Trails and Tales in Cobalt

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908. Excerpt: ... XV. THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. The rushing, roaring sluicehead was shut off; the men had left for divers cabins, and Long-Nose Cameron was left in full possession of the works. Long-Nose Cameron was owner of No. 20, below Discovery, Mastodon Creek, in the Circle City District, Alaska, a pioneer in that, as he had been in many other camps, and one of the best known and most venerated characters in the Yukon Valley.. The water ceased to foam and splash within the dump-box and died into a gently gurgling stream as the old man peered between the riffles, seeking the shimmering gleam of gold among the pebbles. Pretty darned good ground this, said he, as he poked his finger at the yellow patches which here and there appeared behind the pebbles in the riffles. ' This minin's no romance, and Mastodon Creek ain't what she's cracked up to be, or else there's something wrong with them last two clean-ups I've made; but, say, she don't look so bad neither, ' he mumbled as he got a fairly coarse piece, worth two or three cents, between his thumb and forefinger, and rolled it round and round. Seems like I should have got more'n seven thousand five hundred out of the last clean-up, an' this 129 here dump-box don't flash too bad, seein' we've been only shovelin' in two days; maybe she'll be better; hope so, anyhow; want it bad enough to make a stake an' quit this here country and settle down on a ranch an' live like a white man. The old man continued his muttering as he plodded towards the cabin in which he and Joe Humphrey lived as partners. Partners they were only as regards their living together, for Joe had no interest in the title of the claim, but had come to the camp the fall before broke, and the old man had fed him through the winter, and told him if he would...