A Terrible Experience [pp. 16-26]

A Terrible Experience.
We mounted our jaded animals with no
further words, and began the descent; far
below us stretched the plain and the desert,
glaring in the noon-day sun, and still farther
away the burnt-up mountains, white still in
the trembling heat.
When we reached the end of our long
travels, one might readily believe the place
to be the "'fag end" of God's earth. A
mountain of rock; in its jagged sides a tunnel; at its mouth a dump of what must have
been ore-in my ignorance I did not know.
That was all. Not a human being in that
vast wilderness but ourselves. WVith what
horror I entered that dark cavern, questioning if I should ever come out. That was
my fortune; there was my pile. What folly
I had been guilty of! This was the end of
my fine plans-my hopes. Some little work,
sufficient to sink all our money, had been
done on the place-a great deal of it evidently by my friend's own hand, with the
help, so he said, of an Indian, who had deserted during his absence. Poor wretch,
how could he have staid so long!
After he had showed me the vein and the
drift, we came out into daylight again, and
sat down on two flat rocks at the entrance
of the tunnel. I do not think I can accurately describe my thoughts; one idea alone
possessed me-that of escape. My guide
sat mumbling to himself, a few words distinct now and then.
"It can be done, it can be done. I planned it out long ago. The gold is there.
Cowards! knaves! they would have deserted
me at the last moment-treachery- leaving
me the debts and responsibilities to shoulder." He looked fierce at timtes, and I
shuddered. Had I been lured to destruction, and was there no escape! I had already begun to revolve in my brain a plan:
could it be made practicable? Could I find
and keep the trail? Could I supply myself
with provisions without my companion's
knowledge? Was there enough food for
both?-for our trip already, by missing the
way, and one thing and another, had doubled its length. Was I justified in leaving a
human being-alone in those solitudes, sub
ject to the attacks of Indians and wild animals? What if he never returned; what
construction would be put on my solitary
reappearance?
This last thought influenced me more
strongly than any other, in my morbid condition of mind. We went -out together; we
must return together. Suspicion would be
rife if I returned alone. The die was cast;
I had drawn my conclusions, outlined my
plans, crude and imperfect as they were.
Get back to Roseta we must, f not by force,
by stratagem.
An awful thought had taken possession of
me. Perhaps, by this time, it has made itself apparent to you. But I shall go on.
"My dear friend," said I stoutly, striving
to hold my companion's attention, and catch
his brightly glittering eye. "I was a coward
and a knave to wish to return to Roseta,
when such an enormous discovery of wealth
lies at our very feet. You might well scorn
me, but I was faint from the hardship and
fatigue of the journey. But we can do nothing alone. Let us return to New York and
secure capital. I have a certain amount of
influence; by your efforts and mine, we can
raise sufficient money to float this concern
successfully. As it is now, what we can invest is like so many drops in the sea. Behold, yourself, how little we have accomplished."
"True, true," said he, mournfully glancing
around the deserted spot, and grasping at
the idea with childish eagerness. "Capital,
capital-that is what we need. I could have
pulled through with it long ago if it had not
been for that. The knaves! they deserted
me!l
I had no idea to what he referred, until
long afterward; but taking advantage of his
sudden change of humor, persuaded him to
mount, and taking a hurried survey of the
work and the premises, we turned the heads
of our tired animals homeward. I did not
feel fairly started until we had descended
the mountain, and left the ill-fated mine far
behind us.
Several times my companion would have
retraced his steps and returned to the tunnel,
1885.]
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