schemes looking toward the same object were at the same time busily advancing down at the camp.
len had made his way back as rapidly as possible, and fortunately met morris just as he was riding away into the mountains to be gone over night. he explained to him the whole situation, excepting that interview at the professor’s, and at once enlisted his sympathy and interest. this was doubled when he heard that the real leader of the would-be jumpers was his antagonist in that el dorado affair of which we have heard, whose overthrow would give him much satisfaction. he promised, therefore, that he would watch the three rascals sharply, and would certainly be on hand if they made any attempt to carry out their plans.{114}
“more’n that,” he said, “i shouldn’t wonder if buckeye jim would be there too. that was all bosh, of course, that i told bob about his being dead. i didn’t suppose the old fool’d swallow it as slick as he did. all the boys know he’s ’live and hearty, and he wrote me he was coming up here in a few days. if he’s on hand i ’low there’ll be some fun.”
“i hope there wont be any fighting,” said len.
“oh, of course, we all hope that; we’re all men of peace up here! all the same, if we should happen to want to shoot at a mark on t’other dump, or something of that kind, for a little amusement, after supper, you know, why it would do any fellow proud that happened to be over there, to kind o’ lay low, don’t you see, for fear of stray bullets, cause jim and me shoots kind o’ free when once we turn loose.”
and having delivered himself of this long and oracular speech, morris shook hands and turned his broncho’s head up hill.{115}
len might now have gone home, but he thought it worth while, as another mail would come in soon, to wait for possible letters, or what were even more desirable, the newspapers and magazines that his far-away people at home sent with pleasant frequency. he was rewarded by a bundle of these, and one letter, addressed to max. it bore the card of the denver assayer to whom specimens of the ore from the interior of the last chance had been sent for analysis. perhaps it might dash their hopes, and his hand trembled a little as he put it away in his pocket. then he tied the newspapers in his rubber coat, flung it over his shoulder, and had turned his face homeward, when a thought struck him.
going back, he walked round the corner to the office of the bull pup mine, which had been bought, and was now operated, by a mr. anderson, the same eastern capitalist whose refusal to buy old bob’s prospect had been the beginning of max’s adventures and{116} our history, len’s intention was to ask the agent whether mr. anderson was expected at the camp soon, and what was his present address.
in response to these questions he learned that mr. anderson would arrive ten days hence, and that meanwhile he could be communicated with at denver.
“i think, if you will let me sit down here a moment, i will write a letter to him,” said lennox.
“certainly,” the agent replied, and gave him pen and paper.
his letter was a short one. it merely recalled max brehm and himself to mr. anderson’s recollection, stated that they had opened a prospect tunnel wherein they believed they had discovered good indications of a new and valuable sort of gold ore in paying quantities, and begged him to come and see it as soon as he could, with a view of buying a part of it, or otherwise helping them to develop the mine.{117}
this done, len lost no time in leaving town.
not a sign of either of the three blacklegs had he seen all day, and when on his way out he passed old bob’s cabin, it was dark and silent.
in fact these worthies were not in town, but early in the morning had gone up the creek with two pack-loads of tools, provisions, and so on, which they cached at bob’s old prospect-hole, the cardinal, in order to have them convenient after they had jumped the aurora and had driven b. b. & co., dead or alive, out of the ca?on.
a new moon was just holding its sickle over the notch in the mountains toward which the ca?on opened, when len reached the cabin, where his tired partners were getting supper; and he was glad to learn, a little later, that they approved his course in writing the letter to mr. anderson.
two days remained before the expected attack, and the firm agreed that out of these must be squeezed all possible advantage, by{118} double work. this was a time when, if their fortune was to be made, or even if the results already achieved were to be saved, every effort must be put forth. they had wit enough to see that whether the last chance held a fortune, or contained nothing, it would never do to relinquish it at this stage of trial.
men who were on the threshold of success have failed to attain it often because of the want of sagacity to understand, and of energy and self-sacrifice to work hard, at just such a crisis as this. the next man, seizing with a firm grip, and holding his chances at every risk until the opposition has vanished, finds a great reward.
but in order that our friends might hold on to their property it was necessary to put it on a war footing. their way of operating the mine through the aurora’s tunnel must be abandoned, of course, unless they proposed to defend that, too, which they could not do, as they had no legal rights there. the plan proposed, then, was to en{119}large the waterway through their own vein into a tunnel of serviceable size, and at the same time to turn the stream of water into the aurora, and drain the whole of the remoter part of the mine out that way.
they abandoned their arrangement of two-hour stints, and all worked together just as hard as they knew how.
going into the interior chamber of the mine, they first dug a drain through the cross-cut, and then, as fast as they tore down the rock in enlarging their own tunnel outward, it was heaped up in the cross-cut; for they wished to block that up completely. by friday night this barrier was almost built.
all were stiff and sore when they arose at daybreak on saturday morning, but each knew they could not afford to spare themselves, and that this one day’s hardship might be repaid tenfold.
before noon they tapped the main fountain, and brought its stream, which would{120} have measured a foot wide and a foot deep, into their new drain.
when this great point had been gained, they felt that the worst was over, and by night they had finished barricading the cross-cut. they were obliged that evening, when their day’s work was done, to worm their way out to daylight through the narrow, ragged, insecure, and still dripping waterway which threaded the last chance, but was by no means a tunnel in any proper sense of the word, nor a safe place for a man to work in.
lennox, who was of slighter build, and at the same time of more enthusiastic temperament than his associates, was entirely used up when he reached daylight, and could only fall down and lie still. fortunately for him, however, sandy and max had strength enough left to cook supper.
while they were eating supper, and before darkness had come, the three young miners were startled by a loud hallo, and on running{121} to the door saw morris sitting on horseback at the foot of the dump.
“can i ride up?” he called out.
“no, leave your nag down there. i’ll show you later how to get him around behind the cabin, where there is some pasture.”
so morris drew the bridle reins over his horse’s head and let them hang down from the bit, knowing that by this sign the horse would understand that he was to stay where he was until his rider returned. then he scrambled up the rough side of the dump, saying, as he reached the top and shook hands with max:
“well, you needn’t worry over any jumpers to-night.”
“why,” exclaimed len. “what’s up?”
“oh, the regular thing with that crowd. the minute they got a little excited over a scheme, they had to go and drink a lot o’ whisky on it, and there they are, sittin’ round the el dorado, stupid as ground-hogs. that is, two of ’em are; that beauty they call{122} scotty was a-begging to fight all hands when i came away. i reckon somebody’ll accommodate him before midnight.”
“an’ did ye say he’s called scotty?” asked sandy, appearing in the doorway of the cabin for the first time.
“yes,—why, hello, stranger! you know the el dorado, when you see it, don’t you? how are you,” extending his hand with great cordiality, “put it thar! i shouldn’t wonder if we could pull a double team when it comes to layin’ out that same gambler from over the range, eh?”
“weel, we hae done something o’ the kind a’ready, mr. morris, an’ i dare say he’s no in love wi’ eyther of us.”
“not he. he’d like nothing better than to blow up the whole of us with giant powder. now how are you fellows going to handle this crowd when they do try it on? i thought if you didn’t mind i’d stay and see the fun. likely enough i could help {123}you some. when my winchester here turns loose people ’d better stand one side!”
so they explained to him how they had used the aurora as a new means of entrance to their mine, the cutting of the cross-cut through the dyke, and the way they had closed this approach by turning all the water into the other tunnel and barricading the cross-cut.
“you see we had no right in the aurora, and couldn’t fairly fight for it. so we made up our minds to let ’em jump that and welcome.”
“but i have rights there—jim and i own that together, and you’ve done enough work on it to keep up the assessment, so that it’s ours, and nobody can jump it while i’m around, unless they’re a heap stronger ’n i am.”
they argued with morris as to the uselessness of this resolution. he admitted that the aurora wasn’t worth fighting over, but urged that it riled him to have it drop into{124} the clutches of such small potatoes as old bob and his pals.
finally, however, it was agreed that the question of defending the aurora should be left until the attacking party appeared; and, meanwhile, that they would devote themselves to getting their own property into still better shape.
that night, relieved of the strain of watching, they had a long and refreshing sleep, continued until far into the morning, for this was sunday.
the day of rest passed quietly.
early on monday they were at work again, morris helping. two had picks and labored in the interior of the tunnel, enlarging the passage-way. a third shoveled the rock torn down into a wheelbarrow and carried it part way out, where the fourth gave him an empty wheelbarrow, took his full one, and dumped the débris at the mouth of the mine.
by this arrangement somebody was outside nearly all the time and could watch against{125} any surprise from the enemy, at the same time contributing his share of labor.
all of tuesday and wednesday they were undisturbed, and made such good progress that by wednesday evening a man could pass readily into the farthest part of the mine, the barricade protecting the cross-cut easily against any enemy who could get to it by way of the flooded aurora. it was a great gain in another direction, too, for they were expecting mr. anderson, and could now show him the whole length of the mine.
