on the whole an industrious bunch. It was too small a camp to attract much of the usual hanger’s-on who gravitated to the more prosperous diggings; the tin horn gamblers, the slick confidence men and the usual assortment of sporting girls. True, there was a small saloon and gambling hall, but if a prospector was in search of feminine companionship he would have to travel on down the road to Whiskey Town to find it. And if he was in the mind for a game of cards, he would more than likely find other miners to play with rather than a professional gambler.
***
"Hey there! How’s it going, partner?"
Shinonn looked up to see a miner strolling up-stream toward her.
"Found the Mother Lode yet?"
"Not so’s you’d notice. You might say, ‘I’ve seen the elephant’, but it’s a mighty small critter," she replied ruefully, referring to the miner’s expression of seeing the elephant when gold is first discovered.
"Don’t give up yet, boy. There’s gold along this stream, it just don’t jump out and find you. You got to give it plenty of sweat first."
"I’ve got the sweat, now I just need a little luck."
"When you get tired of your own company, come on down to what we laughingly refer to as town around here and join us in a game or two of cards. Most of us are too tired to be very frisky most nights, but we usually get together for a game or two on Sundays."
"Thanks for the offer. I may just take you up on it," she replied, reaching down for her shovel as she prepared to get back to work.
"By the way, my name is Tom...Tom Salverton. Me and my brother Ed have the claim just down river."
"Nice to meet you, Tom. Tim O’Brian’s the name." She shifted her shovel into her left hand so she could shake Tom’s proffered hand. She shook it firmly, glad that the hard work of the last several months had covered her hands with hard calluses.
She had always longed for the soft feminine hands of the pampered housewives she had envied so long ago. How quickly her disguise would have been discovered had her dreams of a softer life been realized!
"Thanks for coming by. I’m not much of a card player, but it sure does get lonely up here sometimes.
Maybe I’ll be seeing you in town come Sunday."
After Tom Salverton left, Shinonn returned to the back breaking work of shoveling gravel into her cradle. Wisdom told her she should avoid becoming too involved with the other miners, but Tom’s invitation brought to the surface a deadening loneliness she had been fighting for weeks. Did she dare take the risk of exposing herself to curious eyes? Her mind whirled with the possibilities, both pleasant and unpleasant as her body continued working.
She spent over an hour pouring shovel-full after shovel-full of gravel into the crudely built device. After several shovels full were emptied into the cradle, she grabbed its handle with both hands and rocked it as hard as she could while water from the fast moving stream ran across the dirt. When all of the loose gravel was washed out of the cradle, she carefully removed several good sized nuggets that lay on the bottom. Then she took her flat miner’s pan and began to pan out the gravel that lay along the riffles, on the bottom of the cradle. After again sloshing the water and gravel thoroughly, she carefully removed the tiny gold nuggets which lay on the bottom of the pan. She dropped them into a leather pouch she kept tied to her waist. Then she began to gently swirl the last bit of black grit, looking for even the tiniest flake of shining metal.
Most prospectors were satisfied to save only the nuggets and throw the smaller flakes back into the river. Not Shinonn. Although it was not nearly as exciting to find the tiny pieces of gold lying in the bottom of the pan, after time the minuscule flakes added up and the price for gold was in weight, not form. Checking the Mason jar in which she stored the tiny flakes, she was amazed to see how quickly the level of gold had risen.
At the end
***
"Hey there! How’s it going, partner?"
Shinonn looked up to see a miner strolling up-stream toward her.
"Found the Mother Lode yet?"
"Not so’s you’d notice. You might say, ‘I’ve seen the elephant’, but it’s a mighty small critter," she replied ruefully, referring to the miner’s expression of seeing the elephant when gold is first discovered.
"Don’t give up yet, boy. There’s gold along this stream, it just don’t jump out and find you. You got to give it plenty of sweat first."
"I’ve got the sweat, now I just need a little luck."
"When you get tired of your own company, come on down to what we laughingly refer to as town around here and join us in a game or two of cards. Most of us are too tired to be very frisky most nights, but we usually get together for a game or two on Sundays."
"Thanks for the offer. I may just take you up on it," she replied, reaching down for her shovel as she prepared to get back to work.
"By the way, my name is Tom...Tom Salverton. Me and my brother Ed have the claim just down river."
"Nice to meet you, Tom. Tim O’Brian’s the name." She shifted her shovel into her left hand so she could shake Tom’s proffered hand. She shook it firmly, glad that the hard work of the last several months had covered her hands with hard calluses.
She had always longed for the soft feminine hands of the pampered housewives she had envied so long ago. How quickly her disguise would have been discovered had her dreams of a softer life been realized!
"Thanks for coming by. I’m not much of a card player, but it sure does get lonely up here sometimes.
Maybe I’ll be seeing you in town come Sunday."
After Tom Salverton left, Shinonn returned to the back breaking work of shoveling gravel into her cradle. Wisdom told her she should avoid becoming too involved with the other miners, but Tom’s invitation brought to the surface a deadening loneliness she had been fighting for weeks. Did she dare take the risk of exposing herself to curious eyes? Her mind whirled with the possibilities, both pleasant and unpleasant as her body continued working.
She spent over an hour pouring shovel-full after shovel-full of gravel into the crudely built device. After several shovels full were emptied into the cradle, she grabbed its handle with both hands and rocked it as hard as she could while water from the fast moving stream ran across the dirt. When all of the loose gravel was washed out of the cradle, she carefully removed several good sized nuggets that lay on the bottom. Then she took her flat miner’s pan and began to pan out the gravel that lay along the riffles, on the bottom of the cradle. After again sloshing the water and gravel thoroughly, she carefully removed the tiny gold nuggets which lay on the bottom of the pan. She dropped them into a leather pouch she kept tied to her waist. Then she began to gently swirl the last bit of black grit, looking for even the tiniest flake of shining metal.
Most prospectors were satisfied to save only the nuggets and throw the smaller flakes back into the river. Not Shinonn. Although it was not nearly as exciting to find the tiny pieces of gold lying in the bottom of the pan, after time the minuscule flakes added up and the price for gold was in weight, not form. Checking the Mason jar in which she stored the tiny flakes, she was amazed to see how quickly the level of gold had risen.
At the end
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