So ya wanna be a prospector..

Part 2,

I wandered all over the place, looking at all the merchandise.  Ended up by a table for "Goldfever Mining Supplies   I was giving the plastic gold pans  the once over  I remembered how I used to spend a couple of weeks with my Grandparents in the summer time, when I was a kid.  Grandparents were into rock hunting and prospecting.  I remember going out with Gramps and learning how to pan.  He had these old heavy steel pans. No screen.  Took the first half hour just picking the bigger rocks out out of the pan.  "Dig in there", Gramps world say, " Get those rocks out before you try to pan.  Don't forget to look at them before you toss them away.  Might have a nugget, never know". " Did you ever toss out a nugget, I asked Gramps".  " Almost did one time, way back in 43.  Twarn't very big, bout the size of my thumbnail.  A good 20 dollar nugget, but gold prices were about 35 dollars an ounce back then.  Looked at the rocks before  I toss em since then". I panned my little butt off and was so excited when I did find my first gold.  One would have thought I was a millionaire with that tiny piece of gold in that tiny bottle Gramps gave me.  I guess I just stood there a while remembering how I went out gold panning with Gramps.

Mmmph!  Mummph!  What on earth was that? I turned around and there was one of the most comical looking fellows I had seen in a long time.   An old geezer,with a  floppy brim hat pulled down on a head full of shaggy white hair. Bushy white eyebrows over the bluest of blue eyes. His chin, with a couple days white whiskers, was almost up to his bulb of a nose. He had a long toothpick with a bit of red cellophane on the end, sticking out of his mouth. Mmph! he went.  Wow!  That tooth pick disappeared, a second, then  it reappeared on the other side of his mouth.   What on earth he needed with  a toothpick I don't know because there wasn't a tooth in his mouth that I could see. He moved in closer and put this big hairy mitt on my shoulder.  " Sonny"  he said.  If yer really thinkin about getting some gold, you don't want one of those little bitty housewife pans and plastic screen.  Ya wanna git yerself a super sluice pan and a number 4 screen with a metal screen in it.  an don't forgit , you'll need one of them thar sucker tubes too."   I pulled back a bit, looked at the old dude.  "The name isn't Sonny, It's  Joe,.  Joe Bloe in fact"  " I see Sonny,  Mmuph!  You can call me Jeb."  I must have blinked or something, He takes my arm and says, " come on Sonny, lets git you all set up here". A half hour and 50 bucks later he is gimping along, leading me off to some benches, with half my purchases under his arm.  What else could I do but follow?  He sorta hitched up then fell back on the bench, heaving a big sigh.  "Sorry Sonny" he gasped out, "but this ole bum leg of mine jist don't take to standin to long in one place any more". He had on this old ratty vest with lots of pockets on it..  He started to fumble around in the pockets and pulled out a big crooked stem pipe and began to fill it with an aromatic tobacco.  "Hey old timer" I said,  " you can't smoke that thing in here". " Jist keep yer britches on Sonny,  I don't intend to smoke it,  I jist hang it in my mouth and dry puff the durn thing.  No law agin that, now is there"?  I can't say that I had an answer for that.  "Mmmpf!  Mmmph!  He went, taking big drought's on the blasted pipe. I just sat there, wondering what next.  "You know somethin Sonny? I was jist wonderin how much experience you have at prospecting?"  "you ever been out lookin for gold.?"    "  Well I  used to go out with my old Grandpa, he's the one who taught me how to pan."   "Good, good,  real good  there Sonny, leastways you know what to do, but did ya ever git any gold?"  " Sure I did,"  and I said it with a straight face  I figured he didn't need to know just how much after all, he was still almost a total stranger.  He fumbled in another one of his vest pockets and pulled out a small black rock and handed it to me.  I took it and looked at it, just a black rock to me.  I was thinking  hematite. "  He looks over at me and said,  "what is it."  Looks like hematite to me."  He gives me another look from under those bushy eyebrows and said,  "look closer"  I looked closer, but damned it I could see any thing exciting about it.  He then reached into  another pocket and came out with a gem loop, handed it to me and said,  "look closer".  I opened the loop and peered close at the black stone.  Holy cow,  The darn thing was laced with tiny veins of gold.  What! I couldn't believe my eyes.  I have never seen anything like this before in my life.  " I'll be damned, I said.  This is something I have never seen before. It is gold, isn't it?"  " Yep!", the old timer said.  " Lots more where this came from".  " But this is ore from a hard rock mine, not gold you can pan, so why tell me about it?"   " I' tell you Sonny, if you are willing to help me a bit on my claim.  There is placer gold there as well".  I blinked a few times I guess.  I was thinking, this old dude is looking for a drudge to work his claim for him.  I need a job, but one that will pay.  I guess I must have registered on the old dude that I was skeptical as all get out, because he said, " I don't expect you to work for nothin, I aim to have you come in with me and work on shares."  Now I was bewildered.  What have I got myself into?  I tossed the black rock up in the air a couple of times as I thought.  What the heck, I've listened to the old timer this long, let's see what he has to say. I started to hand the rock back to him but he was busy puffing away on that darn pipe, so I dropped it in the pocket he took it out of.  Holy cow!  The pocket wiggled, then a blasted chipmunk climbed out and sat on my hand.

To be continued