THE NUGGET IS FOUND.
"Where are your horses?" I demanded.
"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.
"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you
into the mountains to get lost."
"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell
you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent
you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is
Elam Storm. Speak quick!"
The next thing that happened was a little short of bewildering. In less
time than it takes to tell it, Elam and I were covered with the muzzles
of two cocked rifles, thus making it plain to me that the men had seen
us, and hastily made up their plans what to do with us. They couldn't
have moved so quickly if they hadn't. They paid no attention to Tom, but
covered Elam and me. All they said was:
"Don't you move, Tender-foot. You may save the life of one, but you will
be a goner in the end. Now, drop your guns right where you stand."
In an instant Elam and I laid down our rifles, and Tom did the same. It
was too close a call to do otherwise, for a suspicious move on the part
of one of us would have sent us to kingdom come in short order. There
was "shoot" in the men's eyes, and we saw it plain enough.
"Now," said the leader, "go over there and set down, away from your
guns. Which one of you is Elam Storm?"
"My name is Toby Johnson," replied Elam, speaking before anybody else
had a chance to open his mouth. "I don't deny that I am sent up here to
prospect for gold; but I don't see much chance of finding any."
"And what's your name?" demanded the leader, turning to me.
It was a little time before I could speak. Elam's plan for throwing them
off the scent was a good one, but it came so sudden that it fairly took
my breath away.
"I am Carlos Burton," I replied.
"Burton! I know you," said the man, who hardly knew whether to be
delighted or otherwise at the discovery he had made; and then all of a
sudden it flashed upon me that here was the man who had stolen my
cattle. How I wished I had my rifle in my hands! There would have been
one cattle-thief less in the world, I bet you; but, then, what good
would it have done? I would have been gone up, too, for the other man
still held his cocked rifle in his hands.
"Ah, yes! Burton," continued the leader, "Do you remember one of the
fellows who took some cattle away from you once?"
"I didn't see the men, but I have heard what sort of looking fellows
they were. I should like to see you under different circumstances."
"Well, I don't know but you will, but I doubt it. What sort of appearing
fellow is that Elam Storm? Seen him, either of you?"
"I don't know him," said Elam. "I never heard of him. I am a stranger in
these parts."
"Seeing that neither of you is Elam Storm, perhaps you may have
something about you that tells you where to go to find his nugget. Stand
up and put your hands above your head. You have got a ditty-bag about
you?"
"Yes, sir, and there it is," said Elam, rising to his feet and throwing
his bag outside his shirt, so that the man could examine it.
Well, there! the turning point had been reached at last, and Elam was
the one who helped it along. Tom was utterly confounded, and I was so
amazed and provoked that I hid my face from the men by resting my elbows
on my knees and looking down at the ground. Of course Elam's map was
found, there was no doubt about that. I saw him have it in his hand not
half an hour before, and was positive that he put it in the bag out of
sight. With that gone we were as powerless as the two men were. I
listened, but could not hear him say anything about the map. He took the
bag off Elam's neck and up-ended it on the ground. There were a pipe,
some tobacco, and some matches, and that was all there was in it. He put
them all back, after helping himself to a generous chew of the weed, and
turned to Tom and myself; but as we didn't have any bags he let us go.
"You have been duped, fellows," said the leader. "Who sent you here,
anyway?"
"Uncle Ezra," said Elam.
"Ah, yes! He's a great chap for such things. And you'll meet Elam
somewhere up there, and you want to look out that he doesn't put a
bullet into you. He thinks he's got a dead sure thing on that gold."
"Were you sent out here to hunt for it?" asked Elam, and I held my
breath in suspense, waiting for his answer. I wanted to find out who was
at the bottom of this matter.
"Well, that's neither here nor there," said the man. "We're here, and
that's enough for anybody to know. Here's Burton, now. I did steal some
cattle from him because I was hard up, but I don't want him to go on and
get fooled in this way. And you'll get fooled as sure as you live. Now,
we don't want anything to eat. We have got everything we want out here
in the rocks to last us to the fort; and if you'll say you won't shoot
at us, we'll give you your guns."
"I won't shoot at you," said Elam. "You have given me a point to go on,
and I don't know but I had better turn around and go back. Here's a
tender-foot come out here to see the country----"
"All right. Go on, and let him dig away some of the landslides until he
gets sick of them. He won't get nothing, I bet you. Now, suppose you
take your creeters and go on your way. We can have a fair view of you
for a quarter of a mile, and that's all we want."
Elam at once picked up his gun, mounted his horse and rode away, leading
one of the mules, leaving Tom and I to follow at our leisure. I noticed
that the two men eyed me rather sharply. They didn't know how I felt at
being reduced to poverty, and they were ready to nip in the bud any move
that I took to be even with them. I didn't feel very good over it, you
may imagine, and when I got on my horse I couldn't resist an inclination
to say a word to them.
"I hear that two of the men who engaged with you in that cattle-thieving
business were hanged for horse-stealing," I said.
"Has that story got around down here?" said one of the men.
"Yes; and I am very sorry that they were dealt with in that way. I
wanted to get even with them myself. It seems as though those six
thousand dollars didn't go very far with you."
"Well, go on now, for we don't want to take this matter into our own
hands. We will wait until you get up to the turn in the canyon, and then
you had better look out."
I rode on up the gully after Tom and Elam, and when I got up to the turn
I looked back. The men were not in sight. Elam rode a little way further
and then dismounted, preparatory to going into camp.
"There were two things that happened to-day that I did not think
possible," said I, throwing myself out of my saddle in a disgusted
humor. "One was that Elam would give up when he saw himself cornered."
"I saw at the start that they did not want to hurt anything," said Elam.
"Suppose we had resisted them; where would we be now?"
"And another thing, I did not think it possible for me to stand near the
man who stole my cattle without putting a chunk of lead into him. He
didn't say who he was until after he had charge of my rifle, did he?"
"No, but I tell you you wouldn't have made anything by trying to shoot
him. If we had made the least attempt to cock a gun, it would have been
good-by. Those fellows were not fools."
"And what made Elam deny his identity?" said Tom. "You said you were
Toby Johnson."
"And what became of his map?" I chimed in. "I saw him have it a short
time before they came up. What did you do with it, Elam?"
"It's there, close to where I was sitting on the rock. When we think we
have given them time to get away, I'll go back there and get it. I
didn't want them to find it on me."
"And do you say that you took it out of your bag and threw it on the
rocks?" said Tom in utter amazement. "I sat close to you all the while,
and I never saw you do anything like it."
"No; I took it out of my pocket," said Elam. "The name I gave, Toby
Johnson, saved them from handling me mighty rough."
"Well, now I am beaten!" I exclaimed.
"You see, if I had told them what my name was, they would have said at
the start that I had some sort of a map with me, and would have hazed
till I give it up. But they would never have got it," said Elam quietly,
and there was deep determination in his words. "But I know one thing,
and that aint two. Those fellows have left their picks and spades up
here. They got tired of them and didn't mean to take them back."
"Who were they, anyway?" asked Tom. "They were not the men who stole the
skins."
"Now, wait until I tell you; I don't know."
"One of them might have been the man who got shot," I suggested.
"There are a good many things connected with this nugget that we will
never find out," said Elam. "And that's one of them. We'll stay here
until we get dinner, and then I will go back after my map. It is all in
a lifetime. So long as I get my nugget I don't care."
"I never heard of men turning out so friendly after doing their best to
rob us," said Tom, pulling the saddle off his horse. "And you met them
half-way."
"Who? Me? I will always be friendly with a man who never tries to do me
dirt," said Elam. "If they had had the nugget you would have seen more."
I was very glad indeed that they did not have the nugget. So long as
they let us off without being hurt I was abundantly satisfied; but if
they had had gold stowed away in their blankets, we probably should
never have seen them. They would have slunk away among the rocks and
tried to hide their booty for fear that we should try to take it away
from them. Would Elam try to hide his nugget after he got it? Well, he
had not got it yet by a long ways. We ate dinner where we were, and Elam
shouldered his rifle, lighted his pipe, and started back after his map.
He told us that we had better stay where we were, and this gave me an
idea that Elam was afraid he might be shot. He was gone half an hour,
and when he came back his face wore his old-time expression again.
"Have you got it?" asked Tom, who always wanted to make sure that he was
in the right.
"Course I have," said Elam. "Catch up, and we'll go on. There is one
thing about this map business that I don't exactly like. You see this
nugget is hid in a pocket."
Of course, I was thunderstruck, but then Elam had been all over that
country, and of course knew where every pocket went to. He knew which
canyons ran back into the mountains and which did not.
"You see this man had a fight before he got the nugget, and he was too
badly hurt to get off his course to find a pocket to bury his find,"
Elam hastened to explain. "Now, this canyon that we are in goes back
into the mountains I don't know how far, and it was in this gully that
the fight took place; consequently the find is buried right here
alongside of this little stream."
"Who do you suppose that man was, anyway?" Tom remarked. "You have never
heard of him since, have you?"
"Now, wait until I tell you. I don't know. But let us go ahead, and I
will tell you what I mean in a day or two."
"What do you look for anyway, when you go off by yourself?" asked Tom.
"If you would give us a pointer on that subject we might be able to help
you."
"I don't mind telling you that I am looking for a trail," said Elam.
"And it is so old that no one but myself would notice it. When I find
that trail I'm a-going to follow it up. It isn't over ten feet long, for
a man as badly hurt as that one was, aint a-going to go a great ways to
hide a nugget."
"Do you mean to tell me that we are on his trail now?" exclaimed Tom in
amazement.
"Certainly I do. I have found two or three places where he slept."
"Why didn't you speak about it?"
"Do you suppose I have come in here this far without following some
trail? Of course not. Some of the marks he made are so badly obliterated
by the wind and the rain, that you can't make head nor tail of them,
unless you know what had been there in the first place. Why, I have
found blood on the rocks where he slept."
"You're beaten, aint you, Tom?" I asked, when he gazed at me, lost in
wonder.
"I should say I was. I wish you had showed me that spot."
"Well, I will the next time I come across one. Good gracious! if I
didn't know any more about trailing than you do, I would never find that
nugget."
"How do you suppose your father came by it in the first place? He must
have got it in some honest way or he wouldn't have had it in his wagon."
"That is one thing that I don't know," answered Elam solemnly. "He got
it, and how it ever came noised abroad that it belonged to me beats my
time. I wish the man that started that story had it crammed down his
throat."
Elam was getting excited again, and we thought it best to leave him
alone until he got over thinking about the nugget. We didn't raise any
objections when he spurred up his horse and got out of sight of us in
the bushes. When we were certain that he had passed out of hearing, Tom
said:
"Why, it is two years since that man, whoever he was, made that trail
through here, and to think he can find some traces of it now! It bangs
me completely."
"There are two things which must be taken into consideration," said I.
"In the first place that man didn't know what he left of a trail; he
hoped nobody would ever find it. A twig may have been broken down and he
left it so, certain it would lead him back to the place where he had
buried his find. In the next place there is some little sign for which
Elam is looking that will lead him directly to the place he wants to
find; some branch of a tree that has been broken down and looks as
though somebody had been browsing there, and it will tell Elam that he
is hot on the trail. Do you see?"
"Yes, I see; but I don't see how a man can follow a trail two years old.
I wish you would show me his next camping ground. If I am a lucky omen,
I may be able to find the nugget."
I laughed and promised Tom that I would show him the next place I found;
but it was a long time before I found any. You could not have told that
a man had passed through there in one year or ten, the weather had so
completely done away with all his work. But it did not make any
difference to Elam. Sometimes he would be gone before we were up, but he
always came back to supper, which we took pains to have good and hot for
him. We never made any enquiries, for he knew just how impatient we
were, and he would not keep us waiting a moment longer than was
necessary. We had been in the canyon six weeks, and, to tell you the
truth, Tom and I were getting pretty tired of the search. It was the
same thing over and over every day, and I was glad that nobody had
connected my name with a lost nugget. Elam would go along on foot,
leaving his horse to follow or not as he pleased; and if he found a
little pile of stones on the bank that didn't look as though it had been
thrown up by nature, he would go into the bushes and perhaps be gone for
an hour. We had long ago passed the pocket, and were continuing on our
way slowly and laboriously up the canyon, and one day Elam startled Tom
by calling out:
"I reckon you will think I am all right now. Here is the place where
that fellow camped."
In less than two seconds Tom and I were by Elam's side. Cautioning us
not to go too far so as to disturb things, he plainly pointed out to us
the marks of a person's figure on the leaves. Some of the bushes had
been broken down, and the leaves had blown over where he lay, but by
carefully brushing these aside the impress of a person's form could be
seen. There was no doubt about it, and I told Elam so in a way that made
him all right again.
"Where do you suppose that fellow is now?" said Tom.
"I don't know," said Elam. "My impression is that he died."
"But he wouldn't have given this map to a man when he knew it to be
wrong, would he?"
"I tell you that there's a heap of things connected with this nugget
that we shall never find out. We are on the right trail yet. I tell you
I feel encouraged."
We all did for that matter, and every day we searched both sides of the
stream to find that man's camping place, and when we found it we would
call the others up; but one day Tom came into camp, and his face was
full of news.
"I don't want to raise any false hopes," said he, "but if I have not
found something I will give it up. It's on the left-hand side of the
creek. In the first place there were four stones laid up the bank, and
the bush at whose foot they lay had been broken down and leaned away
from the bank. And further than that, it was held in position by two of
the branches, which were firmly tied about it."
"Tom, I believe you have found it," said I.
"It is too far away to find it before dark, but I will go there the
first thing in the morning," continued Tom, who was so excited that he
could scarcely speak plainly. "We want to take along our picks and
shovels, too."
We both glanced at Elam, but he didn't say anything. He was lying back
on his blanket, with his pipe between his teeth and his hands under his
head. He smiled all over, but said nothing.
"Go on," said he to Tom. "What else did you find?"
"And right there is where the fun comes in," said Tom. "The passage was
about twenty feet long--he was too badly hurt to go further--and with
every step of the way he had broken down a piece of the bushes, first on
one side and then on the other, to enable him to keep a straight course.
Right under the head of a rock that the passage brings up against, you
will find something buried. It may not be the nugget, but there is
something there."
"Why didn't you dig down and see what it was?" said I.
"It was pretty near night when I found it, and besides I wanted Elam to
see it. I will go with you now, if you say so."
"No," said Elam, filling up his pipe for a fresh smoke. "I'll be happy
for once in my life for twelve hours, and if at the end of that time I
find that there is nothing there----"
"But I tell you there is something there," ejaculated Tom.
"I will go back and go to herding cattle," added Elam, paying no
attention to Tom's interruption. "I will give it up as a bad job."
There wasn't much sleeping done in that camp that night, and although we
stayed awake till toward morning, we had little to say to each other. We
all wanted to see what was hidden up there. I had seen Elam become
wonderfully excited whenever anyone spoke of the nugget and hinted that
it wasn't there, but I had never seen him come so near finding it
before. When daylight came Tom declared he couldn't wait any longer, so
we got up and saddled our horses and followed along after him. We did
not stop to cook breakfast, for in case we did not find the nugget
nobody would want any. After going about a quarter of a mile, Tom
stopped and dismounted from his horse.
"There are the stones," said Elam.
"You go along a little further and you will find everything just as I
described it to you," said Tom. "Elam is about half wild," he added in a
low tone to me, "so you and I had better take a pick along. Mind, I
don't say it is the nugget, but there is something hidden in there."
Talk about Elam's being half wild! Tom and I were in that fix also. We
saw Elam examine the broken bush, the one that was held in place by two
limbs that were tied about it, and his face grew as white as a sheet. He
worked his way into the bushes, making his way all too slowly to suit us
who were following close at his heels, and finally stopped under the
hanging rock, where there was a clear space about two feet in diameter.
The bushes grew as thick here as they did anywhere else, but they had
been cut with a knife to give the digger a chance to work. Not one of us
said a word, because we were too highly excited. Elam reached his hand
behind him, and I, knowing what he wanted, placed a spade within it; but
you might as well have set a child to scraping it out with a teaspoon.
His hand trembled so that it was scarcely any use to him.
"Here, Elam, give me that spade," I cried. "You will never get it up in
the world. Now, stand back beside Tom, out of the way."
I did not think Elam would agree to this, but he did, and in two minutes
I had the leaves and brush all out of the way, faster than it was put
in, I'll bet. But what was this I struck against before I had gone down
three inches? It was not as hard as a rock, because, when I placed my
shovel against it and tried to pry it up, the instrument slipped from it
and showed me the color of the pure gold.
"Elam, Elam, there's something here!" I shouted, so nearly beside myself
that I did not know what I was saying. "Stand out of the way and let me
handle it myself. When I get it out where the horses are, you can
examine it till your head is as white as Uncle Ezra's."
I have since learned that the nugget weighed 130 pounds, but it did not
seem half that weight as I pulled it out of the hole and started through
the bushes with it. I paid no attention to the others, who followed
along after me, lost in wonder. I carried it out to where the bushes
ended, and then laid it down, hunted up a rock, and sat down and
examined it.
"Elam, there's your nugget!" I said.
"By gum, I believe it is!" said Elam.
One would have thought by the way Elam went about it that he did not
know whether it was or not. For fifteen minutes we sat there and watched
him as he passed his hands carefully over it, brushing away a little
particle of dirt here and pecking with his knife there to see if it was
really gold, until he was satisfied; then he put up his knife and thrust
out his hand to Tom.
"Tender-foot, I never would have found this if it hadn't been for you,"
said he, with something like a tremor in his voice. "Shake!"
"Thank you," said Tom, taking particular pains to keep his hands out of
the way. "I'll take your word for it."
"I won't squeeze you, honor bright!" said Elam.
That was as good as though Elam had sworn to it, and Tom gave him his
hand. He didn't squeeze it, but he shook it very warmly.