The Cave of Gold

by Everett McNeil

  CHAPTER IV

  AT THE CONROYAL RANCHO

  When Thure, bearing in his arms the dead body of a man, and Bud, withthe huge skin of a grizzly bear hanging across the back of his horsebehind the saddle, rode into the open court in front of the Conroyalrancho, there was great excitement; and, even before they coulddismount, they were surrounded by a crowd of gesticulating,question-shouting women and children and old decrepit men, all wild withcuriosity to know what had happened. In the midst of all thisexcitement, the door of the house was flung open and two young ladiescatapulted themselves through the crowd to where Thure and Bud sat ontheir horses.

  "Mercy! What has happened?" and Iola Conroyal, her horrified eyes fixedon the face of the dead miner, came to a sudden halt by the side ofThure, with Ruth Randolph, round-eyed and white-faced, clinging to oneof her arms. "Is--is he dead?"

  "Yes, he is dead," Thure answered gravely. "Murdered for his gold."Then, seeing how white the faces of the two girls had suddenly grown, headded quickly: "You girls hurry right back into the house and tell yourmothers that we found a miner, who had been robbed and stabbed, andstarted to bring him home with us, but that he died before we got here;and ask them to have some blankets laid on the floor of the sala for thebody to lie on and a sheet to cover it. Now, hurry. We'll tell you howit all happened later," and not until the two girls were back in thehouse did Thure make a move to get rid of his ghastly burden. Then,reverently the body of the dead miner was lowered from the horse, andborne into the large hall-like room of the house known as the sala, andlaid down on the blankets there prepared for it, and covered over with asheet.

  In the meantime Bud had thrown the great hide of the grizzly to theground with the information that it was the skin of _El Feroz_ himself.

  "How did you kill him?" "Who shot him?" and, with shouts of wonder anddelight, all the men and the boys, who had not gone into the sala withthe body of the dead miner, crowded around the skin of the fallenmonarch.

  "Thure and I found the old villain just after he had killed a horse, andshot him," Bud answered hastily, anxious to get to his mother with thewonderful news of the Cave of Gold as quickly as possible. "Here,Angelo!" and he turned to a young Mexican boy standing near, "Take myhorse and see that he is properly cared for. And you, Juan, take thehide of _El Feroz_ and let us see how fine a robe you can make out ofit."

  "Si, si, senor," answered the old Mexican exultingly. "He, the uglybrute, kill my wife's brother, Pedro, whom I, like my own brother,loved, and 'twill give my soul peace one fine robe to make out of hisbig skin. A great glory, the killing of _El Feroz_, senor," and his oldeyes kindled. "Your fame like a swift horse will travel."

  "Shucks! Any hunter could have got him the same as we did," and Budhurried into the house, all care for the glory of killing _El Feroz_having been driven out of his head by the dying miner's remarkablerevelations.

  At the door of the house Bud was met by his mother and Mrs. Conroyal,with Ruth and Iola close behind them. The bringing of the dead body ofthe murdered miner into the house had greatly excited both women.

  "My son," Mrs. Randolph cried the moment she caught sight of Bud, "whatmeans this tale of murder and robbery and the bringing of the dead bodyof a strange man into the house?"

  "Oh, mother, mother," and Bud excitedly caught hold of his mother'shand, "the most wonderful, the most marvelous thing has happened!"

  "What?" and the astonished and horrified woman caught hold of both ofhis shoulders and shook him. "Have you gone clean crazy, Bud Randolph,to speak of murder and robbery like that?"

  "I--I," stammered Bud, "I forgot the dead miner. We were too late tosave him; but he lived long enough to tell us--" He stopped abruptly andglanced swiftly around the room. The secret of the Cave of Gold must notbe proclaimed from the housetops! There was no one in the room withhimself, but the two women and the two girls. "Mother, Mrs. Conroyal,"he continued, lowering his voice, "the old miner before he died toldThure and me of a wonderful Cave of Gold that he had discovered in agulch somewhere in the mountains; and he made Thure and me his heirs,and gave us a map, showing the way to the cave, and a huge gold nugget,which the robbers did not get, that he said he had found in the cave,and he--But here is Thure! He has the--"

  "Hush! Not so loud!" and Thure, who at that moment stepped into the roomfrom the sala, where the body of the dead miner lay, lifted a warninghand. "There are many ears in there," and he pointed to the door he hadjust closed behind him, "that must not hear what we have to tell. Come,let us go to your room, mother, where there won't be any danger of whatwe have to tell you being overheard," and he started for Mrs. Conroyal'sprivate room, followed by Bud and the two wondering women and the girls.

  "I--I," and Thure stopped at the door of his mother's room and lookedhesitatingly at Iola and Ruth, "I--I reckon it is too great a secret totell you two girls just now. You had better wait--"

  "No!"--"No!" broke in both girls indignantly, while Ruth, looking as ifshe would like to box Thure's ears, declared:

  "We girls can keep a secret just as well as you boys can, and you knowit; for, haven't we saved you from many a licking by not telling yourdads what you had been up to? But if this is the way you are going totreat us, we'll fix you next time," and she shook her headthreateningly.

  "Besides," supplemented Iola triumphantly, "we know most of the secretalready. It's about a Cave of Gold and a map and--"

  "Oh, Christmas! You couldn't keep nothing from the girls!" and the faceThure turned to Bud showed his disgust.

  "Well, I reckon the secret is just as safe with them as it is with us,"protested Bud stoutly, flushing a little, "especially when they know howimportant it is to keep it secret. You will never tell a word of it toanybody, will you girls? It--it might mean murder, if you did."

  "No, no," affirmed Iola emphatically. "We'll not breathe a word of it toa living human being. We'll die first. We'll not disappoint your trustin us, Bud," and she glanced a bit scornfully from Bud to her brother."Will we, Ruth?"

  "Never," and Ruth's red lips closed tightly over her pearly teeth. "Doyou suppose we'd betray those we love?" and her eyes flashedindignantly.

  "All right. See that you don't, then," and Thure's face cleared. To tellthe truth he was just a little ashamed of the lack of confidence he hadshown in his sister and Ruth. "Anyhow, you know so much now that youmight as well be told the rest, so come on," and he opened the door andcarefully closed and locked it, when all had entered the room.

  It did not take many minutes for the two eager boys to tell the story ofthe day's remarkable experiences, from the killing of the great grizzlyto the death of the old miner; for the narrative, under the lash oftheir active tongues, proceeded in running jumps, from the beginning tothe end and was never allowed to lag an instant.

  "And now," concluded Thure excitedly, when the last of the wonderfultale had been told, "Bud and I must both start for the mines just assoon as we can get ready; and get father and Rex and Dill and UncleFrank and Hammer Jones to help us find this Cave of Gold; and when wehave found it--"

  "But," broke in Mrs. Conroyal, smiling at Thure's enthusiasm, althoughher own face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling with excitement,"where is this wonderful gold nugget and skin map, that you tell us theminer gave you in proof of his remarkable story? You seem to forget thatyou have not yet shown us your proof."

  "Here, here it is!" and the excited boy thrust one hand into his pocketand triumphantly pulled out the small buckskin bag; and, swiftly turningthe bag bottom side up, dumped its contents into his mother's lap; andthe next moment, the two women and the two girls were as excitedlyexamining the big nugget and the rude skin map as ever they had beenexamined by the two boys.

  "And the miner told you that the bottom of the cave was covered withgold nuggets like this?" queried Mrs. Randolph, her eyes shining, as sheheld up the nugget.

  "Yes, yes," answered Bud. "Thousands of them, only smaller. Of course hepicked up the biggest that he could see. We can go to the mines now,can'
t we, mother?"

  "And this queer skin map tells you how to find this wonderful Cave ofGold?" and Mrs. Conroyal spread out the map on her lap and staredwonderingly at it. "I can't see how all this jumble of crooked lines andletters can tell you anything."

  "Why, it's easy, mother," and Thure bent eagerly over the map. "You seeyou start from Hangtown and go in a northeasterly direction to HumbugCanyon and Three Tree Mountain and Goose Neck Lake and the Devil's Slideto Lot's Canyon; and then up Lot's Canyon until you come to Crooked ArmGulch, and then up Crooked Arm Gulch until you come to the Golden Elbow;and the cave, you see, is right in the point of the elbow," and Thure'sfinger rested excitedly on the black spot on the map marked "cave." "Thecave is about five days from Hangtown, the miner said. We can go to themines now, can't we, mother?"

  "Hangtown! What a horrid name!" and Mrs. Conroyal shuddered. "But," andshe started to her feet excitedly, "wasn't your father's last lettersent from Hangtown? I am sure it was," and she hurried to her writingdesk, picked up a letter and glanced eagerly at its heading. "See! Itwas! Here is the name," and she pointed triumphantly to the letter.

  "You see, it won't be difficult to find the Cave of Gold from the map,mother, not with dad's help. And, mother, we must start for the minesjust as soon as we can get ready to go. You surely will let us go now!"and Thure caught hold of his mother's hand. "Say, yes, mother, now;because Bud and I want to start to-morrow morning, and there is much tobe done before we go."

  "My boy," and Mrs. Conroyal's face sobered, "you are all the man thatthe mines have left me. Husband, son, servants, all have gone to themines, until now you and Bud are the only able-bodied men left on therancho--and now the mines are calling you!"

  "But, mother, think of what the finding of such a mine means to us all!And father and Mr. Randolph, if they knew about the Cave of Gold and theskin map, I am sure would want us to come; and Old Juan and Manuel andthe boys can take care of the rancho; and, you know, if we find the Caveof Gold and get the gold, then all of us, father and the rest, will beback soon; and we will be rich; and dad can build you the new house thatyou want and furnish it the way that you want it furnished; and Bud andI can go East and get the education that we need to fit us to do a man'swork in the great new State of California that is bound to be made outof this country, now that it has become a part of the United States. Itis yes, isn't it, mother? And we can start, can't we, to-morrowmorning?" and Thure's arm went round his mother and he drew herappealingly to him.

  For a minute or two Mrs. Conroyal did not answer. She was battling withher mother-love. She knew what this quest of the Cave of Gold mightmean--hardships, dangers, even death for those she loved. But she was ofpioneer stock, had often seen her dearest go forth to face the dangersof the unknown wilderness; and, at last, with something of Spartan-likefortitude, she turned to Thure.

  "Yes, my son, you may go," she said. "You may go to your father and tellhim all; and he will decide about the search for the Cave of Gold."

  "Hurrah! We can go! Mother says I can go!" and Thure swung his free handaround his head.

  "And mother says I can go! Hurrah for the gold-mines!" and Bud clappedhis sister on the back, by way of letting off some of the surplus steamof his enthusiasm. "It will be great! And I'll bring you back a necklaceof gold nuggets, sister mine. Now, we must be getting ready."

  "But, first we all have a solemn duty to perform," Mrs. Conroyal saidgravely. "We must give the dead miner decent burial, as we would wishour own dear ones buried, should they die amongst strangers. See thatthe grave is dug, my son; and notify all that the funeral will be heldin the house-sala at the going down of the sun. Come, we will make readythe house for the funeral," and, followed by Mrs. Randolph and the twogirls, she hurried from the room.

  A half an hour later, all who were left on the rancho gathered in thesala to pay the last respects of the living, who soon must die, to thedead, who but a short time before lived. There was no minister, nopriest to be had. Mrs. Conroyal read the church service for the deadover the body of the unfortunate miner; and then six of the oldest andstrongest boys gently lifted the boards on which the corpse lay to theirshoulders and, just as the rays of the setting sun redden the tops ofthe western mountains, bore the body slowly to its last resting place,beneath the outstretched arms of a sturdy oak, on the top of a littlehillock, near the murmuring waters of a small stream that flowed closeby the house.

  That night was a busy night at the Conroyal rancho. Everything must begot ready for the going of Thure and Bud in the morning; and it wassurprising how many things there were that needed doing. But, at length,long after midnight, everything was in readiness and the two boysentered their sleeping room for their last night's rest, for they knewnot how long, in the dear old home-house.

  "I can hardly realize that we are to start for the mines in themorning," Thure said, as he quickly undressed and jumped into bed. "Allthat has happened to-day seems more like a dream than the reality; and Iam almost afraid that I will wake up in the morning and find that I havebeen only dreaming."

  "Well," declared Bud, "if it's only dreaming, I'm going to get into bedand dream some more as quick as I can; so, not meaning to be impolite,shut up and good night," and he settled himself down comfortably in thebed and closed his eyes. And, in five minutes, in spite of the feverishexcitements of the day, the two tired boys were sound asleep.