American fiction -- 19th century; Short stories, American
“Yes,” said Boylston, “an’ the smallest of ’em’s good fur ten thousand,
ef it’s full. An’ when yer come to five-pound powders—why, one of them
would make two fellers rich!”
They passed quickly and quietly through Greenhorn’s Bar. The diggings at
the Bar were very rich, and experienced poker-players, such as were
Twitchett’s executors, had made snug little sums in a single night out
of the innocent countrymen who had located at the Bar; but what were the
chances of the most brilliant game to the splendid certainty which lay
before them?
They reached Black Peter Gulch and found Twitchett’s hut still
unoccupied, save by a solitary rattlesnake, whose warning scared them
not. Mr. Baker carefully covered the single window with his coat, and
then Boylston lit a candle and examined the clay floor. There were
several little depressions in its surface, and in each of these Boylston
vigorously drove his pick, while Mr. Baker stood outside alternately
looking out for would-be disturbers, and looking in through a crack in
the door to see that his partner should not, in case he found the can,
absentmindedly spill some of the contents into his own pocket before he
made a formal division.
Boylston stopped a moment for breath, leaned on his pick, stroked his
yellow beard thoughtfully, and offered to bet that it would be an
oyster-can. Mr. Baker whispered through the crack that he would take
that bet, and make it an ounce.
Boylston again bent to the labor, which, while it wearied his body,
seemed to excite his imagination, for he paused long enough to bet that
it would be a five-pound powder-can, and Mr. Baker, again willing to
fortify himself against possible loss, accepted the bet in ounces.
Suddenly Boylston’s pick brought to light something yellow and
round—something the size of an oyster-can, and wrapped in a piece of
oilskin.
“You’ve won _one_ bet,” whispered Mr. Baker, who was inside before the
yellow package had ceased rolling across the floor.
“Not ef _this_ is it,” growled Boylston; “it don’t weigh more’n ounce
can, wrapper and all. Might’s well see what ’tis, though.”
The two men approached the candle, hastily tore off the oilskin, and
carefully shook the contents from the can. The contents proved to be a
small package, labeled: “_My only treasures._”
Boylston mentioned the name of the arch-adversary of souls, while Mr.
Baker, with a well-directed blow of his heel, reduced the can from a
cylindrical form to one not easily described by any geometric term.
Unwrapping the package, Mr. Baker discovered a picture-case, which, when
opened, disclosed the features of a handsome young lady; while from the
wrappings fell a small envelope, which seemed distended in the middle.
“Gold in that, mebbe,” suggested Boylston, picking it up and opening it.
It _was_ gold; fine, yellow, and brilliant, but not the sort of gold the
dead man’s friends were seeking, for it was a ringlet of hair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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