ed
about an object lying upon the ground, while others were running
frantically in different directions as if they were possessed. My
curiosity being excited I approached the group, and found that the cause
of this alarm was one of their comrades, who had been bitten by a snake.
The poor fellow was moaning piteously; and so sure was he that his death
was only a matter of a few hours time, that he had begun to make the few
bequests that would dispose of all his worldly goods, including the
little hoard of "dust," so long and patiently sought for. One of his
friends knelt at his side, and was endeavoring to pour the contents of a
flask of whiskey down his throat. The poison had taken immediate effect,
and he doubtless would have been a corpse in a few hours. I was
immediately recognized, and one of the miners accosted me with "Hullo!
Eastman, just the man we want; now is your time to produce some of those
marvelous herbs you have told us about, and see what you can do for this
poor fellow."

My sympathies were awakened; my mind threw off its semi-stupor; and
hastily glancing about me on the ground, I sought for some of those
simple herbs and plants, that I had seen so effectually used in similar
cases. Hastily gathering what I needed, I soon had leaves bandaged about
the swollen parts, and then turned my attention to making a decoction of
the herbs. This I forced the patient to take, and after caring for him
assiduously during a few hours, I had the satisfaction of noting a
marked change for the better. I was deluged with congratulations, and
in a short time the fame of this new exploit in the healing art was
noised abroad throughout the mine.

My new friends were not miners, in the proper sense of the term, but a
party of "mountain men," who had been allured hither by exaggerated
reports of the immense wealth that was represented as scattered
broadcast over the surface of the earth, and was only waiting for a
claimant. Arriving on the ground they had staked out a claim, and fell
to work without any delay. It is needless to add that they did not
realize the immense riches they had so fondly anticipated. The result
was that they had sickened of their bargain, and many were for pulling
up stakes and returning to the free and easy life among the mountains.

A short time after the episode just related, there came to our camp one
day, a trapper, who had but just returned from his traps, and was on his
way to the nearest tra