Lust for Gold

Fortune seeker Barry Storm stumbles onto some clues that may lead him to the fabulous Lost Dutchman Mine, but others have tried and been murdered. The tale of how immigrant Jacob Walz, the "Dutchman" (German) of Arizona's notorious Lost Dutchman gold mine, found treasure and love and lost them again. —Mike Rogers <MICHAELPEM@aol.com> Amateur treasure hunter Barry Storm becomes obsessed with finding the fabled Lost Dutchman Gold Mine and follows another adventurer, Floyd Buckley, into Arizona's desolate Superstition Mountains. Buckley claims to have a map and knows how to decipher the geologic aberrations and cryptic signs written on a large rock, all essential elements in locating the treasure trove. Unfortunately for them both, Buckley gives Storm the slip but meets the same fate that has befallen others who have gotten too close to the treasure... he is found shot to death by a phantom gunman. After being shot at by the mysterious killer himself, Storm stumbles across the rifle of German immigrant Jacob Walz, the dour "Dutchman" of legend, who committed multiple murders in the 1880s to become the only living soul to know the location of the treasure. In flashback, Walz brags to the townsfolk that the gold he spends so freely comes from the fabulous Peralta Mine but stubbornly refuses to disclose its location and teases them with riddles that offer enigmatic clues to its location. Walz becomes increasingly paranoid about his secret, especially when he finds out the the grasping woman he loves is already married and scheming to find his gold. —duke1029