopes from the head to the mouth of the valley, and several hundred men
were hard at work.
For once every man was satisfied, and it was agreed that it was the
richest place which had been discovered in California. But though all
were doing well, their finds did not approach those of the party at the
head of the valley. The spot on which these were at work was indeed a
natural trap for gold. At the lower end of the claim the bed rock was
found at the depth of three feet only; but it sloped rapidly down to the
foot of the fall, and here an iron rod had been driven down and showed
it to be forty feet below the surface.
The bed rock had indeed, in the course of ages, been pounded away by
the fall of water, and by the boulders and rocks brought down in time of
flood, and in the deep hole the gold had lodged, a comparatively small
proportion being carried away over the lower lip of the basin. When the
bed rock was found at the lower end of the claim, they set to work to
clear away and wash the whole surface to that depth, as far as the foot
of the rocks on either side of the little amphitheatre.
Frank and two of the men went down to Sacramento with horses to bring up
pumps, for below the level of the lip of the hole it was, of course,
full of water. The stream was carried in a shoot beyond this point, and
when the pumps arrived they were soon set to work.
Every foot that they descended they found, as they expected, the gravel
to be richer and richer; and many nuggets, some of them weighing upwards
of a pound, were found.
At the end of each week four of the miners, armed to the teeth, carried
down the gold and deposited it at the Bank of Sacramento. An escort was
needed, for many attacks were made on gold convoys by parties of
desperadoes; four men would indeed have been an insufficient guard, but
at the same time other diggers in the valley sent down their find, and
the escort was always made up to eight men from the general body.
Frank, from the first, generally formed one of the escort; he himself
was perfectly ready to take his share in the more laborious work of
digging, but where Frank went Turk went, and Turk formed so valuable a
member of the escort that the rest of the party begged his master always
to go with the treasure. Every week had added to the weight and power of
the animal, and he was now a most formidable-looking beast. He was
extremely quiet and good-tempered at ordinary times, except that he
would not allow any stranger to touch him; but when at all excited, his
hair bristled from his neck to his tail, and his low, formidable growl,
gave a warning which few men would have been inclined to
despise,--indeed, of the many rough characters in the camp, there was
not one who would not rather have faced a man with a revolver in his
hand than have ventured upon a conflict with Turk.
The dog appeared to know that the escort duty was one which demanded
especial vigilance. On the road a low growl always gave notice of the
approach of strangers; and at night, when they stopped, and the heavy
valises were carried from the pack animals into the wayside
resting-places, Turk always lay down with his head upon them. He seemed
so thoroughly to understand that this was in his special charge, that
although at no other time would he leave Frank's side for a moment, he
was, when thus on guard, content to lie quiet even should Frank take a
stroll after reaching the hotel.
This guardianship greatly relieved the cares of the escort, as once
placed under Turk's charge they felt no further anxiety about the
treasure, for it would have been as much as any stranger's life was
worth to have entered the room where Turk lay on guard. Once, indeed,
the attempt was made. While the escort were taking their meals, a man
went round to the window of the room, and, opening it, threw a large
piece of poisoned meat to Turk. The dog placed one paw upon it, but
remained, with his great head on the treasure, watching the man outside
holding another piece in his hand, and speaking in soothing tones. The
man, seeing that he did not move, began to climb in through the window.
Suddenly, as if shot from a spring, Turk hurled himself from his
recumbent position upon him.
The movement was so rapid and unexpected, that before the man could
spring back from the window Turk had seized him by the shoulder. A
shriek, followed by a heavy fall, brought the party rushing into the
room. It was empty, but there was the sound of a scuffle outside; they
ran to the window, but their interference was too late. Turk had shifted
his hold, and, grasping the man by the throat, was shaking him as a
terrier would a rat; and when, in obedience to Frank's voice, he
loosened his hold, life was extinct. Not only was there a terrible wound
in the throat of the robber, but his neck was broken by the shaking.
This was the only attempt which was ever made upon the treasure; for
Turk gained such a reputation by the deed, that it was questionable
whether, had he accompanied the pack-mules as their sole escort to
Sacramento, the bravest stage-robbers in the district would have
ventured to interfere with them.
After a time the lower valley became worked out, and numbers drifted
away to other diggings; but it was four months before the party at the
waterfall completely worked out their claims. The value of the ground in
the last few feet, at the lower end of the hole, was immense; for in
this, for ages, the gold from above had settled, and for the last
fortnight the clear-up each day was worth a thousand pounds. When the
last spadeful had been cleared up, and the last consignment sent down to
the bank, they made up their total, and found that in four months they
had taken from the hole upwards of sixty thousand pounds.
It had been agreed before beginning that the two women and the boys were
each to have a half-share, and that the two women who had looked after
the families below were to have the same. There were then in all six
half-shares, and eleven shares, and each share was therefore worth over
four thousand pounds. There were many instances in California in which
parties of two or three men had made larger sums than this in the same
time, but there were few in which a company had taken out so large a
quantity from one hole.
At the meeting that night the partnership was dissolved, it being agreed
that they should all go down to Sacramento together, and there each
receive his share. One or two of the party said that they would go down
to San Francisco for a spree, and then return and try their luck again.
Four of the western farmers said that they should buy farms in the State
and settle down there. Abe, and two other hunters, said they should
return east.
"And what are you going to do, Frank?"
"I don't know," Frank said. "I don't want to return to Europe, and have
no particular object in view. I think that I shall let my money remain
in the bank for a bit, at any rate, and go in for freighting on a large
scale. I shall buy a couple of dozen mules, and hire some Mexicans to
drive them. I like the life among these mountains, and there is a good
thing to be made out of carrying. But I have had enough of digging; it's
tremendously hard work, and I couldn't expect to meet with such a slice
of luck as this again if I worked for fifty years."
"Well, Frank, I shall not try to dissuade you," Abe said. "If I was
going on hunting, I should say 'Come along with me to the plains'; but
me and my mate is going east, as each of us has got some one waiting for
us thar, and I expect we shall marry and settle down. I will write to
you at Sacramento when I get fixed, and I needn't tell you how glad the
sight of your face will make me if you are ever travelling my way."
A few days afterwards the party separated at Sacramento, Frank only
remaining two days in that town. The wild scenes of dissipation and
recklessness disgusted him; he looked with loathing upon the saloons
where gambling went on from morning till night, broken only by an
occasional fierce quarrel, followed in most cases by the sharp crack of
a revolver, or by desperate encounters with bowie knives. Bad as things
were, however, they were improving somewhat, for a Vigilance Committee
had just been started, comprising all the prominent citizens of the
town. Parties of armed men had seized upon some of the most notorious
desperadoes of the place, and had hung them on the lamp-posts, while
others had been warned that a like fate awaited them if they were found
three hours later within the limits of the town.
Similar scenes took place in San Francisco, for the force of the law was
wholly insufficient to restrain the reckless and desperate men who
congregated in the towns, and who thought no more of taking life than
eating a meal. To put a stop to the frightful state of things
prevailing, the more peaceful of the San Francisco citizens had also
been obliged to organise a Vigilance Committee to carry out what was
called Lynch law, a rough and ready method of justice subject to grave
abuses under other circumstances, but admirably suited to such a
condition of things as at that time prevailed in California.
For some time Frank worked between Sacramento and the diggings. He
enjoyed the life, riding in the pure mountain air, under the shade of
the forests, at the head of the team. Sometimes he wondered vaguely how
long this was to last; if he was always to remain a rover, or whether he
would ever return to England. Sometimes he resolved that he would go
home and make an effort to clear himself of this stain which rested upon
his name; but he could see no method whatever of doing so, as he had
nothing but his own unsupported assertion of his innocence to adduce
against the circumstantial evidence against him, and there was no reason
why his word should be taken now more than it was before.
In many of the camps life had now become more civilised. In cases where
the bed of gold-bearing gravel was large, and where, consequently, work
would be continued for a long time, wooden towns had sprung up, with
hotels, stores, drinking and gambling saloons. Work was here carried on
methodically; water was, in some cases, brought many miles in little
canals from mountain lakes down to the diggings, and operations were
carried on on a large scale. Companies were being formed for buying up
and working numbers of claims together.
The valleys were honeycombed with shafts driven down, sometimes through
a hundred feet of gravel, to the bed rock, as it was found much more
profitable working this way than in surface-washing. Stage-coaches and
teams of waggons were running regularly now along well-made roads.
Frank's earnings were therefore smaller than they had been at first,
but they still paid his expenses, and added a few pounds each trip to
his account at the bank.
He took shares in many of the companies formed for bringing down water
from the lakes, and these were soon found to be an exceedingly valuable
property, paying in many cases a return each month equal to the capital.
The life of a teamster was not without danger: bears in considerable
numbers were found among the mountains, and these, when pressed by
hunger, did not hesitate to attack passing teams. In times of rain the
rivers rose rapidly, and the valleys were full of fierce torrents,
sometimes preventing horses from crossing for many hours, and being
still more dangerous if the rise commenced when the track to be followed
wound along in the foot of the valley. Several times Frank narrowly
escaped with his life when thus surprised; but in each case he managed
to reach some spot where his horses could climb the sides before the
water took them off their feet.
The greatest danger, however, of the roads, arose from the lawless men
that frequented them. Coaches were frequently stopped and plundered, and
even the gold escorts were attacked with success. Strong parties of the
miners sometimes went out in pursuit of the highwaymen, but it was very
seldom that success attended them, for the great forests extended so
vast a distance over the hills, that anything like a thorough search was
impossible.
Frank, however, treated this danger lightly; he never carried money with
him save what he received on arrival at camp for the carriage of his
goods, while the flour, bacon, and other stores which he carried up
offered no temptation to the robbers.
[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON THE GOLD ESCORT.]
One evening, however, having been detained some hours before he could
cross a river swollen by a thunderstorm, he was travelling along the
road much later than usual; the moon was shining brightly, and as the
long team of mules descended a hill he meditated camping for the night
at its foot.
Suddenly he heard a pistol-shot ahead, followed by five or six others.
Ordering his men to follow slowly, he put spurs to his horse, and,
drawing his revolver, galloped on. The firing had ceased just as he
caught sight of a coach standing at the bottom of a hill; three bodies
were lying in the road, and the passengers were in the act of alighting
under the pistols of four mounted men who stood beside them. Frank rode
up at full speed, Turk bounding beside him.
The highwaymen turned, and two pistol-shots were fired at the new-comer.
The balls whistled close to him, but Frank did not answer the fire until
he arrived within three paces of the nearest highwayman, whom he shot
dead; the other three fired, and Frank felt a sensation as of a hot iron
crossing his cheek, while his left arm dropped useless by his side.
Another of the highwaymen fell under his next shot; at the same instant
Turk, with a tremendous bound, leapt at the throat of one of the others
who was in the act of levelling his pistol. The impetus was so
tremendous that man and horse rolled in the road, the pistol exploding
harmlessly in the air. The struggle on the ground lasted but a few
seconds, and then Turk, having disposed of his adversary, turned to look
after a fresh foe; but the field was clear, for the remaining robber
had, on seeing Turk, turned his horse with a cry of alarm, and ridden
away at full speed. The passengers crowded round Frank, thanking him for
their rescue.
"I am glad to have been of use," Frank said, "and to have arrived just
in time; and now will one of you help me off my horse, for my left arm
is broken, I think."
The driver of the coach had been shot through the heart by the first
shot fired by the robbers. There were two armed guards, one of whom had
been killed, and the other wounded, while two of the passengers who had
left the coach to take part in the defence had also been killed; the
wounded guard was helped down from the coach.
"You have done a good night's work," he said to Frank; "there are nigh
ten thousand ounces of gold in the coach. No doubt those fellows got
wind of the intention of the bank people at Yuba to send it down to
Sacramento; it was kept very dark too, and I don't believe that one of
the passengers knew of it. They would have sent more than two of us to
guard it if they had thought that it had been let out; there must have
been some one in the secret who gave notice beforehand to these chaps.
"Now, gentlemen, if one of you will take the ribbons we will be moving
on. I will get up beside him, and I will trouble any of you who have got
Colts to take your places up behind; there ain't no chance of another
attack to-night, still, we may as well look out. Now, sir, if you will
take your place inside we will take you on until we get to some place
where your arm can be looked to. You will hear from the directors of the
bank as to this night's work."
Frank's team had now arrived on the spot, and he directed the men to
complete their journey and deliver their stores, and then to go down to
the stables where they put up at Sacramento and there to wait his
arrival.
Frank was left behind at the next town, his fellow-passengers
overwhelming him with thanks, many having considerable amounts of gold
concealed about them, the result, in some cases, of months' work at the
diggings.
One of them proposed that each man should contribute one-fourth of the
gold he carried to reward their rescuer, a proposition which was at once
accepted. Frank, however, assured them that although leading a team of
mules he was well off, and in no need whatever of their kind offer.
Seeing that he was in earnest, his fellow-passengers again thanked him
cordially, and took their places in the coach. They were not to be
balked in their gratitude, and three days later a very handsome horse,
with saddle and holsters with a brace of Colt's revolvers, arrived up
from Sacramento for Frank, with the best wishes of the passengers in the
coach. On the same day a letter arrived saying that at a meeting of the
directors of the bank it had been resolved that, as he had saved them
from a loss of fifty thousand pounds by his gallantry, a sum of two
thousand pounds should be placed to his credit at the bank in token of
their appreciation of the great service he had rendered them.
[Illustration]