Beadle's Dime Novels, No. 91: The Lost Cache — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

= 18 THE LOST CACHE, “Tell us all about it, father. Why hayen’t you spoken of : it before ?” + “T have not wished to excite you unnecessarily, and have— thought it best to: wait until you were old enough to look at the matter understandingly. I hoped to be able by that time, as I now find myself to be, to return to the East, and ex- peeted to stop on my way to pick up my treasure. While you were children, you remember, shortly after I had settled in the Territory, I was taken prisoner by the Indians, with whom I remained a captive during several years. : “Tt so happened, thanks to Providence, that I was well treated. I made myself useful to my savage captors, and was so much esteemed among them, that I believe I might have been raised, in the course of time, to the dignity of chief. But that was far from mY desire; my thoughts were all with my family, who doubtless believed me dead, and the sight of my wife and children would have been worth far more to me _ than all the honors or favors that the red-skins could possibly have conferred upon me. I tried to persuade the Indians to allow me to leave them, but my entreaties were of no avail, and I was compelled to remain, traveling when they traveled, and stopping when. they stopped. While the tribe that held me was sojourning near the base of the mountains, about the head-waters of the Missouri, I was allowed considerable liberty, - and occupied myself in making some geological researches, that were very interesting to me, and served to divert my thoughts from my. troubles. As I was thus engaged, I per- ceived some shining particles in the bed of a stream, and was convinced, on close observation, that they were grains of gold. On further investigation, I discovered more of the same metal in the banks of the stream, and in several little water-courses that ran into it. I thought I'saw an opportunity to acquire considerable wealth, and resolved to get what I could,’ hoping to be able to secure it in the future, -I made a rough cradle, of willow twigs covered with a skin, and set at work to wash the glittering earth, and collect the dust. As I wished to conduct my operations as secretly as possible, I did not pro- gress very rapidly, but I succeeded, in the course of one season, in accumulating a considerable quantity of the yellow metal, all of which I carefully concealed. As I was pursuing my comicbooks.com