SIX MONTHS AMONG THE MINES.
Six months later among the hills in Gilpin County we find three old
acquaintances. They are Ben Rawson, Ebenezer Jones, and Dean Dunham.
Dean has grown taller and there is a healthy brown hue on his cheeks.
His eyes are bright, and his look is cheerful.
The three are sitting in front of a miner's cabin, resting after the
fatigues of the day.
"Have a pipe, Dean?" asks Rawson.
"No, Ben; you know I don't smoke."
"You're right, lad, no doubt, but I couldn't get along without it. Do
you know, boys, it is just six months to-day since we came here, after
our brief interview with Dean's friends. By the way, what are their
names?"
"Peter Kirby and Dan—I don't know his last name."
"I wonder what has become of them. It is easy to tell what will befall
them at last."
"I hope I shall never set eyes on them again," said Dean, fervently.
"Well, I won't just say that; I might like to meet them if they were
about to receive their deserts."
"Do you know how we stand, Rawson?" asked Eben Jones, taking the pipe
from his mouth.
"I was just figuring up, Eben, this afternoon, since you have made me
treasurer. There's a little over three thousand dollars in the common
fund."
"A thousand dollars apiece."
"Precisely. It isn't a bad showing, is it? What do you say to that,
Dean? How old are you?"
"Sixteen, but I am nearer seventeen."
"There are not many boys of your age who are worth a thousand dollars."
"I owe it to your kindness, Ben—yours and Eben's."
"I don't admit that, Dean. You have worked hard for it."
"But then I am only a boy, and yet you admit me to an equal
partnership."
"And we're glad to do it, Dean," said Rawson, warmly. "Isn't that so,
Eben?"
"You're talkin' for us both, Ben. The kid's been a great deal of
company for us."
"Besides, Dean, Eben and I have got ten thousand dollars between us in
a bank in Denver, unless the bank's busted, which I haven't heard of. I
say, Eben, old chap, I feel rich!"
"I feel rich enough to go home," said Eben, after a thoughtful pause.
"Would you mind if I did, Ben?"
"I should mind so much, Eben, that I should probably go along too."
"But that would be leaving Dean alone," objected Eben.
"Perhaps he would like to make a trip East also."
"Yes, I would," said Dean. "It's a long time since I've heard from my
uncle and aunt. I think my last letter couldn't have reached them."
"There's one thing in the way," observed Rawson. "Our claims are
valuable—more so than six months ago. If we leave 'em some one will
take possession, and that'll be an end of our ownership."
"Sell 'em," said Eben, concisely.
"That will take time."
"I'll stay till it's done. I'm not going to give 'em away."
"Trust a Connecticut Yankee for that," said Rawson, laughing. "Well,
to-morrow, then, we'll let our neighbors know that our claims are for
sale."
Dean and his two friends retired at an early hour. They usually
became fatigued by the labors of the day, and did not require to court
slumber long. They rose early, and took their breakfast at a restaurant
near by. Before this was opened, they took turns at cooking breakfast
themselves, but were glad to delegate that duty to some one else.
Dean, as the best penman, prepared the sign,
THESE CLAIMS FOR SALE.
rather fortunately, as Rawson was weak not only in writing but in
spelling, and would have been very likely to write "Theas clames fer
sail," without a thought that he had committed an error.
About nine o'clock on the second morning, a small man, dressed in a
drab suit, walked leisurely up to Rawson, and remarked: "I understand
that you wish to sell these claims."
"Exactly, if we can get a fair price."
"By we you mean----?"
"Myself, Mr. Jones, and the boy. We are partners. Where might you be
from, friend?"
"I have an office in Denver. I am commissioned by a Philadelphia
syndicate to buy some mining property, which will be worked with the
help of improved machinery in a systematic manner."
"Then you will need more than we have to sell."
"I have secured the property on each side of you," said the agent
composedly.
"What figures are you prepared to offer?" asked Rawson, with a look of
business. "I don't want to be extortionate, but the claims are good
ones, and we don't want to sacrifice them."
Then ensued a few minutes of bargaining, in which Dean took no part.
Eben, though usually the most silent of the three, now developed the
qualities characteristic of the New England Yankee, and it was due to
him that the property was sold for six thousand dollars.
"I might have got more if I'd stood out a little longer," he said, half
regretfully.
"We've done pretty well, though," said Rawson, complacently. "It's two
thousand dollars apiece, say three, with what we've taken from it in
the last six months. What do you say to that, lad? You'll go home with
three thousand dollars."
"It doesn't seem possible, Ben. Why, Uncle Adin has been at work for
forty years, and I don't believe the old place would fetch that."
"Money's easier to come at than in the old times. You'll astonish the
old folks, lad."
"There'll be some others that'll be surprised," said Dean, smiling.
"Squire Bates and Brandon among the rest."
"It's better than going home like a tramp. It's strange how much more
people think of you when you're worth a little property. And I don't
know but they're right. To get money, I mean honestly, a man must have
some brains, and he must be willing to work. How much money do you
think I had when I arrived here?"
"I don't know."
"Eighteen dollars. It was grit or brains with me, I can tell you. Eben
here wasn't much better off."
"Not so well. I only had nine dollars."
"And now we've got eight thousand apiece. That'll make us comfortable
for a while, eh, Eben?"
"For life, Rawson. I shall never come back here, but settle down at
home, where people will call me a rich man."
"I can't answer for myself. How is it with you, Dean?"
"I shall come back," said Dean, positively. "There's very little chance
for me in Waterford."
"Well, perhaps you are right. You'll have a fair start, and you're
industrious and enterprising."
They stopped in Denver on their way home, and called at the office of
the agent through whom their claims had been sold.
"Gentlemen," said the agent, "may I venture to give you some advice?"
"Certainly," said Rawson.
"The best thing you can do with a part of your money is to invest in
real estate in this town."
Eben Jones shook his head.
"I'm going to buy a farm at home, and put the rest of the money in the
savings bank," he said.
"How is it with you, Mr. Rawson?"
"No doubt your advice is good, but I want to let the folks at home see
what I have brought in solid cash."
"And you?" continued the agent, turning to Dean.
"I will invest two thousand dollars in Denver lots," said Dean,
promptly, "and take the rest home as a present to my uncle and aunt."
"You won't regret it. Denver is growing rapidly. I predict that the
lots will double in your hands in a year."
Dean took a walk round the embryo city with the agent, and made a
purchase of ten lots on Lawrence street, in accordance with his
judgment.
"Now," said the agent, smiling, "I shall be sure to see you out here
again."