Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 517 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

6 Jim Gladden’s Deputy. CHAPTER VII. ‘*SoLD”—THE MINE, OR THE MINERS? ALL the miners in the pocket now resumed their work, those who had recently started in pitching out the surface-dirt with a will, sure of the golden reward that awaited them at the bot- tom. Cale and Banty, meanwhile, were elevating and washing pay-dirt. The work went on merrily enough; but there was a look of quiet determination on the faces of all, as Jakey and his pards drew near, which showed that they would not bear interfering with. There were a lot of men already on the ground, and others were constantly arriving, who could get no place in the pocket. Some were staking out claims on the outside; others hung about the hole which had attracted them all to the spot, gazing wistfully at the lucky owners of the Last Chance—as Cale and his pard had called their mine. The discussion that went on about the hole was of we most extravagant sort. Every one laced bis estimate on the find; and every one bad a story—each wilder than the last preceding —of lucky hits of a similar sort which had come under his personal notice. Jakey and his pards gathered about Cale and Banty, and watched the process of washing. To old miners it was not a difficult task to es- timate fairly the yield; and this was rich enough to satisfy the most y. ‘‘ Pards,” said Jakey, when they had retired beyond earshot, ‘‘ suppose ye put in a bid for dot mine? Dere’s monish in it—I tell you! Shust ou come mitme. iIshow you somet’ing. I haf ke t my eyes open a leedle,” e took them about, showing them the lay of the land above, and proving how a rich deposit must be the inevitable result. : ‘* Dey haven’t got de best of dot yet,” he said, confidently. ‘‘ Vait till dey strike hard-pan! If ve go in now, ve can buy dot out for half vat it is vorth.” After considerable discussion it was concluded to make an offer for the mine, allowing Jakey to do the agi. steer A They were willing to f° as high as thirty thousand dollars, though all felt that that would be a bargain. ‘Vell, shentlemen,” said Jakey, presenting himself before his real pards, *‘ ve like to haf a leddle business mit you.” ‘‘ Our biz is right byar, an’ we’re hard at it,” said Cale, bluntly. ‘Maybe you like to sell dot mine?” ‘Sell nothin’! When you’ve got a good thing, keep it! That’s my motto,” - But you are here like de rest of us—to make monish. Dot may play out in t’ree days. If ou haf a sure t’?ing in your pocket, you can laugh at dot den.” ‘* Play out?’ Cale gave a snort of disgust, and worked away the harder, not deigning a look at the man who dare insinuate anything to the discredit of the Last Chance. ‘‘Dot’s all right,” insisted Jakey. ‘I haf seen..a man on to a t’ing, and come out of de leedle end of de horn. Vat you t’ink dot mine vorth, eh?” , ‘It’s worth a hundred thousand dollars!” said Cale, with the air of a man who was talking at random because he did not wish to be bothered. ‘It’s worth a good deal more than you’ve got to pay fur it,” he added, more soberly. ‘*-You don’t know dot,” said Jakey, taking matters coolly. ‘‘ Maybe your pardner haf somet’ing to say about dot. Eh, my frient? Vat you tink?” ‘‘Cale does the bargainin’ fur this crowd,” said Banty. ‘‘!f he says sell, an’ we kin git a fair stake, I say sell, too. But I ain’t sweatin’ fur it, ye onderstand.” ‘* Maybe it’s better ve go into your vickiup,” oaie T be J akey, ‘‘and ve strike a leedle bar- n, I bet you Cale rose, balancing in his hand the dipper with which he had been at work, and looking at his pard ren ** What d’ye say ‘What do you say?” ‘* But it’s our first strike, after the dirtiest luck that men ever had.” ‘It’s the turn. We may drop onto somethin’ jest as good ag’in.” ‘*Dot’s so!” interposed Jakey, eagerly. ‘I know a man vat had dot shust like you. Ach Gott! vat luck!” And he threw up his hands and skook his head, as if it were past description. ‘Vell, dot man he make it von day. Den he — sell dot oud; and dot company vat buy dot don’t make a bloody cent out o’ dot mine! But dot makes not’ing mit him. He has got his monish in his pockets, and he keeps it dere!” But this was too plainly the invention of a man who was hungry for a bargain. Cale seemed to accept it for what it was worth. ‘“Maybe we ought to stand by our luck,” he said to Banty. ‘* It’s worth as much to us as to anybody.” ‘A bird in the hand don’t turn any man’s stomach,” said Banty. It was plain that he was for selling. ‘‘ Waal, come along, an’ we'll talk it over, anyway,” said Cale, seeming to come to a sud- den decision. S Then Jakey smiled and fawned upon him. He tendered his canteen, as an opening cere- mony. ‘‘Waal, what’s the thing worth to you?” asked Cale, when they were away from the curi- ous crowd. Then began a sharp match at chaffering. Jakey never relaxed his smile, except to throw up his hands and elevate his brows in amaze- ment at the exorbitant expectations of the own- ers of the Last Chance. It was a very good mine as mines went, no doubt. He wouldn’t be trying to buy it if he didn’t believe that. But then, there was a rea- sonable limit to everything. The yield might play out the very next day. It was as good as gambling to buy a mine of any sort, however promising. ‘Put up fifty thousand ag’in’ it, an’ Pll play you fur the lot at draw poker!” cried ale. But Jakey wasn’t a gambling man. He was on the buy, fair and square. He would pay them twenty-five thousand cash in hand, and relieve them of all risk. Cale declared that he’d see Jakey and his crowd in exceedingly uncomfortable quarters before he’d throw the thing away for any such money. ‘*Tt’s plain that we can’t trade with you, gents,” he said. ‘‘An’ you bet yer bottom dollar we don’t propose to throw away any more time chinnin’ with ye, neither! Come along, Banty!” And they walked off like men who had been robbed of just so much precious time to no pur- pose. Jakey was left with his s. ‘* It’s no go,” he said. Ve'll have to come down mit dot tirty tousand; and maybe dot sy pra it.” he pards were now eager at thirty thousand. The thing began to look more and more valu- able as it promised to slip through their fingers. They went over the ground again, Jakey en- larg on all the points. é ‘* Tf I had dot monish of my own,” he cried at ast ‘és slapping his thigh, ‘‘ I don’t stop at dot!” Faith, what'll we do if we don’t sthrike a dicker wid ’um?” asked Scully. ‘¢ We’re sold out everywhere,” said Tim, with a disconsolate look about. ‘* Go the thirty thousand,” said Mallory. Wb said dot before,” observed Jakey, with a smile. ** Blow me tight if I think thirty-five would be too much fur it!” declared Tim, with sudden resolution. ‘Dot vas vat I t’ink, if it vas my monish,” said Jakey; adding, modestly: ‘* But you know, pards, dot I haf so leedle to put in de ting. I go my pile on it.” And he shrugged his shoulders, as who would say: ‘Can I do more?” ‘* Fifteen hundred,” he added. ‘*‘ Dot make me less than vone twentieth. You see, I don’t stake so much as you. I don’t like to urge you. If it don’t turn out all right, you come back on me, and blame me for dot I crowd you into it.” But at the slightest hint at a failure of the mine, those whom he had hed so well a few minutes before championed it as vehemently as if it were already their own. ‘*Do yer best on thirty, Jakey,” said Mallory. ‘Ts that agreed, pards?” They all agreed to that, with the implication that a raise of five more was to be made, if un- avoidable. On this understanding, Jakey resumed the battle; and now he seemed to lay himself out. His pards all acquitted him of blame that the thirty thousand failed to ‘‘ go.” One and all agreed that they had never seen such dickering. But Cale and Banty had stood out with inflexi- ble resolution. Finally they began to show signs of throwing up the whole negotiation in a rage. Then Jakey glanced at Mallory, as if to inti- mate that he had done all that could be done. Mallory nodded, and Jakey then said: ‘‘Shentlemen, ve gif you thirty-five thousand. Ve count out de monish. Off you like to take dot, all right.” ‘“We don’t want yer money! cried Cale. Jakey coolly turned to his pards, as if no oppo- sition bad been made. They, with considerable nervousness, removed broad belts, supported from the shoulders by straps like suspenders. From them Jakey deliberately took a lot of little buckskin bags, and arranged them in rows on the stone table on which he and Tim had seen Cale’s gold displayed, when they looked into the wickiup and surprised its occupants, ‘*Shentlemen,” he then said, ‘‘ there is a hun- dred and twenty-five pounds of gold-dust. How long vill it take you to dig dot much out of your mine?” Banty stared greedily at the gold. There was need for dissimulation here. Cale, too, was un- mistakably moved. ‘‘ What d’ye say?” he cried, turning to Banty, ‘* Done!” said Banty. ‘“‘“Wemay make a hundred thousand out of it!” urged Cale, but weakly. ‘* Done!” repeated Banty. ‘‘ Done!” reiterated Cale; striking his fist on the stone. The gold was carefully weighed out, and the transfer completed before witnesses. Then, and not till then, Jakey took off his hat, and swinging it about his head, said: ‘* Hip! hip!” And catching the infection, his pards—Mal- wi and Buckley and Scully—yelled out a united cheer. Cale and Banty could scarcely refrain from joining them! ‘‘Waal, gents,” said Cale, ‘‘now we've got this cl’ar, it’s the only strike we've made sense we've been in the mines; an’ I, fur one, am goin’ to quit the business. I’ve made my pile—enough to keep me an’ the ole woman comfortable fur the rest of our days—an’ I propose to make a bee-line fur ’Frisco, before I lose what I’ve got.” Both he and Banty were supplied with horses. Clear out!” They put their gold in secure saddle-bags, and rode away. Far out of reach of listening ears, Cale turned to his pard: ‘‘ Banty, ef they ever drop to him, Jakey’s a goner!” ‘‘ We won't be thar!” was Banty’s summing up of the situation. Cale threw back his head with a hoarse laugh; and digging their spurs into their horses’ flanks, they rode on like the wind. a CHAPTER VIII. A PINCH OF SALT. ALL went merrily at the new diggings for about twenty-four hours. Then there was a sudden ‘‘ drop;” and a circle of eager faces gathered about the “‘long tom” with which Jakey and his three lucky pards were washing out the gold of their new venture. ‘‘Pards,” Jakey declared, solemnly, ‘ dere ain’t a grain since de last clean-up!” The three lucky pards stood round with faces almost as long as the ‘‘ tom,” and looked down at the riffle-bars in mute dismay. ‘“Thayre must be some!” insisted Reddy Scully, presently, in a desperate tone. ‘‘ You see for yourself.” Mallory took the iron spoon, and scraped the riffles, though it was plain to be seen that they were clean. ‘Run some more dirt through,” suggested Tim Buckley. . And at the holding forth of this forlorn hope, which all secretly felt to be futile, the three rushed off to the hole, and fell to work like crazy men. The crowd took the contagion, and added their efforts to those of the men immediately inter- ested: and for twenty minutes that long tom was run to its full capacity. The dirt washed out clean. ‘‘ show of color.” The men who, the day before, had put thirty- five thousand dollars into the venture, with bounding hopes, now stared stupidly at the empty riffile-box! Sweat was streaming from their faces. They were as pale as death—as e as the gambler who sees a fortune swept out of his grasp by the turn of a card! There was not a "aL ~~ j ' i