"Hope you didn't mind the detour, lucas." "Just thought I'd like to see the old place after so many years." "Now this is where you were raised, huh, micah?" "Yup, the old town's still standin'." "Anybody still live here, micah?" "Oh, no, mark, just a ghost town now." "When the mines gave out, folks just naturally" "Drifted away, nothin' here to hold 'em." "It looks like we've got" "A choice of puttin' up here for the night, or on the trail." "Let's make it here, lucas, an early start in the mornin'" "Will get us in north fork Friday." "Fine." "Bustling town in it's time, huh, micah?" "As a boy, it was big city life." "Here, look there, lucas, 5 cent whiskey." "If my memory serves me correct," "The price included all the stew you could stow away." "5 cent whiskey, the good ol' days, huh, micah?" "Yeah." "Pa?" "That- that door looked like somebody closed it." "Well, the wind plays funny tricks in a ghost town, mark." "The door's all warped an' dried out" "They open an shut by themselves." "I don't think it was the wind, micah." "At least, it didn't seem like it." "Well, there's one way to find out, son." "Well, you satisfied, mark?" "One of the biggest treats I can remember as a boy was being" "Allowed to sweep out the store here for a stick o' licorice." "Well, you watch the dust in here, mark." "Hey, what's that," "An entrance to a mine?" "Oh, yes, just one o' the many you find around town, lucas." "Just about everybody in town who owned a piece o' property, tried" "Their hand at mining' some time or other." "In 10 years, more" "Than 5 miles o' tunnel were dug under this town, it's like" "A crazy patchwork quilt down there now." "Did it ever pay off big for anybody?" "Oh, few, lucas, but mighty few." "Most folks, includin' my" "Father, had little to show for their efforts but blisters." "Say, you look familiar, mister." "I knew it, I knew it." "It's- you're young micah." "Why, mr." "Newman!" "How long is it been, 25, 30 years?" "It's certainly been that long since anybody" "Called me young micah." "To these old eyes you'll always be a youngster." "We didn't expect to find anybody left in town, mr." "Newman." "Ain't nobody here except us, son, herbert an' myself." "Just passin' through, micah?" "Yes, we're on our way back to north fork." "Lucas here" "Oh, this is lucas mccain an' his boy, mark." "Hey, big fella." "Hey, you boy, how are you?" "I'm fine thank you, mr." "Newman." "Manners, I like that in a boy." "Now, are you all gonna come along to our supper table" "Peaceable, or am I gonna have to get mean an' start dragging' you?" "No need to drag me, mr." "Newman." "How about you, lucas?" "Real kind of you, mr." "Newman." "Not kind, not kind at all." "Just a windy ol' cuss lookin' for some friendly ears to bend." "Come along, come along now." "He's a fine ol' gentleman, lucas, you'll like 'im." "Pa, mr." "Newman an' his son came through that door, so they" "Couldn't have been in here, but somebody closed that door." "Now, the answer is simple, mark, nobody closed it." "Like micah says, the wind plays tricks on you." "Door's still closin' on you, son?" "I guess so." "You wouldn't much like living in a ghost town, would you?" "Guess not." "Come on." "Well, more about that time the franklins moved out," "Leavin' us the last in town." "I remember the franklins, remember 'em well." "Say, now, that you know we've been stayin' on here, maybe you" "Can get over here now an' again." "Well, as marshal of north fork, I'm kept pretty busy," "Mr. Newman." "Lucas had some cattle to settle over" "In high butte, an' talked me into goin' over with 'im" "To take in the bill cody" "Circus show." "But a holiday for me is a rare occasion." "I heard ol' bill had turned into a sideshow fella." "Can't say as how I approve, but I guess you got a kick" "Outta seeing the circus, didn't you, young fella?" "Yes, sir, I sure did." "It's pretty lonely around here," "Mr. Newman, you must miss people." "Liking to talk the way I do, I kinda do miss people." "But it's home long as I got herbert with me." "Being with my boy I sure got no complaints." "What attachment do you find here, herbert?" "Oh, a man can make a fair livin' scraping' the tunnels," "Dollar or two a day." "Gosh, we're among friends, boy, you can tell 'em as how" "You're hopin' to try to strike it again." "Guess strike was the wrong word to use." "An' nobody but a fool" "Would keep on prospecting' after a thousand people had dug day" "An' night, year after year." "No, micah, there is a strike here," "An' it was found by my boys 20 years ago, found..." "An' lost." "Boys?" "Oh, that's right I remember." "You do have two other sons." "Had, micah." "Austin an' james died some 20 years ago." "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." "Seems like the voice of the" "Lord said that much gold better be left in the earth." "Well, goin' on 20 years, we were the last family in town." "We were thinkin' about makin' our move," "Me an' my three boys movin' on a little farm maybe." "Maybe you shouldn't talk about it, pa," "Gettin' to feelin' bad." "An' the boys were workin' the tunnels, takin' out a dollar" "Here an' there, wanting' enough to stake a piece o' land" "Somewhere, an' then they found it, breakin' through this wall" "Into a cavern, a cavern that'd like to blind 'em for gold" "Croppings." "Gold, micah." "Gold so" "Thick you could break chunks of it off the wall with your hands." "Well, I was up here in the house fixing' some grub." "Boys were" "Diggin' in the cavern along about third day." "An' then I felt it, the earth trembling." "Herbert was the only one that got out alive." "It was bad enough" "Before the earthquake, findin' your way through those tunnels," "But after it was all over." "You, uh, never did find the cavern they were workin' in?" "I looked once, that was to say a prayer to a blank wall," "Prayer that my boys would rest in peace." "Herbert kept" "Searching, tunneling' here," "Tunnelin' there, hoping to strike it again, more gold than" "A man had ever seen in a lifetime." "But it seems as though" "The cavern just was swallowed up in deep earth." "You see it too, pa?" "What, boy?" "Somethin' or somebody in the window." "Whenever a traveler goes through here, boy, he thinks he hears" "Somethin' or sees somebody else in town, all imagination, boy." "Don't blame the boy, no, don't blame 'im." "Took me a long time" "To get used to them creaking'," "Groanin', tumbleweed blowin' around." "You gonna stay the night" "Micah?" "I got a goodly supply o' blankets handy." "Be glad to take you up on that, mr." "Newman." "Lucas," "We'll walk up the slope after," "An' I'd like to see the ol' homestead," "If there's anythin' left of it." "Still there, micah, that ol'" "Building your pa put up will weather a good many years yet." "We'll take a walk up the slope, micah," "If mr." "Newman will leave the dishes for us." "I'll play you a game o' checkers for that privilege." "It's my nap time now, but when you come back, you'll find one" "Of the cagiest checker players west o' the missouri river," "All ready an' primed." "Boy, the lanterns are in the back room," "Fetch 'em." "I reckon that'll take care o' your share o' the dish washing'." "Yes, sir!" "You know, I recall racing' up" "This hill an' havin' enough wind at the top to whistle a tune." "I bet I can whistle a tune after runnin' to the top." "No takers, mark." "I'd bet right along with you." "Micah, what was botherin' herbert back there?" "I dunno, I vaguely remember 'im as a quiet boy, studious," "Not much different than he is now." "It seems the faster we get out of town," "The better he'd like it." "Well, he's not exactly what I call sociable, true." "Well, not far along now." "Oh, here." "Hey, lucas, come here." "This- this here" "Is a tunnel entrance where I used to play a trick" "On my father." "When we'd pass, I'd duck in here an' use it" "For short cut an' come out up ahead, confounded my father" "Plenty, or- or so I thought." "Time passes quickly, doesn't it, micah." "Like the wind on your cheek," "Lucas boy, it's here an' then gone." "Well, come on." "Pa!" "pa?" "You know, lucas, it's a shame an intelligent man like herbert" "Should chain himself to this town." "His gold fever chaining" "His father, too, the ol' man" "Enjoys people too much to spend the rest of his days here." "Mark!" "Mark?" "I thought he was right behind us." "Mark?" "I wonder if he's cuttin' through" "That tunnel after hearin' me say it was a short cut." "Micah, that boy loves to play" "Tricks like this." "I'd better go on back an' follow him through." "You go ahead, I'll wait up ahead where he ought to come out." "Pa!" "Mark?" "Mark!" "Pa!" "Mark, what are you doin' in there?" "Mark, there's nothin' smart about you cuttin' through" "These tunnels, you might have got lost, or have got hurt." "I was only tryin' to play a trick on you but I" "Do you realize how far underground you are?" "Why did you come down this far?" "I didn't know where to go." "There was somebody behind me." "I was behind you, son, didn't you here me callin'?" "No, I didn't." "Mark, if you ever try playin' a trick like this ag" "Well I was tryin' to tell you, what do you think it is?" "I dunno." "Pa, bring the lantern." "Look, pa, it's gold." "Um-hm, this is mr." "Newman's cavern all right," "Plenty o' surface gold." "Well, that must be" "But- but, pa, mr." "Newman said he had two sons lost" "In the earthquake." "No earthquake, son, from the looks o' that opening over there" "I'd say this cavern was sealed off by a stick o' dynamite." "An' whoever that man is, he wasn't trapped in here," "He was stabbed with this knife." "Well, we better go," "This is somethin' for micah to figure out." "Come on." "Sure didn't seem like you behind me, pa, I kept on" "Callin', but there was no answer, just sounds." "Here's your light." "What kind o' sounds?" "Like some- pa!" "All right, hold it!" "All right, who are you?" "Who are you?" "Are you austin newman?" "Are you james newman?" "You're not gonna take me!" "You'll never get me alive!" "Never!" "Never!" "Never!" "Let's get out of here, mark!" "Are you all right, son?" "All right, move!" "Lucas!" "Lucas, what happened?" "Micah, this place is gonna cave in any second," "Get us outta here." "Follow me, come on." "It was brother against brother." "There was more gold than one man could use, yet they fought." "An' james killed austin." "They fought over shares, an' they both lost." "One dead," "The other living' the death," "Driven mad by what he'd done to flesh an' kin." "You mean james has been livin' in this town for 20 years" "Without your father ever seeing him?" "Pa's eyesight always was poor, worse than he lets on." "After I dynamited the cavern," "There was no cause for him to think that there wasn't an" "Earthquake, no cause for him" "To believe that his other sons hadn't died like honorable men." "The gold was there, right within reach." "I never touched it." "I left austin there, just the way he died." "An' james," "How could I ever explain where james was?" "An' you took care o' james all these years." "He lived in the tunnels, an' only come out at night." "His mind was gone, but he remembered he was supposed to" "Stay out of sight, to protect the secret of the caverns." "Of course I had to stay on here, trapped, sayin' I was searchin'" "For gold." "Pa an' me both trapped." "Ooh, you got back again, good." "Well, then, what's been happenin'?" "We were in the tunnels, mr." "Newman, some of them collapsed." "Collapsed?" "I just don't see no point, son." "I just don't see" "No point in your keepin' on lookin' for this cavern" "An' maybe losing' your life." "We just been discussing' that, mr." "Newman, with herbert," "About makin' up his mind it's time to leave here" "An' get on that little farm you've been talkin' about." "Well, now I" " I" " I just do- dunno what to say." "It seems to me you have a checker game scheduled." "Right!" "That's right." "You, little micah, go an' get that" "Checker board over in the cupboard over there," "See if I can still beat you." "Herbert," "That mite o' brandy we set aside, now is as good a time" "As any." "The cure what's sure to be ailing' us next year maybe." "Oh, what a day!" "What are you thinkin' about, son?" "For a moment there I- I really thought we were rich." "Oh, we are, we're very rich." "You'll realize it more an' more the older you get." "What do you mean, we don't have any gold." "No, but, uh, well, you remember that ol' oak tree back" "At the ranch you used to climb when you were just knee high?" "That's gold to me, mark, real gold." "An' then the fields in" "Back of our barn, the way they look in the mornin', green with" "Dew." "Then at night, after a hard day's work, sittin' around the" "House with the fireplace goin', that's a kinda gold, isn't it?" "You're right, pa." "You know somethin', we really are rich."