41 Lure O Gold 1904

The Lure o 9
Gold
to still further quote my philosophic parent, "you
robbed no man and profited by no man s
needs, nor
his ills, nor his contentions."
But the treasure was not yet safe in the San Fran
cisco Mint at the time I lay there in my hard bed in the
Golden North Hotel, and awaited the coming
of the
man who should occupy that
mysterious light-haired
other pillowless bed three feet from mine. When
would he ever come ?
Perhaps he was an all-night
prowler and was off after other people s gold, not know
ing how near to his bed lay another and perhaps
easier victim. With my hand on that particular
and most comforting lump
of the mattress which
represented the five hundred dollars worth of gold
dust, I somehow grew a little easier of mind and at last
dozed off.
It
did not seem that I had more than dropped into
slumber before I leaped up in bed, startled into sudden
consciousness by the creaking of the crazy door. I
did not say a word, but my hand involuntarily sought
the cold barrel of my rifle, and my fingers remained
rigidly fixed upon it while I heard the shuffling of a pair
of feet on the bare floor, the closing of the door and a
rustling of clothing.
I hardly
believe that I breathed
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