CHAPTER XXIII
"GOLD MARRIES GOLD"
Alfonso Harris was content to leave his friends to continue theirjourney, as they were willing that he should return to the Netherlands,or to Amsterdam, where lived the beautiful woman who had won his heart.
Christine de Ruyter cordially welcomed Alfonso back to study art as heexpressed it to her on the first evening after his arrival. Alfonso wasmuch in Christine's society, at art exhibits, in carriage drives, and onpleasure boat excursions down the bay. Weeks went by before he couldsummon courage enough to ask Christine's hand in marriage.
In the game of hearts Alfonso thought himself an able combatant. He hadstudied Christine in action and in repose, in society, and when aloneunder his protection at Scheveningen, and at home, and he prided himselfthat he knew at least one woman thoroughly. She loved art, flowers,music, and fine dress, and was very ambitious. The latter trait wasdoubtless inbred from her distinguished naval relatives.
Christine had many acquaintances among the best families of Holland. Herbeauty, coupled with the fact that she was an heiress, made her theobject of much attention from artists and members of clubs, but possiblyher love, or affection for art, might have sprung from the desire to gainmore knowledge of how to make herself attractive in dress, manner, andconversation. Christine was not offensively vain, but she waspassionately fond of admiration. Alfonso had never dreamed that Christinewas not genuine at heart. She appeared to him to make much of herAmerican acquaintance, introducing him to her many friends, young ladiesas well as young gentlemen, and always seemed to prefer his company toothers.
She manifested even tenderness for him, expressed her strong liking forAmerica, and Alfonso believed that Christine was truly fond of him. Noarguments or persuasions could have convinced him otherwise. The contrarywishes of his own family, the eloquence of a Webster, winds from thepoles, all combined, could not have cooled his ardor. Alfonso had firmlyresolved to wed Christine, come what would.
He had often dreamed of her smiles, her pretty blue eyes, and her fleecyhair floating in the breezes of the Zuider Zee. He had also dreamed of abrilliant wedding in Holland, of a large reception at Harrisville, andhad even heard the plaudits of his fellow artists in New York, as theylauded his master piece "Admiral De Ruyter's Great Naval Victory."
Fortified with these proofs of Christine's devotion, he sought thecompany of his blond sweetheart on a balcony that overlooked the moon-litharbor of Amsterdam.
Here Alfonso offered his hand and heart--to a coquette--who rejected him.He was astonished, almost stunned. Recovering from his dazed condition,she again chilled his heart by the utterance, "You have not learned inthis practical world of ours that gold marries gold; that society playsfor equivalents. You once admitted to me that your father wanted you atthe head of his large business, and disapproved of your choice of aprofession. As an artist you seek fame. How can you divide it with me? Inasking my hand you seek to divide my gold, thus securing both fame andgold. Alfonso we have enjoyed each other's company as friends."
"Yes, Christine, though you have been cruel we can separate as friends.Sometime I may be able to match gold with gold. Till then, adieu."
Saying this Alfonso left the De Ruyter mansion all the more resolved,however, to win Christine. For a moment her deceptive heart rebuked heras she watched Alfonso's departure. In the papers of the followingevening an announcement frightened Christine. The head lines read: "Mr.Alfonso Harris, a young American artist, drowned this morning in theharbor."
Later the police brought to the De Ruyter home detailed news. Christinegave instructions to use every possible effort to recover Alfonso's body,and at once sent her servant with a telegram for Colonel Reuben Harris,Grand Hotel, Paris, the only address she knew.
The next day, with her mother, she accompanied the police to Alfonso'sroom, where she gathered up several of her love letters. A new suit ofclothes hung in the closet, a package of returned laundry lay on thetable, also pen, ink and paper. Evidently Alfonso expected to return soonto the hotel. His clothes, watch, and money had been found in the boatthat drifted ashore.
Christine concluded that Alfonso had gone for a boat-ride and swim, aswas his custom; very likely this time to free his mind, if possible, fromrecent trouble, and was seized with cramp and drowned before aid couldreach him. Vigorous search in the harbor and along the shore institutedby the police department and the American consul failed to locate hisbody or to furnish further facts to Christine as to the cause of theaccident.
* * * * *
Alfonso Harris meant all he said to Christine in his last words,"Sometime I may be able to match gold with gold." He might be blind inlove matters, but his mind after a storm always righted itself. Thatnight when Alfonso reached his hotel, he planned to leave the impressionon Christine's mind that he was dead. To make the deception complete,his trunk and all effects in his room were left as found by Christine.Even his watch, pocket book and clothes were left behind in the littlepleasure boat, while he donned an extra suit. A Norwegian captain, whowas about leaving Amsterdam with a cargo for Canada, agreed for fiftydollars to pick up Alfonso down the harbor and to land him in Quebec.
Fine family, beauty, and gold were powerful incentives to effort to anambitious young man like Alfonso, and he was resolved, incognito, toexplore the Great West in search of riches, and once found, he would layall at Christine's feet, and again claim her hand.
Jans Jansen, the Norwegian captain, was a jolly good ship-master, and thefair weather voyage across the Atlantic proved enjoyable. Alfonso alwaystook his meals with the captain. Jans Jansen's wife and children lived inChristiania, and his constant talk was that he hoped some day to get richand quit the sea. Alfonso made a warm friend of Captain Jansen, whopledged secrecy as to his escape from Amsterdam.
The captain was robust and his big flowing red beard, blue eyes, andbravery made him a worthy successor of the ancient vikings of theNorseland. Jans Jansen enjoyed his pipe, and with his good stories whiledaway many an hour for Alfonso, so that when the ship, under full sail,entered the Strait of Belle Isle and sailed across the Gulf towards theRiver St. Lawrence, both the captain and young Harris regretted thattheir sea-voyage was so soon to close.
The entrance of the St. Lawrence River is so broad that the navies of theworld abreast might enter the river undiscovered from either bank. Twohundred miles up the river, Trinity House, an association of over threehundred pilots, put aboard a pilot, and at noon next day Captain Jansendocked his vessel at Quebec.
This old French city is located on a high promontory on the left bankof the St. Lawrence. Its citadel, one of the strongest fortresses inAmerica, commands a varied and picturesque beauty. Alfonso walked up tothe obelisk, which stands in one of the squares of the Upper Town, injoint memory of the brave generals Wolfe and Montgomery.
Next morning he was off on the Canadian Pacific Railway for Duluth, thezenith city. Thence the journey west was through. Dakota in sight ofoccasional tepees, where the brave Sioux patiently waits his call to jointhe buffalo in the happy hunting grounds. Alfonso did not agree with thepopular sentiment, "The best Indian is a dead Indian," for the Siouxseemed to him to belong to a noble race of red men.
Alfonso's enthusiasm for mining was greatly quickened by a fellowtraveler, who was the owner of a large block of stock in the famousHomestake Mining Co. of Lead City, Black Hills, So. Dakota. This companypossesses one of the largest gold mines and mills in the world. The orebodies show a working face from two to four hundred feet in width, andsink to a seemingly inexhaustible depth. The Homestake has produced over$25,000,000 in bullion, and has divided over six millions in dividends tostockholders.
Three days' journey brought young Harris to Montana, an inland empirestate, which lies on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. The PacificExpress was laden with a motley crowd of men and women in search of fameand fortune. Alfonso soon caught their enthusiasm, and visions of castleswith gilded domes floated in his imagination.
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It was 1:35 P.M. when No. 1, the Pacific Express, pulled into thriftyHelena, capital of Montana, a commercial metropolis metamorphosed froma rude mining camp of twenty-five years ago.
The electric cars carried Alfonso to the Hotel Helena on Grand St.,which he thought quite as good as any in his own city. Here he wasfortunate in meeting Mr. Davidson, a gentleman of large experienceas owner, organizer, and locator of some of the best gold and silverproperties in Montana and adjoining states. Irrigating canals andwater-rights were a special branch of Mr. Davidson's business. He neverfailed to make the round of the leading hotels after the arrival of theOverland. In this way he met Alfonso Harris. Davidson knew when to tell agood story, and when to be serious. He took Alfonso to the Club, locatedin elegant quarters, and the secretary gave him a complimentary visitor'scard. Davidson quickly discerned that Harris needed a week's rest, and sotook him on the motor line two miles out to the Hotel Broadwater andNatatorium. No wonder the citizens of Helena take pride in their finehealth resort, the Helena Hot Springs.
Mr. Davidson introduced Alfonso to Colonel Broadwater, who extended thehospitalities of his hotel on which he had expended a fortune. Theverandas were long and wide, the park was dotted with fountains, and theinterior of the hotel was luxurious in all its furnishings. The mammothplunge bath was the largest in the world under a single cover. Curativemineral waters, steaming hot, flowed in abundantly from the grotto. Inthe natatorium fun-loving men and women slid down the toboggan planks, orjumped from the spring boards, while spectators in the gallery enjoyedthe aquatic sports. Elegantly appointed bathrooms in the hotel offered atone's pleasure the double spray plunge, vapor, and needle baths.
Alfonso was not prepared to find in the mountains elegance surpassingwhat he had seen abroad. Here he luxuriated for a week, and recovered hishealth, which had been somewhat impaired by the unfortunate experiencesin Amsterdam, and the long journey from Holland.
Davidson visited Harris every day. At first he only sought to entertainand awaken enthusiasm. He recited the familiar story of the Last ChanceGulch, how in 1864, four half-starved and disheartened miners, on theirhomeward journey from a prospecting tour among the gulches of theBlackfoot country in search of the precious dust, had settled down towork their last chance to make a stake, and had found gold in abundance.
Davidson said, "Here, where to-day runs the main street of Helena, was the'Last Chance Gulch,' and the output of its placers was not less thanfifteen millions. From 300 feet square, where now stands the MontanaCentral Railway depot, two miners took out over $330,000." Davidson toldof the great successes at the "Jay Gould," and "Big Ox Mine," and, thatin five years the output of the Drum Lummon Mine was six millions.
All this pleased young Harris, and whetted his appetite for mininginvestments. Finally, as a result of several trips to examine prospectsand mines, Alfonso bought two prospects one hundred miles west of Helenaat a place called Granite.
At Drummond west of Helena, a line branches south of the Northern Pacificto Rumsey. From Rumsey, Alfonso rode four miles to Granite, which waslocated high up among huge granite boulders. Here, for a year he isolatedhimself and labored hard for silver that was to be exchanged into goldand laid at the feet of Christine. His mines had been named "HiddenTreasure" and "Monte Christo." Possibly these mystical names influencedAlfonso to make the purchase, and no doubt they often renewed hiscourage.
The United States patents for his two lode mining claims finally came,and were examined by legal experts, who pronounced them perfect. In thepurchase of the properties and in the development work, Alfonso and histwo associates expended $50,000. On the showing, which the developmentmade, together with the Annual Report of the adjacent Granite MountainMining Company, young Harris hoped to form a syndicate and profitablywork his mines.
The facts in the report which Alfonso emphasized, were that the GraniteMining Co. had paid dividends as follows:
Twelve dividends endingJuly 31st, 1889 $1,900,000
Total of fifty-five dividends,an aggregate of, $6,700,000
In eight years these mineshad produced and soldof pure silver 10,989,858 ozs.
Of pure gold 6,521 ozs.
Realizing a gross sum $10,988,800Total gross expenditures $ 4,092,512
Alfonso felt free to use the facts of the Granite Reports, as hisproperty was supposed to be a continuation of the same lode or metallicvein. His syndicate was finally organized, and with the money thus madeavailable, all possible work was done for the next twelve months, onshaft, levels, cross-cuts, drifts, winzes, and raises. For two long yearshe pursued underground promising indications of wealth, which like thewill-with-the-wisp evaded him, until every prospect of silver and gold inthe "Hidden Treasure," and "Monte Christo" disappeared, and the mineswere abandoned.