LYTTELTON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5616, 12 May 1886, Page 1

LYTTELTON.

•» ■ i PUBSUED BT DAKITB6. | (Atnericni Paper.} Chapteb I. In the spring of 1871 a man reached Sb I Louis with some choice specimens of gold ] and silver, which he said he had mined in < Utah. His object was to sell his secret of the whereabouts of the mine, but before he ; had succeeded in interesting any capital to \ speak of, he was one evening knocked ' •lown by a hack as he stepped from a street j •car and so badly hurt that he died next ■ fey. ! I had been employed by a certain ' capitaHst to pump the stranger regarding : his find. Not that anybody had any idea ! •f robbing him of his secret, but to put j this and that together and attempt to ■ ascertain something definite about his j affairs. Both gold and Bilver had been ! found in Utah, bnt at distances wide apart, j If the man had taken his specimens from ] _ny known locality, it might be a good ] speculation to buy his chum. If he told i vs of an unknown place, it would be like I buying cloth blindfolded. in. my last conversation with him, not I two hours before his death, he gave me the j information that he had been prospecting ! in the Uintah mountains, to the east of Salt Lake City. This was only a general hint, as the range mentioned extends half way across the Territory, and far into ' Wyoming and Colorado. To hunt for the ■pot from which he had taken his specimens would be like searching for a silver dime on the wide prairies. He realised this as fully as I did, and did not fear that lie was giving away anything. Instead of the man's death upsetting all our calculations it only strengthened the idea in the minds of half a dozen capitalists that the general hint thrown out Bhould be acted on. In less than amonth I was in Salt Lake City, with plenty of money to ■purchase an outfit, and instructions to strike the mountain about fifty miles east ♦f Salt Lake and follow them to the Colo- { rado line. If I met with no success I was to pass through Wild Jim canon, where ] the Green river breaks through, and return j to the weßt on the northern side of the mountains. If I could make the trip before the winter set in, all right ; if not, I was to lay up in the mountains and finish my prospecting another seaeon. Upon -reaching Salt Lake, I went about my business in a very quiet manner, knowing that Mormon spies watched every stranger, and made it a business to find oat what brought him there. I wanted a thoroughly good horse and a Btrong pack mule, but in several instances these same spies prevented my making a purchase. I _iew that they were dogging my footsteps •day and night, but I dropped no word from which they could extract a hint of my future plans. One evening I wa3 accDsted on the street by a man whose look and speech proved him to be a Yankee. He was brusque and to the point. "Stranger," he said, "you want to make a little trip. You want a sound, fast "horse and a stout mule. I've got 'em both." " And you want to sell ?° " All-fired bad ! I want money to take me back to New England and my Jerusha." " Where can I see the animals f" ""Nowhere — not now. The spies are after yon, and would kill the beasts before they'd let you buy 'em. Stranger, be aquar' with a squar* old pumpkin-pie eater from Connecticut. Going prospecting?" "Yes." " Thafs what these dod-blasted Mormons suspicion. You've got to slip out o' this ara quiet as a cat, or the Danites will make dog meat of you ! Which way f " " Eaat" "Now, you look here! You've got to throw these devils off the scent ; you kin do it by seeming to hold up on your plans. Tell me when you want to go." " To-morrow night, if possible." "Good! Now tell me what you want bought for your outfit, and let me buy it. About twenty of us New Eaglanders, who have come this far and got homesick, have a camp at the end of this street. We are trying to sell out everything but a team or two, and are going back to God's country and our wives and babies." I made a bargain for the animals, and gave him a list of what I wanted, and I had no feara that he wonld deceive me. During the greater part of the next day I sat around the hotel, seeming to have abandoned all idea of purchasing horses, and in conversation with a stranger, whom I suspected of being a spy, I carried the idea that I should leave for California in a day •or two. That *d ternoon I sent my rifle to the New England camp, and about dusk showed up there in person. Job Haskell, my friend of the previous evening, had carried out. his instructions to the letter. While I had brought with me a large quantity of fixed ammunition for rifle and revolvers, he had purchased blankets, medicineß, a few mining tools, provisions, and little odds and ends necessary in a trip of this Bort. The saddle for the horse and the packsaddle for the mule were all that could be aaked for. When we had completed our businesa arrangements Job lowered his voice and said : " When it gets fully dark you must be off. I hope you'll get away all safe, but I'm thinking the cussed Danites will strike your trail before morning. If they overhaul you they'll shoot you down. Be ready to shoot first. They hain't got no more mercy than a wolf, and it will be a pleasure for them to put a bullet into you." I replied that I had had some experience ■with the class of men referred to, and meant to protect my life at all hazards, and he whispered : " You kin depend upon them beasts. The hoss has a strain of Kentucky blood in him, and kin be pushed hard for twenty miles, while the mule will carry 5001 b and run like a deer. If wuss comes to wuss, depend on the beasts." When it was fully dark I climbed into the saddle and was ready to go. The mule wa3 packed, and nothing had been forgotten. " Push 'em right up to the notch for two long hours before ye halt!" whispered Job. " Take it easy after that, but peel yer eyes when daylight comes ! " We were on the outskirts of the city. I rode straight to the north-east to strike tha range a3 soon as possible, and when I came to broken ground the mountain towered up black, grim and silent against the starlit sky. Then I turned to the eaat and continued the gallop, and it was certainly two full hours before I drew rein and brought my animals to a walk. It had been a lone- : some ride, uninterrupted save by the sudden flutter of a night bird or the chirp of a cricket. Just as I was about to set off at a gallop again the horse entered a waggon road. I j got down to examine it, and discovered that it was considerably worn by the travel ; of animals and vehicles. As I afterwards ascertained, this road was used by several ranchmen located near Cherry Spur in j going to and coming from the city, and I ( had been within a stone's throw of it for • the laat ten miles. The fact of my dis- } mounting probably Bayed my life. WhUe I was down on hands and knees examining ' the road, I heard the hoof beats of horses ■ at a gallop. I was pursued. Waiting only , to be certain that I was not deceived in the sound, I led the horse sharp to tho left, toward the mountain, and the mule followed. We were not 200 ft from the road when a couple of horsemen passed at a mad eallop, going to the east of my route. It was impossible for them to distinguish me in the darkness, and I knew of their passing only by the sound of their horses' feet.

j I could no longer keep the road in safety ' and as I mounted again, I rode straight to 1 the south for two miles, and then headed to | the east. If they were seeking to overhaul [ er waylay me, they would doubtless keep to the road through the night. I found better travelling now, and the animals | went ahead at a canter for the next three i hours without a rest. When day broke : I was a good fifty miles from Salt Lake, , and now a strange thing happened. I ■ was riding in close to the foothills, and ' had halted on an eminence to scan my j trail, when two riderless horses came into i view three miles away, and made \ straight for me. As they came up I saw j fresh blood on both saddles, and the 1 n-ni—ftla were blown as if they had had a [ long run. Eifles, ammunition, blankets, ! and a small quantity of provisions were ; strapped to each Baddle, and one pistol i holster had a revolver in it. I Did they belong to the two men who had | passed me in the night P Were those men j Danites P Had they fallen into an am- ; bußh prepared for them by wandering ; Indians P I had not heard any sounds of | conflict, and this was proof that the affair j had occurred miles away. j I waited for half an hour to let the ' horses blow, and then secured them in | single file behind the pack mule. While the find was of no particnlar interest just ! then, the horses would have followed ma ! whether or no. I In about forty houre from the time I left Salt Lake, I had reached a point on the ; range directly north of the forks of Green ; and White rivers, and about fifty miles distant from those streams. I knew that the rivers united at the western end of Little Bear mountain, and that landmark appeared due south of me, faintly showing its head through the bluish haze always hanging over the mighty hills. The stranger had not said that this was the spot, but I had somehow got the idea firmly fixed in my mind that this locality would, develop something. I had seen nothing more of the Danites, nor encountered other dangers, and went into camp with strong hopes of being undisturbed while I pursued my laborious task of unearthing a rich find for those who had fitted me out. I searched for and found a narrow valley breaking into the mountain. I followed it in for about sixty rods, and just where it made a sharp turn to the left, and within 200 ft of the end, I Btaked out the animals. The young grass was shooting up luxuriantly, and no one, unlesß entering the valley, could suspect my presence in the neighbourhood.. (To be continued.)