These miners, many of them, were inveterate gamblers and played every night till near day-light, with no roof over them, and their only clothes a woolen shirt and overalls which must have been a little scanty in the cool nights which settled down over the mountain camp; but they bore it all in their great desire for card playing.

Near by there were three men who worked and slept together, every night dividing the dust which each put into a purse at the head of his bed.  One day the news came to the saloon that one of the purses had been stolen.  The Helms boys talked it over and concluded that as one of the men had gone to town, he might know something about the lost dust; so they went to town and there, after a little search, found their man in a gambling house.  After a little while they invited him to return to camp with them, and all started together down the mountain; but when about half way down they halted suddenly under an oak tree and accused their man of knowing where his partner’s money was.  This he strongly denied, and was very positive in his denial till he felt the surprise of a rope around his neck, with the end over a limb, and beginning to haul pretty taut in a direction that would soon elevate his body from the ground, when he weakened at their earnestness and asked them to hold on a minute.  As the rope slackened he owned up he had the dust and would give it up if they would not send the news to his folks in Missouri.  This was agreed to and the thief was advised to leave at once for some distant camp, or they might yet expose him.  He was not seen afterward.

The boys bragged a good deal of their detective ability after this, and said that a little hanging would make a ——­ thief tell the truth even if it did not make an honest man of him, and that a thief would be lucky if he got through with them and saved his life.  Their law was “Hanging for stealing.”

The Helms brothers were said to be from western Missouri, and in early days were somewhat of the border ruffian order, and of course preferred to live on the frontier rather than in any well regulated society.  As the country became settled and improved around them they moved on.  A school house was an indication that the country was getting too far advanced for them.

They crossed the plains in 1849 and began mining operations near Georgetown in Placer county.  It was well known that they were foremost in all gambling, and in taking a hand in any excitement that came up, and as a better class of miners came in they moved on, keeping ahead with the prospectors, and just out of reach of law and order.  If anyone else committed a crime they were always quite eager to be on the vigilance committee, and were remarkably happy when punishing a wrong-doer.  When any of their number was suspected it was generally the case that they moved quickly on and so escaped.  It was reported, however, that one of their number was in the hands of the vigilance committee and hanged in Montana.