Read Online Silver Dreams by Cynthia Thomason - Free Book Online
Authors: Cynthia Thomason
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leaned toward the story-teller. "Were they...dead? Had someone killed them?"
"One of them already was, and there warn't much I could do for the other. They were brothers come all the way from Wales, the one told me. Named Ian and Clyde Faraday. They'd made a good strike and were toting their bags of ore into Georgetown to the assayer. It was a rich vein, according to Mr. Clyde. He told me it ran four feet wide in some parts, with the silver all near to the surface, so's a body could practically chip it out with a hat pin. Those boys had dug a good ways into the mountain and the vein ran as far as their eyes could see with no end in sight."
In light of the grisly but intriguing story, the rock in Elizabeth's hand took on a personality all its own. She looked from the ore to the animated face of Dooley Blue. "So what happened to the Faradays and all that silver?"
"Their burro was loaded with bags of the ore when they started down the mountain. They’d come only as far as the spot I found them when robbers jumped them both, killing Mr. Ian right off and torturing Mr. Clyde for the whereabouts of his claim. He never told where it was, and the thieves took the burro and left the poor miner for dead. I found him some hours later, and it was while he was breathing his last that I learned the terrible tale."
Ross poked Elizabeth in the ribs, though he wouldn't have had to. She was listening to every word. "Wait till you hear this, Lizzie," he said, pointing to the rock. "Tell her how you got this sample, Dooley."
The old man sat a little taller and basked in his celebrity. "I done what I could to make Mr. Clyde's last hours on this earth as comforting as they could be. That's why in his remaining few minutes he told me about the one bag of ore he'd thrown over the ledge when he seen the robbers bearing down on them. And Mr. Clyde Faraday says to me, 'Dooley, you’re a good man, and I want you to have the claim.'"
"He told you where the mine was?" Elizabeth asked.
"He did, right then and there, and gave me the deed. He’d named it the 'Fair Day' Mine, and I remember the landmarks he described like it was yesterday."
"Did you go to it?"
"Girlie, I tried. Nearly starving myself, I went a quarter 'round that mountain to the south side just like Mr. Clyde told me to and started looking. I might have found it if the blizzard hadn't come. You heard about the storm of '90, I guess."
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Was the fiercest snow I ever seen. Turned the sky black as coal and the ground as white as a virgin's nightdress. No human eye could look upon it without blinding himself. I decided it wouldn't do no good for me to find that mine if I was to die in ten foot drifts. So I come back down the mountain, near dead myself, but determined to go back."
"And did you?" Elizabeth asked.
"I ain't yet." Dooley rubbed his index finger over his upper lip and cackled with excitement. "I got back to town and had that ore assayed. The silver come in at ten thousand dollars to the ton. It's a powerful fine vein, let me tell you. Folks all over town heard about it and showed up in the restaurant where I was eating and the hotel where I slept. Dooley Blue never had so many friends."
"But he never told a soul where the mine was," Ross interrupted. "Did you, Dooley?"
"Nope. I figured why tell anybody when I could have it all to myself? There was only one little problem, though. I'd run out of money. That's why I decided since it was winter anyways and no way of going back up the Devil's Fork, I might as well come to New York and fetch my cousin. I figured he'd have a few dollars tucked away that he wouldn't mind investing to make a million. That's just what I done. Came all the way to New York, only to find my cousin had passed. I been living in his little room ever since. And I never got back to the Devil's Fork."
"That's awful," Elizabeth said. "To have lost your cousin,
"One of them already was, and there warn't much I could do for the other. They were brothers come all the way from Wales, the one told me. Named Ian and Clyde Faraday. They'd made a good strike and were toting their bags of ore into Georgetown to the assayer. It was a rich vein, according to Mr. Clyde. He told me it ran four feet wide in some parts, with the silver all near to the surface, so's a body could practically chip it out with a hat pin. Those boys had dug a good ways into the mountain and the vein ran as far as their eyes could see with no end in sight."
In light of the grisly but intriguing story, the rock in Elizabeth's hand took on a personality all its own. She looked from the ore to the animated face of Dooley Blue. "So what happened to the Faradays and all that silver?"
"Their burro was loaded with bags of the ore when they started down the mountain. They’d come only as far as the spot I found them when robbers jumped them both, killing Mr. Ian right off and torturing Mr. Clyde for the whereabouts of his claim. He never told where it was, and the thieves took the burro and left the poor miner for dead. I found him some hours later, and it was while he was breathing his last that I learned the terrible tale."
Ross poked Elizabeth in the ribs, though he wouldn't have had to. She was listening to every word. "Wait till you hear this, Lizzie," he said, pointing to the rock. "Tell her how you got this sample, Dooley."
The old man sat a little taller and basked in his celebrity. "I done what I could to make Mr. Clyde's last hours on this earth as comforting as they could be. That's why in his remaining few minutes he told me about the one bag of ore he'd thrown over the ledge when he seen the robbers bearing down on them. And Mr. Clyde Faraday says to me, 'Dooley, you’re a good man, and I want you to have the claim.'"
"He told you where the mine was?" Elizabeth asked.
"He did, right then and there, and gave me the deed. He’d named it the 'Fair Day' Mine, and I remember the landmarks he described like it was yesterday."
"Did you go to it?"
"Girlie, I tried. Nearly starving myself, I went a quarter 'round that mountain to the south side just like Mr. Clyde told me to and started looking. I might have found it if the blizzard hadn't come. You heard about the storm of '90, I guess."
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Was the fiercest snow I ever seen. Turned the sky black as coal and the ground as white as a virgin's nightdress. No human eye could look upon it without blinding himself. I decided it wouldn't do no good for me to find that mine if I was to die in ten foot drifts. So I come back down the mountain, near dead myself, but determined to go back."
"And did you?" Elizabeth asked.
"I ain't yet." Dooley rubbed his index finger over his upper lip and cackled with excitement. "I got back to town and had that ore assayed. The silver come in at ten thousand dollars to the ton. It's a powerful fine vein, let me tell you. Folks all over town heard about it and showed up in the restaurant where I was eating and the hotel where I slept. Dooley Blue never had so many friends."
"But he never told a soul where the mine was," Ross interrupted. "Did you, Dooley?"
"Nope. I figured why tell anybody when I could have it all to myself? There was only one little problem, though. I'd run out of money. That's why I decided since it was winter anyways and no way of going back up the Devil's Fork, I might as well come to New York and fetch my cousin. I figured he'd have a few dollars tucked away that he wouldn't mind investing to make a million. That's just what I done. Came all the way to New York, only to find my cousin had passed. I been living in his little room ever since. And I never got back to the Devil's Fork."
"That's awful," Elizabeth said. "To have lost your cousin,
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