CHAPTER X.

THE BLAZING-EYE MINE.

In Eastern California there lies a strip of country less than a hundred miles in length and thirty miles in width--the Gehenna of America--a basin so defiled that the abomination of the Israelites, the Valley of Hinnom, was a paradise; Tophet, where the sacrifices of children to Moloch were made by this Biblical tribe of Hebrews, was at least habitable. Death Valley lies two hundred and fifty feet lower than the tide water of the Pacific Ocean. Upon this strip of land grows no verdure, and within its confines exists no life save the scorpion, the centipede, the tarantula, the hideous gila monster and rattlesnakes, all more deadly poisonous than sisters and brothers of the same family found elsewhere, each species a continual menace to the others in the never ending battle for life--vindictive conquerors at last being vanquished by more malignant foes.

The desert is one mass of burning, blighting alkali sand. The heat is beyond human endurance, and what few pools of water may be found by digging deep into the earth are so pregnant with disease-breeding, loathsome germs, that death is but hastened to the poor victim of thirst who attempts to assuage his sufferings by drinking the polluted reward of frenzied labor.

At one time the government established an observation station within the borders of this waste to give scientifically to the world an accurate account of the perils which await the prospector venturesome enough to visit this living ossuary--the realm of the dead and habitat of the uncanny. Records show that the government representative found the heat so burdensome that clothing was dispensed with, and in nature's primitive garb the lonely vigils were passed until the station was abandoned.

Years before, a prospector braved the perils of the desert and returned more dead than alive, but with golden sand and golden nuggets and tales of a mine whose splendor out-dazzled the wildest dreams. This prospector called the mine after himself, "Pegleg." He obtaining his sobriquet from the fact that one of his legs was a wooden peg. He organized a party and they entered the valley, never to return. Other parties were formed and attempted a rescue, only to leave their bones to bleach as monuments of man's distorted and perverse cupidity.

The government sent a detachment of soldiers, well versed in the knowledge of all the impending dangers, but none returned save a corporal, and he a raving maniac, upon a thirst-crazed mule. Thus the famous "Pegleg" mine became a legend fraught with mystery and weird, blood-curdling memories.

It was to this mine, "The Blazing-Eye-by-the-Big-Water," that Yamanatz was to conduct Jack. The Utes in years gone by made the trip from the mountains to the desert land and returned laden with golden ornaments, their trappings covered with gold nuggets beaten into fantastic shapes. It took many moons in their comings and goings, and many fierce battles were waged with other tribes in the latter's endeavors to wrest the secret from the wily warriors, who knew of a safe but dangerous underground river bed, which wound its tortuous way beneath the sand-covered desert, cutting the wonderful deposit in half. But even this passage to that mountain of wealth was beset by terrors as frightful as those above the ground. Reptiles had ingress and egress from fissures leading to the surface, and one was in constant danger at every step, not from the trail alone, but from the roof and sides of that slimy canon, the gloom of which added to the dark hideousness, as the feeble, flickering torches awakened the lethargic inhabitants of that abandoned inferno.

The trip from the White River Agency had been made by rail as far as possible. Every provision had been made that could be devised for protection against the evils surrounding the dangerous mission. The nearest station which Jack could in any way "guess" would land them near a point from whence Yamanatz could find his way was Mojave. The curious of the little town watched the preparations of the trio as they made ready to prospect toward the Telescope range. The party consisted of Yamanatz, Jack and Chiquita, and an old "forty-niner" who was asked to join them under the promise of good wages and the usual "interest" in any claims which might be "staked." As they slowly made their way along the edge of the great Mojave desert, Yamanatz was continually on the lookout for some familiar sign that would indicate they were in the locality leading to the mysterious river bed. Finally the fourth day found them encamped at the edge of a low "bench," or hill, mountains arising from one side and an undulating, dreary waste of billowy sands stretching to the horizon on the other.

"It is good," said Yamanatz, continuing, "On the morrow Chiquita will go with the prospector to the stream where yonder mountain meets the sky. Chiquita will watch and wait until Jack and Yamanatz shall return. The prospector will find an old vein of mineral in which is gold. He must work upon that while Yamanatz and Jack go toward the setting sun, where the buzzards roost waiting for those who venture into Death Valley."

This satisfied the prospector, who answered, "It is not much thet bird gets to put inside his 'bone box' sence the fools quit a-goin' ter ther 'Pegleg' mine. Ye hev bin told about thet, I guess, and ye don't look thet crazy as would attempt even a one hour's ride into thet furnass. I'll go with the Injun gal, and good luck ter ye."

"We will be gone five sleeps," said Yamanatz.

The second day found Jack and the Ute chief inside the well-concealed stone covered opening which led to the river bed. Armed with horsehair whips and gnarled pinon torches which blazed and smoked, they made their way, leading horses and pack mules along the subterranean passage. Occasionally the swashing of water smote their ears, and at intervals open fissures extending to the stream far below them were encountered, whereby cooling drink was obtained by means of a lariat and camp bucket. It was not difficult to replenish the leathern pouches provided for water.

The middle of the fourth day they reached the crumbling, disintegrated mass of quartz, honeycombed with gold. It was necessary to crush the decayed ore and extract the huge nuggets by washing in a pan. Occasionally the breaking of some of the rock revealed solid masses of pure gold, while in pockets of rusty, discolored quartz great handfuls of gold sand were disclosed. All that day and night Jack worked with a frenzied fervor, loading saddlebag after saddlebag with the precious metal. Yamanatz assisted until all their receptacles were filled, then a couple of hours of rest--sleep was out of the question. The heat and excitement rendered it useless to attempt it.

Packing the valuable pouches together with the few camp requirements which had been used on the trip, the return was commenced. The entrance was reached in less time than it required going; but now it became necessary to mark a trail by which Jack could find the way back to the cavern alone. Monuments of stone were erected in triangles, which gave the needed bearings for future use. More time had been consumed than had been allowed, and starvation rations for man and beast became necessary.

When the last monument to complete the chain had been erected it was midnight, and it was decided to attempt the crossing of the desert strip at an angle. Hour after hour they traveled, yet at daybreak no blue haze, no lofty peak appeared in that simmering, sweltering, burning waste. The trail behind them was as water struck with a whip. The sand in front gave no alluring sign. The ponies labored--the mules were restive. Silently as a moonbeam falling across the earth the cavalcade moved. Another midnight, and Jack resorted to his knowledge of astronomy to guide them from that fearful death which another day would probably bring. The constellation of Cassiopea seemed to beckon him in her direction. Again the red copper-colored sun appeared above the horizon; a faint blue line in front gave hope of relief. The ponies were allowed free rein to choose their own way.

As the sun rose higher and higher the heat drove the pack animals into a frenzy. The oscillating motion of those in the saddle was almost unendurable. Gloomily they looked at each other--the one seeing that shrunken, skin-drawn, parched, pinched human horror in front, wondering if he in turn looked the same. Still they lived and hoped. Again hour succeeded hour until the midnight of another day arrived. Suddenly the mules gave a joyful whinny and started up a sandy gulch at a brisker pace than they had been traveling. The last of the water had been divided that noon and no food had been tasted for three days. In another hour they came to a rock where a little pool struggled only to lose itself in the sand. But by scooping away the earth while the animals were pawing, even biting, the very ground, Jack was at last able to save a little of the precious fluid and appease their immediate thirst.

A short rest and the march was again resumed. By noon, gaunt and hidedrawn, two Indian ponies stumbled along the burning sands. Two horsemen with vacant, stony stare, pitifully reeled in their saddles as their horses wabbled slowly, painfully into the camp of the "Lone Fisherman." Pack mules with drooping, lifeless ears, tongues lolling from their mouths and hoofs cracking from contact with the poisonous alkaloids of the desert, staggered under their burdens as they toiled after the silent spectres in the lead. The dust-begrimed, skin-dried, withered, parched and blighted beings athwart those animated skeletons were Jack and Yamanatz. The load under which the beasts of burden tottered was gold. Death Valley had been invaded, and once more substantial treasure from the "Pegleg" mine gave positive evidence of the fabulous riches, surpassing the most wonderful opulence of ancient kings, which was accorded those who survived the horrors of the health-wrecking, life-destroying journey. A joyous welcome awaited the returned travelers. Chiquita had determined to get a rescuing party that day, but a kind Providence directed otherwise. In attempting the short cut from the last triangle of monuments Jack and Yamanatz had traveled in a circle.

Jack recovered his normal condition more readily than did Yamanatz. Before leaving the "Lone Fisherman," which the old prospector found of value sufficient to pay for working, Yamanatz and Jack again made the trip to and from the nearest located triangle and Jack had no trouble in future visits. He soon succeeded in obtaining from the Government a valid title to the ground.

The nucleus of that fortune was spent in fitting Chiquita for her college education.

She entered at once upon her studies, under the care of private tutors, and in two years' time the rapid advancement made placed her far along toward the goal of learning. Academic courses followed in quick succession, her wonderful intellectual powers seemingly never to weary or flag in their grinding evolution from savagery to civilized enlightenment during her self-imposed task of ten years in the bright fields of knowledge.