ONLY A SNAKE--LOCATING A MINE.
Harry Redburn hurried off toward the cabin, which was some steps away.
In Anita's scream there were both terror and affright.
Walsingham Nix, the hump-backed, bow-legged explorer and prospecter
hobbled after him, using his staff for support.
He had heard the scream, but years' experience among the "gals" taught
him that a feminine shriek rarely, if ever, meant anything.
Redburn arrived at the cabin in a few flying bounds, and leaped into
the kitchen.
There, crouched upon the floor in one corner, all in a little heap,
pale, tumbling and terrified, was Anita. Before her, squirming along
over the sand-scrubbed floor, evidently disabled by a blow, was an
enormous black-snake.
It was creeping away instead of toward Anita, leaving a faint trail of
crimson in its wake; yet the young girl's face was blanched with fear.
"You screamed at that?" demanded Redburn, pointing to the coiling
serpent.
"Ugh! yes; it is horrible."
"But, it is harmless. See: some one has given it a blow across the
back, and it is disabled for harm."
Anita looked up into his handsome face, wonderingly.
"I guv et a rap across the spinal column, when I kim into the valley,"
said General Nix, thrusting his head in at the door, a ludicrous grin
elongating his grisly features. "'Twar a-goin' ter guv me a yard or so
uv et's tongue, more or less--consider'bly less of more than more of
less--so I jest salivated it across ther back, kerwhack!"
Anita screamed again as she saw the General, he was so rough and
homely.
"Who are you?" she managed to articulate as Redburn assisted her to
rise from the floor. "What are you doing here, where you were not
invited?"
There was a degree of haughtiness in her tone that Redburn did not
dream she possessed.
The "General" rubbed the end of his nose, chuckled audibly, then
laughed, outright.
"I opine this ar' a free country, ain't it, marm, more or less? When a
feller kerflummuxes rite down onter a payin' streek I opine he's goin'
ter roost that till he gits reddy to vamoose, ain't he?"
"But, sir, my brother was the first to discover this spot and build us
a home here, and he claims that all belongs to him."
"He do? more or less--consider'bly less of more than more uv less, eh?
Yas, I kno' yer brother--leastways hev seen him an' heerd heeps about
him. Letters uv his name spell Ned Harris, not?"
"Yes, sir; but how can you know him? Few do, in Deadwood."
"Nevyer mind that, my puss. Ole Walsingham Nix do kno' a few things
yet, ef he ar' a hard old nut fer w'ich thar is not cra'kin'."
Anita looked at Redburn, doubtfully.
"Brother would be very angry if he were to return and find this man
here, what would you advise?"
"I am of the opinion that he will have to vacate," replied Harry,
decidedly.
"_Nix_ cum-a-rouse!" disagreed the old prospecter. "I'm hayr, an'
thar's no yearthly use o' denyin _that_. Barrin' ye ar' a right
peart-lookin' kid, stranger, allow me ter speculate thet it would take
a dozen, more or less--consider'bly less uv more than more o'
less--ter put me out."
Redburn laughed heartily. The old fellow's bravado amused him. Anita
however, was silent; she put dependence in her protector to arrange
matters satisfactorily.
"That savors strongly of rebellion," Redburn observed, sitting down
upon a lounge that stood hard by. "Besides, you have an advantage; I
would not attack you; you are old and unfitted for combat; deformed
and unable to do battle."
"Exactly!" the "General" confidently announced.
"What good can come of your remaining here?" demanded Anita.
"Sit down, marm, sit down, an I'll perceed ter divest myself uv w'at
little information I've got stored up in my noddle. Ye see, mum, my
name's Walsingham Nix, at yer sarvice--Walsingham bein' my great,
great grandad's fronticepiece, while Nix war ther hind-wheeler, like
nor w'at a he-mule ar' w'en hitched ter a 'schooner.' Ther Nix family
were a great one, bet yer false teeth; originated about ther time
Joner swallered the whale, down nigh Long Branch, and 've bin handed
down frum time ter time till ye behold in me ther last surrivin'
pilgrim frum ther ancestral block. Thar was one remarkable
pecooliarity about ther Nix family, frum root ter stump, an' ther war,
they war nevyer known ter refuse a gift or an advantageous offer; in
this respeck they bore a striking resemblance ter the immortell G'orge
Washington. G'orge war innercent; he ked never tell a lie. So war our
family; they never hed it in their hearts to say _Nix_ to an offer uv
a good feed or a decoction o' brandy.
"It war a disease--a hereditary affection uv ther hull combined
system. The terrible malady attacked me w'en I war an infant prodigy,
an' I've nevyer yit see'd thet time when I c'u'd resist the temptation
an' coldly say 'nix' w'en a brother pilgrim volunteered ter make a
liberal dispensation uv grub, terbarker, or bug-juice. Nix ar' a word
thet causes sorrer an' suffering ter scores 'n' scores o' people, more
or less--generally more uv less than less o' more--an' tharfore I
nevyer feel it my duty, as a Christyun, ter set a bad example w'ich
others may foller."
Redburn glanced toward Anita, a quizzical expression upon his genial
face.
"I fail to see how that has any reference as to the cause of your stay
among us," he observed, amused at the quaint lingo of the prospector.
"Sart'in not, sart'in not! I had just begun ter git thar. I've only
bin gi'in' ye a geological ijee uv ther Nix family's formation; I'll
now perceed to illustrate more clearly, thr'u' veins an' channels
hitherto unexplored, endin' up wi' a reg'lar hoss-car proposal."
Then the old fellow proceeded with a rambling "yarn," giving more
guesses than actual information and continued on in this strain:
"So thar _war_ gold. I went ter work an' swallered a pill o' opium,
w'ich made me sleep, an' while I whar snoozin' I dreampt about ther
perzact place whar thet gold war secreted. It war in a little pocket
beneath the bed of a spring frum which flowed a little creeklet.
"Next mornin', bright an' early, I shouldered pick, shuvyel an' pan,
an' went for thet identical spring. To-day thet pocket, havin' been
traced into a rich vein, is payin' as big or bigger nor any claim on
Spring creek."[B]
Both Redburn and Anita were unconsciously becoming interested.
"And do you think there is gold here, in this flower-strewn
pocket-valley?"
"I don't think it--I know it. I hed a dreem et war hayr in big
quantities, so I h'isted my carcass this direction. Ter-nite I'll hev
ernuther nighthoss, an' thet'll tell me precisely where ther strike
ar'."
Redburn drummed a tattoo on the arm of the lounge his fingers; he was
reflecting on what he had heard.
"You are willing to make terms, I suppose," he said, after a while,
glancing at Anita to see if he was right. "You are aware, I believe,
that we still hold possession above any one else."
"True enuff. Ye war first ter diskiver this place ye orter hev yer say
about it."
"Well, then, perhaps we can come to a bargain. You can state your
prices for locating and opening up this mine, and we will consider."
"Wal, let me see. Ef the mine proves to be ekal ter the one thet I
located on Spring creek, I'll take in a third fer my share uv the
divys. Ef 'tain't good's I expect, I'll take a quarter."
Redburn turned to Anita.
"From what little experience I have had, I think it is a fair offer.
What is your view of the matter and do you believe your brother will
be satisfied?"
"Oh! yes, sir. It will surprise and please him, to return and find his
Paradise has been turned into a gold-mine."
"All right; then, we will go ahead and get things to shape. We will
have to get tools, though, before we can accomplish much of anything."
"My brother has a miner's outfit here," said Anita. "That will save
you a trip to Deadwood, for the present."
And so it was all satisfactorily arranged. During the remainder of the
day the old "General" and Redburn wandered about through the
flower-meadows of the pocket, here and there examining a little soil
now chipping rock among the rugged foothills, then "feeling" in the
bed of the creek. But, not a sign of anything like gold was to be
found, and when night called them to shelter, Redburn was pretty
thoroughly convinced that Nix was an enormous "sell," and that he
could put all the gold they would find in his eye. The "General,"
however, was confident of success, and told many doubtful yarns of
former discoveries and exploits.
Anita prepared an evening meal that was both tempting and sumptuous,
and all satisfied their appetites after which Harry took down the
guitar, suspended from the wall, tuned it up, and sung in a clear
mellow voice a number of ballads, to which the "General," much to the
surprise of both Redburn and Anita, lent a rich deep bass--a voice of
superior culture.
The closing piece was a weird melody--the lament of a heart that was
broken, love-blasted--and was rendered in a style worthy of a
professional vocalist. The last mournful strains filled the cabin just
as the last lingering rays of sunlight disappeared from the mountain
top, and shadows came creeping down the rugged walls of rock to
concentrate in the Flower Pocket, as Anita had named her valley home.
Redburn rose from his seat at the window, and reached the instrument
to its accustomed shelf, darting a glance toward sad Anita, a moment
later. To his surprise he perceived that her head was bowed upon her
arm that lay along the window-ledge--that she was weeping, softly, to
herself.
Acting the gentlemanly part, the young miner motioned for Nix to
follow him, and they both retired to the outside of the cabin to
lounge on the grass and smoke, and thus Anita was left alone with her
grief and such troubles as were the causes thereof.
Certain it was that she had a secret, but what it was Redburn could
not guess.
About ten o'clock he and Nix re-entered the cabin and went to bed in a
room allotted to them, off from the little parlor. Both went to sleep
at once, and it was well along toward morning when Redburn was aroused
by being rudely shaken by "General" Nix, who was up and dressed, and
held a torch in his hand.
"Come! come!" he said in a husky whisper, and a glance convinced Harry
that he was still asleep, although his eyes were wide open and
staring.
Without a word the young man leaped from bed, donned his garments, and
the old man then led the way out of the cabin.
In passing through the kitchen, Redburn saw that Anita was up and
waiting.
"Come!" he said, seizing a hatchet and stake, "we are about to
discover the gold-mine, and our fortunes;" with a merry laugh.
Then both followed in the wake of the sleep walker, and were led to
near the center of the valley, which was but a few steps in the rear
of the cabin. Here was a bed of sand washed there from an overflow of
the stream, and at this the "General" pointed, as he came to a halt.
"There! _there_ is the gold--millions of it deep down--twenty or
thirty feet--in sand--easy to get! dig! DIG! DIG!"
Redburn marked the spot by driving the stake in the ground.
It now only remained to dig in the soil to verify the truth of the old
man's fancy.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: A fact.]