Digging for Gold

He pointed feebly, and Grant, following the direction, espied a small hut, brown and discolored with age, standing under the shadow of a rock about a quarter of a mile away.

He helped the old man to his feet, and half supported him as he walked toward the cabin.

“Are you often seized in this way?” he asked.

“Not often so suddenly and violently, though I have been in the grip of my enemy for years.”

CHAPTER XXV

ANOTHER LONELY CABIN

They reached the cabin at last, and then a question which Grant was about to ask was answered. The old man lived alone.

The furniture was of the simplest: a bed, a couple of chairs, a table, and a few dishes.

“Is there no one to take care of you?” asked Grant.

“No, I need no one,” was the quick reply. “I have remedies that will soon quiet the pain.”

“I should think you would feel lonely.”

“I prefer solitude to the society of mean, selfish, and designing men,” answered the old man bitterly.

“All men are not mean or selfish.”

“No doubt you are right, but those whom I trusted most have proved so.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“Six years.”

“Are you – poor? If so, perhaps I can help you.”

“No, no; poverty is the smallest of my troubles. Look there!” and the old man drew from his pocket a handful of gold pieces. “I have enough to see me through the few years I have yet to live.”

“But you have no occupation – no way to fill up your time?”

“I have a few books and my own thoughts. I will tell you what little is to be told. I came here six years ago, and for a time devoted myself to gold-digging. I was fortunate, and secured all I needed for my modest wants. Then I stopped, for I had no object in accumulating more. But you tell me about yourself. You are young to be in California.”

“Yes, I came to seek my fortune. I was a poor boy, and my mother is unhappily situated. I came to see if I could not improve her lot and my own.”

“What are you doing?”

“I am digging for gold.”

“Where?”

“At Howe’s Gulch.”

“Have you succeeded?”

“So poorly that I am thinking of giving it up and going elsewhere. In Sacramento I worked in a restaurant, and made a good deal more money than I have made at the mines. I am twenty dollars poorer than when I came here.”

“Are you alone?”

“No, I have a friend with me – a young man whose acquaintance I made in crossing the plains.”

“Is he a true friend – a loyal friend?”

“Yes.”

“Then there are such in the world. Those I have met have been of a different kind. Has he been any more fortunate than yourself?”

“Not since I arrived. He did something before I came, but I must have brought him bad luck, for he has been running behind ever since. We have not been making expenses for the last month.”

“I never thought much of Howe’s Gulch, though some have been fortunate there.”

“Then it was not there that you found your gold?”

“No.”

Grant wanted to ask the old man where it was that his claim was located, but hesitated, not knowing how the question would be received.

“I can direct you to a rich spot,” said the old man, after a pause. “I had intended to let the secret die with me, but you have done me a service – ”

“A very slight one,” said Grant modestly.

“Not slight, for without your help I should have been unable to get home.”

“I was glad to serve you, and do not need compensation. You may wish to work the claim yourself.”

“No; my days of labor are over. I am sixty-five, and might easily be taken for ten years older. I shall be glad to contribute to your happiness and success, and that of your friend.”

“Perhaps some one may have discovered and worked the claim.”

“No; it is an out-of-the-way place, and has not attracted attention.”

“How, then, did you discover it?”

“By accident. As to the richness, let this convince you: in less than six months I took out ten thousand dollars, and having no need of more, stopped working, and carefully removed all traces likely to betray the mine’s entrance to a casual observer.”

“It will be a great favor to Tom and myself. We ought to give you a share of the proceeds.”

The old man shook his head.

“I shall not live long enough to spend the money I have,” he answered. “You are welcome to all it will yield you. Come here with your friend to-morrow morning, and I will give you the directions that will enable you to find the claim.”

“Can I do anything more for you before I go?”