CHAPTER VII
OFF FOR THE WEST
Never before, save, perhaps, when the lightning struck, had there beensuch excitement in the Crosby home. The farmer and his wife stared inamazement at the sight of their two sons doing a good imitation of aHighland fling, for Will had caught Jed's enthusiasm, and the two boyswere singing and leaping about, "as if they were circus performers," astheir mother said afterward.
"Come on, Nettie, have a waltz!" exclaimed Jed. "We'll send you backenough gold for a pair of earrings and a bracelet!"
"Jed! Jed!" exclaimed his mother. "Do behave yourself. You're not goingto let them undertake that crazy plan, are you?" she asked of herhusband.
Mr. Crosby did not answer. He, too, was thinking of the golden West, andhis poor farm that hardly supported him.
"Of course we can go. Can't we, dad?" asked Jed. "Why, it will be thebest thing that ever happened!"
"It will--if we get the gold," added his brother, more soberly, for hisfirst enthusiasm had begun to cool.
"Find the gold? Of course we'll find the gold. Won't we, Mr. Harrison?"
"Well, I always have been pretty lucky," replied the miner. "I alwaysgot gold when I went after it, but I didn't always keep it. If I had themoney the gambler swindled me out of I'd be in good shape now."
"Maybe that gambler your friend wrote about is the same one who swindledyou," suggested Jed.
"No. I guess Con Morton knows enough to keep away from Ted Jordan. He'slooking for him, too. But I'll come across Con some day, and then I'llwager I'll make him shell out what he stole from me. But, Mr. Crosby,seriously speaking, why can't these two boys go with me? It will do themgood. As Jed says, you won't need them on the farm now, and they maystrike it rich. Stranger things have happened."
"I don't know that I would object to having them go, in your company,"said the farmer, "for I know they are good boys, and can take care ofthemselves. But I'm afraid I couldn't spare the money for railroadfares, and for the outfits."
"Don't let that worry you," advised Gabe.
"But it does worry me. You can't do anything in this world withoutmoney."
"It doesn't take much to get an outfit for a gold prospector," repliedthe miner. "For that matter I'll undertake to see that they get whatthey need. I have friends enough out there to make that part easy."
"But the railroad fares?"
"We won't need any railroad fares."
"How are you going to get out to that place with the queer name, then?"asked Mrs. Crosby.
"Dizzy Gulch, you mean? That is a queer name, but it's a good one. Itmakes you dizzy when you stand on the edge and look down. But we'll getthere all right. It's not more than eight hundred miles from here."
"You can't walk that far," objected Nettie.
"I know that," replied the miner. "We could, but we don't want to. We'llgo on horseback."
"Horseback?" repeated Jed.
"Yes. I've got money enough to purchase a good nag, and I guess yourfather would be willing for you boys to take the animals here. He'll notneed them much longer. How about it, Mr. Crosby?"
The farmer looked thoughtful.
"You seem to get over most of the difficulties," he remarked.
"Then we can go, can't we, dad?" exclaimed Jed.
"I don't know. I must consider it further. I suppose you could take thehorses. They'll only be eating their heads off in the barn, after thecrops are in."
"That's the way I figured it," resumed Gabe. "Now I'll tell you whatI'll do. I'll write to Ted and ask him to send me word where is the bestplace to strike for. Then I'll get my outfit together, such as there'sleft of it, look around for a horse that can travel a long distance, andwe'll set out for the gold regions."
"That's the way to talk!" cried Jed. "We'll all be millionaires soon!"
"Now hold on!" remonstrated Gabe. "Don't get the idea that you can goout there and pick up gold off the ground. There are some places, Iadmit, where the nuggets are close to the surface, but they're few andfar between. If we get any gold we'll probably have to dig for it, anddigging for the yellow boys is as hard as cultivating corn or hoeingpotatoes. I know, for I've tried both. But, at the same time, I don'tsee why we haven't as good a chance as lots of others. We'll try,anyhow--that is, if your father gives his consent."
"I suppose I might as well," said Mr. Crosby slowly. "You three seem tohave it all planned out, anyhow. But I can't spare the horses for aweek or two."
"That will be time enough," replied the miner. "I want to hear from Tedagain." And there the conversation, for the time being, came to an end.
"It hardly seems possible; does it, Will?" asked Jed, when they weregoing to bed that night. "To think that we're going to become real goldminers!"
"Maybe we won't get any gold after all our trouble," suggested his lesshopeful brother.
"Oh, cheer up!" advised Jed. "Wait until Gabe gets to grubbing aroundwith that lucky pick of his, and the nuggets will just roll out, they'llbe so glad we've come."
Will laughed. There was no withstanding the jolly good nature of hiselder brother.
Enthusiasm for the proposed gold hunt had not waned the next day. Mr.Crosby had talked the matter over with his wife and, though she wasnaturally timid and nervous, she made no objections to letting the boysgo. Mr. Harrison seemed quite confident that in the new diggings therewas a good chance of making a moderate fortune.
"Then you can pay off the mortgage on the farm," said Mrs. Crosby to herhusband.
"If the boys get money enough for that out of their gold mining, I thinkI'll give up farming, and become a prospector myself," said Mr. Crosby,with a smile.
Fortunately for the plan, the barley crop turned out better than any oneexpected, and the price was very high. Mr. Crosby received enough moneyto insure them against hardships that winter, and even enough to buyanother horse, as he might need one if the boys took the two. He securedan animal at a low price. It was not as good as the two he had, but Jedand Will would have to have steeds that could stand a certain amount ofhard life, if they were to go to the gold regions.
In the meanwhile Mr. Harrison had another letter from Ted Jordan, andthis confirmed the first rumors of rich strikes. There was quite a rushof miners and others to the new fields, Jordan wrote, and he advisedGabe and the boys to hurry.
So, one morning, with their simple outfits on the saddles back of them,the boys and Gabe Harrison mounted their horses, and started off for thegolden West.
"Don't you boys go to gambling," cautioned Mrs. Crosby, as she waved afarewell to her sons.
"Now, mother, you know they won't do that," said Nettie.
"I know it--but--but I--I just had to say something," replied hermother, as she tried to hide the tears that would persist in cominginto her eyes.
"Look out for a bagful of gold nuggets!" called back Jed. "I'll sendthem by the first mail."
"All right," answered his father with a laugh. "Good luck, boys, andwrite when you get a chance."
"Good-by!" they chorused, and Gabe Harrison waved his broad-brimmed hatat the little group standing in front of the farmhouse. Soon they wereout of sight down the road.
"It's--it's lonesome--without the boys," said Mrs. Crosby softly, as shewent in the house and closed the door.