"Emigrant," said Esau.
"No; I am a prospector."
"I know," cried Esau, eagerly. "I've copied lots of 'em for
prospectors--prospectuses. You get up companies?"
"No," said Gunson, smiling. "The companies follow sometimes. I am a
prospector--a searcher for mineral veins and deposits in the mountains.
I was convinced that there was gold up here, and we have just had proof
that I am right. That Chinaman you see is bound on a similar mission,
for those fellows have a wonderful scent for gold. And you see that
those big roughs that he calls Melican men, but who were undoubtedly
English, have been up here, and found gold. That is a surprise and an
encouragement, and a damping, all in one, for it may mean a regular rush
of people up the river. Now do you see why I have kept my counsel so
long?"
"Yes," I cried.
"Of course," said Esau; "but why didn't you say so before? You might
have trusted us."
"Why didn't you become friendly before, my lad? you might have trusted
me."
Esau looked at him comically, and gave one ear a rub.
"Now then," said Gunson, "shall we travel on together in company?"
"Of course," I cried.
"Then the sooner the better. Your way will suit me as well as any, so
let's make up our packs, leave the boxes in some one's charge here, and
then the word is forward."
Two hours later, under Gunson's directions, we had made a pack each,
consisting principally of provisions, and Gunson in addition had brought
out of his case a rifle and ammunition.
"There, Dean," he said, "you may as well shoulder that, and you may as
well carry this, Gordon," he continued, taking a small revolver with
holster, strap, and cartridge-box. "You are not to use it except in a
case of the most extreme urgency. Strap it on, my lad. It looks
formidable, and the possession of such a weapon will often keep off
danger."
"What Quong cally?" said that gentleman when we were ready.
"Nothing," said Gunson, shortly; "you don't go our way."
"Yes, go allee same way 'long libber. No other way. Quong cally pack."
"Humph!" ejaculated Gunson; "if we don't employ him, he'll follow us, so
one may as well make him useful. We can easily pay him; it will not
mean much. Here, make yourself up a pack."
Quong smiled with pleasure, and taking the blanket Gunson threw him out
of his chest, he had it soon full of stores and necessaries, a bag of
flour being added to his load.
"Want um fizzlum?" said Quong, suddenly.
"Want what?" I said.
"Fizzlum. Bakum powdum make blead."
"Ah, I had forgotten," said Gunson; and he took a small tin from his
box.
An hour later the Indians were paddling slowly back along the river, and
after a friendly good-bye from the settler who had taken charge of our
boxes, we shouldered our packs, and began to trudge up the river-side,
finding it easy going, for we were in quite an open part here, with a
grassy margin for a short distance at the foot of the mountains on one
side. But higher up the rocks began to close in the prospect, there was
the faint roar of tumbling water, and dense black pine forests clothed
the sides of the valley as far as we could see.
Before we had gone very far along the forest track, the perspiration was
oozing out fast on my forehead; and lightly as I was loaded, I began to
think regretfully of the boat, and of how much easier it was to sit or
kneel there, and watch the Indians paddle, while over and over again I
had come to the conclusion that it was a very fortunate thing that we
were not alone, but backed up by such a tower of strength as Gunson,
whose counsels were called in question every few minutes to decide which
way we were to go next.
The direction was undoubted, for, so long as we kept to the valley in
which the river ran, we could not be wrong, but the task was to keep
along it by a way that was passable to people carrying loads.
For a mile or so beyond the tiny settlement we had left behind, we
found, as we had been told, some traces of a track; but it was wanting
more often than present, and several times over we thought we had come
to the end of it, only for it to begin again some fifty yards further
on.
At last though we had passed the final vestige of a trail, and there was
the valley before us with the mountains rising up steeply on either
side, and our way to make along the steep slope crowded with trees or
covered with the _debris_ of great masses of rock which had broken from
their hold hundreds upon hundreds of yards above us to come thundering
down scattering smaller fragments, and forming a chaos of moss-covered
pieces, over and in and out among which we had to make our way.
"Rather rough," Gunson said, "but keep up your spirits: it will soon be
much better, or much worse."
"It's always like that--worse," Esau grumbled to me at last, as our
companion went forward, while the patient little Chinaman plodded on
with his load as steadily as if he had been a machine.
"Never mind, Esau," I said.
"I don't," he replied, sturdily; and he drew himself up, and tramped on
with the rifle over his shoulder, evidently very proud of being trusted
with it; but he had an unpleasant way of turning sharply round every now
and then to look at something, with the result that, after being struck
smartly by the barrel of the piece, I had to jump out of his way.
"Beg your pardon," he would say, and a few minutes after forget all
about it, and turn the barrel upon me again.
"I say, Esau," I cried, at last, "do be careful with that gun."
"'Tain't a gun--it's a rifle."
"Call it what you like, but don't shoot me."
"Ain't going to," he said, drily. "What's the good? We ain't
cannibals. But I say, I wish something nice would come along. I know I
could hit it. What would you like--a deer? Deer's very good to eat,
isn't it?"
"I suppose so."
"Wonder which is the best place to aim at. His head, I suppose. I
should like to bring one down."
"I don't think you'll have a chance, Esau. Besides, we couldn't carry
it. We've got as much as we can manage now."
"Ah, but there's another way of carrying meat," said Esau, with a
curious cock of the eye. "I mean after it's roasted."
"But we are not hungry yet."
"Not hungry!" cried Esau. "Not hungry! Why, what a fellow you are!"
and we trudged on in silence.
After a time Gunson turned round and let us overtake him, laughing the
while at our tired and weary looks.
"Loads feel heavy, eh?" he said. "You are not used to them yet. I've
been talking to Mr Quong, and he tells me that he is going to hunt
about till he finds gold. Then I suppose he'll leave us to ourselves."
We were both too hot and tired to trouble about the Chinaman, and were
very glad when, about midday, Gunson called a halt under the shade of a
great tree, that grew beside a little brawling stream which came
hurrying down from above.
Here we dropped our burdens with a sigh of relief, and partook of some
cold bacon and bread, which seemed about the most delicious thing I had
ever tasted.
Quong was given a lunch for himself, and he took it aside, ate it
quickly, and then, in place of lying down as we did for a good two
hours' rest during the heat of the day, he produced a little tin plate
and picked his way down to the stream's edge, and then amongst the
rocks, till he came upon a patch of gravelly sand over which a few
inches of water danced merrily.
Gunson watched him curiously; I did the same, Esau having dropped off to
sleep as soon as he had eaten his midday meal.
For it was interesting to see the busy little fellow. His first step
was to roll up his sleeves to the elbow, stoop down, and scoop up as
much gravel and sand as the tin plate would hold. This he shook about a
little under water, brought it all up again, and picked out the stones.
Then he held it down low again and worked it about, and picked out a
second batch of much smaller stones. Again he placed the tin beneath
the water, where it ran pretty swiftly, and kept up a regular circular
motion, which caused the fine dirt and sand to be washed out and pass
over the side, till only a small patch of sand of a coarse grain
remained on the tin; and at last, as if satisfied with his task, he
stepped out on to the dry bank, and held the plate sidewise for the
water to drain off. This took some few minutes, the hot sun drying the
sand as he turned it about with one finger.
Every movement was performed with the most patient deliberation, and in
utter unconsciousness of the fact that we were watching him, both eager
to learn the result of his search.
It was a long time before we knew, for Quong turned the sand about over
and over again, and then inspected it with a peculiarly magpieish air,
before he shook his head, tossed the sand away, and selected another
spot in the stream, where he went through the same process, while we lay
and watched him till the final examination. This time, just as I fully
expected to see him toss out the sand, he rose up with a triumphant look
on his yellow face, and caught sight of us. His jaw dropped, and he
appeared frightened, but the dread seemed to pass away, and he came
towards us with his tin.
"Me washee gole," he said, excitedly. "Fine gole."
"Where?" said Gunson, abruptly. "Let's look."
He stretched out his hand for the tin, which was placed in it
hesitatingly, Quong's face betokening that he did not expect to see it
again.
Gunson gave the half-dry sand a shake which spread part of it over the
bottom of the tin, then another and another, while I looked on eagerly,
and at last he uttered a contemptuous "pish!"
"I thought you said you had found gold."
"Yes. Quong fine gole. Washee gole."
"Washee gole! Where is it then?"
The Chinaman took back the tin, shook it, peered in among the grains of
sand; shook it again and again; then shook his head instead, and looked
up at Gunson.
"Yes; washee gole," he said, in a tone of voice which seemed to mean,
"but it's gone away now."
"Fancy, my lad, fancy. There, lie down and rest. I'll have a try when
we come to a likely place. We must work in the river."
"No; too muchee water," said Quong.
"Yes; here. We must go up higher."
"Quong washee gole," said the little fellow again.
"Well then, where is it?"
Quong shook his head despondently once more.
"Washee gole," he whined, and again his tone of voice seemed to say to
me, "and there was some in that plate, but where it's gone to now I
haven't the least idea."
"Come along and have a rest."
"Ah! ah! ah!" cried Quong, excitedly, after giving the pinch of sand a
final shake. "Gole--gole!"
He held out the tin once more to Gunson, pointing now with one thin
yellow finger, and looking triumphantly at both in turn.
"Where?" said Gunson, laughing, as he followed the direction of the
pointing finger, and took the plate in his hand to hold it in different
directions in the sun. "Ah, I see it. Here, Gordon, come and have a
look. He has found the contents of Aladdin's cave all at once."
"I don't see any gold," I said. "Not see it? Oh, there it is plain
enough. My word, what patience these Chinese have! There it is, lad,
just in the very centre of the plate. See it?"
"No."
"Now try," he cried, as he tilted the plate sidewise, and this time I
saw a tiny glittering speck, about the twentieth part of a pin's-head in
size, but, small as it was, giving a suggestion of the peculiar yellow
colour of gold.
"Is that all?" I cried, contemptuously. "Yes; that's all. There you
are, heathen. Take it, and--no, you can't make much of it. That's no
use, my man. We must find better places than this, or you'll never go
back to China a rich man and become a Mandarin."
"No good place?"
"No; not worth washing."
"Not good to washum," said Quong. "Wait till we get higher up." Quong
nodded, took a little phial bottle from somewhere under his garments,
and after a great deal of trying, contrived to get the tiny scale on the
end of the cork, which he carefully inserted in the bottle once more.
After this he settled himself down to rest till Gunson rose for us to
continue our journey, which for the rest of that day was through pine
forest, with the trees so closely packed that our progress was
exceedingly slow; and evening was coming on fast as we reached a part
where the trees opened out more like those in an English park, and there
was soft grass beneath our feet.
I was in advance with my eyes fixed upon the ground, which had suddenly
become soft and marshy, the reason being plain, for on my left I could
hear the hum of falling water, when I suddenly stopped short, and drew
back so quickly that I came in contact with Esau.
"What's the matter?" he cried, sharply.
"Hush! Indians," I whispered.
"Indians? Where?" cried Gunson, eagerly.
"They have gone along here," I whispered. "Footmarks."
"Well, don't look so tragic, lad. They will be friendly ones no doubt;
and perhaps there is a settlement near, and we can get some fish. Oh,
those are their footprints, are they?" he said; and he turned and caught
the rifle from Esau. "That fellow had a fine broad foot of his own."
"Yes, he must have been a big man," I said, as I gazed down at the
plainly-marked sole and toes in the soft earth.
"Bigger than the one made by Robinson Crusoe's savage," whispered
Gunson. "There, get out the revolvers, and mind how you handle them.
Be ready to hand me one if I ask after I have fired."
"But you said the Indians were friendly."
"This tribe never is," replied Gunson, cocking the rifle and looking
sharply round. "They run away generally, but sometimes they show fight,
and we must be ready."
He looked carefully in every direction, and then signed to us to follow.
"He's gone straight on, just in the track we want to follow."
"Is there only one?" I whispered. "Only one, and it's very awkward,
for I was just thinking of making camp for the night."
"But we needn't be afraid of one Indian," said Esau, boldly.
"No," replied Gunson; "but we need be of one bear."
"Bear?" I said. "Those are a man's footsteps."
"Those are the prints of a very large bear, my lad," said Gunson; "and
judging from their appearance, I should say it's not very long since he
passed. Now then, what had we better do?"
I did not feel myself capable of advising, and I suppose Esau was no
more of an expert in bear, for he too was silent.
"Don't speak. Follow me; and as we go, hold your packs loosely so that
you can drop them in a moment and take to a tree."
"But bears climb trees," I whispered. "Not they," said Gunson. "Come
along." And with the shades of evening closing in fast in that wild
valley, we followed our companion as he went cautiously on, scanning
every bush and rock, not knowing how soon the savage beast, whose prints
continued right in the direction we seemed compelled to take, might rush
out and dispute the way.