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Veu. IV. No, 48.
Copyright, 1903, by David C.
DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING CO., Extcry,
Jimmy and the Gold Bug’s Gold
By Dennis H. Stovall
. Gold Bug’s freighter, going
mine office door just as Kirk, the big
superintendent, came‘out. Thé super-
intendent carried a black canvas bag that
hung heavily from his hand. He tossed the
bag into the buckboard with the remark :
Jimmy, I’ve got a special task for you
on this trip down to Central Camp.. There
are four gold bricks in this bag—some
$30,000—the Gold Bug’s clean-up for the
month. You are to take them to the Wells
Fargo express office and ship them East to
headquarters. .It may be a difficult under-
taking, but I. feel. satisfied you can do it.
1 have that much confidence in you.”
y. was at a loss to understand the
full, iveight of his responsibility in de-
livering the gold safely at Central Camp.
We could not understand why it should be
any more difficult than carrying the Gold
Bug mail pouch down to the post office.
He sat for a little time in silence.
“Can you do it?’ asked the superin-
tendent.
J inine drew the buekboard up to the
the boy, - positively.
do it?”
may try to take it
was made 1:
answered
with the. bricks. The date of our clean-up
seems to be known, and there are two or
three men on the lookout for us. . But
ther won’t expect you to have it. I will
follow you in my rig, and will not be more
than a half-mile behind. Just keep your
eyes one and don’t let them get the drop
on
To prevent detection a saddle and blanket
were pile vag containing the
precious metal. The superintendent thrust
a loaded revolver into the boy’s coat pocket.
Thus. prepared, Jimmy cracked his whip
over the span of mules, and the buck-
board’ dropped with a clatter. down- the
winding road to the caiion -below.
Fog had settled thick and murky, and
the road was visible only a few rods ahead.
Water dripped from the manzanita bushes
and. overhanging fir. boughs. The big
white and black oaks loomed ghostly in the
mist.
Since his promotion from’ car-boy to
roustabout, Jimmy had made several trips
to Central Camp, but the thought of dan-
ger had never occurred to him. ‘He had
learned to handle the mule team with pe.--
fect ease, and the most treacherous. part
of the road had no terrors for him
But this was the first time he had been
given the task of carrying out the Gold
Bug’s gold. Ile would have thought noth-
ing of it had not Kirk mentioned the pos-
sibility of danger.
An hour. passed and nothing unusual
occurred. The fog still hung heavily. . As
the buckboard rattled through’ the grim
mountain silences, Jimmy was conscious of a
strange feeling of fear. If there had been
other sounds aside from those of the wheels
grinding the ruts, or the squeaking of the
bouncing seat, he would have been more
at ease. “It was the absolute stillness of
the mountains that troubled him. The
usual chatter of the birds was not heard,
and even.the saucy gray squirrel, that
Jimmy had learned to love, refused to come
out and scold.. At every turn the lad half-
expected a black mask to appear from be-
bind a manzanita clump-and to hear a
deep voice give the customary command,
Six miles of the road were covered with-
out.a-mishap. He passed Arizona Jed, the
toward the
mine with his jingling eight-mule team and
double-decked wagon piled with supplies.
“Have you seen anybody on the road,
Jed?” Jimmy asked, as he drew to one side
to. det the heavy wagon pass.
“ Nope,” the freighter answered.
“ Tlaven’t seen anybody since I broke camp
at Willow Springs. A couple o’ fellers
passed the night with me there—prospect-
ors, I think. They asked me a string 0’
questions “bout the Gold Bug—must ° 0’
took me for the boss. They went .out
tother way. Git-ap, Pluto! Mike! Hike
along!”’- He uncurled his long whip over
the lead anules, and the groaning wagon
disappeared in the fog. .
prospectors asking questions
about the Gold Bug!’ mused Jimmy, as
he idly -kicked thé saddle on the buck-
board floor. Then he took the revolver
from his pocket and = laid- it across’ his
knees, fingering it curiously with his~ free
hand. Jimmy’s knowledge of a_ pistol
was limited. He knew that one part of it
was the barrel, another the cylinder, and
another the trigger. Ife wondered if he
would know how to use it should the occa-
sion demand,
Just to practice his hand and eye, he
poised the revolyer and took aim at a
chaparral clump. As he. put his finger to
the trigger a man stepped from behind the
bush, and cried out:
“Turn that gun the other way, sonny!
It might go off!"
Dumfounded and not a_ little fright-
ened, Jimmy replaced the weapon in his
pocket. “1 did not know you were there._
I was just practicing,” said Jimmy, apol-
ogetically.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t-pull the trig-
ger!”
As the boy drew nearer, he discovered
the.man was standing by a horse, and, a.
short distance ,ahead, . another man,
mounted, waited in .the road. The two
fell in behind and~ followed, with their
ponies’ noses over the buckboard.
“You are the Gold Bug roustabout, ain’t
you?” asked the man who first spoke.
“Yes,” the boy replied,
“as the Gold Bug all
needs?”
“T think so. Kink refused three or four
men a few days ag
the men it
“Who is Kirk?” asked the
man.
“TTe’s the super.” .
“Does he come out very
often?” .
“Only about once a month.”
By the number of questions
they asked Jimmy was positive
they were the two men_ the
freighter had met at Wi iow
Springs.
“How often’ does the mine
clean up?”
“T don't know. None of the
crew know ang thing about that.”
“Oh, I see!” the man replied,
and em saw. him. turn with
a sly. to his companion.
The boy. shuffled his feet across
the saddle. A shudder crept over him as
he thought of the four big bricks on the
buckboard floor.
“When will the superintendent come
out again?” the man asked, after a long
pause.
“Tle’s coming out to-day.” With the
answer Jimmy gave a yawn, as if the
question was 0:
no moment. . Inwardly,
Cook, Publishiny Company.
ILLINOIS, AND 36 WasuHINGTON Sr., Ciicaco.
however, he was delighted, as he was giyen
a chance to throw them off the scent. That
they were interested in the Gold Bug clean-
up was clearly evident.
“So he’s coming out to-day?” the man
repeated, as if the knowledge pleased him,
“What time will he star
“He's only about a ale hour behind
me.”
Again Jimmy saw a wink pass between
the two.
A long silence followed, then the cross-
road from Granite Hill was reached.
“We'll have to leave you here,” the
boy heard the man remark. ‘“ We're going
over to Granite Till.” They turned their
horses into the crossroad. “‘ Be more care-
ful how you handle that gun after this.
Aim.at a tree next time you do your tar-
get practice.” With a boisterous laugh
they passed out of sight and hearing around
the curve.
Jimmy knew full well they were not
going to Granite Hill. They would fol-
low the crossroad but a short distance and
return to the main highway to hold up
Kirk, whom they supposed had the gold
in custody.
Jimmy chuckled'as he kicked the saddle
again,’and cracked his whip over the lag-
ging mules. “They struck a brisk trot and
the boy gave a deep’sigh of relief. But,
true to their mule-nature, the team soon
lagged again, and the buckboard
slowly over the granite road.
hour passed Jimmy was startled by the
thumping of hoofs some distance behind.
Then an awful truth flashed upon him.
He was pursued!
The men had evidently
KIRK AND THE FERRY:
MAN SCRAMBLED
THROUGH THE WIELOWS.
held up Kirk, and, finding no booty, real-
ized they had been’ tricked. But; not to be
outdone,’ they would overtake the lad and
relieve him’ of the treasure.
It all came upon Jimmy instantly. Tle
deeply regretted his allowing the mules to
lag after the men had turned from the road.
It was fully six miles further to Central
Camp, with Rogue river to cross on the
from view.
Decetnber 2, 1905.
y. Ah, yes, the Rogue! He must reach
the ferry before his. pursuers overtook
him
Tor a little while the thumping of the
hoofs was not heard, but, when he turned
into a deeper cafion, where sound was more
closely concentrated, the pounding again
reached him, clear and distinct, growing
louder and closer every instant. .
Jimmy slashed his whip across the backs
of the mules, and the startled team broke
into a wild gallop. With a rattling crash,
the buckboard whirled down the crooked
road, leaving a cloud of heavy: alkali dust
in its wake.
he fog was more dense than earlier in
the day. The mist bit icily at the boy’s
face as he cut through it, and dripped like
rain from his hat and coat.
The rattle of the buckboard made it im-
possible for him to hear the hoof beats,
but the boy knew his pursuers were hotly
pounding his trail. Ue kept his whip over
the mules and the team held toa run. The
buckboard bounced and leaped over : the
rocky road. To prevent being pitched out,
Jimmy was obliged to clinch his feet under
the seat. Its dead weight held the gold
firmly to the floor, but the saddle leaped up
and down and to and fro, as if imbued with
life and a mad desire to escape the flying
ig.
The two miles of the cafion road were
safely covered, but by this time the pur-
suing horsemen were so near Jimmy could
plainly hear the hoof beats when the buck-
board ceased its loud clatter to pass over a
stretch of sand. There was still another
mile to Rogue Ferry, and the mile was over
the most treacherous and
dangerous part of the
route. The road hung des-
perately to the mountain
yall. t was just
enough for the rig.
the cafion—just how deep
Jimmy did not know; but,
on this morning, it seemed
bottomless, the fog obscur-
ing even the tops of the
tall pines that reared their
heads from the gulch bot-
tom far be
Jimmy a4 “always crept
cautiously over this. part
of the road, but now, with
these pounding hoofs close
behind, he~ whipped the
mules into a wilder run
and fairly flew about the
tortuous edge of the preci-
pice. He gave the mules
their heads, dropping the
lines’ slack on the tongue.
ie knew the sure-footed
beasts would keep their
feet better without his
guidance. Instinctively
they crowded close to the
overhanging wall, and
swung the buckboard
safely around each treach-
erous turn,
Just a half-mile more!
The pursuers were now
but two hundred yards be-
hind. There was but lit-
tle chance of. the lad's
reaching the ferry safely,
as the road dropped steeply
down the grade to the
river. A saddle-pony might
hold,to a run and keep his feet on that
slope, but a harnessed team could not,
Despite his slashing the mules. slackened
their speed. Frantically the boy whipped
and yelled to urge them on, but it was
no use. . .
The horsemen’ were but a short distance
behind, and only the fog screened them
Once, Jimmy heard the com-
