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Show SALTING A MINE. 29 gested that it might be a buffalo calf; whereupon they traced the noise to its source, to the relief of all concerned, except the mourner himself. By common consent, the afflicted man was granted permission to leave the organization. "He stood not upon the order of going," but went at once, and remains at home to the present day, a very contented being, with no desire ever again to roam to the "far ends of the earth." The army of "go-backs" grew greater than the advancing hostj. and they did many a tale unfold, declaring there was not a thimbleful of gold in the country; it was all a delusion and a snare. They warned the brave and bold who pushed forward to beware of the man who had buckskin patches on his pants; he was a thief, a liar and a villain; he was here, there and everywhere, like the Scriptural adversary, "seeking whom he might devour." Forewarned is forearmed, and the pilgrims harassed their minds devising how they would avoid this scoundrel of the Rockies. " Lo and behold," said my informer, "upon our arrival every man in the mountains wore the confounded rogues' patches." CHAPTER V. SALTING A MINE FOR HORACE GREELEY. In May, 1859, a lone prospector pushed his way into the mountains and made a trail to the now famous Central City region, which until then had "slumbered like a sleeping child." "And gold he found in ample store, But not the solid form it wore; 'Twas in the rock, where sweat and toil Must delve it from its mother soil." |