AT THE CONROYAL RANCHO
When Thure, bearing in his arms the dead body of a man, and Bud, with
the huge skin of a grizzly bear hanging across the back of his horse
behind the saddle, rode into the open court in front of the Conroyal
rancho, there was great excitement; and, even before they could
dismount, they were surrounded by a crowd of gesticulating,
question-shouting women and children and old decrepit men, all wild with
curiosity to know what had happened. In the midst of all this
excitement, the door of the house was flung open and two young ladies
catapulted themselves through the crowd to where Thure and Bud sat on
their horses.
"Mercy! What has happened?" and Iola Conroyal, her horrified eyes fixed
on the face of the dead miner, came to a sudden halt by the side of
Thure, with Ruth Randolph, round-eyed and white-faced, clinging to one
of her arms. "Is--is he dead?"
"Yes, he is dead," Thure answered gravely. "Murdered for his gold."
Then, seeing how white the faces of the two girls had suddenly grown, he
added quickly: "You girls hurry right back into the house and tell your
mothers that we found a miner, who had been robbed and stabbed, and
started to bring him home with us, but that he died before we got here;
and ask them to have some blankets laid on the floor of the sala for the
body to lie on and a sheet to cover it. Now, hurry. We'll tell you how
it all happened later," and not until the two girls were back in the
house did Thure make a move to get rid of his ghastly burden. Then,
reverently the body of the dead miner was lowered from the horse, and
borne into the large hall-like room of the house known as the sala, and
laid down on the blankets there prepared for it, and covered over with a
sheet.
In the meantime Bud had thrown the great hide of the grizzly to the
ground with the information that it was the skin of _El Feroz_ himself.
"How did you kill him?" "Who shot him?" and, with shouts of wonder and
delight, all the men and the boys, who had not gone into the sala with
the body of the dead miner, crowded around the skin of the fallen
monarch.
"Thure and I found the old villain just after he had killed a horse, and
shot him," Bud answered hastily, anxious to get to his mother with the
wonderful news of the Cave of Gold as quickly as possible. "Here,
Angelo!" and he turned to a young Mexican boy standing near, "Take my
horse and see that he is properly cared for. And you, Juan, take the
hide of _El Feroz_ and let us see how fine a robe you can make out of
it."
"Si, si, señor," answered the old Mexican exultingly. "He, the ugly
brute, kill my wife's brother, Pedro, whom I, like my own brother,
loved, and 'twill give my soul peace one fine robe to make out of his
big skin. A great glory, the killing of _El Feroz_, señor," and his old
eyes kindled. "Your fame like a swift horse will travel."
"Shucks! Any hunter could have got him the same as we did," and Bud
hurried into the house, all care for the glory of killing _El Feroz_
having been driven out of his head by the dying miner's remarkable
revelations.
At the door of the house Bud was met by his mother and Mrs. Conroyal,
with Ruth and Iola close behind them. The bringing of the dead body of
the murdered miner into the house had greatly excited both women.
"My son," Mrs. Randolph cried the moment she caught sight of Bud, "what
means this tale of murder and robbery and the bringing of the dead body
of a strange man into the house?"
"Oh, mother, mother," and Bud excitedly caught hold of his mother's
hand, "the most wonderful, the most marvelous thing has happened!"
"What?" and the astonished and horrified woman caught hold of both of
his shoulders and shook him. "Have you gone clean crazy, Bud Randolph,
to speak of murder and robbery like that?"
"I--I," stammered Bud, "I forgot the dead miner. We were too late to
save him; but he lived long enough to tell us--" He stopped abruptly and
glanced swiftly around the room. The secret of the Cave of Gold must not
be proclaimed from the housetops! There was no one in the room with
himself, but the two women and the two girls. "Mother, Mrs. Conroyal,"
he continued, lowering his voice, "the old miner before he died told
Thure and me of a wonderful Cave of Gold that he had discovered in a
gulch somewhere in the mountains; and he made Thure and me his heirs,
and gave us a map, showing the way to the cave, and a huge gold nugget,
which the robbers did not get, that he said he had found in the cave,
and he--But here is Thure! He has the--"
"Hush! Not so loud!" and Thure, who at that moment stepped into the room
from the sala, where the body of the dead miner lay, lifted a warning
hand. "There are many ears in there," and he pointed to the door he had
just closed behind him, "that must not hear what we have to tell. Come,
let us go to your room, mother, where there won't be any danger of what
we have to tell you being overheard," and he started for Mrs. Conroyal's
private room, followed by Bud and the two wondering women and the girls.
"I--I," and Thure stopped at the door of his mother's room and looked
hesitatingly at Iola and Ruth, "I--I reckon it is too great a secret to
tell you two girls just now. You had better wait--"
"No!"--"No!" broke in both girls indignantly, while Ruth, looking as if
she would like to box Thure's ears, declared:
"We girls can keep a secret just as well as you boys can, and you know
it; for, haven't we saved you from many a licking by not telling your
dads what you had been up to? But if this is the way you are going to
treat us, we'll fix you next time," and she shook her head
threateningly.
"Besides," supplemented Iola triumphantly, "we know most of the secret
already. It's about a Cave of Gold and a map and--"
"Oh, Christmas! You couldn't keep nothing from the girls!" and the face
Thure turned to Bud showed his disgust.
"Well, I reckon the secret is just as safe with them as it is with us,"
protested Bud stoutly, flushing a little, "especially when they know how
important it is to keep it secret. You will never tell a word of it to
anybody, will you girls? It--it might mean murder, if you did."
"No, no," affirmed Iola emphatically. "We'll not breathe a word of it to
a living human being. We'll die first. We'll not disappoint your trust
in us, Bud," and she glanced a bit scornfully from Bud to her brother.
"Will we, Ruth?"
"Never," and Ruth's red lips closed tightly over her pearly teeth. "Do
you suppose we'd betray those we love?" and her eyes flashed
indignantly.
"All right. See that you don't, then," and Thure's face cleared. To tell
the truth he was just a little ashamed of the lack of confidence he had
shown in his sister and Ruth. "Anyhow, you know so much now that you
might as well be told the rest, so come on," and he opened the door and
carefully closed and locked it, when all had entered the room.
It did not take many minutes for the two eager boys to tell the story of
the day's remarkable experiences, from the killing of the great grizzly
to the death of the old miner; for the narrative, under the lash of
their active tongues, proceeded in running jumps, from the beginning to
the end and was never allowed to lag an instant.
"And now," concluded Thure excitedly, when the last of the wonderful
tale had been told, "Bud and I must both start for the mines just as
soon as we can get ready; and get father and Rex and Dill and Uncle
Frank and Hammer Jones to help us find this Cave of Gold; and when we
have found it--"
"But," broke in Mrs. Conroyal, smiling at Thure's enthusiasm, although
her own face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling with excitement,
"where is this wonderful gold nugget and skin map, that you tell us the
miner gave you in proof of his remarkable story? You seem to forget that
you have not yet shown us your proof."
"Here, here it is!" and the excited boy thrust one hand into his pocket
and triumphantly pulled out the small buckskin bag; and, swiftly turning
the bag bottom side up, dumped its contents into his mother's lap; and
the next moment, the two women and the two girls were as excitedly
examining the big nugget and the rude skin map as ever they had been
examined by the two boys.
"And the miner told you that the bottom of the cave was covered with
gold nuggets like this?" queried Mrs. Randolph, her eyes shining, as she
held up the nugget.
"Yes, yes," answered Bud. "Thousands of them, only smaller. Of course he
picked up the biggest that he could see. We can go to the mines now,
can't we, mother?"
"And this queer skin map tells you how to find this wonderful Cave of
Gold?" and Mrs. Conroyal spread out the map on her lap and stared
wonderingly at it. "I can't see how all this jumble of crooked lines and
letters can tell you anything."
"Why, it's easy, mother," and Thure bent eagerly over the map. "You see
you start from Hangtown and go in a northeasterly direction to Humbug
Canyon and Three Tree Mountain and Goose Neck Lake and the Devil's Slide
to Lot's Canyon; and then up Lot's Canyon until you come to Crooked Arm
Gulch, and then up Crooked Arm Gulch until you come to the Golden Elbow;
and the cave, you see, is right in the point of the elbow," and Thure's
finger rested excitedly on the black spot on the map marked "cave." "The
cave is about five days from Hangtown, the miner said. We can go to the
mines now, can't we, mother?"
"Hangtown! What a horrid name!" and Mrs. Conroyal shuddered. "But," and
she started to her feet excitedly, "wasn't your father's last letter
sent from Hangtown? I am sure it was," and she hurried to her writing
desk, picked up a letter and glanced eagerly at its heading. "See! It
was! Here is the name," and she pointed triumphantly to the letter.
"You see, it won't be difficult to find the Cave of Gold from the map,
mother, not with dad's help. And, mother, we must start for the mines
just as soon as we can get ready to go. You surely will let us go now!"
and Thure caught hold of his mother's hand. "Say, yes, mother, now;
because Bud and I want to start to-morrow morning, and there is much to
be done before we go."
"My boy," and Mrs. Conroyal's face sobered, "you are all the man that
the mines have left me. Husband, son, servants, all have gone to the
mines, until now you and Bud are the only able-bodied men left on the
rancho--and now the mines are calling you!"
"But, mother, think of what the finding of such a mine means to us all!
And father and Mr. Randolph, if they knew about the Cave of Gold and the
skin map, I am sure would want us to come; and Old Juan and Manuel and
the boys can take care of the rancho; and, you know, if we find the Cave
of Gold and get the gold, then all of us, father and the rest, will be
back soon; and we will be rich; and dad can build you the new house that
you want and furnish it the way that you want it furnished; and Bud and
I can go East and get the education that we need to fit us to do a man's
work in the great new State of California that is bound to be made out
of this country, now that it has become a part of the United States. It
is yes, isn't it, mother? And we can start, can't we, to-morrow
morning?" and Thure's arm went round his mother and he drew her
appealingly to him.
For a minute or two Mrs. Conroyal did not answer. She was battling with
her mother-love. She knew what this quest of the Cave of Gold might
mean--hardships, dangers, even death for those she loved. But she was of
pioneer stock, had often seen her dearest go forth to face the dangers
of the unknown wilderness; and, at last, with something of Spartan-like
fortitude, she turned to Thure.
"Yes, my son, you may go," she said. "You may go to your father and tell
him all; and he will decide about the search for the Cave of Gold."
"Hurrah! We can go! Mother says I can go!" and Thure swung his free hand
around his head.
"And mother says I can go! Hurrah for the gold-mines!" and Bud clapped
his sister on the back, by way of letting off some of the surplus steam
of his enthusiasm. "It will be great! And I'll bring you back a necklace
of gold nuggets, sister mine. Now, we must be getting ready."
"But, first we all have a solemn duty to perform," Mrs. Conroyal said
gravely. "We must give the dead miner decent burial, as we would wish
our own dear ones buried, should they die amongst strangers. See that
the grave is dug, my son; and notify all that the funeral will be held
in the house-sala at the going down of the sun. Come, we will make ready
the house for the funeral," and, followed by Mrs. Randolph and the two
girls, she hurried from the room.
A half an hour later, all who were left on the rancho gathered in the
sala to pay the last respects of the living, who soon must die, to the
dead, who but a short time before lived. There was no minister, no
priest to be had. Mrs. Conroyal read the church service for the dead
over the body of the unfortunate miner; and then six of the oldest and
strongest boys gently lifted the boards on which the corpse lay to their
shoulders and, just as the rays of the setting sun redden the tops of
the western mountains, bore the body slowly to its last resting place,
beneath the outstretched arms of a sturdy oak, on the top of a little
hillock, near the murmuring waters of a small stream that flowed close
by the house.
That night was a busy night at the Conroyal rancho. Everything must be
got ready for the going of Thure and Bud in the morning; and it was
surprising how many things there were that needed doing. But, at length,
long after midnight, everything was in readiness and the two boys
entered their sleeping room for their last night's rest, for they knew
not how long, in the dear old home-house.
"I can hardly realize that we are to start for the mines in the
morning," Thure said, as he quickly undressed and jumped into bed. "All
that has happened to-day seems more like a dream than the reality; and I
am almost afraid that I will wake up in the morning and find that I have
been only dreaming."
"Well," declared Bud, "if it's only dreaming, I'm going to get into bed
and dream some more as quick as I can; so, not meaning to be impolite,
shut up and good night," and he settled himself down comfortably in the
bed and closed his eyes. And, in five minutes, in spite of the feverish
excitements of the day, the two tired boys were sound asleep.