âThought maybe Iâd take a buck and smoke me some venison. Get a jump on winter. Californiaâs a long ride.â
âTheyâll be in the high country this time of year,â the man said, offering hunting advice.
âYep,â Cole agreed. âItâll be cooler up there.â
âWhat takes you out to California?â
âWoman.â
âEither love or money,â the bartender proclaimed. âAnybody who tells you thereâs a third thing that drives a manâs intentions, heâs either a fool or a liar.â
âAinât
that
for sure.â Cole nodded.
âShe know youâre coming . . . ? Not that itâs any of my business.â
âShe ran off with a gambler,â Cole explained, adding an element of fact to his fable. âIâve come to figure that sheâd be getting tired of him. I was just thinking . . .â
âYou want to be there at the right time.â
âYeah, I was just thinking that,â Cole said. It was true that he had been unable to push Sally Lovelace out of his mind completely, even though it had been the better part of four years since she had run off to San Francisco with J. R. Hubbard. It was
not
true that he had entertained any plans of going after her.
âThe reason I asked . . . not wanting to pry into your business . . .â the bartender continued, âwas that I had been wonderinâ if you were with those boys who were headed over to Luera.â
âGuess not. What boys?â
âTwo boys who was in here last night. They was all loaded up with a couple of mules like they were headed for somewhere.â
âThey were headed for Luera?â
âNot till they heard about the Dutchman.â
âWhoâs the Dutchman?â
âHeâs a fellow over in Luera who knows a lot about the old Spanish gold strikes up in these hills round about.â
âDo tell,â Cole said, nodding to an empty glass as if to say that hearing the fellowâs yarn about this Dutchman called for a refill.
âThereâs stories,â the bartender said. âThereâs stories that heâs found a lot of gold, and stories that he hasnât. People see him around Luera, and then he disappears for weeks or a month or so. People have seen him with gold, but he doesnât seem to live beyond his means. Thereâs stories that he takes it over to Socorro or some place and puts it in a bank.â
âWhat made these boys take an interest in the Dutchman?â Cole asked. âWere they going over to Luera to rob the man?â
âNo, they were drinking in here last night, and they got to talking with a couple of other fellows who
were
headed over to see him.â
âWhat about?â
âThey were gonna tryân get the Dutchman to tell âem how to find the Lost Dearing Diggings.â
âWhatâs that?â
âFellow name of Dearing came in through here back in the fifties, just before the war I guess it was,â the bartender began, relishing his role as storyteller. âHe was a cowboy from over in West Texas who had some kind of scrape with the law. Came out here to get away. He rescued this half-breed Mexican kid from a bunch of Apaches. The kid was real thankful as you can picture, so he showed Dearing this place way up in yonder mountains where there was gold nuggets the size of wild turkey eggs just laying around.â
âIâve heard variations on that story before,â Cole said truthfully. The barrooms and backcountry of the Southwest abounded in such tales.
âDearing showed up in Mesilla with a bandanna full of these nuggets,â the cantina owner insisted. âHe said heâd go back in there and get more, but that he was scared off by the Apaches. He got some others to go with him.â
âThey find the place?â
âYup. They sure did. They caused quite a