CHAPTER XVI
ON TO BLACK CAT CAMP
"You go!" cried Dave.
"I thought you had given up prospecting," exclaimed Roger.
"Not but that we'd be glad to have you along," put in Phil, hastily.
"Well, I have given up prospecting," answered Mr. Dillon, with thatbroad smile still on his face. "But I like to go out once in a while,just for the sake of old times. Besides that, I was interested in theLandslide Mine myself in a way."
"How so?" asked the senator's son.
"Well, when Maurice Harrison staked the claim I came along and staked aclaim a bit further up the trail. It wasn't near so good a prospect aswas the Landslide, but it was pretty fair, and I was sorry to see thatlandslide come along an' knock us all out. So, if we find the lostLandslide Mine maybe we'll locate my mine, too."
"Come by all means, and welcome, Mr. Dillon!" cried Roger. "If you hadthat mine you speak about you must know as much about that district asAbe Blower--maybe more."
"I think I know as much, but not any more, lads. Abe is a goodprospector, and he knows Montana from end to end, an' Idaho, too, aswell as other gold fields. He has made money, too, but he allers spentthe cash lookin' fer bigger things, while I salted a good bit o' mineaway!" And Tom Dillon chuckled broadly.
The matter was talked over for the best part of an hour, and it wasdecided to begin the hunt for the Landslide Mine on the followingmorning.
"There ain't no ust bein' in too much o' a hurry," said Mr. Dillon."That mine ain't goin' to walk away, and Abe Blower an' those with himain't goin' to find it right plumb to onct, believe me! I guess the onlyreason those others hurried so was because they feared you would comealong and queer their game with Abe."
"I think that myself," said Roger.
"Abe had a prospectin' outfit all ready--he allers has--up to Black CatCamp. That's the startin'-point for the Rodman trail, on which theLandslide Mine an' my mine was located. Now we haven't any outfit, sowe'll have to git one right here in Butte."
"We'll get whatever you say," answered Roger. "Of course, I don't wantto make this too expensive," he added, thinking of something his fatherhad told him--that just at present finances in the Morr family were notat their best.
"We can hire hosses--I know where to git just the right animals," saidTom Dillon. "And we won't pay no fortune for 'em either. And then you'llwant some different clothes," and he looked critically at thewell-dressed youths.
"Oh, we know that--we have roughed it before," returned Dave. And hementioned their trip to Star Ranch, to Cave Island, and to the South SeaIslands, Norway, and other out-of-the-way places.
"Well, you sure have traveled some!" exclaimed Tom Dillon. "You'll dofor this trip. I'm glad you know how to rough it. I onct had a bunch oftenderfeet along--young fellers from the East, who had never roughed itbefore--and, believe me, what those chaps didn't know would fill aboomer's wagon twict over. Why, they couldn't wash less'n they had abasin to do it in an' a towel to dry on, an' it mixed 'em all up to tryto sleep on the ground rolled in a blanket. An' when it come to grub,well, they was a-lookin' for napkins an' bread-an'-butter plates, an'finger bowls, an' I don't know what all! It jest made me plumb tired, itsure did!" And the old miner sighed deeply.
"We won't give you any trouble that way," said Dave, with a grin."Regular camp food is good enough for us, and I can sleep almostanywhere if I am tired enough."
"And you can't beat Dave riding," broke in Roger. "When he was at StarRanch he busted the wildest bronco you ever saw."
"Is that so! Well, I don't like no wild broncos. I like a good, steadyhoss, one as can climb the mountain trails and is sure-footed on theedge o' a cliff. That's the kind we'll git," concluded Tom Dillon.
The remainder of the day proved a busy one. The boys went out with theold miner to secure the horses and such an outfit as he deemednecessary. Then they spent part of the evening in writing letters to thefolks in Yellowstone Park and at home. Only one letter came in forthem--one from Senator Morr to his son--and this made Roger look verysober.
"No bad news, I hope," said Dave, kindly.
"It's about dad's private affairs," was the reply. "Things have takensomething of a turn for the worse financially." Roger gave a sigh. "Oh,I do hope we can locate that lost mine!"
"We all hope that!" said Dave.
"Indeed, we do!" cried Phil. "We've just got to do it," he added,enthusiastically.
Now that he had made up his mind to undertake the expedition, old TomDillon brightened up wonderfully, and to the boys he appeared ten yearsyounger than when they had first met him. He was a fatherly kind of aman, and the more they saw of him the better they liked him. Heselected the outfit with care, securing five good horses--one for eachof them and an extra animal for the camp stuff, and other things theywere to take along.
In a place like Butte, where Tom Dillon was so well known, it soonbecame noised around that he was going on a prospecting tour. Some askedhim where he was going, but he merely replied that he was going alongwith his young friends to show them the mining districts.
"It won't do to let 'em know we are going to look for a mine," heexplained, in private. "If we did that, we'd have a crowd at our heelsin no time."
The news concerning the expedition reached the ears of Sol Blugg and hiscronies, and this, coupled with the sudden departure of Abe Blower, setthat crowd to wondering what was up.
"Maybe it's another gold strike," suggested Larry Jaley.
"It might be," said the fellow called Staver.
"If I thought it was a gold strike I'd follow 'em," announced Sol Blugg."Tom Dillon allers was a good one at strikes, an' so was Abe Blower.They know enough to keep away from anything thet looks like a wildcat.I'm a-goin' to look into this," he concluded. And after that the Bluggcrowd kept close watch on Dave and his friends.
The departure was made from Butte about noon of the next day. It wasclear and warm, with a gentle breeze blowing from the west.
"We might have taken a train for the first forty miles," remarked TomDillon. "But it wouldn't have helped us a great deal, for we'd have toside-track for ten miles. We'll go the old way--the way we went aforethere was any railroads."
"There must be a lot of mines in Montana," remarked Phil, as they rodeout of Butte.
"Somebody told me there had been over fifteen thousand minin' claimsstaked and recorded," answered the old miner. "O' course, lots of 'emain't never been developed. But a good many of 'em have."
"They must produce a lot of gold," said Dave.
"Yes, lad, the output runs up into the millions every year. Oh, a goodmine is a bonanza!" added Tom Dillon, emphatically.
"Then I trust we locate the Landslide Mine, and that it proves abonanza," returned Roger, eagerly.
On the way they passed mine after mine, and the boys were muchinterested in watching the process of getting out ore, and also in thework of the huge quartz-crushers. Whenever they passed a mine therewould be sure to be somebody to wave a friendly hand to Tom Dillon.
"He certainly is well known," whispered Roger to Dave.
"Yes, and we were mighty lucky to fall in with him--after missing thatAbe Blower," was the reply.
It was not until about five o'clock in the afternoon that they reached asmall settlement known as Robby's. Here they rested and had supper. Theyinquired about Abe Blower and his party, but could find out nothingconcerning them.
"They must have gone around by Tilton," said Tom Dillon. "That's just asgood a trail and about as short. We'll hear from them at Black CatCamp."
It had been decided to push on to Black Cat Camp after supper, the oldminer stating they ought to make the distance in three hours. Soon theywere on the way again, just as the sun was sinking behind the greatmountains in the west.
"I hope Abe Blower stopped for the day at Black Cat Camp," said Roger tohis chums. "I'd like to meet him and confront Link Merwell--and JobHaskers, too, if he is with them."
"So would I," added Dave and Phil, in a breath.<
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It was more agreeable riding, now that the heat of the day was over. Atnoon it had been very hot, but none of the boys had complained, althoughthey had perspired freely.
As it became darker they could see the twinkling lights of many a miningtown and camp shining out in the mountains and the valleys below.
"It didn't used to be so, when first I came to Montana," remarked TomDillon. "In them days you could ride out here all night an' not see alight. But the State has settled putty fast in the last twenty-fiveyears. They are buildin' railroads everywhere, an' towns spring up overnight, like toadstools."
"Are there any wild animals out here?" questioned Phil.
"Heaps of 'em, further away from the cities. Bears, an' mountain lions,an' wildcats, an' wolves. An' then we have plenty o' mule an' otherdeer, an' elk, as well as Rocky Mountain goats, an' mountain sheep."
"Perhaps we'll get a chance to do some hunting!" exclaimed Phil.
"Not much, this time o' year, lad. But you might hunt a bear--if hecornered you!" And Tom Dillon laughed at his little joke.
"Did a bear ever corner you?" asked Dave.
"Onct, just onct, and it was the wust experience I ever had with a wildbeast," replied the old miner. "I was out prospectin' when I got on anarrow ledge o' rock. All to onct I discovered a grizzly on the tudderend o' the ledge. We was both sitooated, as the sayin' is, so Icouldn't pass the bear an' he couldn't pass me. I had fired my gun an'missed him. When I tried to pass by he riz up an' growled an' when hetried to pass me I swung my gun a-tryin' to knock off his head. An' sowe had it fer about an hour, nip an' tuck, an' nobuddy doin' nuthin."
"But you escaped," said Roger. "How did you do it?"
"I didn't do it--your uncle, Maurice Harrison, done it. It was a favor Iowed him that I never got paid back," responded Tom Dillon, feelingly."The bear got mad and all to onct sprung at me. I swung the gun an' heknocked it outer my hand. Then I heerd a report from another ledge aboveus, and over rolled Mr. Bear, shot through the heart. An' MauriceHarrison done it."
"Good for Uncle Maurice!" cried Roger.
"That shot came just in time," went on the old miner. "If ithadn't--well, I wouldn't be here, lookin' for the Landslide Mine,"concluded Tom Dillon.
"I don't know that I want a bear to corner me," said Phil, with ashiver.
"No, we'll leave the bears alone, if they'll leave us alone," returnedDave.
It was a little before nine o'clock when they came in sight of Black CatCamp, a typical mining community, perched on the side of one of thefoothills leading to the mountains. There was one main street,stretched out for the best part of a quarter of a mile. All thebuildings were of wood and none of them over two stories in height.
"We'll go to Dick Logan's place," said Mr. Dillon. "That is where AbeBlower used to keep his outfit."
The boys found Logan's place to consist of a general store, with a sortof boarding-house and stables attached. Dick Logan was behind thecounter of the store, in his shirtsleeves. He greeted the old miner witha smile, and shook hands cordially.
"Is Abe Blower around?" demanded Tom Dillon, without preliminaries ofany kind.
"He was around, Tom, yesterday," was Dick Logan's answer. "But he lefthere about the middle of the afternoon."