The Nick of Time.

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 49, 18 December 1894, Page 4

The Nick of Time.

A miner named John Quincy Adams was prospecting for gold somewhere in the mountains of California. s\fhile wearily trudging along one hot day .through a gulch where the sun had a good chance at his back he suddenly smelled smoke. The phenomenon struck him as odd, and he glanced quickly in every direction to ascertain the origin of the smoke, but seeing nothing, resumed his journey. A moment later the smell returned stronger than ever, and, the breeze just then blowing in the direction he was walking, a light wreath of vapour curled about his ears and gave him to understand that his haversack was on fire. Like all miners he carried a large lens for the purpose of examining the specimens and the sand in his pan, and the truth flashed upon him. For want of room he had hung the glass on the outside, and the rays of the sun bad concentrated on his haversack, which was thus set on fire. As among its contents were twelve or fifteen pounds ,of powder he lost no time in dropping the dangerous burden, n and getting as far away as possible before it exploded. The haversack fell between two huge stones, and cuddled down out of sight. » Adams soon reached the safe distance, and disconsolately watched the smoke arising from his worldly possessions. Suddenly there was a deafening report. The ground trembled and Adams dodged behind a huge stone to escape the fragments of wreck. Rising, he went to the spot to gather up what he could find, when his eyes almost started out of bis bead at seeing the quartz that had been blown up fairly glittering with gold. The powder had done better on its own account than it had done on his, and had literally blown open a gold mine for his benefit. He was made* a rich man in an instant, and he named his mine the “ Nick o’ Time,”-