Digging for Gold 26

Digging for Gold 26

“I suppose I ought to have a pair of blankets.”

 

“I’ll buy you a pair. There’s a chap going to leave to-day, and we can

buy his. Now come out and see the mines.”

 

Leaving the hotel, Tom led the way to the mining claims. There was a

deep gulch half a mile distant, at the base of which ran a creek, and it

was along this that the claims were staked out. They were about twenty

feet wide, in some cases more. Tom led the way to his, and showed Grant

the way he worked. He used a rocker, or cradle. A sieve was fitted in at

the top, and into this the miner shoveled the dirt. Tom rocked the

cradle with one hand, after it was filled, and poured water on the dirt

from a dipper. Gradually the dirt was washed out, and if there was any

gold it would remain in small gleaming particles mixed with black sand.

 

“Isn’t that rather a rough way of working, Tom?” asked Grant, after his

tour of inspection.

 

“Yes; I have been thinking of getting what the miners call a ‘long

tom’—no pun intended.”

 

“What is that?”

 

I won’t give Tom’s answer, but quote a more accurate description from an

English book published in 1857: “A ‘long tom’ is nothing more than a

wooden trough from twelve to twenty-five feet long, and about a foot

wide. At the lower end it widens considerably, and the floor of it is a

sheet of iron, pierced with holes half an inch in diameter, under which

is placed a flat box a couple of inches deep. The long tom is set at a

slight inclination over the place which is to be worked, and a stream of

water is kept running through it by means of a hose. While some of the

party shovel the dirt into the tom as fast as they can dig it up, one

man stands at the lower end, stirring up the dirt as it is washed down,

separating the stones and throwing them out, while the earth and small

gravel fall with the water through the sieve into the ripple box. This

box is about five feet long, and is crossed by two partitions. It is

also placed at an inclination, so that the water falling into it keeps

the dirt loose, allowing the gold and heavy particles to settle to the

bottom, while all the lighter stuff washes over the end of the box along

with the water.”

 

The dirt taken out of the ripple box has to be washed out afterward, so

as to leave the gold particles.

 

“Where is the claim you have bought for me, Tom?” asked Grant.

 

“A little farther down the creek. I will show you.”

 

“Lend me your cradle, and, see if I can work it.”

 

Grant took the cradle and, under Tom’s direction, shoveled in some dirt,

and proceeded to rock it. He was quite delighted when, as the result of

his labors, a few specks of gold appeared at the bottom.

 

“How much does it amount to, Tom?” he asked, gathering it into his hand.

 

“Perhaps a dime.”

 

Grant looked rather disappointed.

 

“It would take some time to get rich at that rate,” he said rather

ruefully.

 

“Yes; but there is always a chance of ‘striking it rich.’ That is what

keeps our spirits up. By the way, Grant, I have a proposal to make to

you.”

 

“What is it, Tom?”

 

“Suppose we work together. We can take turns in digging, shovelling in

the dirt, and rocking the cradle. That will be more sociable, and we can

divide equally whatever gold we obtain.”

 

“That will suit me exactly, Tom; but as you are more experienced than I,

you ought to have more than half.”

 

“No, Grant. It shall be share and share alike. There is another

advantage. It will save getting an extra rocker.”

 

“I am ready to begin at once.”

 

“Are you not too tired?”

 

“No, Tom. I want to feel that I have begun to work. If I get tired I can

sleep better to-night.”

 

They worked for two hours, when they knocked off for the day. The work

was done on Grant’s claim. Tom estimated the result at a dollar.

 

“That is fifty cents apiece,” he said. “To-morrow we’ll do better.”

 

“I don’t mind, Tom. I have made a beginning. Now I feel that I am a

miner.”

 

At six o’clock they went to the hotel, which was a general

lounging-place for the miners.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXIV.

GRANT HAS AN ADVENTURE.

 

 

“Shall we take supper at the hotel?” asked Grant. “How much do they

charge?”

 

“Two dollars a day for meals and lodging.”

 

“Isn’t that considerable?” asked Grant, rather dismayed.

 

“Yes, if one only earns fifty cents,” answered Tom, smiling.

 

“Do you like sleeping in such a crowd, Tom?”

 

“No; but there seems no other way, unless I bought a cabin, and I should

feel too lonely.”

 

“But now there are two of us together. Why can’t we hire a cabin, and

lodge and eat independently? We can take turns in doing the cooking, and

it will be a good deal cheaper.”

 

“Do you know anything about cooking, Grant? I don’t.”

 

“Yes; I took some lessons at the restaurant. I can teach you all I know

myself.”

 

“Then we can establish ourselves to-morrow. There is a deserted cabin a

little way up the gulch, which no one seems to care to occupy. It is in

fair condition, and the last occupant kept house, so that there are

dishes and cooking utensils. We can take possession, and then, if any

one disputes our right, we can agree to pay rent.”

 

“That will be capital,” said Grant, in a tone of satisfaction.

 

For a month Grant and Tom Cooper worked assiduously, sometimes at one

claim, sometimes at the other. The life of a miner is full of

excitement. Even when he meets with poor luck, there is the prospect

every day of making a rich find. But in the case of the two friends it

was always hope deferred. At the end of the month they sat down to

consider the situation.

 

“Well, Grant, we don’t seem to get much richer,” said Tom, taking a

whiff from a clay pipe, which was his evening luxury after a hard day’s

work.

 

“We made fifty cents yesterday,” responded Grant soberly.

 

“Between us. That is twenty-five cents each.”

 

“On the whole, we have been losing ground during the last month. I am

twenty dollars poorer than when I came here.”

 

“And I have fallen behind as much, or more than that.”

 

“Digging for gold isn’t what I thought it to be,” said Grant. “I was

doing a good deal better in Sacramento.”

 

“That maybe; but we mustn’t forget that a man does strike luck once in a

while.”

 

“It won’t do us any good to have some other man strike luck.”

 

“I see you are getting down-hearted, Grant.”

 

“Well, not exactly; but I think I’ve made a mistake. Neither of our

claims amounts to much.”

 

“What do you propose, then?”

 

“I have nothing to propose,” said Grant modestly. “You are older and

more experienced than I. I will follow your plan.”

 

“Then let us work three days longer. If, at the end of that time,

nothing turns up, we will pull up stakes, and go elsewhere. We can’t

afford to go on working and falling behind all the time.”

 

“Three days then, Tom.”

 

“You haven’t had any luck yet, Grant. I had a share before you came.”

 

“I am afraid my coming brought you bad luck.”

 

“Bad luck or not, I am glad to have you here. After a hard day’s work it

seems pleasant to have some one to talk to.”

 

“If I should leave you, how would Silverthorn do?” asked Grant, smiling.

 

“Poor company is worse than none. I’d rather hustle by myself than have

that man ’round.”

 

The next morning the two partners went to work as usual. They always

started hopeful of good results, but, as the day wore away and results

were meager, their hopes began to sink. That day they cleared between

them a dollar and a half, while their expenses, at a modest calculation,

so high were provisions, were nearly double this sum.

 

“Another day lost!” commented Tom as they sat over their evening fire,

for it was beginning to grow cold at the close of the day.

 

“We won’t say anything about it,” said Grant. “Let the three days pass,

and then we will consult.”