Read/Watch 'em In Order #128
Well, darn it. I hadn't noticed that the online copy of Frontier Stories (May 1927) I've been using is missing a couple of pages from the story "Three Wise Men of the North." And it's a good story, too!
Written by Aaron Eberhardt, the tale is about three propectors heading north to the gold fields, part of the many thousands that rushed to the region after the first strike.
These three, though, have a plan. And that plan consists of--other than staking out a claim along Squaw Creek and building a cabin--doing absolutely nothing.
They have enough food to last for eight months. Their leader, Slippery Wilson, figures that if there is a "paystreak" (vein of gold) running under their claim,then the men working the claims above and below them would find evidence of it. They would track it to where it enters Slippery's claim, saving the three partners a lot of time and effort.
If there is no gold in the area, then they have a claim that hasn't been dug at all and could undoubtably sell it to one of the next wave of prospectors.
And this plan seems to work. No gold is found. The surrounding claims are gradually abandoned. And a naive new prospector shows up to be conned out of his money for the partners' claim.
Of course, we know the three lazy bums are going to get their cumuppance. Sadly, it's at this point--while they are plying the newcomer with their sales pitch--that two pages of the story goes missing. We rejoin the three partners now back in town, low on funds and discovering that their plan has backfired. There's enough of the story left to get this gist of it and understand exactly HOW they were themselves conned out of a potential fortune. So despite the missing pages, it's still worth reading. Eberhardt's prose is breezy and full of humor.
I'm actually glad that I didn't notice at first that those two pages are missing. I might have decided to skip the story entirely. I would have missed something fun.
Click HERE to access this issue online.
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