the silverado squatters-第11章
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before it; daylight whitening in the arch; or that it should
come trotting forth into the sunlight with a song。
The two stages had gone by when I got down; and the Toll
House stood; dozing in sun and dust and silence; like a place
enchanted。 My mission was after hay for bedding; and that I
was readily promised。 But when I mentioned that we were
waiting for Rufe; the people shook their heads。 Rufe was not
a regular man any way; it seemed; and if he got playing poker
… Well; poker was too many for Rufe。 I had not yet heard
them bracketted together; but it seemed a natural
conjunction; and commended itself swiftly to my fears; and as
soon as I returned to Silverado and had told my story; we
practically gave Hanson up; and set ourselves to do what we
could find do…able in our desert…island state。
The lower room had been the assayer's office。 The floor was
thick with DEBRIS … part human; from the former occupants;
part natural; sifted in by mountain winds。 In a sea of red
dust there swam or floated sticks; boards; hay; straw;
stones; and paper; ancient newspapers; above all … for the
newspaper; especially when torn; soon becomes an antiquity …
and bills of the Silverado boarding…house; some dated
Silverado; some Calistoga Mine。 Here is one; verbatim; and
if any one can calculate the scale of charges; he has my
envious admiration。
Calistoga Mine; May 3rd; 1875。
John Stanley
To S。 Chapman; Cr。
To board from April 1st; to April 30 25 75
〃 〃 〃 May lst; to 3rd 。。。 2 00
27 75
Where is John Stanley mining now? Where is S。 Chapman;
within whose hospitable walls we were to lodge? The date was
but five years old; but in that time the world had changed
for Silverado; like Palmyra in the desert; it had outlived
its people and its purpose; we camped; like Layard; amid
ruins; and these names spoke to us of prehistoric time。 A
boot…jack; a pair of boots; a dog…hutch; and these bills of
Mr。 Chapman's were the only speaking relics that we
disinterred from all that vast Silverado rubbish…heap; but
what would I not have given to unearth a letter; a pocket…
book; a diary; only a ledger; or a roll of names; to take me
back; in a more personal manner; to the past? It pleases me;
besides; to fancy that Stanley or Chapman; or one of their
companions; may light upon this chronicle; and be struck by
the name; and read some news of their anterior home; coming;
as it were; out of a subsequent epoch of history in that
quarter of the world。
As we were tumbling the mingled rubbish on the floor; kicking
it with our feet; and groping for these written evidences of
the past; Sam; with a somewhat whitened face; produced a
paper bag。 〃What's this?〃 said he。 It contained a
granulated powder; something the colour of Gregory's Mixture;
but rosier; and as there were several of the bags; and each
more or less broken; the powder was spread widely on the
floor。 Had any of us ever seen giant powder? No; nobody
had; and instantly there grew up in my mind a shadowy belief;
verging with every moment nearer to certitude; that I had
somewhere heard somebody describe it as just such a powder as
the one around us。 I have learnt since that it is a
substance not unlike tallow; and is made up in rolls for all
the world like tallow candles。
Fanny; to add to our happiness; told us a story of a
gentleman who had camped one night; like ourselves; by a
deserted mine。 He was a handy; thrifty fellow; and looked
right and left for plunder; but all he could lay his hands on
was a can of oil。 After dark he had to see to the horses
with a lantern; and not to miss an opportunity; filled up his
lamp from the oil can。 Thus equipped; he set forth into the
forest。 A little while after; his friends heard a loud
explosion; the mountain echoes bellowed; and then all was
still。 On examination; the can proved to contain oil; with
the trifling addition of nitro…glycerine; but no research
disclosed a trace of either man or lantern。
It was a pretty sight; after this anecdote; to see us
sweeping out the giant powder。 It seemed never to be far
enough away。 And; after all; it was only some rock pounded
for assay。
So much for the lower room。 We scraped some of the rougher
dirt off the floor; and left it。 That was our sitting…room
and kitchen; though there was nothing to sit upon but the
table; and no provision for a fire except a hole in the roof
of the room above; which had once contained the chimney of a
stove。
To that upper room we now proceeded。 There were the eighteen
bunks in a double tier; nine on either hand; where from
eighteen to thirty…six miners had once snored together all
night long; John Stanley; perhaps; snoring loudest。 There
was the roof; with a hole in it through which the sun now
shot an arrow。 There was the floor; in much the same state
as the one below; though; perhaps; there was more hay; and
certainly there was the added ingredient of broken glass; the
man who stole the window…frames having apparently made a
miscarriage with this one。 Without a broom; without hay or
bedding; we could but look about us with a beginning of
despair。 The one bright arrow of day; in that gaunt and
shattered barrack; made the rest look dirtier and darker; and
the sight drove us at last into the open。
Here; also; the handiwork of man lay ruined: but the plants
were all alive and thriving; the view below was fresh with
the colours of nature; and we had exchanged a dim; human
garret for a corner; even although it were untidy; of the
blue hall of heaven。 Not a bird; not a beast; not a reptile。
There was no noise in that part of the world; save when we
passed beside the staging; and heard the water musically
falling in the shaft。
We wandered to and fro。 We searched among that drift of
lumber…wood and iron; nails and rails; and sleepers and the
wheels of tracks。 We gazed up the cleft into the bosom of
the mountain。 We sat by the margin of the dump and saw; far
below us; the green treetops standing still in the clear air。
Beautiful perfumes; breaths of bay; resin; and nutmeg; came
to us more often and grew sweeter and sharper as the
afternoon declined。 But still there was no word of Hanson。
I set to with pick and shovel; and deepened the pool behind
the shaft; till we were sure of sufficient water for the
morning; and by the time I had finished; the sun had begun to
go down behind the mountain shoulder; the platform was
plunged in quiet shadow; and a chill descended from the sky。
Night began early in our cleft。 Before us; over the margin
of the dump; we could see the sun still striking aslant into
the wooded nick below; and on the battlemented; pine…
bescattered ridges on the farther side。
There was no stove; of course; and no hearth in our lodging;
so we betook ourselves to the blacksmith's forge across the
platform。 If the platform be taken as a stage; and the out…
curving margin of the dump to represent the line of the foot…
lights; then our house would be the first wing on the actor's
left; and this blacksmith's forge; although no match for it
in size; the foremost on the right。 It was a low; brown
cottage; planted close against the hill; and overhung by the
foliage and peeling boughs of a madrona thicket。 Within it
was full of dead leaves and mountain dust; and rubbish from
the mine。 But we soon had a good fire brightly blazing; and
sat close about it on impromptu seats。 Chuchu; the slave of
sofa…cushions; whimpered for a softer bed; but the rest of us
were greatly revived and comforted by that good creature…
fire; which gives us warmth and light and companionable
sounds; and colours up the emptiest building with better than
frescoes。 For a w