CHAPTER XVII 



I GET THE GOLD FEVER 



I worked up a fair practice in El Paso ; and at 

 the end of three years I went away and left it; 

 left it to go on a gold prospecting trip in old 

 Mexico. It happened in this way: 



Shortly after I had again located in El Paso I 

 made the acquaintance of an old prospector by 

 the name of Lister. This old fellow would come 

 down to my office nearly every night and sit 

 around smoking his pipe and telling me stories 

 of adventure on his numerous trips on the hunt 

 for gold. 



Let one of these old-timers, who knows how 

 to tell what he has gone through, talk to a young 

 fellow who has the fire of youth in his blood; I 

 say, let such an old-timer talk to a live, young 

 fellow night after night for several months. If 

 you can keep that young fellow where he hap- 

 pens to be located at the time you can class your- 

 self as a real man-handler. 



The case is even worse if, like this old-timer 

 told me, he knows where there are some excep- 

 tionally rich placer grounds ; grounds where a few 

 months' work will make you independent; if he 

 could only get a grub-stake. I listened to these 

 talks for many nights. First I decided to put up 

 the money to let the old sodger make a trip down 

 to these grounds. They were supposed to be in 

 the state of Sonora, on the edge of the Yaquin 



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