Chapter 29: The End Crowns the Work

We were still gazing into those frightful depths when a cheery voice called out:

“What on earth are you two fellows doing with your faces over the edge of that chasm as if you had been glued there?”

I roused up and replied: “I’m looking at Hank Halftrigger, Henry.”

“Hank Halftrigger,” he replied. “Why he’s dead.”

“Yes,” I replied, pointing over the chasm. “He’s dead and his body is lying down there.”

The expression on Henry’s face was one of mingled amazement and perplexity, and then I quickly related the whole of the tragic tale.

“I’d advise you, then,” was Henry’s first comment, “to get back from the edge of that cliff. It has split off once with the weight of Halftrigger and Pike, and another piece might go with you.”

We hadn’t thought of that, and drew back somewhat ashamed of our carelessness. By going further down the mountain we found a slope, which we descended into the canyon. By that means we reached the body of Halftrigger. But it was such a crushed and hideous object that we covered it up with loose stones as quickly as we could and left it.

“What a pity,” said Pike, as we turned away, “that such a feller ez Halftrigger should hev turned out bad. What a great hunter and scout he would hev made. He never knowed what it was to flinch.”

“Yes,” said Henry, “he was a magnificent villain.”

We found the others much worried over our long absence, but their worry changed to astonishment when we told them the cause of it.

“That pirate, Halftrigger, ag’in!” exclaimed Starboard Sam. “Why Cappen Kidd hisself wuz nothin’ but a swab to him. Are you shore he’s dead?”

“No danger of his ever rising again in this world,” said Henry. “His career is over.”

We camped on the mountain that night and resumed the journey the next morning. We found the remainder of the way over the heights not so difficult as we had imagined, and soon emerged into the plain below.

In due time we reached San Francisco again. As we entered with our loaded mules some troublesome questions were asked by the loungers, but those were days when a man could keep his business to himself, and we adhered to that policy. We merely replied that we had been “up country and thought we had some dirt with gold in it.”

We deposited our treasure with the strongest banking and gold dealing firm in San Francisco, and started the next day for the cabin in the mountains to secure the remainder. We reached it without event, but we found that the door had been opened and the cabin occupied by some one else. Henry was the first to enter, and when he looked around He exclaimed:

“I’m glad you told us to leave the meat and other things here, Pike. Look!”

He pointed to the wall. Some one had cut there with a pocket-knife in rude letters the following:

I DON’T KNOW WHO IS THE BOSS OF THIS SHANTY, FOR I COULDN’T FIND HIM, BUT I’VE FOUND FOOD AND REST HERE WHEN I WAS PRETTY NIGH GONE. I’M NOW ABLE TO GO ON AGAIN, AND HERE IS THE PROOF OF WHAT I OWE AND FOR WHICH THE BOSS CAN COLLECT IF WE EVER MEET. JOHN P. WHITNEY, FORMERLY OF POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. SEPTEMBER 12, 1850.

“I thought suthin’ o’ that kind might happen some day,” said Pike, “but I didn’t think it would come so soon. That ought to make us feel good in our consciences, boys.”

The gold had not been, disturbed, and a day’s hard work enabled us to take it all out again and get it ready for transportation on the backs of the mules. We were eating breakfast the morning before our departure when a loud voice hailed us with:

“What ho! my gallant companions! How goes it with you? Still in the gold business, I see.”

We looked up and to our unbounded delight saw Mr. Sheldon approaching.

“I thought I would find you here,” he said, as we crowded about him to shake his hands. “I calculated that you were about due on the return journey, and, as I began to get lonesome a bit, I thought I would come down for a sight of you.”

He accompanied us on the return journey to Frisco, and we passed by his tree home, where we spent a day of rest. We would not let him leave us this time and almost by force as it were took him on with us to San Francisco.

Our gold panned out much better than we thought it would. In fact, nearly all of the two mule-train loads was precious metal, and when we came to divide the proceeds we were amazed at the amount of our wealth. We forced Mr. Sheldon to take a part. He wanted to refuse again, but when he saw we would be very much offended if he did not take some of the treasure he consented at last. But he would take only half a share, and we were compelled to compromise with him on that basis. So we divided the money, for we had sold the gold by weight, into eleven parts, Mr. Sheldon taking one and the other five two parts apiece.