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All our preparations being now completed on Friday the first day of July we determined to make a start for home. About noon we went to the "Ranche" to take out our animals our horses were easily found they were very poor and there was no danger of any one stealing them. A friend of ours who came with us did not have such good fortune he put a valuable team of mules into the Ranche now they could not be found the poor fellow grew frantic when he discovered his loss. The Ranche keeper could give no account of them but he supposed they were stolen during the night by the laws of the place he was responsible and could be made liable for the worth of any property left in his possession. But the owner of the mules would rather have them at that time than twice their nominal value at Denver. So he hired horses and scoured the country in all directions but it was a vain pursuit he never seen or heard aught of them. I am firmly convinced that the rascally "Rancher" connived at stealing them it was said that many valuable teams were taken from his place. Any how he got a judgement against the Ranche keeper for two hundred and fifty dollars. The Ranche was levied on and was to be sold in thirty days but the poor fellow could not remain there that long under expenses so he intrusted its collection to a lawyer of good standing in the city, and getting some friends to aid him he purchased another team and started for home. His lawyer was to send the price of his mules in a month but he never got a cent of it nor never received a bit of information from his lawyer there is no doubt but what the latter got the money and appropriated it to his own use. An honest man is a a rare thing to be found in any place but I think it is impossible to find one at all in a gold producing country, the very fact of being where got easy brings around a lot of these sharks to prey upon the industry of the hardy miner who perils health and even life for the shining ore and no