Mr. Crosby led his rather queer guest to a shed, where in the summer time the male members of the family washed in preparation for their meals. Mr. Harrison gave himself a vigorous scrubbing with the yellow soap, and polished his face on the coarse towel until his countenance fairly shone. He was a well preserved old man, with a ruddy complexion, that showed through his coating of tan.
"Do you find gold mining pays?" asked Mr. Crosby, after the meal, when the gold-hunter had done full justice to the cooking of Mrs. Crosby and Nettie.
"Yes, about as well as anything – farming, for instance. I suppose your business has its ups and downs."
"Mostly downs. I declare, I never knew such hard times as we're having now! Not only me, but every farmer I know. This long dry spell is likely to have a bad effect on the country."
"I believe you. We miners don't have it all our own way, either."
"I thought you said you had dug plenty of gold," put in Jed, who, with his brother, was an interested listener.
"So I did. But digging it and keeping it are two different things, young man."
"Did you lose what you had?" asked Mr. Crosby, who had heard from his sons something of their guest's history.
"I lost it – yes – in a way. I might as well tell you the story. It's not a very pleasant one. It goes to show that a man can be a pretty big fool when he tries real hard. That's not a very nice thing to say, but it's the truth."
"How did it happen?" asked Will.
"Well, as I've told you, I've been a gold miner for a number of years. I've prospected, or looked for gold, in many places in this country. And I've found my share of yellow nuggets in my time.
"I made my last strike in Nevada. Where I was, nobody thought there was much but silver, but I was lucky enough to come upon a good gold lead, and the vein got bigger the farther I dug. Well, to make a long story short, I took out several thousand dollars in pure gold. Then I lost it."
"Couldn't you find it again?" asked Nettie, who, with her brothers, was eagerly listening to the miner's story.
"No, little miss, I couldn't, for I lost it by gambling."
"Gambling!" exclaimed Mr. Crosby, for he and his wife were strict church people, and did not know much about the vices of the world.
"That's the plain truth. Everybody out West gambles – that is, nearly everybody. There are some exceptions, of course, but I wasn't one. Very foolishly thought I could get something for nothing, and put up my money in a card game."
"And you lost?" inquired Mrs. Crosby.
"Every one but the man running the game loses sooner or later, ma'am," replied the miner. "It's run that way. I lost over a thousand dollars before I had sense enough to quit."
"Oh, then you stopped in time. I'm glad to hear that," said the farmer.
"No, I didn't. I stopped gambling, but I didn't get out of the company of the gamblers, as I should have done. I stayed right there, for I thought I knew it all. Ah, that's a true saying, that there's 'no fool like an old fool,' if you'll excuse me using such language, but I want you boys to take a lesson from me."
"Then how did you lose the rest of your fortune?" asked Jed.
"I was swindled out of it," replied Gabe Harrison. "It was partly my own fault, though. If I had had sense enough to keep away from the gamblers it wouldn't have happened. But one of them proposed a certain deal to me, and I went in with him. When it was all over I found I knew a great deal more than I did at first, but I hadn't any money left."
"They took it all?" asked Mr. Crosby.
"One man got the most of it."
"How?"
"Well, it was an old-time swindle, but I don't believe you'd understand if I told you. Such things aren't good for young people to hear about, anyhow. But I woke up one morning without a cent in my pocket, whereas the night before I had over five thousand dollars in pure gold."
"Five thousand dollars!" murmured Mr. Crosby, to whom such a sum seemed a large fortune.
"Yes. Oh, we didn't think much of that amount in the West. Money was easily made and easily spent there."
"Who got it?" asked Jed, leaning forward in his intense interest in the miner's curious story.
"One man got the most of it."
"Who was he?" inquired Will.
"He went by the name of Con Morton, but I guess he had half a dozen other titles he used whenever it was convenient. Yes, he got most of my fortune by a swindle, and then he lit out. I haven't seen him since. I wish I had. I think I could have made him give me back at least a part of it."
"Where was this?" asked Mrs. Crosby.
"Out in Nevada. Now, I'm afraid I've taken up too much of your time with my foolish story. But maybe it will be a lesson to the boys," and he looked at Jed and Will. "I don't suppose you'll ever go hunting gold, and gambling, but if you do, steer clear of any one by the name of Con Morton."
"I don't believe we'll ever get the chance to hunt gold, Mr. Harrison," replied Jed, "and we certainly won't gamble."
"Stranger things have happened – I mean about hunting gold – but I'm pretty sure if you do find any of the yellow lumps you won't be as foolish as I was, and let a swindler get them away from you. Well, I reckon I'd better be traveling along."
"Are you going to any place in particular?" asked Mr. Crosby.
"No. As I told your boys when I met them looking for the runaway horse, I'm just waiting for something to turn up. I may go back West again, or I may settle down in the East. I'm looking for a job, to tell you the truth. My money is 'most gone, and I need a little to keep me going, though I don't require much to live on."
"Then why don't you stay here?" asked the farmer. "I need a man to help me with the cultivating. I can't pay much – no farmer can these times – but I'll do the best I can. If I had a man to help with the cultivating I could stir the dirt up around the crops, and it wouldn't matter quite so much about the rain. Did you ever work on a farm?"
"Once, when I was a young lad. But if my corn keeps on hurting the way it does, I know we'll have rain."
"I hope so. But would you like to stay here a few days?"
"I think so. In fact, I will. I don't care so much about the money, but I like it here, and it will give me a chance to rest. Yes, Mr. Crosby, I'll stay and help you cultivate. Maybe it will rain, and I can then help you in other ways."
"Perhaps. Then if you'll come with me I'll show you a room you can use."
And so it was settled that the old miner should remain, for the time being, at the Crosby farm.
CHAPTER V
MORE HARD LUCK
That afternoon the two boys went back to the cornfield to resume the cultivating that had been interrupted by the runaway. It seemed hotter than ever, and there was scarcely a breath of wind.
"Whew! This is fierce!" exclaimed Will. "I can't stand it!" and he mopped the perspiration from his forehead.
"Oh, it might be worse," observed Jed.
"Worse? I don't see how."
"You might be out on the Nevada desert that Mr. Harrison was telling about."
"That's so. Well, I'm glad I'm not. But, what do you think of him, anyhow, Jed?"
"I think he's quite a character."
"So do I. I wish I had some of the gold he dug."
"Same here. If we had that we wouldn't have to be working in this hot cornfield. Maybe we'll find some, by and by, Will."
"Find some? How?"
"Why, go after it, to be sure. Do you know, I have an idea I'd like to be a gold miner."
"A