ANDREW STAKES HIS CLAIM
Soon after daybreak they launched the canoe, and though she was now
rather deeply loaded they made good progress down the outflowing
creek. When it was necessary for one to wade and check her with the
tracking line, their new companion was allotted the task, and at the
portages Carnally took care to give him the heaviest load. Though it
was obvious that he had not recovered from his long, forced march, he
seemed a good-humored rascal and resigned himself to the situation
philosophically.
In the afternoon they came to a rapid and spent some time hauling the
canoe round it, and then they went back for the stores. Turner, as the
newcomer was called, was first despatched with a load which contained
nothing eatable, and Andrew was the last to set off. Dark spruces on
the high bank cut off the wind, the sun was very hot, and the
perspiration dripped from Andrew as he floundered across the stones.
They were large and uneven, and he had to proceed cautiously to save
himself from falling into the hollows between. Graham and Carnally
were some distance ahead, but after a while he overtook Turner, who
was moving slowly. Shortly before Andrew came up the man dropped the
things he carried and turned with signs of distress in his hot face.
"I'm not trying to kick," he said. "Guess you've got a pull on me and
I have to work, but I'm a bit played out yet, and your partner piled
more weight on me than I can stand."
"Stop and take a smoke," said Andrew, handing him his tobacco pouch.
"I don't feel very fresh, but I could carry those blankets. Let me
have them."
"I'll have to do that or leave them. It was a tough march I made with
nothing to eat." He filled his pipe before he resumed: "There's no
meanness in you."
"Never mind that. What was Mappin to give you for this job?"
"Three dollars a day while I was out on it. Four hundred dollars when
I'd staked the claim, if the specimens assayed right."
"But how could he tell whether you would do the square thing by him?"
Turner grinned.
"It wouldn't be safe to do anything else. Supposing I'd gone round,
looking for another buyer, he'd have had me doped or sandbagged before
I'd made the sale. You can't fool Mappin. You have to put your job
through when you deal with him."
"It seems to me that you haven't made a success of this particular
business," Andrew remarked.
"I certainly haven't," the other admitted with a rueful air. "Your
partner has me fixed--he's a smart man. There'll be no three dollars a
day for mine when I go home."
"You have struck bad luck," said Andrew with a smile. "I'm not sure
you don't deserve it, but that's another matter. And now give me the
blankets: we'll take the things along."
They went on, and when they reached the next wild stream where
tracking was necessary Andrew got into the water. Turner gave him a
grateful glance, but he afterward did his share of the heaviest work,
and when they made camp in the evening he soon went to sleep. When the
firelight, leaping up, fell on his shadowy form, Carnally chuckled.
"A handy man; he's going to save us a lot of trouble, and we got him
cheap."
"He's a bit of a rogue, and claim-jumping isn't a creditable
profession," Andrew replied. "Still, I don't think we ought to take
too much advantage of the fellow's necessity. After all, he's only a
tool. It's his employer who's really responsible."
"Just so," Graham agreed. "The pity is that he should find men willing
to do his dirty work on very moderate pay; but there's no lack of
them. There are men you can only dynamite out of the mire, because if
you pull them out by gentler means they crawl straight back again.
It's unfortunate, because you meet some with a few likable qualities;
I think our new packer is one of these."
"Their trouble generally begins when they get into the clutches of
such a hog as we're up against," Carnally said. "He knows how to
handle them and it needs some grit to break away from him. We'll get
Turner to tell us some of his claim-jumping experiences to-morrow
night. You'll find them interesting."
Supper was finished and they were sitting in camp after a hard day's
toil when Carnally cleverly drew the packer out. He was not unwilling
and, warming to his subject, recounted incidents that filled Andrew
with surprise and disgust. Sitting in the shadow with his eyes fixed
on the ragged adventurer, he heard how small sawmill owners had been
jockeyed out of the timber leases they were not rich enough to
defend; how dams and flumes had been tampered with until their
harassed proprietor sold out his water rights; and the means by which
impecunious owners of minerals had been robbed of their claims. Turner
occasionally chuckled over the memory of some roguish trick, but, for
the most part, his manner was impressively matter-of-fact. Andrew did
not think he was drawing much upon his imagination; but it seemed
incredible that such things should be done without the men who plotted
them and reaped the benefit incurring general odium. After Turner had
strolled away, he said something of the kind to Graham.
"The point is," Graham explained, "the low-down rascals who are used
as tools daren't talk where they'll be heard, and nobody attaches much
importance to what is said in third-rate saloons. Respectable people
don't ask too many questions when they see a prospect of dividends;
there may be something not quite straight, but so long as it's well
hidden, they don't want to know. Still, I'll say this: if you put the
ugly facts square before them, they'll quite often act, even if they
have to make some sacrifice to set matters right."
"Yes," assented Andrew; "I believe that's true. There's a reason why I
find it encouraging."
"Now we'll talk of something else," Carnally interposed. "It's my
opinion that we ought to leave the water soon, perhaps to-morrow, and
push straight across the last height of land for the lode. We want to
keep well ahead of the Mappin boys."
They discussed it until they went to sleep, and the next day they
carried the canoe some distance back from the river and carefully hid
her in the brush. Farther on they cached part of their stores, and
then plunged into a desolate, stony waste. Their journey across it
proved uneventful, and at length they came down into the hollow where
the lode lay. As it was noon, they ate a meal before anything was
said; and then Carnally gave Turner a fishing-line with a trolling
bait on it.
"You go back to the last creek we crossed and catch some trout," he
ordered. "Stay there until supper, whether you get any or not."
Turner winked.
"If I catch one with this outfit, it will be a mighty silly trout; the
thing's made for spinning behind a canoe on a lake. Don't you want
help with your prospecting? I know something about minerals."
"So do we," Carnally replied. "I'd rather hear that you were fond of
fishing, because you're going to get a good deal of it. Every day
we're here you'll light out after breakfast and not come back till
dark. If we see you from the camp, we'll fire you on the spot."
"I understand," said Turner. "Guess I'll stay out. I've no use for
taking the trail without any grub."
He left them and Carnally turned to Graham.
"We must get our prospecting done before the Mappin gang arrives, and
the sooner we start the better. We'll begin where we fired the shot
last time, and follow up the vein."
It proved to be fairly well defined when they set to work with the
light tools they had brought, and their task was rendered easier
because the small but rapid creek had exposed the strata in scouring
out its channel. In some places they picked a hole, in others they
fired a charge of giant-powder, carefully separating the specimens
they obtained; and when evening came they sat in camp, examining
several heaps of stones.
"They're promising," said Graham. "The weight is a good rough test,
and though it doesn't tell us much about the proportion of lead to
silver, I can find out something about that to-morrow. Jake, you might
pound this handful of stuff as fine as you can."
He opened a small box which he had taken great care of during the
journey, and Andrew was surprised to see it contained a delicate
balance and several phials.
"I didn't know you were an assayer," he said.
"I'm not," Graham answered, smiling. "But you must remember that for
twenty years I've clung to the idea that I might find the lode, and
perhaps it isn't astonishing that I should try to learn something
about minerals and chemistry. In fact, it's been my only recreation;
but I didn't bring this outfit last trip because the frost would have
prevented my making much use of it."
There was something that touched Andrew in the thought of the sawmill
clerk, patiently discharging his monotonous duties year after year and
preparing himself for the search which was the great object of his
life, though he knew he might never be able to make it. It was,
however, obvious that he had studied to some purpose, because he had
shown skill in tracing the vein, and Andrew had noticed that Carnally,
who knew a good deal about minerals, deferred to him.
"I was lucky in getting hold of you and Jake," he said.
Soon afterward Turner appeared with one trout, which he confessed he
had caught with his hands, and Graham carefully put away the box and
specimens.
They began again at sunrise and worked with determined activity.
Before noon it grew very hot; there was no wind in the sheltered
basin, and the smell of the scattered spruces filled the listless air.
By degrees the men stripped off most of their clothing, and the strong
sun burned Andrew's bare arms and neck as he swung the pick. They
stopped only a few minutes for dinner, and continued with no
slackening of exertion until the shadows of the rocks covered the
hollow. Then Andrew, throwing down his tools, glanced with a curious
satisfaction at the pile of stones which marked the course of the
vein. He had accomplished something that day; the result of his toil
could be seen.
"You look pleased," Carnally commented.
"I feel so," declared Andrew. "We haven't improved the appearance of
the place from an artistic point of view; but I don't know when I felt
so content with what I've done. I used to feel proud when I'd helped
to fill the game cart at home; but this is different. Somehow it's
more bracing."
"I understand; though I'm not much of a sport and when I work it isn't
for fun."
Andrew slept as soon as he lay down on his bed of spruce twigs, and
awakened, fresh and sanguine, ready for another day's determined toil.
There was something strangely exhilarating in the resin-scented air;
Andrew felt vigorous and cheerful. Graham had expressed his
satisfaction with the rough tests he had made, and the more they
exposed the reef the better the ore looked. It would undoubtedly pay
for working and might yield a handsome profit, and Andrew felt that
the first half of the battle had been won. The other half would no
doubt entail some stubborn fighting, but he looked forward to it with
new courage. He had proved his ability and gained confidence in
himself; it was no longer a forlorn hope he was leading. He would
meet his cunning antagonist on fairly equal terms.
Apart from all this, he found a keen pleasure in his work. It was good
to get up in the bracing cold of dawn and smell the aromatic wood
smoke as he renewed the fire. He had never enjoyed his breakfast as he
did in the desolate North; there was satisfaction in using the drill
with a dexterity he had painfully acquired. He could bring down the
hammer squarely upon the head of the tool, and swing the pick all day
with delight in the strength of his muscles instead of exhaustion. It
was gratifying to find that he had chosen the right line of cleavage
in the stone when the great fragments leaped up through the vapor of
the exploding charge. Judgment as well as strength was needed in these
things--all were worth doing and made for health and tranquillity of
mind.
Turner seemed to recognize that Carnally was not to be trifled with.
He gave them no trouble, remaining away until the day's work was done.
Then as they lounged about the fire in the sharp cold of the evening,
he told stories, amusing and grim, and Andrew listened, divided
between admiration of the man's ingenuity and daring, and disgust at
his frank rascality.
When the claims had been carefully staked and the last evening came,
Andrew was sensible of a keen regret. He had been happy in the
wilderness, and it was hardly probable that he would use the pick and
drill again. Henceforward his duty would lie in a different sphere; it
was the last time he would lie down in soil-stained clothes, healthily
tired after a day of bodily labor. The air was wonderfully clear;
scattered spruces and towering rocks stood out with sharp distinctness
against a glow of transcendental green. The smoke of the fire rose
straight up; the splash of the creek came musically out of the shadow.
"I think we're all ready to start south at sunrise," Graham said
presently, and looked at Turner. "Can you guess why your partners
haven't turned up?"
"No," answered the man. "I'll allow that I've been expecting them the
last day or two. Perhaps they couldn't strike your trail, and there's
a chance that when they made the cache, starving, they found there
wouldn't be grub enough to take them up and down."
"It's possible," said Andrew, and looked at the others. "Though I
think we've staked off the best of the vein, it seems a pity that you
couldn't secure some of the rest."
"It can't well be done," Carnally explained. "A man can locate only
one claim on the same lode; but if the ore pans out as good as it
looks, I'll be content with the terms you promised me."
"I'm the one who's got left," Turner broke in. "I've packed your truck
and done your hardest work, and don't get five cents for it. It
wouldn't rob you if you let me stake a claim."
"The difficulty is that you'd have to sell it to Mappin," Andrew
reminded him.
"That's so," Turner admitted. "If I tried to go back on that man, it
would be the worse for me. The way I'm fixed is mighty rough."
"You got your grub," said Graham; "you ran a big risk of being left to
starve; and you might have got shot. It strikes me you had better quit
Mappin's service and try how honesty pays."
They left camp at sunrise and met with no misadventures on their
journey south. It was nearly completed and they expected to reach the
mine in a few more days when Carnally called Turner as he was loading
the canoe one morning.
"You can let up on that job. We won't want you any more," he said
bluntly.
Turner looked at him dismally.
"Are you going to fire me here?"
"You've hit it," said Carnally. "We'll give you grub for two meals,
and if you hustle you ought to make the camp back at the awkward
portage by noon to-morrow. You'll find a cache with provisions that
should last you to the mine by the water's edge. As I'll give Watson
orders you're not to have a canoe, we should be down at the settlement
a week before you get there."
"Well," Turner acquiesced, "I guess it's no use grumbling."
He was leaving the camp when Andrew called to him.
"Though I suppose you would have jumped our claim without hesitation,
I don't want to be too hard, and we have found you a useful help. If
you will call on me at the Landing, I think I can promise you three
dollars for every day you have been with us. But it's conditional on
your playing no tricks!"
"Your partner doesn't leave me many chances," Turner grinned.
They launched the canoe and were paddling down-stream when Carnally
alluded to the matter.
"I don't know that the fellow could make trouble for us; but he's
safer up here until we get our records filed," he said.
Then he swung his paddle and the canoe drove faster toward a rapid.