** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **

[GhostMiner]

   May 29   1937     Part Three

 

   Collins told us he was in for buying the treasure but would need to do it in two groupings, one for the jewels and one for the gold bars and coins. He said he and his buyers were prepared to take the jewels today and arrange for the gold to be delivered to them in a week. He reiterated to us the difficulty involved in fencing the treasure and would most likely use his foreign sources. He said that because of the difficulty the values of the treasure would be severely diluted.

   John looked him in the eye and asked him what value in dollars he put on the jewels and what value on the gold and coins. Collins was reluctant to give him a number. He said he couldn’t give a true evaluation because of the difficulties his buyers would face in the sale. He told us he was working on commision and his buyers had told him what they would pay. His buyers had to leave room for a profit on the sale to a foreign buyer. The money would end up being cut up in many sections. 

   John was blunt. He told him he didn’t care about any foreign buyer or his buyers for that matter but was only concerned about our cut. Collin told him that we must be reasonable. He said that we had found the treasure but hadn’t put any hard cash into finding it but only a little sweat equity. I told Collins that he was dancing around John’s question and he had better start talking hard numbers. We pulled our guns on Roger, Collins, and the buyers and told them they weren’t leaving without buying as they now knew too much. There was a look of shock on their faces. Ben shoved the Thompson into Collin’s face and told him to start talking. John told the buyers not to make any moves or they would be shot. He said the time for playing games was over.

  

   TO BE CONTINUED ...................

[GhostMiner]

   May 29   1937     Part Four

 

   Collins was hollering at Roger and asking him what the hell he had gotten him into out here. Roger just shrugged the question off. Collins told John he had come out here in good faith based on his trust in Roger’s judgment and his buyers had authorized him to make an offer on the jewelry as well as the gold. He told us they would pay $50,000 for the jewelry and $$75,000 for the gold bars and coins. He said that they didn’t have the money on them but could leave and bring it back. I laughed in his face but John was outraged. I had seen him like this several times and it wasn’t good. John told him that he had given a lowball price and he didn’t even bring any money. With that John smacked Collins across the face which knocked him down. Collins attempted to get to his feet but John kicked him in the head and he went back down. 

   The rest of my crew had everyone at gunpoint and didn’t say a word. I told the buyers that they had better start praying that we didn’t shoot them on the spot. One of them stepped forward and pleaded with me. He said they would up the offer and we could take them to get the money but some of it was being held by an international group out in the desert outside of Reno. John said we should just shoot the whole bunch of them and bury them on the mine. The buyers were shaking and Roger looked like he was going to get sick.

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   May 29   1937     Part Five

 

   I told Ben to frisk them all for weapons. Roger was clean but Collins and the buyers all had revolvers hidden on them. Ben removed them one by one, emptied out the bullets, and threw them in a ditch close to camp. Ben said we should get Sarge up here and let him handle them. 

   John let Collins get to his feet and his mouth was bleeding. Collins started trying to plead his case. He said that they had the money but it was unsafe to carry that kind of cash around. He also stated once again about the difficulty of selling the treasure and that the proceeds would be split up many times. He said that if we didn’t like the offer he might be able to convince his buyers to up it some but if we couldn’t make a deal they wanted to be free to leave.

   John laughed in his face. He said that there was going to be a deal and they were not free to go anywhere until we had the money. I told Collins that now they were all in a jam because they had seen the treasure and knew too much. I told him that if the deal didn’t happen they would never leave.

   Collins once again looked at Roger and cursed him. John told him to shut his mouth or he’d break his jaw. I told Collins to bring the buyers over to us and we would talk with them directly. I told him we were done negotiating with him and he was of no further use to us. He started to cry and begged us not to shoot him.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   An international group in the desert outside of Reno holding enough cash to make a deal on the treasure? Really?? I don't like the sound of it.

[GhostMiner]

   I think gold and treasure can make a person crazy.

 

 

[GhostMiner]

  May 29   1937     Part Six

 

   I asked the buyers what they were prepared to pay. I warned them that this was not a game we were willing to play and they needed to be honest with us if they wanted to get out of here alive. They had come here acting as tough guys and had found out the hard way we were much tougher. 

   I am not going to say what they offered us but it was a great deal more than the first offer. I told my crew to hold everyone at gunpoint and shoot anyone who tries to leave. Then John and I left them and had a quick discussion. The offer was not as much as we thought we could get but was still enough to set us up for many lifetimes. We decided to take it.

   We went back to the group and told them we would take the offer. They were relieved to say the least. Roger and Collins thanked us several times. We told them that we had no intention of going into the remote desert to meet with a group of foreign buyers that we didn’t know or trust. I asked them how many foreign buyers were out there. Collins said there were only two and they had two bodyguards. They were the real money people. Everyone here at camp was working on commission for them. Collins warned us that they were very powerful people and as tough as we thought we were they could be extremely dangerous if crossed. He also told us they had a currier stationed in town that would relay information and meeting times either in person or by short wave radio.I told Collins we would need to meet the currier and direct him on what needed to be done. John and I would take him into town while our crew held Roger and the so called buyers prisoner. Any tricks from them and they would all die.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[GhostMiner]

   May 29   1037     Part Seven

 

   We took Collins into town and parked outside of a run down hotel. We went in and took the stairs to the second floor. Collins gave three knocks, paused, gave two knocks, paused, and gave four knocks. The door opened and the currier stood there looking at us with surprise on his face. Collins told him that we were the treasure people and some things had changed. The currier started to pull a revolver out of his coat but John smacked him in the face and he went down. John stepped on his hand with his boot and the guy let loose of the gun. I picked it up and dumped out the shells. Then I put it in my belt. John helped him to his feet and as he did so socked him in the gut. The guy let out a groan as all the wind went out of him but John held him up to keep him from going down. He was gasping for air and I told him to play it straight or he’d get worse. 

   I took a look around the rundown room. Sure enough there was a short wave radio on a corner table with a kitchen chair pulled up close to it. When the currier finally got his breath he looked at Collins and said the foreign buyers weren’t going to like this. Collins started to reply but I told him to clam up and we’d do the talking. I told him he was going to contact the guys out in the desert and tell them they needed to come to town. I said that I would tell him what to say and if there was any funny business I’d tell John to beat him to death. He was starting to shake pretty bad but he turned on the shortwave set.  

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[GhostMiner]

  May 29   1937     Part Eight

 

   I wrote down what he was to tell the buyers. After a bit of back and forth they were convinced of a change in plans and agreed to meet with us in town. The meeting was to be at 6:00 PM tonight. We left the hotel taking the currier with us and headed back to camp. When we got back we informed everyone on what was going to take place. Ben and John tied up Roger, Collins, the currier, and the buyers so we wouldn’t have any trouble with them. They were left under the guard of Hudson and Will in a remote area away from camp. Our plan was to take Collins and the currier back to town and wait for the foreign buyers. 

   We headed back to the hotel late in the afternoon taking Sarge with us as well. We used the Cadillac and Packard. We all went up to the hotel room and waited. We were armed with revolvers and Sarge had his BAR as well. There was no conversation and the time ticked by slowly.

   I was watching the street from the window when I saw a black Ford sedan pull into a parking spot in front of the hotel near our cars. Four guys got out. One of them was carrying two briefcases. They entered the hotel and I heard them coming up the stairs. There was the same knock pattern on the door and I told the currier to let them in and not to try any funny business. Sarge was sitting in the corner with the BAR pointed at the entrance.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[GhostMiner]

   May 29   1937     Part Nine

 

   The guy with the briefcases entered first followed by the other three men. The last one in seemed like he was in charge. He spoke with a British accent. They were all dressed in suits and looked out of place in this territory. When he saw Sarge with the BAR pointing in their direction he was taken aback and asked what was all this about. I told John to frisk them and he removed their guns which were hidden in shoulder holsters. The leader said his name was James and asked again what was going on. I told him not to worry and we were just very cautious in doing business with people we didn’t know, especially when it involved priceless treasure. Collins spoke up and told them we meant business.

   James looked quite surprised and asked me if I knew who I was dealing with. I just shook my head no. He said he was one of the wealthiest precious metals and jewelry brokers in Europe. He claimed to have bought large amounts of jewelry for the royals of England and Scotland as well as several other European countries. John told him he didn’t give a damn who he had bought jewelry for but he damn sure better have the total amount of money in cash in those briefcases or there’d be hell to pay.

   James told John to calm down and that the deal would proceed as expected. He said there was no need for violence and he was a man of his word. I looked at the other three guys he had with him and they were thugs for sure. One of them looked like a well worn prize fighter and the other two just plain gangsters. I knew them when I saw them and unfortunately I had seen way too many out here in this hell hole of a town. They were just a different class from another country.

   John told him to open up the briefcases and count out the money. James gave him a look like he was far superior to him and said it was difficult dealing with the underclass. Without saying a word John walked over to him and delivered a right hand square on the chin. James went down and laid on the floor groaning. I told him he’d better keep his mouth shut if he knew what was good for him. I could tell that the other three wanted to kill us if they had the chance. Sarge noticed it as well and said if anyone tried anything he would beat them with the but end of his BAR. They just sneered at him. 

   I told them firmly to open the cases and do it now. Reluctantly they did and we saw the money. I removed the stacks of bills and told Sarge and John to have a look at it and make sure it’s real. After going through it and counting it we realized it was short of the total amount by one half. I looked down at James who was still on the floor and told him he had better start talking and fast.

   

   TO BE CONTINUED ...................

[GhostMiner]

May 29   1937     Part Ten

 

   James was mumbling his words which was a direct result of John’s punch to the jaw. He said they had the other half of the stash in the trunk of the car in case there was any trouble. I told him he didn’t know what trouble was if the money wasn’t there and he and John went out to get it. James brought in two more brief cases which contained the money. John and Sarge stayed with the group while I drove the Cadillac back to camp. We loaded the jewelry and some of the gold bars in the trunk and back seat and we put the rest on the bed of my truck and covered it with a tarp. We left Hudson and Will at camp while I drove the truck and Ben drove the Cadillac to a side road going up into the mountains a mile outside of town. We took a little turnoff which went into the woods behind some large boulders and parked the Cadillac. Then we unloaded the rest of the gold from the truck into the Cadillac. We stuffed the interior with gold bars. The Cadillac was overloaded and the suspension squatted down under all the weight. We had also kept a nice supply of the gold bars at camp for the crew to divide up.

   We left the car locked up and Ben and I drove back to camp and put the rest of the bound gold buyer group onto the bed of the truck and covered them with a tarp. We drove back to the Cadillac and unloaded the men and made sure they were well tied. Then we drove back to the hotel and gave the keys for the Cadillac to Collins. I told them it had been a pleasure doing business with them and hopefully there were no hard feelings. I gave them directions to where the treasure was and told them that if they tried to cause any problems we would kill them all. With that John, Sarge, John, and I drove the truck back to camp with four briefcases full of money. We were all set for life.

   

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............