's message come to him
across the dead years:

"Good god I never see such gold nor no man neither and
when he come in to camp you could reed in his look he
had found it because no man could have looked at that
Mother load and not look like Jimmy. And big Brodie
grabbed him by the throat and shook him and nearly
killed him until Jimmy told. And I guess there was
enough there for everybody in all the world. We went
down the gorge to the narrow place over on the big
seedar that had broke off and that was how we come to
the First Caive, and then we come to Caive number thre
and two. And good god have mercy on my soul when Ime
dead but I got the thought right then if it was only all
mine--we worked all seven until we dropped that day and
night and early in the morning and the storm was coming
but we stayed. And for two weeks maybe thre we lost
track of time until this grate big pile of gold was dug
that I am setting right on top of right now how can a
man eat gold when he is dying of hunger and burn it when
he is freezing. And it was big Brodie killed pore Manny
I seen him and the next day or maybe it was two days
Dago was gone and never come back was it Manny's goast
got him and drug him down the cliffs screaming horrible
and in the gorge--anyway that was Two. and I am all that
is left and I am going--I tride to get out and the Big
storm drov me back and all I can see is Jimmy Kelp and
the parson if I had not of killed them they would killed
me sure and big Brodie's gone he is crazy and cant never
make it back across the mountains in this storm, and
Baldy Winch he took a big nugget and went off, and he
stoled what handful of grub there was. And now I can
look down in the gorge and see the water all white and
snow and ice sickles and I am afraide to get lost in the
caives and if I write all this in the bible that was
preacher Elsons and tie it up safe in oilcloath and
canvas and make a bote out of a chunk of wood and throw
it in the river maybe it will get to one of the camps
down there and a good man will find it and Ile give him
half. You come up the old trail past where the thre
Eytalians had their camp last year and over the big
mountain strate ahead and about another seven miles
strate on and then there is the pass with the big black
rocks on one s