The Young Miner

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The Young Miner, by Horatio Alger, Jr.

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Title: The Young Miner or Tom Nelson in California
Author: Horatio Alger, Jr.
Release Date: September 18, 2007 [EBook #22669]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: THE PACIFIC SERIES.]
THE
YOUNG MINER;
OR,
TOM NELSON IN CALIFORNIA.
BY
HORATIO ALGER, JR.,
AUTHOR OF "RAGGED DICK," "TATTERED TOM," "LUCK AND PLUCK," "BRAVE AND BOLD" SERIES, ETC., ETC.
PHILADELPHIA:
HENRY T. COATES & CO.

FAMOUS ALGER BOOKS.
* * * * *
=RAGGED DICK SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 6 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
RAGGED DICK. FAME AND FORTUNE. MARK THE MATCH BOY. ROUGH AND READY. BEN THE LUGGAGE BOY. RUFUS AND ROSE.
=TATTERED TOM SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 4 vols. 12mo. Cloth. FIRST SERIES.
TATTERED TOM. PAUL THE PEDDLER. PHIL THE FIDDLER. SLOW AND SURE.
=TATTERED TOM SERIES=. 4 vols. 12mo. Cloth. SECOND SERIES.
JULIUS. THE YOUNG OUTLAW. SAM'S CHANCE. THE TELEGRAPH BOY.
=CAMPAIGN SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 3 vols.
FRANK'S CAMPAIGN. PAUL PRESCOTT'S CHARGE. CHARLIE CODMAN'S CRUISE.
=LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 4 vols. 12mos. Cloth. FIRST SERIES.
LUCK AND PLUCK. SINK OR SWIM. STRONG AND STEADY. STRIVE AND SUCCEED.
=LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES=. 4 vols. 12mo. Cloth. SECOND SERIES.
TRY AND TRUST. BOUND TO RISE. RISEN FROM THE RANKS. HERBERT CARTER'S LEGACY.
=BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 4 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
BRAVE AND BOLD. JACK'S WARD. SHIFTING FOR HIMSELF. WAIT AND HOPE.
=PACIFIC SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 4 vols. 12mo.
THE YOUNG ADVENTURER. THE YOUNG MINER. THE YOUNG EXPLORERS. BEN'S NUGGET.
=ATLANTIC SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 4 vols.
THE YOUNG CIRCUS RIDER. DO AND DARE. HECTOR'S INHERITANCE. HELPING HIMSELF.
=WAY TO SUCCESS SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 4 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
BOB BURTON. THE STORE BOY. LUKE WALTON. STRUGGLING UPWARD.
=NEW WORLD SERIES=. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
DIGGING FOR GOLD. FACING THE WORLD. IN A NEW WORLD.
=Other Volumes in Preparation.=
* * * * *
COPYRIGHT BY A. K. LORING, 1879.
To GENEVIEVE AND ANITA ALGER, This Volume IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.
When "The Young Adventurer" was published, a year since, as the initial volume of The Pacific Series, it was announced that the second volume would be "The Young Pioneer." This has been changed to "The Young Miner," in order to avoid confusion with a book bearing a title somewhat similar to the one first proposed.
Those who were interested in Tom Nelson's trip across the Plains will find in the present story a record of his adventures in the Land of Gold. Though his prosperity was chiefly due to his own energy and industry, it is also true that he was exceptionally lucky. Yet his good fortune has been far exceeded by that of numerous adventurous spirits in Colorado, within the last twelve months. Some measure of prosperity generally awaits the patient and energetic worker, and seldom comes to those who idly wait for something to turn up.
NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 1879.

THE YOUNG MINER;
OR,
TOM NELSON IN CALIFORNIA.
CHAPTER I.
THE GOLD-SEEKERS.
A dozen men, provided with rockers, were busily engaged in gathering and washing dirt, mingled with gold-dust, on the banks of a small stream in California. It was in the early days, and this party was but one of hundreds who were scattered over the new Eldorado, seeking for the shining metal which throughout the civilized world exercises a sway potent and irresistible.
I have said there were a dozen men, but this is a mistake. One of the party was a well-grown boy of sixteen, with a good-humored and even handsome face. He was something more than good-humored, however. There was an expression on his face which spoke of strength and resolution and patient endurance. The readers of "The Young Adventurer" will at once recognize in our young hero Tom Nelson, the oldest son of a poor New England farmer, who, finding no prospects at home, had joined the tide of emigrants pouring from all parts of the country to the land of which so many marvelous stories were told. Tom had come to work; and though he doubtless shared to some extent the extravagant anticipations of the great body of Eastern visitors who hoped to make a fortune in a year, he did not expect to succeed without hard toil.
His companions belonged to the same party with whom he had crossed the plains, under the leadership of Phineas Fletcher, a broad-shouldered Illinois farmer, who had his family with him. Next to Tom was Donald Ferguson,