mine, and I knew if the money should be lost you would neither of you
reproach me. But I called you back to tell you that while I do not think
there is any hurry about selling your stocks, dealing in mining shares is
a risky business, as a rule, especially when you have nothing but a guess
to go on; and I do not believe I would, if in your places, take that up
for a business."

Then some one else came in, and the miners retired.

They determined not to sell just then, and both went back to work at 4 in
the afternoon of that day.

The young men continued their daily toil. After the stock reached $35
per share, it hung at that figure for a long time, but they felt no
uneasiness. They saw the hurry of the work in opening the Consolidated
Virginia and the C. & C. shafts; they saw a new great quartz mill being
erected, but they saw something else which pleased them much more, which
was that the more the great ore body was sunk and drifted upon, the
bigger it grew. In the early winter of 1874-5, the stock began to climb
up. It jumped to $80, then $85; then, almost in a day, to $115, and so
on up to $220. The strain on the minds of the two young miners was very
great, but they held on. There was another little lull, and then towards
spring it started up again.

When it reached $480, Browning said to Sedgwick: "Bless my soul, Jim, I
have not slept for three nights. I have been thinking that hundreds of
people have been waiting for the stock to touch $500, and when it does,
they will unload and break it down. Had we not better sell? It will give
us as much money as we can manage."