Salting A Mine

"How l niissrd niy fortune?" said Tlm Bucklt'y, witii a good iiatim'd chuokle. "Lorlyl l'm afraid you'll Ifo back ou me il' I uil] you, fur it w.is ii du ni menu trickan 1 n mlstake; but i don't knxw as you'll blauieme when I it;ll yon the acts. 1 Ie w8 rïclr, aiul I, Hke manv ft poor )iv8pector, wlnu's workevl and wurliod and gits any ahead, I sced niy titlc olear lo a cool tbrty ihousouil, and jast look the buil by llie tiurusaud suid 'ee-upl'" ïim üave iinother chuckJe as he tlioutflit over the past, and flually oo:n;iienccd : "Mo and niy partner had been prospeetin' on tlio houd Wil to I'S of the Arkansas anil just mide up our ininds wc'd BtrikB it or bust. Everylio.ly else ai-ound us wüs ge t tin' richhand over list, and i.liar was uu particular rettauu why we shouldn't, we thoughti IiOttdvLlle w juat risilla uto notoriely and evory íim}U C grouinl lor miles aroUlid liad boen stakud out in elaims, o that when Bill aml me- Bill was niy piirtucr- linally camo to the conclusión tliat we'd go to niiuin', tooj tliar was 110 room tbr us anywherc except to (io the next best thing and strike the Ai-kans.is. We dug au incline intu a liill, and at the end of tlio first woek we'd run a hole eleven íeet deep. The indieations were just tip top, and when we packed our burrer on tíaturday afternoon, our pooliets ñlled with specimens that beat anythiu' the HobertE. Lee ever turned out all liollow tor looks wc was just aljout the two hap piest niortals üiat ever went to au assay shopt '■Weil, the assily panued out eleven ouuces, which was a sort of damper on our l'eelin'.s, of eourse, but coneludin' thftt by next Saturday we'd run it up to fttty or a hiuidred, we went back to our claim and pltched inagain for all 't was ou ti Next Samrday we went back to town to have another assay madej and it was 'leven ounces again. , . "We feit mad wben the assayertold us;made uu our ïninds he was no good on eartli at his tl'ude, and Sunday we pegged back to our claim, deterniined to go to a man wliat uiulerstood his business next time we want ed an assay made. "Wedidtry aiiother the followm' Batuniay, but it was no use. It was 'leven ounces just tho same. "We kept workiu' like good fellows two weeks more, and had got tho hole allofsixty ieet huo the hill, vrheu we lei't ior town and ust iet the prospect hole go to thunder. '"Leven ouncos was no showing at all, and ruther tliau wurk auoUier wuek with any better ittdicationa devuloping, we ju3t niadeup our ininds to starve to deatli, lor in the end it was all the sume anyhow. "As usual, I stopped in at the hotel SuitUay aitcrnoon, and while lookin' ovei' tiic papers in the reudin'-room I heai-d two men taikin' togothcf back of me ubout ïnino-, and as how onc o' tiiem would liko to git hold ot' au interest in a good payiu' lodo lor some eastera capitalista. "1 don't kiwvr what gavo me the ido;t, but it came all ot'a ouddiu like ; and rixiu' the man's faeo on my mind I passed out of the room and took a walk up Fryei1 hill to thiuk the ter over. "What I had concludcd to do was this : tóalt the mine, take tliat ïellovv up to itand sell it to hiin, malie or break. 'i made a bcc line for the Little Chiet' mine and ñlled my pockots wilh oro, taking all 1 could iug ott". Tlie ore looked fov all the woild like the ur-j in our mine, and ou uriyin there Int uuce set to work stioking pieees iuio crcviccs and paloliin' up tne walls of tlia tunnol until tlio liole looked for aü tliu world liko the best payin' load in Um State. Theu I retiinicd. "NüXtinornin_' I retuined early to the hotel and introduccd niyself to Mr. BitLors. Told him 1 liad struck it i-icu and wou ld sell out for $60,UÜ0. I üually iiiducud him to visit tuo miiw. 'líe set to work spreadin' a íiewsp.iper on tliu gvournl an 1 bean to piek wliere l told him. Ho tblded it carcfiillr lip, and we rode back to town, whore we had an assay made. it g-ave 200 oimces, which set him wild with doli.a'ht. "Frotn tliit moment you nevnr seed a fellow stiok so cloe to anotber, as Bitters ilid ti) in", lle was at'riid Fd geil the mine to somebody clse beforc hecould get a cliauuo to buy it, and he bc-an to watcli every steo I took. Nothing would do but 1 had to ;o to liis room with him and drink and e.it the best there was in the hotel. Tlieu he liegan to inake propositions, offurinx me $40,000. "I told hun L couldii t tlnnK oí King less than $60,000, lialf o' that to Bill and t30,OJO lo go to me; but lie urjíed so Uiuil tliat fliiaily í vuA l'd seo Bill and iind out vvhat lio tlioujfht about it. "So Bill vras callcil, nml, benis posted, lie tholigUt as hovv pei'litHJfl we'd beiter ttxkc it, ií' it was a ousli traiisaction. "Yes, said I, if it's a cash sale I guQsscd, too, we'd lako it. "Bitlers said oi' cour.se it was cash. "The next tlay caine, and as I walkcd into the hotel I seod Biltei's standing thai-, wailhig tor me. "As i was about to go wuoro he sat onu lellow spoke up out ol' üie crowd, loud enough tb" eveiyone to liear : 'llollo, Tliu i uuucnmtiu your mino assayed 'leven outwos to tliu ton, the otner day ?' 'Yuu nevur sced sich a look on a mau's facu as tUat on Bitters' wlicn ho haard that roui&rk. 1 tried to lauli il bff, bul it was no go. Ue liad begun to smell a mouse, and iusislc 1 oa iiiothcr assay beiüg made; and dunied it' he didn't uiake me take liiin back to the mine and let lnui have his own way in pickiu' his sieciinens. i kiiuw tlie gauw was up ; and, sure enougli, there was that iuiorual assay of 'leven onnoes again. 'Thit's how I niissed my fortuna, concíuded Tiin. 'It was a clurned mean trick 1 11 admii but old Bitten eoulil have lost that forty thoLisand and nevcr niissud it, wliile I was on be.lrock." As a rosult of tho recent gold discoveriesin Nortlieastern New York, the most frequent quesiion in the metropolis now is : liilov doesyour gold mine pan out?" Koberts Brothers, the publishers o Jean Ingelow' poema in tliis connlry, saj that ihey have paid lier $18,U00 ïu scventcen years The Queen's printer lias put his sirnatui-o lo. the last sheet of the newly revised,Nèv Testament, volumes of . ivliich will bc received soon on this l' side of tho water.