Digging for Gold: Adventures in California

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  GIVES THE RESULT OF THE FIRST DAY'S DIGGING, AND SHOWS THE POWERFULEFFECT OF LYNCH-LAW.

  Next morning Frank and his friends went out to choose their claim. Aswe have said, the Bigbear Gully was not at that time generally known. Acomparatively small number of diggers had set to work in it, and theywere careful to avoid giving much information to "prospecting," orsearching parties, because they knew that if the richness of the soilwere known, there would be a general rush to it from all quarters.There was therefore no lack of unoccupied ground.

  A suitable spot was chosen in a pleasant grove on the banks of thestream where it swept round the base of a magnificent precipice, not farfrom Jeffson's store. Here Douglas, Meyer, and Joe set to work to builda kind of hut of logs, branches, and mud, while Frank returned to thestore to purchase the necessary tools. Having little money left, he wascompelled to take credit, which Jeffson readily granted to him, knowingfull well that there was little fear of the account remaining longunpaid.

  In order that the reader may have an idea of the charges made at thediggings in those days, we subjoin the list of purchases made at thecommencement of operations by the firm of "Allfrey, Douglas andCompany."

  +===================================================================+=====================+|A rocker or cradle |6 pounds 5 shillings |+-------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+|A spade, shovel, pick-axe, and two tin washing-pans |3 pounds 15 shillings|+-------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+|12 pounds weight of biscuit, 12 pounds weight of salt-pork and beef| |+-------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+|4 pounds weight of lard, and 6 pounds weight of flour |10 pounds 8 shillings|+-------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+|A frying-pan, sauce-pan, and four tin mugs |2 pounds 12 shillings|+-------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+|Sum-Total |23 pounds 0 shillings|+===================================================================+=====================+

  When Joe Graddy heard the sum-total he looked very blank indeed, but,quickly recovering himself, insisted that they should leave offhouse-building, which, in the fine weather, he said, wos o' no manner o'use, and it was a matter o' prime importance to go to dig at once, an'pay off their debt without delay.

  Joe was overruled, however, and when it was explained to him that thefine weather might not last long, that it was essential to health thatthey should have a roof of some sort to keep off the dews, and thatdigging might be commenced in right earnest on the morrow, he consentedto continue his labours at the hut.

  That night they slept sounder than usual, and, on the following morning,began to dig for gold.

  They commenced within a few feet of the water's edge. Joe handled thepick and spade; Meyer carried the "dirt" on his broad shoulders toDouglas, who rocked the cradle, while Frank washed out the auriferousmatter in one of the tin pans, until nothing but pure gold and blacksand remained. It was reserved for evening to separate the sand fromthe gold, and ascertain the result of their day's labour.

  At noon, in accordance with the universal custom at the mines, theythrew down their tools and went up to the hut for an hour's rest andrefreshment. Of course they discussed while they dined, and hopedlargely! but their jaws were more active than their tongues, and themoment the hour was completed they returned vigorously to work.

  When the shades of evening began to descend, they returned to the hut,and, kindling a fire, commenced to fry blacksand and gold, being anxiousto ascertain the result of the first day's work before supper! As eachpanful was dried and blown, the gold was weighed and put into a smallwhite bowl, the bottom of which was soon heaped up with shiningparticles, varying in size from the smallest visible specks to littlelumps like grains of corn.

  A neighbouring miner, who had offered to weigh the result for them,pronounced this first day's work as an unusually successful one, being,he said, a little over thirty-six pounds sterling.

  "How much?" exclaimed Joe Graddy in amazement.

  "Thirty-six pounds sterling," repeated the miner.

  "You _don't_ mean that?"

  "Indeed I do," replied the miner, smiling.

  "Then our fortins is made a'ready--all but--"

  "Not quite; you forget the price of our outfit," said Frank.

  "No doubt, I did," answered the seaman, a little subdued.

  "And the price o' grub," added Douglas; "not to mention clothing, whichwe shall want very soon, I fear, for the tear and wear of this kind ofwork is considerable. Why, I found to-day, when I took a stroll atnoon, that they charge five pounds sterling for a flannel shirt, andfour pounds for a pair of boots, and everything else is in proportion;so, you see, our thirty-six pounds won't do much for us at that rate.However, I admit that we have reason to be satisfied with the day'swork."

  "You certainly have," said their friend the miner; "for it is veryseldom that beginners do so much. And now I would give you one piece ofadvice before I go, which is, that you appoint one of your number tocook for the rest. More men are killed, I believe, by eatinghalf-cooked victuals, than by hard work. They come in fagged and wet atnight, cook their grub hastily, bolt it, and then lie down to sleep indamp clothes. Of course they soon break down. Our party have kept veryfair health in the midst of great sickness; and I believe it is chieflyowing to the fact that, on first setting to work, we appointed one ofour number, who had a talent that way, to attend to the cookingdepartment. We relieved him of a great deal of the hard labour, butgave him his equal share of the profits. The consequence has been thatwe are all in first-rate health, and dig more energetically than ourneighbours."

  "Has there then been much sickness here of late?" asked Frank.

  "A great deal, and I fear there will be much more when the rains set in;but let me urge you again to take my advice about appointing a cook."

  "That," said Joe Graddy, "is just wot we means to do, Misterwot's-yer-name?"

  "Stewart," said the miner.

  "Well, Mister Stewart, I'll ap'int myself cook to our party, havin', ifI may say so, a nat'ral talent that way, w'ich wos deweloped on my firstvoyage round the world, w'en our cook died of a broken heart--so it'ssaid--'cause the doctor knocked off his grog, and put him on anallowance o' lime juice."

  Saying this, Joe heaved a deep sigh, seized the frying-pan, andcommenced his self-imposed duties. Our hero took up the bowl ofgold-dust, and was about to leave the hut, when Douglas arrested himwith--

  "Hallo, Frank, where away? I shall have to shout `stop thief' if you gooff like that with the gold."

  "I'm going to pay our debt to Jeffson," said Frank, with a laugh. "Ihave great belief, Douglas, in the plan of paying as one goes. Debt isa heavy weight, which I never mean to carry if I can help it. A goodold aunt of mine used often to din into everybody's ears the text `oweno man anything,' and I really believe she has caused it to take astrong hold of me, for I can't rest till I square off Jeffson'saccount!"

  Frank hastened away, and soon after returned with the balance, thirteenpounds, which, as Douglas observed when they began supper, was thenucleus of their future fortune; while Joe remarked that "he didn't knowwot nooklius wos, but if it meant the _beginnin'_ of their fortin, itwasn't a big un, as things went at the diggin's."

  The proceeds of the next day's work were nearly equal to those of thefirst, and the spirits of the diggers were proportionally high; but onthe third day they did not wash out much more than half the quantity ofgold. They were therefore somewhat depressed; and this condition ofmind was increased by one of those events which were at times offrequent occurrence there. This was the murder of one miner by another,and the summary application of Lynch-law to the criminal.
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  It occurred about noon, when the miners were at dinner. A man namedHigson, who was noted for swearing and brutality, was standing nearJeffson's store, when a young miner named Elms came up, greatly excited,in consequence of having just found a large nugget, which he wished tohave weighed. To the surprise of all, and the indignation of Elms,Higson suddenly snatched the nugget out of his hand, and swore that ithad been got in a claim to which Elms had no title, and that, beingalongside of his own, and included in the line he had marked off, thenugget was his by rights!

  The young man sprang upon Higson, and a struggle ensued, in the midst ofwhich the latter drew his bowie-knife and stabbed Elms to the heart.When he fell, Higson attempted to run, but a stout German tripped up hisheels, and a cry of wild anger arose from those who had witnessed thedeed.

  "Lynch him!" they shouted furiously.

  Frank Allfrey and his friends heard the shout, and ran to the spot; butthe administration of justice was so prompt that, before they reachedit, the murderer was swinging by the neck to the branch of a tree.

  "Surely you have been too hasty," exclaimed Frank, advancing without anysettled intention, but under an indefinable sense that wrong was beingdone.

  At this several miners leaped forward, and drawing their revolvers,swore with a terrible oath that they would shoot any man who shouldattempt to cut the murderer down.

  As one of the miners here explained hastily why it was that justice hadbeen meted out with such promptitude, our hero drew back and left thespot, feeling, however, that Judge Lynch was a very dangerous character,seeing that he might be just as prompt with the innocent as with theguilty, although he would find it rather difficult to recall life if heshould find out afterwards that he had been mistaken in his views.

  This event was followed two days after by another incident, which causedconsiderable excitement in Bigbear Gully. With the increase of minersthere had been a considerable increase of crime, as might naturally havebeen expected in a country where, while there were undoubtedly manyhonest men, there were also thousands of scoundrels of all nations whohad been attracted thither by the dazzling accounts given of the new ElDorado in the West. Rows, more or less severe, in reference to claimsand boundaries, had become frequent. Cold-blooded murders were on theincrease; and thefts became so common that a general sense of insecuritybegan to be felt.

  This state of things at last wrought its own cure. One day a youth wentinto the hut of a neighbouring digger, a Yankee, and stole a coffee-tin.He was taken in the act, and as this was the second time that he hadbeen caught purloining his neighbours' goods, those in the vicinity roseup _en masse_ in a furore of indignation. A hurried meeting of all theminers was called, and it was unanimously resolved--at least sounanimously that those who dissented thought it advisable to be silent--that Lynch-law should be rigorously put in force.

  Accordingly, several of the most energetic and violent of the minersconstituted themselves judges on the spot, and, on hearing a briefstatement of the case, decreed that the culprit was to be subjected towhatever punishment should be determined on by the man whom he hadinjured. The Yankee at once decided that the rims of his ears should becut off, and that he should be seared deeply in the cheek with a red-hotiron; which sentence was carried into execution on the spot!

  It happened that while this was going on, another of the thievingfraternity, who did not know of the storm that was gathering and aboutto burst over the heads of such as he, took advantage of the excitementto enter a tent, and abstract therefrom a bag of gold worth severalhundred pounds. It chanced that the owner of it happened to be ailingslightly that day, and, instead of following his companions, had lainstill in his tent, rolled up in blankets. He was awakened by the thief,sprang up and collared him, and, observing what he was about, draggedhim before the tribunal which was still sitting in deliberation on theaffairs of the community. The man was instantly condemned to be shot,and this was done at once--several of the exasperated judges assistingthe firing party to carry the sentence into execution.

  "Now men," cried a tall raw-boned Yankee from the Western States,mounting on a stump after the body had been removed, and speaking withtremendous vehemence, "I guess things have come to such a deadlock herethat it's time for honest men to carry things with a high hand, so Iopine we had better set about it and make a few laws,--an' if you haveno objections, I'll lay down a lot o' them slick off--bran' new laws,warranted to work well, and stand wear and tear, and ready greased foraction."

  "Hear! hear!" cried several voices in the crowd that surrounded thiswestern Solon, while others laughed at his impudence. All, however,were eager to see the prevailing state of things put right, and glad toback any one who appeared able and willing to act with vigour.

  "Wall then, here goes," cried the Yankee. "Let it be decreed thatwhatever critter shall be nabbed in the act of makin' tracks, with whatisn't his'n, shall have his ears cut off, if it's a mild case, and behanged or shot if it's a bad un."

  A hearty and stern assent was at once given to this law, and thelaw-giver went on to lay down others. He said that of course murderwould be punished also with death, and for several other offences menshould be flogged or branded on the cheeks with red-hot irons. Havingin little more than ten minutes laid down these points, he enacted thatthenceforth each man should be entitled to a claim of ten feet square,which, being multiplied by the number of his mess, would give the limitsof the allotments in particular locations; but that, he said, would notprevent any man from moving from one site and fixing on another.

  To this proposition, however, some of the miners demurred, and thelaw-giver found that, although in criminal law he had been allowed tohave it all his own way, in civil matters he must listen to the opinionof others. However, after much wrangling this law was agreed to; and itwas also arranged, among other things, that as long as any one left histools in his claim, his rights were to be respected.

  This meeting had the most beneficial influence on the miners. Rough andready, as well as harsh, though their proceedings were, theyaccomplished the end in view most effectually, for after severalterrible examples had been made, which proved to evil-doers that menwere thoroughly in earnest, stealing, quarrelling about boundaries, andmurdering were seldom heard of in that district--insomuch that men couldleave bags of gold in their tents unwatched for days together, and theirtools quite open in their claims without the slightest fear of theirbeing touched!

  The reader must not suppose here that we are either upholding ordefending the proceedings of the celebrated Judge Lynch. We are merelyrecording facts, which prove how efficacious his severe code was inbringing order out of confusion in Bigbear Gully at that time.

  It is not necessary that we should follow the varied fortunes of ourhero and his friends, day by day, while they were engaged in digging forgold. Suffice it to say that sometimes they were fortunate, sometimesthe reverse, but that on the whole, they were successful beyond theaverage of diggers, and became sanguine of making their fortunes in ashort time.

  Nevertheless Frank Allfrey did not like the life. Whatever else mightarouse his ambition, he was evidently not one of those whose soul wasset upon the acquisition of wealth. Although successful as a digger,and with more gold in his possession than he knew what to do with, hedetested the dirty, laborious work of digging and dabbling in mud frommorning till night. He began to see that, as far as the nature of hisdaily toil was concerned, he worked harder, and was worse off than thepoorest navvy who did the dirtiest work in old England! He sighed formore congenial employment, meditated much over the subject, and finallyresolved to give up gold-digging.

  Before, however, he could carry this resolve into effect, he was smittenwith a dire disease, and in a few days lay on the damp floor of his poorhut, as weak and helpless as a little child.