Part 22 (2/2)
”Yes, and here's another, and a third!” exclaimed Jed, as he dropped the rope, and picked up from among the stones two more irregular chunks of the precious metal--the gold they had come so far to seek.
CHAPTER XIX
CON MORTON APPEARS
For a moment the sudden discovery so surprised the boys that they could only stare at the golden nuggets. Jed was the first to recover his composure, yet he was still greatly excited.
”Look around, Will,” he directed. ”There must be more of them. These haven't been dropped by some one, they must have cropped out from a regular bonanza. Feel how heavy they are! Oh, if Gabe was only here!”
”I've found one!” cried Will. ”Yes, and here's another! Hurrah! Jed, we're rich!”
”Not yet, but we may be. Keep on looking. Wait, I'll tie the horses so they won't stray away, and we'll start to dig. Lucky we left the packs on the animals, or we wouldn't have anything now.”
It was the work of but a moment to fasten the patient steeds, that were only too glad to stay there and crop the rich gra.s.s. Then the boys resumed their hunt.
The nuggets they had found were only partly imbedded in the earth. There was a quant.i.ty of gravel around them, and they appeared to have been washed into sight by the recent rain.
”I've got another!” cried Jed joyfully. ”It's the biggest yet! Oh, Will!
What good news we'll have to send home to dad! He'll not have to worry about bad crops, and dry spells any more!”
”That's right!” admitted Will. ”Here's another, Jed!”
The boys could hardly believe their good fortune. In a short time they had picked up eleven nuggets, of good size. The gold amounted to far more than that which they had washed out by hard work in their first diggings.
”How much do you reckon it is?” asked Will.
”I don't know. I'm too excited. We have eleven. Let's make it an even dozen! Keep on looking. Oh, if Gabe was only here! There must be a rich mine in this section, where these nuggets came from. We must make it a dozen, Will, and then we'll go look for Gabe.”
”All right. There--I thought that was one, but it was only a yellow stone. We'll find one more and then----”
Suddenly, the attention of the boys was attracted by a noise on the rocky trail above them, for they were down in a sort of valley. The noise was that of the iron-shod hoofs of horses on the hard ground.
”Maybe that's Gabe,” suggested Will. ”Oh, if it only is, all our troubles will be over.”
They could not yet see the horseman, for he was hidden behind a ledge of rock. But, a moment later, a steed came into sight. To the amazement of the boys they saw, riding toward them, a group of men. And the foremost was Con Morton, the gambler who had threatened Jed, and who had robbed Gabe Harrison of nearly all his fortune. Behind him rode another person they also recognized. It was Ned Haverhill, with whom Jed had had an encounter in the saloon, and there was a third man they did not know.
”Quick!” cried Jed. ”Hide the nuggets! If he sees we have gold he'll rob us! Don't tell him what we have found, nor what we are doing here. Leave it to me. Bring the horses over here, and get your gun ready! Those are desperate men!”
No sooner did Morton and his companions catch sight of the two boys, than they hastened their pace, and soon had descended the trail to where the lads were. Meanwhile, Jed had hidden the nuggets among the things on the back of his horse.
”So, tenderfoot, we meet again,” said Con Morton, in sneering tones, as he rode close to Jed. ”Oh, you needn't be afraid I'll hurt you,” he went on. ”You're safe enough.”
”I'm not afraid of you,” said the lad boldly.
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