The Cave of Gold

by Everett McNeil

  CHAPTER VI

  THE SIGN OF THE TWO RED THUMBS

  At the date of the happenings here recorded, 1849, the greater part ofCalifornia was still an unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by scatteredtribes of Indians and the wild beasts. For some three hundred years theSpaniards and the Mexicans had occupied a few choice spots along thecoast, with now and then an isolated ranchero in the great interiorvalleys of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers. Then, in 1846, hadcome the War with Mexico and the Conquest of California by theAmericans, swiftly followed by the discovery of gold in 1848 and thegreat inflow of gold-seekers from all parts of the world of 1849 andlater, who, of course, all rushed pell-mell to the gold regions, leavingthe rest of California more thinly populated than ever. Indeed, in 1849,all California, except the gold regions, was practically deserted; and,since the gold regions were located in what had been, a few weeksbefore, a mountainous wilderness, nearly everybody in California wasliving in the wilderness, and, necessarily, living under primitivewilderness conditions--a wild, free, independent sort of a life thatquickly brought to the surface the real character of each individual.

  Such, then, was the California of 1849, the California of Thure and Bud;and such were the conditions of the life, the wild romantic life of thewilderness mining camps, toward which we left our young friendshastening, their unwilling pack-horses pulling and tugging on the ropeswhich were dragging them away from the home-pastures, when we rode alittle way on the homeward journey with Iola and Ruth.

  Now, to return to Thure and Bud.

  The Conroyal rancho was situated in the Lower Sacramento Valley, sometwo-days' journey from Sutter's Fort, near which the City of Sacramentoon the Sacramento River had sprung into a sudden and marvelousexistence; and, as Sacramento City was then the final rendezvous of allthose bound for the mines, some forty miles in the wilderness ofmountains to the east, Thure and Bud, naturally, had headed straight forthis town, intending, when there, to find someone going to Hangtown,with whom they might journey to this mining camp, where they hoped tofind their fathers and their friends. Both boys were well acquaintedwith the trail to Sutter's Fort, having been there frequently with theirfathers; and, since Sacramento City was only a couple of miles or sofrom Sutter's Fort, they would have no difficulty in finding their waythither. The trail, for the greater part of the distance, ran throughbeautiful valleys and over low-lying hills, where nature still reignedunfretted by man and where a human being was seldom seen, consequentlyThure and Bud expected to have a lonely ride to Sacramento City.

  For some little while after the departure of the two girls neither boyspoke. Somehow they did not feel like talking, not even about thewonderful Cave of Gold, nor the skin map, nor the death of the oldminer. They were thinking of home and the dear ones from whom they hadparted for they knew not how long; and, when boys are thinking deeply ofsuch things, they do not like talking. But, gloom and sadness cannotlong conquer the spirits of any normal boy; and, at the end of an hour'sriding they were their own lively and talkative selves again.

  "I wonder if we can make our old camping-ground to-night?" Thurequestioned doubtfully, as they came to a halt, a little before noon, onthe top of a steep ridge to give their horses a short rest. "If Iremember right, this ridge is not nearly half-way to the place where dadand I always camped when we went to Sutter's Fort; and it must be nearlynoon now," and he glanced upward at the sun, which was fast nearing thezenith. "Say, but these old pack-horses are as slow as oxen. I wonder ifwe can't do something to hurry them up?"

  "We've got to make the old camping-ground tonight, if it takes us tillmidnight," Bud answered emphatically. "That is, we've got to, if weexpect to get to Sacramento City to-morrow; and that's where I, for one,expect to be sometime to-morrow night. I reckon, we'll have to drivethem pack-horses in front of us and use the whip a little."

  "A bully idea," Thure agreed. "I wonder why we did not think of itbefore. Here, you old slowpoke, get up!" and, whirling his horse around,he suddenly rode up behind his pack-horse and gave that animal a quickblow with his whip.

  The scheme worked splendidly; and the two boys were soon on their wayagain and moving at a considerably increased speed. But, notwithstandingtheir accelerated motion, it was not until some three hours after sunsetthat the two tired boys and the four tired horses reached the oldcamping-grounds, where there was an abundance of water for themselvesand horses and fuel for the camp-fire.

  "Well, I swun I am tired!" Thure exclaimed, as he threw himself downwith a sigh of satisfaction on his blanket before the camp-fire, when,at last, the horses had been unsaddled and unbridled and unpacked andpicketed where they could feed on the rich grass, and the two boys hadeaten their rude meal of broiled venison--they had shot a young deer ontheir way--and homemade bread, washed down by a huge tin cup full ofcoffee of their own brewing.

  "I reckon you are not the only tired boy in this camp to-night," and Budspread out his blanket on the ground by the side of Thure's andstretched himself out on it. "Every bone and muscle in my body has beenjust a-teasing me for the last two hours to let up and give them a rest.Well, we got here anyhow; and I guess we can now make Sacramento Cityall right to-morrow night. Say," and he sat up on his blanket with ajerk at the thought that had suddenly come to him, "do you suppose thosetwo villains, who robbed and killed the old miner, have found out thatwe have the skin map that they committed murder in vain to get? If theyhave, I reckon we'll have to be on the lookout for them good and sharp.Why, they might be on our trail even now!"

  "You are right," and Thure sat up quickly. "But I can't see just howthey could know that we have the map. They certainly didn't wait forintroductions when we charged down upon them; and I don't believe theyfollowed us home--they were too scart, the cowards! But, as Kit Carsonsays: 'The time to be cautious is before the Indians get your scalp--notafterwards.' I reckon that means that we've got to keep guard to-night;and I don't believe I ever felt more sleepy," and Thure sighed. "But, ifBrokennose and Pockface should happen to be on our trail, they couldn'task for anything better than to get us two here alone and asleepto-night. They sure would have the skin map in the morning, and,probably, our horses and supplies, and, possibly, our lives. Say, but Ijust would like to meet them two cowards when I am awake!" and Thure'seyes glinted wrathfully.

  "Well, I should not be surprised if we had that pleasure before long,"and Bud's face hardened. "If the old miner told them of the Cave of Goldand the skin map, and he said he did, they sure will be on the lookoutfor the party with the map; and it wouldn't take much inquiring for themto find out that it was us that brought the dead miner home; and then, Ireckon, it won't take them two minutes to guess what started us sosudden-like for the mines. I sure hope they won't find us until we getto our dads and Rex and Dill and Hammer Jones. I'd feel safe enoughthen. You see, we are guarding not only our lives, but also the Cave ofGold; and the finding of that cave means a lot to all of us."

  "It sure does," Thure agreed. "Luck has been against both of our dadslately; and, well, we've just got to find that Cave of Gold; and we aregoing to find it, in spite of all the broken noses and pockmarked facesin the world. But, it won't do to sit here talking all night. We mustget all the sleep we can. Who will stand guard first?"

  "I will," Bud answered, picking up his rifle and rising; "so get intoyour blanket and asleep as quick as you can. It must be almost midnightnow."

  "All right," and Thure began rolling himself up in his blanket. "Wake mein about two hours, and I'll stand guard the rest of the night. We wantto be on our way as soon as it is light enough to see. Good night," andin five minutes Thure was as dead to his surroundings as the log nearwhich he lay.

  Bud picked up his blanket and moved off into the dark shadows of thelow-hanging branches of an evergreen oak and out of the light of thecamp-fire, where he could watch, seeing but unseen.

  The night had grown dark and cool--all California nights are chilly; andBud wrapped his blanket around him and, leaning up against the trunk ofthe tree
, looked out into the darkness surrounding the lone camp-fire.In the distance a coyote was making the night hideous with hisdemoniacal howlings. From a near tree came the lonesome hoot of an owl.All else was still, save from all around came the mysterious sounds ofthe wilderness at night, suggestive of the low whisperings and talkingof uneasy spirits.

  But all this was commonplace to Bud. He had often spent the night out inthe open, had often stood guard by a lonely camp-fire, when darkness wasall around and only the weird voices of the night were heard; and hegave little thought to these things. He was very tired and very sleepyand it took about all the thought power he had to compel himself to stayawake.

  An hour past. There had not been a suspicious sound nor movement; andBud began to feel more secure, began to relax some of his vigilance,began to close his eyes now and then for a brief moment, began to leanmore comfortably against the trunk of the tree--then, suddenly, hestraightened himself up with a jerk, his eyes wide open, his cockedrifle held ready for instant use. Sure he had heard a sound, a soundthat did not belong to the night, a thud like the fall of some heavybody on soft ground, and coming from the direction of the camp-fire! Fora moment he stared, tense with excitement, toward the camp-fire, nowglowing dully; but he saw nothing unusual, heard nothing unusual. Thurestill lay by the side of the log, his form showing faintly in the dulllight. The horses were grazing quietly--he could just distinguish theirforms through the darkness. They showed no alarm.

  "Queer! I certainly heard something fall; and right near! Well, I reckonI had better make sure that everything is all right with Thure," and Budvery cautiously stepped out from the shadows of the tree and, movingsoftly, crept up to where Thure lay. His deep regular breathing told himthat he was sound asleep and that all was well with him.

  "Must have been dreaming," he muttered in disgust, and returned to hisstation under the tree; but he did not close his eyes again.

  There were no other suspicious sounds during the remainder of his watch,nor during the watch of Thure; and the dawning of morning found bothboys and all their belongings safe and sound.

  "Did you see or hear anything suspicious during your watch?" was Bud'sfirst query, when Thure awoke him the next morning.

  "No. Why?" answered Thure. "Did you?"

  "Well, I--I don't know," and Bud jumped to his feet and began lookingsharply around over the ground near the camp-fire.

  Suddenly he uttered an exclamation and, bending quickly down, picked upa large flat stone that was lying between the log, near which Thure hadslept, and the camp-fire.

  "I--I don't remember of seeing this stone here last night," and heturned it over curiously; and then uttered another exclamation thatbrought Thure to his side on the jump.

  The stone was flat, some three inches thick, nearly round, and,possibly, a foot in diameter. One side was nearly white and smooth; andthe astonished eyes of the boys read, rudely written on this side,evidently with a piece of charred coal, these ominous words:

  LEVE THE MAP TO THE MINERS CAVE UNDER THIS STON NEAR YOUR CAMP FIRE WHEN YOU BRAKE CAMP IN THE MORNING AND NEVER TELL NOBODY WHAT THE MINER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE CAVE--OR WELL GIT YOU THE SAME AS WE GOT THE MINER--LIFE IS WURTH MOREN GOLD AND YOULL NEVER LIVE TO GIT THE GOLD.

  Under these words were the red prints of two thumbs--one the mark of ahuge thumb and the other the mark of a much smaller thumb--as if theirowners had covered their thumbs with blood and then pressed them againstthe stone, in lieu of signatures.

  For a full two minutes the two boys stood staring at these words, theirfaces whitening and their eyes widening.

  "How--how did this get here?" Thure was the first to speak.

  For answer Bud leaped to the log, by the side of which Thure had slept,and, bending over it, looked closely at the ground on the other side.

  "Right from behind this log!" he exclaimed, after a moment's scrutiny ofthe ground. "The fellow that threw that stone crept up behind this logand then got up on his knees and tossed the rock to where we found it.You can still see the prints of his knees and toes in the ground. Ithought I heard a sound like the fall of something heavy during mywatch; but I was half asleep when I heard it," and Bud's face flushed alittle; "and when I couldn't see anything suspicious or find anythingsuspicious or hear any more suspicious sounds, I concluded I had onlyfancied I had heard the sound. But that is sure no fancy," and his eyesglared at the stone, which Thure still held.

  "And I was sound asleep right on the other side of that log at that verymoment!" and Thure's weather-bronzed face whitened a little. "No morelogs for bedfellows for me!"

  "Yes, and he must have been lying right on the other side of that log,when I bent over you to see if you were all right," added Bud. "If I'dbeen only smart enough to look, it might have saved us from a lot oftrouble," and Bud's lips tightened grimly.

  "Better as it is," Thure declared. "Now, we've had our warning andnobody hurt; but, if you had discovered the fellow behind the log,they'd have got you, sure, and, probably, me, too. Both were doubtlesson hand; and would have shot you before you could have done anything, ifyou had discovered one of them. Now, I reckon, if they had found thecamp unguarded, they were intending to have a try for the map then andthere--and they would have got it! Well, what do you think about doingas they ask, and leaving the map under the stone? It seems from whatthat stone says--"

  "What!" and Bud turned in astonishment to Thure. "Give up that map to acouple of the biggest cowards and cut-throats in California? I'd soonergive them every drop of blood in my body. I--"

  "Well, you need not get so rambunctuous over it," laughed Thure. "But,"and his face sobered, "I reckon that that there is no idle threat," andhe pointed to the flat stone, which now lay on the ground at his feet;"and I fancy the sooner we get to our dads the better it will be for us.Not that I'd be afraid of those two skunks," he added hastily, "ifthey'd come out in the open, where one could see them; but I do not carefor any more creeping upon a fellow in the dark, when he's asleep," andhe glanced shudderingly toward the log. "But, there is no use of talkingany more about it. Let's get busy. We must make Sacramento City to-nightsure."

  In a very short time breakfast was eaten, the horses saddled and bridledand packed, and the two boys ready to mount and to start on their wayagain.

  "Now, for our answer to that there message," and Thure picked up theflat stone and dropped it into the camp-fire. "I reckon that will tellthem what we think of their threat; and that we're too old to be scartlike little school boys," and he sprang on the back of his horse. "Nowfor Sacramento City!" and the two boys, with watchful eyes glancing allaround them, resumed their lonely journey toward the new city on theSacramento.