Gold

Gold by Burt Leslie. It is an adventure short story set in a Colorado mining camp, written in the early 20th century. The tale centers on a boundary-line gold strike that ignites a bitter struggle between a ruthless mine owner and a cash-strapped rival, exploring loyalty, sabotage, and a fight for rightful claim.

When a blast at the Elkhorn mine reveals a fortune that likely lies on neighboring Summit property, engineer Steve Conley secretly summons Clark Henderson, heir to the idle Summit. Clark hurriedly steals a march on his foe by hiring disaffected Elkhorn men and scraping together coal to restart the Summit, while Hard Sturdivant buys up Summit’s mortgages and unleashes sabotage and hired gunmen. After banks, swayed by Elkhorn interests, refuse Clark a loan and the Summit shaft house is burned, he leads a night raid on the Elkhorn to secure a first shipment. In a brutal fight underground on the fifth level, Clark wrestles Sturdivant in total darkness over a sump; Sturdivant falls to his death, and the gunmen stand down. With the path to the ore open, the miners return to work and Clark resolves to ship gold and settle his debts.