Ben's Nugget; Or, A Boy's Search For Fortune Read online

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  Ben's Nugget by Horatio Alger Jr.]

  TURNING THE TABLES.]

  BEN'S NUGGET;

  OR,

  A BOY'S SEARCH FOR FORTUNE.

  A Story of the Pacific Coast.

  BY

  HORATIO ALGER, JR.,

  AUTHOR OF "RAGGED DICK," "TATTERED TOM," "LUCK AND PLUCK," "BRAVE ANDBOLD SERIES," ETC., ETC.

  THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.,PHILADELPHIA, CHICAGO, TORONTO.

  COPYRIGHT BY HORATIO ALGER, JR., 1882.

  To

  Three San Francisco Boys,

  JOSEPH AND MAXEY SLOSS AND CLARENCE WALTER,

  THIS STORY

  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

  PREFACE.

  "Ben's Nugget" is the concluding volume of the Pacific Series. Though itis complete in itself, and may be read independently, the chiefcharacters introduced will be recognized as old friends by the readersof "The Young Explorer," the volume just preceding, not omitting KiSing, the faithful Chinaman, whose virtues may go far to diminish theprejudice which, justly or unjustly, is now felt toward his countrymen.

  Though Ben Stanton may be considered rather young for a miner, not a fewas young as he drifted to the gold-fields in the early days ofCalifornia. Mining is carried on now in a very different manner, and Ican hardly encourage any of my young readers to follow his example inseeking fortune so far from home.

  New York, May 19, 1882.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER I. PAGETHE MOUNTAIN-CABIN 13

  CHAPTER II.THE MISSING CHINAMAN 23

  CHAPTER III.TWO GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 30

  CHAPTER IV.KI SING IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY 38

  CHAPTER V.FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BILL MOSELY 46

  CHAPTER VI.AN UNEQUAL CONTEST 54

  CHAPTER VII.TIED TO A TREE 62

  CHAPTER VIII.TURNING THE TABLES 70

  CHAPTER IX.BRADLEY'S SIGNAL VICTORY 78

  CHAPTER X."THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST PART" 87

  CHAPTER XI.PLANS FOR DEPARTURE 95

  CHAPTER XII.THE PROFITS OF MINING 100

  CHAPTER XIII.KI SING'S RIDE 104

  CHAPTER XIV.GOLDEN GULCH HOTEL 113

  CHAPTER XV.BILL MOSELY REAPPEARS 122

  CHAPTER XVI.A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE 131

  CHAPTER XVII.LYNCH LAW 139

  CHAPTER XVIII.AFTER THE EXECUTION 147

  CHAPTER XIX.BEN WINS LAURELS AS A SINGER 151

  CHAPTER XX.A LITTLE RETROSPECT 158

  CHAPTER XXI.MR. CAMPBELL RECEIVES TIDINGS OF HIS WARD 165

  CHAPTER XXII.A MORNING CALL 174

  CHAPTER XXIII.A SECRET CONFERENCE 183

  CHAPTER XXIV.MISS DOUGLAS RECEIVES A MESSAGE 188

  CHAPTER XXV.WALKING INTO A TRAP 195

  CHAPTER XXVI.A HARD-HEARTED JAILER 201

  CHAPTER XXVII.A STAR IN THE CLOUD 210

  CHAPTER XXVIII.JONES CHECKMATES ORTON CAMPBELL 219

  CHAPTER XXIX.A WEDDING RECEPTION 229

  CHAPTER XXX.THE NUGGET 237

  CHAPTER XXXI.JOB STANTON'S MISTAKE 246

  CHAPTER XXXII.THE HOUSE IS MORTGAGED 255

  CHAPTER XXXIII.THE BLOW ABOUT TO FALL 260

  CHAPTER XXXIV.CONCLUSION 265

  BEN'S NUGGET;

  OR,

  A BOY'S SEARCH FOR FORTUNE.

  CHAPTER I.

  THE MOUNTAIN-CABIN.

  "What's the news, Ben? You didn't happen to bring an evenin' paper, didyou?"

  The speaker was a tall, loose-jointed man, dressed as a miner in a garbthat appeared to have seen considerable service. His beard was long anduntrimmed, and on his head he wore a Mexican sombrero.

  This was Jake Bradley, a rough but good-hearted miner, who was stretchedcarelessly upon the ground in front of a rude hut crowning a higheminence in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

  Ben Stanton, whom he addressed, was a boy of sixteen, with a pleasantface and a manly bearing.

  "No, Jake," he answered with a smile, "I didn't meet a newsboy."

  "There ain't many in this neighborhood, I reckon," said Bradley. "I tellyou, Ben, I'd give an ounce of dust for a New York or Boston paper. Whoknows what may have happened since we've been confined here in thislonely mountain-hut? Uncle Sam may have gone to war, for aught we know.P'r'haps the British may be bombarding New York this moment."

  "I guess not," said Ben, smiling.

  "I don't think it likely myself," said Bradley, filling his pipe."Still, there may be some astonishin' news if we could only get hold ofit."

  "I don't think we can complain, Jake," said Ben, turning to a pleasantersubject. "We've made considerable money out of Mr. Dewey's claim."

  "That's so. The three weeks we've spent here haven't been thrown away,by a long chalk. We shall be pretty well paid for accommodatin' DickDewey by stayin' and takin' care of him."

  "How much gold-dust do you think we're got, Mr. Bradley?"

  "What!" exclaimed Bradley, taking the pipe from his mouth; "hadn't youbetter call me the Honorable Mr. Bradley, and done with it? Don't youfeel acquainted with me yet, that you put the handle on to my name?"

  "Excuse me, Jake," said Ben; "that's what I meant to say, but I wasthinking of Mr. Dewey and that's how I happened to call you Mister."

  "That's a different matter. Dick's got a kind of dignity, so that itseems natural to call him Mister; but as for me, I'm Jake Bradley, not abad sort of fellow, but I don't wear store-clo'es, and I'd rather becalled Jake by them as know me well."

  "All right, Jake; but you haven't answered my question."

  "What about?"

  "The gold-dust."

  "Oh yes. Well, I should say that the dust we've got out must be worthnigh on to five hundred dollars."

  "So much as that?" asked Ben, his eyes sparkling.

  "Yes, all of that. That claim of Dewey's is a splendid one, and nomistake. I think we ought to pay him a commission for allowing us towork it."

  "I think so too, Jake."

  They were sitting outside the rude hut which had been roughly puttogether on the summit of the mountain. The door was open, and what theysaid could be heard by the occupant, who was stretched on a hard palletin one corner of the cabin.

  "Come in, you two," he called out.

  "Sartin, Dick," said Bradley; and he entered the cabin, followed by Ben.

  "What was that you were saying just now?" asked Richard Dewey.

  "Tell him, Ben," said Bradley.

  "Jake was saying that we ought to pay you a commission on the gold-dustwe took from your claim, Mr. Dewey," said our hero, for that is Ben'sposition in our story.

  "Why should you?" asked Dewey.

  "Because it's yours. You found it, and you ought to get some good ofit."

  "So I have, Jake.
In the first place, I got a thousand dollars out of itbefore I fell sick--that is, sprained my ankle."

  "But you ain't gettin' anything out of it now."

  "I think I am," said Dewey, smiling and looking gratefully at his twofriends. "I am getting the care and attention of two faithful friends,who will see that I do not suffer while I am laid up in this lonelyhut."

  "We don't want to be paid for that, Dick."

  "I know that, Bradley; but I don't call it paying you to let you workthe claim which I don't intend to work myself."

  "But you would work it if you were well."

  "No, I wouldn't," answered Dewey, with energy. "I would leave this placeinstantly and take the shortest path to San Francisco."

  "To see the gal that sent us out after you?"

  "Yes. But, Jake, suppose you call her the young lady."

  "Of course. You mustn't mind me, Dick. I don't know much about manners.I was raised kind of rough, and never had no chance to learnpoliteness. Ben, here, knows ten times as much as I do about how tobehave among fashionable folks."

  "I don't know about that, Jake," said Ben. "I was brought up in thecountry, and I know precious little about fashionable folks."

  "Oh, well, you know how to talk. Besides, didn't you bring out MissDouglas from the States?"

  "She brought me," said Ben.

  "It seems to me we are wandering from the subject," said Dewey. "It wasa piece of good luck for me when you two happened upon this cabin whereI lay helpless, with no one to look after me but Ki Sing."

  "Ki Sing took pretty good care of you for a haythen," said Bradley.

  "So he did. He is a good fellow, if he is a Chinaman, and far moregrateful than many of his white brothers; but I was sighing for thesight of one of my own color, who would understand my wants better thanthat poor fellow, faithful as he is."

  "I reckon the news we brought you helped you some, Dick," said JakeBradley.

  "Yes. It put fresh life into me to learn that Florence Douglas, my owndear Florence, had come out to this distant coast to search for me. ButI tell you, Jake, it's rather tantalizing to think that she is waitingfor me in San Francisco, while I am tied by the ankle to this lonelycabin so many miles away."

  "It won't be for long now, Dick," said Bradley. "You feel a good dealbetter, don't you?"

  "Yes; my ankle is much stronger than it was. Yesterday I walked aboutthe cabin, and even went out of doors. I felt rather tired afterward,but it didn't hurt me."

  "All you want is a little patience, Dick. You mustn't get up too soon. Asprain is worse than a break, so I've often heard: I can't say I knowfrom experience."

  "I hope you won't. It's a very trying experience, as I can testify."

  "You'd get well quicker if we had some doctor's stuff to put on it, butI reckon anyhow you'll be out in a week or ten days."

  "I hope so. If I could only write to Florence and let her know whereand how I am, I wouldn't mind so much the waiting."

  "Don't worry about her. She's in 'Frisco, where nothing can't happen toher," said Bradley, whose loose grammar I cannot recommend my youngreaders to imitate.

  "I am not sure about that. Her guardian might find out where she is, andfollow her even to San Francisco. If I were on the spot he could do noharm."

  "I tell you, Dick, that gal--excuse me, I mean that young lady--is asmart one, and I reckon she can get ahead of her guardian if she wantsto. Ben here told me how she circumvented him at the Astor House over inYork. She'll hold her own ag'in him, even if he does track her to'Frisco."

  Some of my readers may desire to know more about Dewey and his twofriends, and I will sketch for their benefit the events to which Bradleyreferred.

  Florence Douglas was the ward of the Albany merchant, John Campbell, whoby the terms of her father's will was entrusted with the care of herlarge property till she had attained the age of twenty-five, a periodnearly a year distant. Mr. Campbell, anxious to secure his ward's largeproperty for his son, sought to induce Florence to marry the said son,but this she distinctly declined to do. Irritated and disappointed, Mr.Campbell darkly intimated that should her opposition continue he wouldprocure from two pliant physicians a certificate of her insanity andhave her confined in that most terrible of prisons, a mad-house. Thefear that he would carry his threat into execution nerved Florence to abold movement. Being mistress of a fortune of thirty thousand dollars,left by her mother, she had funds enough for her purpose. She fled toNew York, where chance made her acquainted with our hero, Ben Stanton,under whose escort she safely reached San Francisco, paying Ben'sexpenses in return for his protection.

  Arrived in San Francisco, she furnished Ben with the necessary funds toseek out Richard Dewey (to whom, without her guardian's knowledge, shewas privately betrothed) and inform him of her presence in California.After a series of adventures Ben and his companion had found Dewey, laidup with a sprained ankle in a rude hut high up among the mountains. Hehad met with an accident while successfully working a rich claim nearby.

  Of course Richard Dewey was overjoyed to meet friends of his own racewho could provide for him better than his faithful attendant, Ki Sing.As he could not yet leave the spot, he offered to Ben and Bradley theprivilege of working his claim.

  In the next chapter I will briefly explain Ben's position, and theobject which brought him to California, and then we shall be able toproceed with our story.

  CHAPTER II.

  THE MISSING CHINAMAN.

  If Florence Douglas was an heiress, our young hero, Ben Stanton, waslikewise possessed of property, though his inheritance was not a verylarge one. When his father's estate was settled it was found that itamounted to three hundred and sixty-five dollars. Though rather a largesum in Ben's eyes, he was quite aware that the interest of this amountwould not support him. Accordingly, being ambitious, he drew from hisuncle, Job Stanton, a worthy shoemaker, the sum of seventy-five dollars,and went to New York, hoping to obtain employment.

  In this he was disappointed, but he had the good fortune to meet MissFlorence Douglas, by whom he was invited to accompany her to Californiaas her escort, his expenses of course being paid by his patroness. It isneedless to say that Ben accepted this proposal with alacrity, and,embarking on a steamer, landed in less than a month at San Francisco. Hedid not remain here long, but started for the mining-districts, stillemployed by Miss Douglas, in search of Richard Dewey, her affiancedhusband, whom her guardian had forbidden her to marry. As we havealready said, Ben and his chosen companion, Jake Bradley, succeeded intheir mission, but as yet had been unable to communicate tidings oftheir success to Miss Douglas, there being no chance to send a letter toSan Francisco from the lonely hut where they were at present living.

  Besides carrying out the wishes of his patroness, Ben intended to tryhis hand at mining, and had employed the interval of three weeks sincehe discovered Mr. Dewey in working the latter's claim, with the successalready referred to.

  The time when the two friends are introduced to the reader is at theclose of the day, when, fatigued by their work on the claim, they areglad to rest and chat. Mr. Bradley has a pipe in his mouth, andevidently takes considerable comfort in his evening smoke.

  "I wish I had a pipe for you, Ben," he said. "You don't know how itrests me to smoke."

  "I'll take your word for it, Jake," returned Ben, smiling.

  "Won't you take a whiff? You don't know how soothin' it is."

  "I don't need to be soothed, Jake. I'm glad you enjoy it, but I don'tenvy you a particle."

  "Well, p'r'aps you're right, Ben. Our old doctor used to say smokin'wasn't good for boys, but I've smoked more or less since I was twelveyears old."

  "There's something I'd like better than smoking just now," said Ben.

  "What's that?"

  "Eating supper."

  "Just so. I wonder where that heathen Ki Sing is?"

  Ki Sing was cook and general servant to the little party, and performedhis duties in a very satisfactory manner--better than either Ben orBradley coul
d have done--and left his white employers freer to work atthe more congenial occupation of searching for gold.

  "Ki Sing is unusually late," said Richard Dewey. "I wonder what can havedetained him? I am beginning to feel hungry myself."

  "The heathen is usually on time," said Bradley, "though he hasn't got awatch, any more than I have.--Dick, what time is it?"

  "Half-past six," answered Richard Dewey, who, though a miner, had notbeen willing to dispense with all the appliances of civilization.

  "Maybe Ki Sing has found another place," suggested Ben, jocosely.

  "He is faithful; I will vouch for that," said Dewey. "I am more afraidthat he has met with some accident--like mine, for instance."

  "You won't catch a Chinaman spraining his ankle," said Bradley; "they'retoo spry for that. They'll squeeze through where a white man can't, andI wouldn't wonder if they could turn themselves inside out if they triedhard."

  "It is possible," suggested Dewey, "that Ki Sing may have met with someof our own race who have treated him roughly. You know the strongprejudice that is felt against the poor fellows by some who are farless deserving than they. They think it good sport to torment aChinaman."

  "I can't say I like 'em much myself," said Bradley; "but I don't mindsaying that Ki Sing is a gentleman. He is the best heathen I know of,and if I should come across any fellow harmin' him I reckon I'd be readyto take a hand myself."

  "We couldn't get along very well without him, Jake," said Ben.