A story is told of Fletcher, a lanky, sallow-faced Texan who appeared during the Gold Days at Murphy's Camp. He claimed to have invented a Goldometer, an instrument whereby he could detect with unfailing accuracy the presence of gold and likewise could trace the course of the rich vein of treasure. To prove his confidence he offered to wager $100 in gold that he could, by use of this instrument, pick out within ten minutes the exact location of a bag of gold hidden away in an acre of ground. None was ready to take his bet, but if he could actually locate gold as he claimed, there was reason enough why they should venture a little to test his machine.
Now the idea of searching for gold by the aid of unseen forces was not entirely new, and who could say but that this might be the way to success and riches ? Was not the whole thing largely a game with Luck? Many of the miners during the earlier days practised their own favorite kind of necromancy; magnets, pointers and various kinds of indicators were used from time to time, the favorite method being similar to the divining rod used by some for locating underground water. This consisted of the forks of a hazel bush cut to have a short pointed body with long arms. This was held by the ends of the arms and carried by the fortune seeker in a horizontal position with the point projecting to the front. If properly handled, said the believing ones, the point would invariably dip so as to indicate the location of gold-bearing rocks, the degree of dip being directly in proportion to the richness of the deposit. Perhaps the stranger had the power and skill to make this instrument perform!
The Texan was given a chance to display the workings described and was equipped with a wooden pointer mounted on metal. Taking his goldometer in hand he went through a series of preliminary incantations and then, as if the light were beginning to dawn, he hastened in an irregular course over the hill and across a ravine, as if following a quartz ledge. A crowd of eager miners seized picks and shovels and began to work upon the newly revealed ledge. For some reason the surface dirt proved both deep and diffi, but they worked with a will until they had dug twenty-five feet and still no signs of the gold ledge. Possibly the man was a swindler! But the inventor protested his honesty; given a chance he could prove it. Thereupon he selected one of their number; placed him upon an empty whisky keg and caused him to speak from the other world. It was then revealed that the gold lay still deeper but that ten feet more would surely reveal its untold wealth. These ten feet required much labor, for accumulated water was added to the rock and dirt to be removed. Before the ten feet had been excavated the Texan and his goldometer had permanently left Murphy's Camp!
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