In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

2. The Specter ofthe Reed Mine Our story begins in the early 1800s with a miner named William Mills, a good man and a sound man ... an Englishman by birth whose home was Wales. Like many other men who left Western Europe to seek riches during the Carolina gold rush, Mills had settled among a group of miners in the shacks and tents surrounding a boom town. It was December and the winter's first snow storm blurred the outlines ofthe shanties. Walking home from the mine, Mills congratulated himself that he had gone to Georgeville the day before and put in a good supply of victuals. Even if it were not for the saloons and drunkenness , the shootings were enough to keep any decent, sensible fellow away from the town after dark. He had also split over a cord of wood for the fire and he looked forward to it, what with the penetrating wind and the snow. Not that he always found the home fires burning when he came from the mine. Many times he would come in to a cold house with the fire out and his wife, Eleanor, lying on the cornshuck mattress beneath a pile of soiled quilts. How he wished he had never brought her to North Carolina from England, for day after day he heard nothing but complaints. At night her voice kept him awake talking of Liverpool and her friends there ... demanding shrilly that he take her back. This afternoon he was returning home after a day of backbreaking labor digging out the red clay and then working down one pan after another in the icy stream ... but his tiredness was unimportant so elated was he over finding the 28 The Specter of the Reed Mine 29 largest nuggets he had yet seen on his claim. He could scarcely wait to show them to her and see the pleasure on her face. Yes, they would go back but only when he could return a rich man. Today's find brought them a step closer to England. Never again would he work as a millwright; he would take the vials of gold dust he had panned with such patience and his nuggets and buy a small business of his own. People would work for him. When he entered the cabin, Eleanor scarcely spoke to him busying herself at the fireplace with the cook pots. He could hear her muttering something about Liverpool and he hoped this was not the beginning of one of her harangues. The winter wind had begun to howl fiercely, tearing at the small log house. Eleanor bent over the fireplace and pushed the iron pot on its trivet closer to the flames. As she poked the logs with a large hickory stick, eerie shadows moved grotesquely on the walls. The only light in the room came from the fire and two small oil lamps, each with a twisted, tallow-soaked rag which burned dimly and emitted a greasy, black smoke. "And this is what I have come to from a comfortable, happy home in Liverpool where Iwas loved and cherished," Eleanor whined. Her blonde hair hung in wisps about her face, damp, snakelike tendrils moistened by the puffs of steam from the pot. "I have eaten squirrel, rabbit, possum, every sort of wild varmint you bring into this house. My, aren't you proud of them? And, when have Ilast had a taste ofsomething decent like mutton? I ask you?" Mills did not reply. "What a God forsaken wilderness this place is." The heavyset man with his head of full, black curly hair and thick brown beard sat down at the table. A rough table he had made with his own hands. He reached into his shirt 146.37.35] Project MUSE (2024-04-20 02:07 GMT) 30 The Gold Seekers pocket, pulled out a leather pouch and spilled its contents on the table. There was the sound of metal on wood as gold nuggets rolled across it. He looked toward Eleanor for some reaction but she appeared to scarcely notice them. "Eleanor, Eleanor, look what I have here. Aren't you ..." "How long are we going to stay? You certainly lied to get me to come to this uncivilized Carolina, promising me silk and satin and gold rings for my fingers." "But you'll have them. You'll have them yet!" She burst into wild, mocking laughter. "What a husband you turned out to be, and to...

Share