Do Spirits Have Hidden Treasures?
I remember a hidden treasure story, I was told several years ago...
It was told to me by my much loved uncle's brother in law, who worked
many years as a driller, and tool pusher out in the oil fields of N/W Texas...
One early fall, he had a man show up at his drilling rig on location. He
was looking for work rough necking, which is a hand up on the floor, or
maybe working up in the derrick. That is most times some very hard
and dirty work, and can be long hours. If they for some reason, have to
do a lot of 'tripping', that is pulling all of the pipe joints out of the hole,
maybe to change the drill bit, or to 'fish' for broken tools, and then going
back down in, or maybe both. Sometimes, they may even have to work
the grueling 'pulling doubles', that is, do back to back towers, or 2- 8 hr.
shifts...
Well, it just so happened, that Jerry really needed a hand, so after
talking to him a little bit, he realized the guy had some good experience,
and after the normal hiring formalities, he put him right to work. They hit
it off pretty good, and Jerry being quite a talker and BS'er himself, they
talked a lot, and the man confided in him, some of his personal business...
What he and his wife were traveling in, was an old bus, converted
with everything they needed to live in it. They spent all summer,
after the spring thaw, somewhere up in Colorado, prospecting and
gathering gold, dust and nuggets, and apparently had a pretty good
place that they successfully worked. Instead of using what they found
working their claim, sluicing or whatever all summer to live on thru the
winter, they would travel down out of the mountains, he would find work...
Then, since they could park their bus on location, their modest basic
everyday living expenses, were very low. His wife would do everything
to take care of him, while he worked all of the fall, winter, and early spring.
Time the weather in the high mountain elevations, would not permit them to
work for the gold, and they were able to save enough money, to leave the job
in the spring, and go back to their gold claim and work it all summer again...
This went on for several years. Every fall, Jerry knew the prospector would look
him up. He would go to the drilling company's office, find out where Jerry's rig
location was, get hired back on, and work all winter long, then when springtime
rolled around, they'd head off, and go back up to their gold claim. Work and
enjoy being there in the cool country, up in the beautiful high mountains,
getting gold and again saving it, storing it away, he later told Jerry, by
hiding it in the seats of their old bus...
Then, one fall, the guy didn't show up in his bus, at the usual time
that he had been, and Jerry wondered about him, and what may
have happened to him and his wife... But then, sure enough, he
finally found Jerry's rig location, and got out of his car to talk to
him a while. He was driving a brand new Cadillac, and they
both had nice new clothes on...
He and his wife, had apparently saved enough to live on
comfortably. Then cashed all of their hidden gold in, were
going to retire. He just wanted to stop and thank his old
boss and driller friend for working him, and to say goodbye...
They all visited for a good little while, and then Jerry watched
them drive off, and he never saw the guy ever again...

~:Crosse:~