CHAPTER XVIII
The Gold Rush
The gold rush to California was no new thing when Jack and his friendscrossed the craggy heights of Nevada, and reached the green valleys tothe west. Indeed it was already some years since the first of that longstream of eager individuals had pushed across the plains with the objectof discovering gold. Some had made huge fortunes, many had made simply aliving, while not a few had failed miserably.
"And a tidy sight of the poor things has left their bones out on themplains," said Tom, when discussing the matter. "I mind the time whenAmerica went mad about this here gold rush. Everyone was fer throwin' upa good and steady job, and ample wages, ter get over to Californy andtry his luck. And in the minin' camps yer could meet the hard-workingnavvy, the store clerk, the doctor, the lawyer, and a host of others.There war men who had lost their all way back east, and fer whom thefinding of gold meant everything. Mostly they was disappointed, 'cosgold diggin' aer a gamble, and gamblin' aer a game that ain't never safeter play unless yer kin afford ter lose. Even then it ain't good. A manwas meant ter take up a settled job, and put his back into it. Gamblershope ter make a pile and live easy on it fer a time without troublin' towork. Wall, that ain't right. Men like that ain't much good ter theircountry."
"Hear, hear!" called out Steve.
"Yer see," went on Tom, "me and Steve was hunters first, and huntin'ain't a steady job, as it war. It includes makin' money as best wecould, and it so happened that him and me was Californy way at the veryright moment. We struck up pals, and went into partnership, and thar yerare. Wall, as I was sayin', yer could meet most any sort of man at thediggin's. The cut-throat and robber, as wasn't much good ter no one. Theforeigner, the English gentleman, sailors and soldiers. Some came acrossthe plains. A tidy few crossed Panama, and took ship ter 'Frisco. Andthar they war, diggin' fer their lives, lookin' cross-eyed at theirneighbours, lest they should strike a pile fust. This here Californy'schock-full of minin' camps that's been abandoned and worked out. Allthem diggers settled on the easiest and most likely spots, and yer maytake it that they've cleared the gold most everywhar whar it war easyter get at. It ain't no longer any use comin' along and stakin' claimsand workin' 'em. Ye've got ter prospect a heap, and then set up a plantbigger than any of them first diggers had."
"And ye've got ter settle down ter hard work," burst in Jacob.
"Ye have that," agreed Tom. "What do yer boys thar think of doin'? Meand Steve and Jack thar aer partners, as yer all know. We've lumped in agoodish sight of money, and we've got sufficient plant ter tackle anyjob. But we shall be wantin' labour."
"And six men ain't too many," said Steve quickly, lookin' across atJacob.
Tom and Steve and Jack had talked the matter over on the previous day,and it had been agreed amongst them that they should invite the sixscouts who had accompanied them across the plains to become theirpartners.
"Yer see," said Steve, when broaching the matter to Tom and our hero,"tain't like takin' on men as we don't know. Jacob and the other boyshas proved themselves real pals, and we kin trust 'em. It would pay usall ter go on as we aer."
"Look here, boys," cried Tom, facing the six men, "me and my mates hasbeen having a jaw, and we decided we'd get to and ax yer ter come inalong with us. We want help, willing help, and guess yer want work.Wall, now, there's seventeen Indian hosses, and away here in Californyhorse flesh is mighty scarce jest now, and hard ter get. Ef we sold 'emwe should make a fine lot of dollars, 'specially ef we didn't do a dealin too great a hurry. I mean, we could sell one here, another thar, andso on, gettin' good prices all the time. Then, once we've located a spotas seems likely, we kin get to and sell some of the team. Our saddlehosses kin pull the cart later on, if it aer needed ter get moved. Yershare of them seventeen hosses would give yer a little bit to put intothe partnership. We'd pay yer so much wages ef yer didn't like thatarrangement. But seems to me yer could each buy an interest. Then we allwork fer the common good. Ef it pans out rich, we share according to theinterest each man has. Ef we strike a bad egg, wall----"
"Yer try and try agin," laughed Jacob. "Now, look ye here, Tom, and you,Steve, and that 'ere Carrots. We've took to yer proper. There ain't beena sore word among us these past months. Wall, nat'ral like, we've beenwonderin' what we'd do once we struck Californy. We aer here ferdiggin', and sence ye're the same, why, we kinder estimated as ye'd beaxin' us this question. We aer ready ter come in on these terms, and wethink the offer handsome. Rightly, sence this here outfit aer yourn,them hosses we took from the Injuns aer yourn also. But sence you'lldivide square, why, that aer a good sign that we'll get on friendly inthis new venture. Me and my mates'll stand in ter win or lose. Seems terme, seein' as we have some dollars ter work on, and needn't thereforerush at the job, as we stand an uncommon good chance."
It took but a little time to complete the arrangements, and accordinglythe little party halted outside the first town they came to, where alawyer drew up the proper agreements. Meanwhile a purchaser had beenfound for the Indian horses, which fetched a good price, and the sharethat Jacob and his five friends obtained allowed of their buying quite arespectable interest in the firm, though they would not, of course, havesuch a large interest as was held by Tom and Steve and Jack. A couple ofdays later they shook the dust of the town from their feet, and, withtheir cart replenished with sugar, flour, and other simple necessaries,took to the road again.
"There aer a gulch as me and Tom spotted last time we was over here,"said Steve that evening. "We allowed as we'd make fer it when we camehere agin, fer it promises somethin'. It aer been clean worked out inthe flats by diggers."
"But that don't say as there ain't gold left," added Tom. "You, mates,haven't no experience of diggin', it seems, and so I'll tell yer a bitabout it. Reckon gold aer been washin' outer the rocks of the mountainshereabouts fer centuries. It has got floated along in the streams, andwhere they run swift it hasn't settled. But as soon as ever it hasreached a spot where the ground is flat, them 'ere specks of gold hascome down to the bottom. In course of ages, what with dirt and graveland sichlike, the bed of the river aer got filled bung up, and the wateraer made a different course. Diggers has staked claims whar thar's beensome old river bed, and have dug the gold from the gravel. They've tookpretty well every ounce by now from sich sort of places; but they ain'tby a long chalk got all the dust thar is in this country. Steve and mestruck a gulch that seemed likely, and we're goin' thar to prospect."
It took the party another three weeks to find and reach the gulch ofwhich Steve had spoken, and, once arrived, they set about prospecting inearnest for gold.
"Yer can see whar the old diggers came and dug their claims," explainedSteve to Jack. "Everywhar down in the flats thar's holes and heaps ofdirt. But none of them seed what Tom and me did. This gulch is narrowand flat; the sides come in suddenly, and rise to somewheres about fourhundred feet. And up thar there's a big kind of tableland that runs backfer miles. Wall, now, the stream that come into the gulch back in themearly times aer moved, else the miners wouldn't have been able ter staketheir claims. Yer can't see it now, but ef yer ride ten miles up thegulch ye'll find it pouring over a cliff and crashin' down ter thebottom. Do yer see what I'm drivin' at?"
Jack thought he did. "I suppose your idea is to find the old stream, orthe place where it once entered the gulch. I should say that if the landup there is flat, and the river shifted years and years ago to someother place, it must be because the bed up there got filled with graveland stuff, and so deflected the course of the water."
"Right! That aer the thing that happened, I guess. Wall, now, we've gotter find the spot whar that 'ere stream tumbled over the cliff, and terdo that we don't need ter ride clear up the gulch and search all along.Them old miners are done that. Their diggin's don't go more than threemiles up from here, and, as ye've seen fer yerself, there ain't any downlower. So I reckon that stream came over the cliff somewhars along thesethree miles. It may have been down here, or mebbe it war up thar. Tharain't no
sayin', and it ain't of no use ter go by the fall of the land.Thar's been earthquakes and queer ructions here in past days, and theland aer altered."
It took a week's patient and careful scrutiny of the gulch to discoverthe point where the stream must have flowed into the gulch in past ages,and when the place was found, to the amazement of all it was almostprecisely where they had made their temporary camp.
"Which aer a good omen," observed Jacob.
"Thet water must have been comin' over fer a sight of years," said Tom,as he clambered with Jack up the steep face of the cliff. "A chap mighthunt and hunt, and never have no notion that it war here it come over.But a spade helps a deal in these matters, and here we have a solidstretch of gravel, sixty yards across, roughly, wedged in between acouple of rocky walls. Do yer foller what happened?"
"I think I see clearly," said Jack. "There must have been a deep slit inthe rocks years ago, and the water flowed along it and emptied into thisgulch. I suppose the water drained from mountains right over there?"
"That aer so," agreed Tom. "Thar's a big watershed back away at the topof the cliff, and thar must have been a flood coming along thischannel."
"Slowly, I think," said Jack, "else the channel would have beencontinually washed clean. But it has filled and filled, till, in thecourse of ages, the whole thing has become blocked and the water hasfound a new channel for itself."
"And aer left us here a pile of gravel, which may or may not hold gold.Reckon, seein' that thim diggin's down thar is extensive and deep dug,that the miners in this camp made something of it. So thar's everychance that gold did come down. Ef it did, thar's a sight of it in thisgravel. Not here, perhaps, for the stream would quicken a bit, just wharit was goin' ter fall; but a few yards back. Anyway, we'll set to andtest it."
That afternoon picks and spades were hard at work on the wedge of gravelbetween its rocky walls. A cradle made of sheet iron was filled andtaken down to the stream which passed the camp down below, and waterwas allowed to flow into it while Steve and Tom rocked it. Thar wereanxious faces peering into the depths of the cradle, when at length thecontents had been sufficiently washed. The water was allowed to drainaway, big pieces of rock and stone were carefully removed, and finally alayer of sand was come upon. It glistened in the sun.
"Hooroo!" shouted Tom. "That aer gold. Not a heap of it, but gold; andtidy rich, I should say, seein' it comes from the face of the gravel.Now we'll take another sample."
They worked till night fell, and again on the following day. Choosingthe very centre of the wedge of gravel, they burrowed some three yardsinto it, testing samples from time to time, and finding a richer depositof gold dust in the cradle the deeper they went. Then, with a shout ofsatisfaction, Jacob unearthed a nugget the size of a bean.
"There ain't no need ter go farther," said Tom, when the night hadfallen, and they were seated round the camp fire. "Thar aer work herefer the crowd of us ter take us a hull year. Now we has to engineer thebusiness properly, fer it stands ter reason nine men, nor ninety, can'tdig all that stuff away. It would take years. We have ter make someother sorter arrangement, and fer that we've the apparatus in the cart.What we'll do is this. We'll tap the river 'way up thar. Me and Stevemeasured it up yesterday: it aer jest twenty-eight yards from the edge,and out of line of the old stream. Perhaps it was formed only lately;but it carries heaps of water and will give us all we want. We'll leadit down through a wooden sluice, take the water ter an iron nozzle, andwash the dirt out into a wooden trough below. Now, mates, we want woodfirst of all, and some of us'll have ter get off ter the nearest sawmillter buy and fetch it. T'others can fix the camp while they're gone, andget ter work diggin' the new channel up thar."
The whole plan of operations was quickly agreed upon, and promptly, onthe following morning, Jacob and three of his mates unloaded the wagon,and went off with a full team to the sawmill, some twenty miles away.The others clambered to the top of the cliff, and for three dayslaboured at digging a trench three feet wide and as many deep. Theybrought it from the bank of the stream mentioned by Tom which ran acrossthe height above within reach of the edge, to the point where one of therocky walls that had once enclosed the stream cropped into the open.Then they searched for a bed of clay, and finding some, puddled it withwater till it was thin enough for their purpose, when they smeared itover the sides and bottom of the channel they had dug.
"It'll dry hard by to-morrow," said Tom; "then we'll give it anothercoat. It'll keep the water from washin' stones down into the nozzle andblockin' it. Jack, reckon the time's come fer yer anvil."
For the week following Jack found his hands filled. Up at cockcrow inthe morning, he donned his leathern apron, and set his fire going. Thenhis hammer fell and clinked musically as he forged stout iron bands,which were to support the wooden framing his friends were constructing.It cost a great deal of hard labour to bring all their arrangements to asatisfactory completion; but when the task was finished they had achannel completed above, with a sluice by means of which they couldallow water to enter at will. Another blocked the stream which they weretapping, just below their channel, thus giving them an ample head ofwater. The other end of the channel, where it ended at the edge of thecliff, was completely boxed in with boards, held together with heavyforgings, and from this point the water poured down a long, squarewooden pipe, strengthened in the same manner. At the very end the streamwas led into a huge iron pipe, which got smaller and smaller, till iteventually presented a six-inch orifice, while the last six feet werecapable of some amount of movement, whereby the course of the jet couldbe deflected.
"A man couldn't stand before it," said Tom, surveying the jet when allwas ready. "The force of water'll be sich that ef we was ter close thejet it'd bust the wooden pipe above. As it is, thar'll be a streamcomin' from that 'ere nozzle that'll eat into the gravel quicker thanthe hull lot of us, and it'll wash piles of dirt down into the catcheswe have made. Ter-morrer we start in right away at the real business."
It had been no easy matter to arrange their catches below the pointwhere the water was to play upon the cliff and gravel. But Steve was aknowing fellow, and had insisted that the jet should be brought as lowas possible.
"So as ter undermine the rest of the stuff," he explained. "Then it'llfall in easy."
A wooden channel was erected below the spot where the jet was to play,the width of which, great at first narrowed steadily, while the channelitself descended at a sharp angle. Every ten feet along it bulkheadswere erected across, in wedge-shape pattern, the apex of the wedge beingpresented upward. Finally the channel ended in a basin, with an overflowto take the water off.
"It's down below we shall get the dust," said Tom, surveying the wholeplant with no little pride. "Them iron washing troughs will soon collectit for us, and with much less diggin' than we should ha' had to do. Uphere, whar the channel's steeper, and nearer the jet, we aer likely terget nuggets. Reckon it'll pay us ter go steady. We'll play the jet firstthing in the morning, till the channel and the partitions in it aerpretty full. Then we'll shut off the water, and get to at washing.There's a trough fer each of us, and one man can do a heap, considerin'the arrangements we have made."
The whole plant was, in fact, splendidly engineered. In order to savelabour, they had not only pressed the water from the stream above intotheir service, with the idea of making it dig by its force, and bringthe gravel away from between its rocky walls; but they had so contrivedmatters that they could open a sluice at the bottom of the huge woodenpipe which fed the water to the jet, and could pass the contents down anarrow channel, running beside the one constructed, to catch the dirt.Suspended in this, one opposite each bulkhead, was a long wooden trough,either end faced with a plate of iron, in which Jack had bored numerousholes, small at the bottom, and getting bigger towards the top.
"They're jest like the washing troughs used by diggers," explained Tom,"and me and Steve's rocked 'em day in and day out. Yer see, the stuffone shovels into them gets broken up by the rocking, while th
e watercarries the grit away. One pitches the big stuff out with one's hands,while the sand and the gold settles. Gee, ef after all this herepreparation, we don't make a pile, why, bust me, I'll take ter scoutin'agin!"
Let the reader imagine the excitement amongst this little party on thefollowing morning. Tom lit his pipe to show his coolness and his utterdisregard of results, and clambered to the top of the cliff. But it wasnot the same cool Tom who had commanded the movements of the band whenattacked by Indians. His hand was trembling as he manoeuvred thesluice gate above, while his anxiety to see the water shoot from the jetwas that of a little boy.
"Gee-whiz! Did you ever!" he exclaimed as the water spurted from thejet, and, hitting the face of the gravel, began to dig a path into it."Ef that ain't better than diggin'! Though it has cost a sight of labourter get it all ready. Look how the dirt comes down. Reckon it won't belong afore we have ter pipe farther along, so as ter follow the grit."
That afternoon, when the bulkheads and the channel in which they wereplaced were crammed with fallen gravel, the sluice at the bottom of thewooden pipe was opened, and the spurt of water from the jet ceased. Thenthe various individuals of the party set to work with their shovels,and, each selecting one of the troughs, threw the stuff which had beenwashed down into it, and rocked vigorously, while the stream playedthrough the holes at the head of the trough, washed the dirt, andtrickled out at the farther end. The most exciting time of all hadarrived. Each one of the party wondered if, when he had laboured for awhile, and had at length cleared away the debris, he would find thebottom of his trough filled with common sand, or whether amidst theyellow particles there would be others, gleaming bright in the sunshine,the gold for which he laboured and on which he had set his heart.