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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant la nombre d'images n^cessaira. Las diagrammes suivants illustrant la mdthoda. / errata id to It la pelure, pon A n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 Si»in»«« «»•»«••« i i^« ■ [sjn?"nrwTnrT;:-y •" ti4)im«Mr<«wM i « JLl^J^ LUCK OF ROARING CAMP (HEATHEN CHINEE,) I^ C) E M S . AND OTHER SKETCHES. I3Y BRET HARTE. i»|W(TfrKTf;rTr--ir TORONTO: ^ 1S71. Cj C 1 y ^\ I'i N^O^mUm*' / TOrtOKTu : IHK l»AIi..V IKI.FCRAl'H I'JJIXTJKG IIOUHE, COR^Kll KfN« AND JJAY STIIEKTS. ^tWtrif'r'tTTIt-f^tl^ resented tbo respective careers of The iloncst and Di*?solnte ^liners : the one, as 1 recall him, retrogradiivi; Ihrongli successive planes of dirt, f»r«»r nr rff" C: O ]Nr T K NTS; SKETCHES. TiTE Luck op .ViOahing Camp TiTE Outcasts of Poker Flat Higgles Tennessee's Partner The Idyl of Red Gulch High- Water Mark . A Lonely Ride .... Toe man op No Account . . 1 14 , 50 61 70 7/ STORIES. ^Iliss The Right Eye of the Com^iander Notes by Flood and Field . 12:1 BOHEMIAN PAPERS. The Mission Dolores John Chinaman From a Back Window BOONDKR . 149 . 153 15(3 . 159 Tl *.EEI8A11IIS" "T>YENTY Years'' . . - . I'^ATE ... - IG(; 107 108 109 170 tTl 172 171 176 [77 179 180 In Diat-ect. "Jim" Cjiiquita Dow's Ff-at In the Tunnet, "Ciceta" Penelope Plain Language from 'I'rutiiful James The Society fpon the Stanislaus 181 183 18.") 187 189 192 193 195 Poems from ISGO to 18(18. John Burns of Getiysui i{(5 The Tale of a Pony 197 200 *«S«»t»!nnnnt- CONTKNTtii, Vll r.vor 10') iO(; 107 108 100 170 t71 173 174 176 177 170 180 181 183 18r> 187 180 193 103 105 The MiiiAci.E ov I'adrk Junipero An A»i(Tk: Vjsion - - . . To Tn?: Pliocene Skum, The Ballad of the Kmeu Tire Aoed Strancsek - "IIow ARE YOU, Sanitary?" - Tim llETElLLE .... Our Privilkue Relieving GrARi> Paroiiies. A Gkolookal Madrid a Ti TiiK Willows North Beach The Lo8t Tails op Miletls All Sin's Kei»ly to Truthful James PAOH 303 200 30H 310 311 V 1 V 313 S15 310 317 318 330 331 333 197 300 'ttrHtwmtnMMidf ^m T • en 01 ditc gro( men Fre ove « lect Cor "k of n mil (' f F and tim just the irre tol no\ tol pui per wh 1 1, k |HHMMyHM||H I.--S K E T C 11 E S. I'SBK Bii:€!£ or KOAKBXH I'ASIP. ''J'^IIEIiK vri\H commotion in Uoiuinr^ Canip. IL could not, "- havo been a fiii'lit, for in 1810 lluit whs not novel enough to hiivc ciillcd togctlioi' tlio entire pc tlK'nicnt. The (lltcht'3 and claims were not only deserted, but " Tuttlc'm grocery" had contributed its gamblers, Vviio, it will l)e re membered, calmly continued their game the day that French Pelc and Kankaa Joe shot each other to death over the bar in the front room. The whole camp was coi- locled before a rude cabin on the outer edge of the clearin;^. Conversation was carried on in a low tone, but the name of a woman was frequently repeated. It was a n;ime fa- miliar enough in the camp, — " Cherokee Sal." Perhi'.psthe less said of her the better. She was a coar.'je^ and, it is to be feared, a very sinful woman. But at that time slio Avas the only woman in Roaring Camp, and was just then lying in sore e.\.treinity, when she jnost needed the ministration of lier own sex, Dis^^olute, al)andoned, and, irreclaimable, she wa=? yet sufrerhig a martyrdom hard enough to bear even when veiled by sympathizing womanhood, but now terrible in her lonliness. The primal curse had come to her in that original isolation which must have made tho punishment of the first traisgrcssion so dreadful. It wa3, perhaps, part of the expiation of her sin, that, at a moment when she most lacked her sex's intuiiive tendenit'ss and iT wn w « w m4l eri. inipy in 'amilies ; lese pro- wa!i in- i choice, ;y. The ^'ifc, and pe, and One or ne were xhibitcd greatest (!e liair ; intellec- t coiira- h a soft c term ' than a rs, toes, t these slight omissions did not detract from their aggregate force. The strongest man had but three lingers on his right hand ; the best shot had but one eye. Such was the i)hysical aspect of the men who were dis- persed around the cabin. The camj) lay in a triangular val- ley, between tvv'o hills and a river. Tlie only outlet was a. steep trail over tlie summit ci" a hill tI)Mt faced the cabin, now illuminated 'dv the lisiuii: moon. The suliering wo- man might have socn it I'rom the rude bunk v.diereor she lay, — seen it winding like a silver thread until it waw lost in the stars above, A tiro of wiiliercd pine-boughs added sociability to the gntliering. By degrees the natural levitj' of lloaring Camp returned. Bets were freely ollered and taken regarding the result. Three to live that " Std would g(!t through Avith it ;" <3ven that the child would survive ; side bets as to the se:^ and complexion of the coming stranger. In the midst of an excited discussion an exel'miation came from the nearest to the door, and the camp stopped to listen. Above the sway- ing and moaning of the pines, the swift rush of the rivei, and the craclcling of the lire, rose a sharp, querulous crj'' — a cry unlike anything heard before in the camp. The pines stopped moaning, the river ceased to rush, and the fire to crackle. It seemed as if Nature had stopped to listen too. The camp rose to its feet as one man ! It was proposed to explode a barrel of gunpowder, but, in consideration of the situation of the mother, better counsels prevailed, and only a few revolvers were discharged ; tor, whether owing to the rude surgery of the camp, or some other reason, Cherokee Sal was sinking fast. "Within an hour she hat! climbed, as it were, that rugged rond that led to the stars, and so passed out of Roaring Camp, its sin and shame for over. I do not think that the announcement disturbed tliem much, except in speculation as to the fate of the child. '* Can iiC live now .?" was asked of Stumpy. The answer was doubtful. The only other being of Cherokee Sal's sex and maternal condition in the settlement was an ass. There was rt wrnwiU'W^ '^lll I 4 THE LUOK OV rvOAUIN(i CAMP. cojvy coDJe<^.(iirc r*s to IKnes.'-, l-iiL the cxprriment was tried- It was ]qss pr()]>]eiiiatical tluiii llic ancient treatment of rkonnilus and Remus, and apparently as susccpsful. WlKii tiieso detailr'. Avcre conipletecl, wliicli exhausted another liour, the door ^va^i opened, and the anxious cro%vd of men who had ah'cady formed themselves into a queue, CJitered in 'Aui;]c file. I>eside the low l)unk or shelf, on Tvliich the %ure of tlic mother was starkly outlhied l;elow the blankets, stood a pine table, On this a candle-box vras placed, and withia it, sw ithed in starin«j red llannel, Liy the, last arrival at lioaring Camp. Beside the candle-box was placed, a hat. iLs u^e wcs soon indicated. "GTCutl'imen," feaid Stumpy, with a singular mixture ol authority and cv «/"^/67"6> complacency, — "GcntleDicn vv ill please pass in at the front door, round the table, and out at the back door. Them as wishes to contribute anythin^^ toward the orphan will find a hat handy." The lirst m.an enteied with his hat on ; he uncovered, however, as he looked about him, and so, unconsciously, set an example to the next. In bueli com- munities j<]jood ana bad actions are catching. As the procession lilcd in, comments were audible, — critici;;m3 addressed, ratlier to Stumpy, in the eharacter of showman, — "Is that liim ?" "mighty small specimen ;" "hasn't mor'n got the colour;"' "ain't big,5 !" ho said, as lie extricated lii^ lincer, "with, perhaps, more tenderness and care thnnhc migljthavo been deemed ca])al)l'j of sliowln'^. lie held that fini!;crc^ little r.n;u't from its fellov.'s a^ he 'went ont, find eAamiiKntuo!>:. lie di'anl- quite f reel}', and related "wilh [rjcixt .':^usio Iil;'. ex'xn'ience, invarlnbly ending]; with hi^ ch.aracteris^lc condvmnatlon of the nevr-coni'T. It seemed to relievo him of any unjust im- plicati:'n of sentiment, and Kentuek had the v;eakii.es.sot the nobler ?ex. "When everybody el:-'e h.ad [!:;.*ne to heel, ho ^valketl uo'vn to tlie river, and v/hir,tled reflectin^'lv. Tlicn he v»\alked ■•.p th.c j.^ulch, p'.'i.tt t:iec:'.bin, still v>]iistlin.'^ Avitii demonstrative unconeer'j. At a l-n'-^'c rv'jd-v/ood tree Iio pai!;?ed i\r.d retraced his Fteps, and ngain parsed tlie cabin. Half-way down to tlio river's bank he .o.TtVm paused, and retraced hi'i step;;, and then returned and knocked at the door. It was opened by I'^tumpy. ''■lovr .goe,^ itV" naiO Kcnt-ick, h')okinf;' past Stnmp^' toward the cr.ndlc-box. "All serene," rer>Hed Stumpy. "Anythine; up?" "ij'othin'r." There was ;i par.sG — an. embarrassing' one— Stumpy still holding the door. Tiien Kentuek had recourse to his finger, which he held up to Stumy. "Raatlcd v/ith it, — the d d little cuss," he raid, a-,id rt'tlred. The next day Cherokee Sal Intdi such rude sepulture as iiOarinc; Camn ^^Torded. After !:er bodv had been commit- iwmwrmtm»mttil'''flH> I ■J. C THE LUOK OP KOARING CAMP. tccl to tlie iiill-side, there was a formal mceling of the camp to discuss wliot sliould be done with lier infant. A resolu- Mon to adopt it was unanimous and (;utiiusiastic. But an animated discussion in re;j^ard to tlie manner and feasibility of providtn,!,' for its ^vants at once sprung up. It was remarkable that the argument partook of none of those fierce personalities svlih v/hieh discussions were usually conducted jit Roaring C-auip. Tipton j^roposed tliat they should send Ihe child to l\ed Dog,— a distance of forty miles — where remale attention could be i)r()eured. Lut the unlucky Huggestion met with fierce and unaniiuous ojiposition. It was evident that no i)lan which entailed parting from their new acquisition Avould foi' a moment Ijc entertained. "Ee- sides," said Tom Ryder, "them fellows at Red Dog woSld Kwap it, and ring in somebody else onus." A disbc 'ief m Uic honesty of other camps prevailed at Roaring Camp as m other peaces. The introduction of a fs^iua^e nur.^e in the camp also met \7ith objection. It was argued that no decent woman could 1)0 prevailed to accept Roaring Camp as her home, and the speaker urged that "they didn't \\ ant any more of the other kind." This unkind allusion to the defunct mother, harsh as it may seem, was the first spasm of propriety, — the first symptom of the camp's regeneration. Stump}- advanced nothing. Perhaps he felt a certain delicacy m interfering with the selection of a possible successor in OiUce. But when questioned, he averred stoutly that he and "Jinny "—the mammal before alluded to — could manage to rear the child. There was something original, inde- pendent, and heroic about the plan that pleased the camp. Stumpy was retained. Certain articles were sent for to Sacramento. "Mind," said the treasurer, as he passed a bag of gold-dust into the expressman's hand, " the best that can be got,— lace, you know, and filigree work and frills— d— n the cost !" Strange to siy, the child thriA'cd. Perhaps the invigor- ating climate of the mountain camp was compensation for M'il!»{«!;5}(»Si'»!»^»Hft«'''<'"'^ THE LUCK OF KOARINO CAMP. But and mcatcrial dGficiencics. Nature tonii the foundling to lior broader breast. In that rare atmosphere of the Sierra fool- hills, — tliat air pungent with balsamic odour, that ethereal cordial at once bracing and exliilarating,— he may have found food and nourishment, or a subtle chemistry that transmuted asses' milk to lime and phosphorus, 8t\unpy inclined to the belief that it was the latter, and good nurs- ing. "Me and that ass," he would say, "has been father and mother to him. Don't you," he would add, apostro- phizing the helpless bundle before him, " never go back on us." By the time he was a month old, the necessity of giving him a name became apparent, lie had generally l)een known as "the Kid," " Stumpy's boy," " tlie Cayote" (an allusion to his Vv'^cal powers), and even by Kentuck's en- dearing diminutive of " the d— d little cuss." Bu* those were felt to be vague and unsatisfactory, and w^ore at last dismissed under another influence. Gamblers and adven- turers are generally superstitious, and Oaknurst one O.ay declared tliat the baby had brought " the luck " to I^)aring Camp. It was certain that of late thc}^ had been success- ful. "Luck" was the name agreed upon, with the prefix of Tommy for greater convenience. Ko allusion was made to the mother, and the father was unknown. " It's better," said the philosophical Oakhur.^t, " to take a fj^ih deal all round. Call him Luck, and start him fair." A day was accordingly se': apart for the christening. What Vv\as meant by this ceremony the reader maj'' imagine, who has already gathered some idea of the reckless irreverence of Iioaring Camp. The master of ccremoRies was one " Boston," a noted wag, and the occasion seemed to promise the greatest facetiousness. This ingenious satirist had spent tv.o days in preparing a burlesque of the church service, with pointed local allusions. The choir was properly trained, and Sandy Tipton was to stand godfi^ther. But after the procession had marched to the grove Avitli music and banners, and tl)e child had been deposited before a mock altar. Stumpy step- •8 Tin: LUl'A Oi'' ll'JAIllNCr CXYiV. [>!.',] I;, foro ll:c> cxpcctaTit crov.'f^ " I*- ain't my s(\'Ic to ppoil Urn, I);)ys," Fill tlio iit'lo vmu:, stoutly, n3-c'in,'j tlio faces nroiial li-.ii, "I-:'!, it strike;-; :no Uijit this thin.^ nin't exactly oil til" f-qv,;:!'. i'.'s i.l;(yl;),'>; it pr'^tty low down on tl:!:-; ycr I) I by t'.» ri'.i'j,' in I'wii c i liiiu !!;;it Ik3 ain't rvjlng* to nndcr- r-taMd. ?•".'! ci' tlici'i;'?} goin^; to br; any godfatliors ronntl, I'd Hkv' t>) F(-'i! v,'iiM's got any better ri^;lits than rae," A Bllunce rolhiw'.'d r«tU!npy'.-« spcecli. To Vnv. ci\?.lit of all IinmMrI>t:-, h • it ;-.i;d, tliat tlio iir;-.t in:in to acknov,ied^'};e its juiMi'C wf.s till' saliriit, ihiis j^iojipcd of his fun. "But," said Si.!::npy, (,;dc!dy, followiiu!: np lili adv^ntnii-r', " w(3're here I'l^r a chri.'tcniif'-, a'ul ^V!■"]1 ]:::t;' i'-. I procirnn von ri\n-v\^ hi;-:-:, avCoi\;ln- to fl'C hnv^^ of ihc United States pnd !!;o Irtafc ri (\!hrorn;.^ ro lieln mc Cod."' It was the ilr:-t tin'c that tl.r namv-> oi llu' D-lfy had hivn uttered oth( rv. i-e t!:an pr^^f-'- b' -'"^ ^^''' •^"'•■T- '^'i- forin of christ- onlu^; v.-a;; p;i'hap'. ivrn more hadicro^a? tlian tl'.o satirist had eoneeive 1 ; hot. h-lrangcly cnonc^h, nohodj' saw it, and iioliody lao;:;':ed. '" Tommy"' was christened as seriously as ho w.vdd liiivi' l-ean n:ider a Clu'isliaii roof, and cried and "vvM''. e(>!nf(;T;ed ioi :;? orthodox fashion. And ^•(> the work o: reTenrvalion hcr!-an in rJoarinL-: C'amp. Ahno^^ inipcrccpiihly a chancre came over the settlement. Ti:e ea.hin assi^:ned to " Toimnv laaek*' — or " TIic Luck," as he wa-5 %noro freqnendy called — jh-?t showed \:]^ui!> of imprevement. It was kepi ^eriipuloiTsly clean and v/hitc- washed. Then ir ^va^; boai\led, cioihed, and papered. The rosewood cradle — j^aeked cijlity miles by mine— liad, in £?tnmpy's way of intlinir il, "shorter killed the ro^ of the furniture." ^^o the rchabiliialion (.f the cabin became a necessity. The men who were in the habit of lo-.mging in at Stumpy's to iee " how th-^ Luck got on" seemed to appre- ciate the chance, and, in self defence, the rival establish- ment of " Tunic's ertu^cry" bestirred itself, and imported a carpet and mirrors. The reiiectious of the latter on the appeararc of Pioarlng Camp tended to produce stricter lux Ivh an< tin uuit;ffl)«V«tl?>rivlk'ge from certaiii prudential reasons. Yet sucii was the subtle influence o'l innovation Unit lie thereafter appeared regu- larly every afternoon in ;i clean ihirt, and face f-till shining from his abluiioir;. I\or were nionil and social f-jivnit iry laws neglected. " Tommy," v.ho v>-;i.s Kup])(;sed to spend his whole existence in u persistent atitmi)t to repose, must not be disturbed by no'.se. The shouting and yellin;;- wiiich. had gained th;; camp its infelicitous title were not permit- ted within ];f'aring distance of Stiirapy'F. TliC men con- versed ill whisper.-^, or smoked with Indian gravity. Pro- fanity was tacitly given up in these sacred precincts, aiKl'* throughout the camp a popular form of e.vpletive, '--nown a^jj^^'^ "D— ntlic luckl" and " Curse the luck!" was abandoned^ - as having a nevr personal bearing. Vocal musi* was nSr interdicted, being supposed to have a soothing, trai^quiliz- iug quality, and one song, sung b}'- " ?.ran-c^-wai' JacA,"" an English i?aiior, from her ^'ilajesty's Australia?! colonics, was quite popular as a lullaby. It v»\as a lugiy#ious recital of the exploits of " the Arethur-a, Seventy-:6^r," in a muf- fled minor, en.kng with a prolonged dying fall atth.e burden of each verse," On l)-o-o o-ard of the Arethusa." It was a line sight to see Jack holding the Luck, rocking from lide to side as if with the motion of !i ship, and crooning forth tiiis naval ditty. I'^ilher through the j;eculiar rcckirg of Jack or the length of his song — it contained ninety stanzas, and was continued with conr^cicntious deliberation to the bitter end— the lullaby generally had the desired en'ocl. At such times tiie men vv'ould lie at full length under the trees, m the soft summer twilight, smoking their pipe; and drink- ing in the melodious utterances. An indistinC. idea that this rtP- ■itm t»«'^''1|l^ 10 TUr: LICK OF liOAIlINC! CAMk*. was p.iPtoriil li:ippinrss pcrviKlocl llie c.iinp. " 'VhU Vrc kind o' t'l'.nk," said tlic Co':'kiK.'y Siiinnon^, moditativc.'ljM'cclining on Jiis (dhow, " is 'cvinii-ly." It rcinind( d liini of Greenwich. On the loim- suniiiiff din's The liUck was usually viarried to tile guleh, from whence the.^''oUlon store of Roarin/^K'amp W!is taken. Tiien', on a Ijlankel spread over pine ])ou/!:bs,lic would lie Avhilo tlie nun wej-e workin/.!,' in tlie ditches below. Latterly tlicre was a ruJe attempt to decorate this bower with flowers and sweet-smelling shrul)?, and generally some one would brhig him ;i cluster of wild honeysuckles, azaleas, or the painted Idossoms cf Las Marijxjsas. The men had suddenly awakened to the fact that there were beauty and significance in these trilles, which they had so long trodden, carelessly beneatli their feet. A Hake of glittering mica, a fragment oi variegated quartz, a bright pebble from the bed of the creek, became beautiful to eyes thus cleared and strengthened, and were invariably put aside for "The I , r.Vick." 1 ' was wonderful how many treasures woods and . "^t Idll-sides yielded that " would do for Tonmiy," Surrounded i^:hy playthings such as never child out of fairy-land had be- fore, it is to be hoped that Tommy was content. He np- 1 eared to be securely happy, albeit tliere was an infantine gravity about him, a contemplative light in his round gray eyes, tliat sometimes worried Stumpy. He was always tractable a|M quiet, and it U recorded that once, having crept beyondMiis "corral," — a hedge of tessellated pine- boughs, which surrounded his bed — he dropped over the bank on his head in the soft earth, and remained with his mottled legs in the air in that position for at least five , nunutes with uniliiichiu'r gravity, lie was extricated with- out a murmur. I hesitate to record the many other instances of his sagacity, which rest, unfortunately, upon the state- ments of prejudiced friends. Some of them were not with- out a tinge of superstition. " I crep' up the bank just now," said Kentuck, one day, in a breathless state of excitement, " and dern my skm if he wasn't a talking to a jay-bird as U5'i'r.iiu««i!j«>*«v«»''^«?'''"^"'^ ■" iuprMitwrtf THE LUCK OF KOAKING CAJVIl'. 11 i Vrc kind reclininfj rccnwicli. y o.'in-iod in/^K-amp ou/xhsjic OS below. is bower nlly some s, azaleas, men had aiity and ^ trodden S mica, a 11 tlie bed red and )r "The 3od3 and rroimded :l had be- lle ap- Infantine md gray I always ', having ed pine- over the f^'ith his ?ast five ed with- iistances ie state- ot with- btnow," tement, -bird 38 WHS iv sittin' on his lap. There they was, jnst as free awd >o- cialjJea^ anything you please, nji.win' at each other Just Tko two cherry-bums." llowbeit, whether creeping over tlio pine-boughs or lying lazily on his back blinking at the leaves above him, to him the birds sang, the sriuirrels chat- tered, and tJie flowers bloonusd. Nature was his nurse and playfellow. For liiin she would let slip botweisi ii^e leaves golden sliafts of sunlii!:hi that ft*il just within his grasp; she would send wandering bnczcs to Vi./i!, him with the balm of bay and resinous gums; to him Die tall red woods nodded familiarly and sleepii}"-, the l)umble-bees buzzed, and the rooks cawed a slumbrous accoinpimiuient. Such was the golden su?]imer of Uoaring Camp. They were " flush times" — and the luck was with tliem. The claims had yii'lded enormously. The camp was jealous of its privileges and looked suspieiou-^ly on strangeis. No en- couragement was giv^'U to immigration, and, to make llieir seclusion more perfect, the land on either i-ide of tlie riU)Uii- tain wall that surrounded the camp they duly preempt'.'d. This, and a reputation for singular proileiency ,vith the re- volver, kept the reserve of Roaring Camp inviolate. The expressman — their only connf'c«ing link with the surround- ing world — sometimes told Avonderful stories of the catnp. He would say, " They've a street up there in ' Koaring,' that would lav over any street in Red Dog. Tliey'voaot vines ai-id flowers round their houses, and they wjish th"m- selves twice a day. But they're mighty rough on strangers, and they worship an Ingin baby." With the prosperity of the camp came a desire for further improvement. It was proposed to build a hotel in the fol- lowing spring, and to invite one or two decent families to reside there for the ssike of *' Tlie Luck," — who might per- haps profit by female companionship. The sacrifice that this concession to the sex cost these men, who were fiercely sceptical in regard to its general virtue and usefulness, can only be accounted for by their afTection for Tommy. A few Hf^fHHP'ffnW •tf^'lp^ 12 THIi LUClv or HOAUlNd CAMT nlill 1\H.l out. r.it till? rosolvo conM not b(i c;irn<'d into ef- fect fi)r three ni uitlm. and Mio minority mci-kly yielded in t!ui hope t'.itit 80 ucthin;^ mi:^^hL turn u[) t.) provcnt it. And itdid. 'TiTcMviinrT of t''.')l will long be rcnu-niLfrcd in tholool- hillii. The.'^novv liiv deep on tho Siorrn.^ and cv<>ry moun. tain cjrcl: bictnnc Ji river, nnd every i iver a laUo. E:irh gorre luul .r:nU'li wjih trmsfonnod into a tnniultiunis water- coin>e lluit de.'jccndpd Vw. hilU.ides, toarin^jj down i;iant trees and r-cat'crincj it-', drift a!id deliri?? alon^r the phiin. n(3d J)r^'V liadbcrii tw'icr. nnd:T water, and l^)ariii2 Camp liad 1 cen f( r, and the d.-nluiesa wliieh seemed to flow with the water and blot ont the fair valley, bnt litile coida be (ion(> to eolhct, tlic Fonttered camp. When tlie morning broL-e, the cabin of Stnmpy nearest the river- b.'inU v.iis gone. Higher up the gnlch they found the body of it?, nu'iicky owner; bnt the prtd^, tlie bone, the joy, the Lnc^c, of Hoaring Camp l^ad difliippeared. TIk'V were re- turnini; with rrul lieaitH, Avlicn a shout from the bank re- called them. It w'l ; a r;'lief-boat from down the river. Tliey hail picked n'\ tlu-y paid, a man ;nul an infant, near'y exhausted, about two utiles i)elovy'. Did ar.ybMdy knov/ them, and did thev bi'long here ? It needed but a glance io show them Kentuek lying tbcre, rruelly c^u^bed and brnised, bnt still holding the Luck of I'JoariuL', Camp in his arms. As tbey bent over tbc strangely Bssorted pair, they sav/ th.at the child was cold and pnlae- les*!. "Re iii dead," said one. Kentnck opened his eyes. "Dead ?" he repeated, feebly. "Yes, my man, and you are dyii "by boy; cVin to a for if^mif^ TJin I.UClw or llOAllINd (JAMP. 13 I into of- iclck'd in it. And th(3fO()t- y inoiin. e. Each us water- vn .i;i.int lio p];i,in. v^ Camp lirni gul- be here Y l^'fipcd of ivoar- dyinvfre re- bfink re- „>., liey had hansted, and did g there, Lnek of i-angely 1 pnlse- is eyes. you are RM'!H!fH»rri-;'P !W| TBIK OH'Ti'AS'fS OF fcM)ES']lll FLAT. As Mr. Jolui 0;i!ilr.irst, |.^unbK'r, slopped into tlu; m-iin BtiTct of Pokrr Flat oiUhe morning of the twcnty-lliird of Nov(;ml)cr, iHoO, he v'fi=< consfioiis of a change In its mor.al atnios])hcre since tlie preceding night. Two or three men, conversing earnestly together, ceased us he approached, and e.\chang(Hl significant glances. There was a Siibbath hdl in tlieair, which, in a .-;etth'ment unused to Sabbath in- fluenee.A, h)oked ominous. 3Ir. Oakhur-^t'dcalm, hindsonie face betrayed snjall con- cern in these indications. Whetlier lie was conscious of any predisposing cause, was anotlier question, "T reckon tliey're after somebody," lie reflected ; "likely it's me." He retiirned to hi.-; pocket tlie handkerchief with wliich lie had been whipping away the red dust of Poker I'lat from his neat l)oots, and quietly discharged Ids mind of any further conjecture. In point of fact, Poker Flat was "after somebody." It had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen. It was experienc- ing a spasm of virtuous reactiim, quite as lawless and un- governable as any of the acts that Lad provoked it. A se- cret committee had determined to rid the town of all im- proper pffn.ons. This was done permanently iii regard of two men who were then hanging from the boughs of a syca- more in the gulch, and temi)orarily in the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to th« sex, how- crer.to state that their impropriety wai professional, and it TflK Ot'TCASTS oy I'oKKIl 1*I-AT. 15 \1\ k; miin it3'-ll)lnl in ila or llirce roiicbed, S;il)bath bath in- lall con- scious of reckon le." Ho I he had from his further dy." It ars, two perienc- ;md un- A se- all iin- gard of a Pjca- nent of ay that :, how- , and it was only hi such easily cstablislipd standards of evil that Poker Fl.it ventured to sit in judirnient. Mr, Oiiicluirst w;u ri;^dit in sui)i)osin;^that he was ineludod in this cate;;'ory. A few ol' the coniniiltec had urged han<5- in;; him as a possible example, and a sure method of roim- l)ursin<^ themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from llicm. "It's a.i,Mn juf>tice," said Jim Wheeler, "to let thisyer yoimg man from Roaring Camp— an entire stranger — caiTy away our money." But a crude sentiment of equity residing in the breasts of those who had been fortunate enough to win from jNfr. Oakhurst overruled this narrower local prejudice. I\Ir. Oakhurst received his sentence with pliilosophic calmness, none the less coolly that ho was aware of the hesi- tation of his jiidgfH. lie was too much of a gambler not to accept Fate. Vv'^it.h him life was at best an uncertain game, and lie reeognizod the usual percentage in favor of the dealer. A party of armed m-jii accompanied the deported wiek- edness uf Poker i^'lat U> the outskirts of the .settlement. Besides ?t[r. Oakliurst, who was knoAvn to be a coolly desper- ate man, and for whose intimidation the armed escort was intended, the expatriated i)arly consisted of a young woman familiarly known as "The Duchess;" another, wiio had bore the title of "Mother Shiplon;" and "Uncle Billy," a sus- pected sluice-robber and conlirmed drunkard. The caval- cadp i)rovokcd no comments from the spectators, nor was ;my word uttered by the escort, (^nl)^, when the gulch which marked the uttermost limit of Poker Flat was reach- ed, the leader spoke briefly and to the point. The exiles were forbidden to return at the peril of their lives. As the escort disappeared, their pent-feelings found vent in a fcv/ hj'sterical tears from the Duchesss, some bad lan- guage from Mother Shipton, and a Parthian vollyy of ex- pletives from Uncle Billy. The i)hilosophical Oakhurst alone remained silent,. He listened calmly to Mother Ship- ton's desire to cut somebody's heart out, to tlie repeated , I 16 •rnE OUTCASTri OF rOKKH TLAT. statciiients of tlie Duohoss that she would die in the road, and to tlie alarmin,^^ oiiths that soonicd to be bumped out of Uncle Billy as he rode forward. With the easy good- humor characteristic of his clas-"}, ho insisted upon exchang- ing? his own ridiog-hor^e, " Five Spot/' for the sorry luule wliicli tlie Duehe.^s rod:\ But even this face did not draw the party into finy closer f^yiup'^^^iy- '^'^'^^ youn^; woman readji.sled licr pomcwhat draggled plumes witii a feeble faded coo'ictry; TJolhcr Shinlon eyed the possessor of "Five Spot" with mnlLVolence; and Uncle Billy iiichided the whob party in one Hweeping anathema. The road to Sandy Bar— a camp that, not having a.=; yet ex- perienced the regenerating iiiiluences of Poker Fiat, con- sequently seemed to oih-r some invitation to the emigrants —lay over a steep mountain range. It was distant a day's severe travel. In tluit advanced season, the party soon pas- sed out of the moist, temperate regions of tlic foot-hills into the dry, cold, bracing air of tlic Biernis. Tlie trail was nar- row and difiicult. At noon the Duchess, roiling out of her saddle upon the ground, declared her intention of g^' ing no farther, and the parly l^alled. TJie spot was singularly v/ild and imjircssivo A wooded amphitheatre, surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs of naked granite, sloped genlh^ tovrardtho crest of an- otiier precipice lluU overloohed the valley. It waf;, un- doubtedly, the most suitable spot for a camp, had camping been advisable. BiiLr.Ir. Oakhurst l:nevr that scared}' hal"^ the journey to Sand}' Bar was accoinpiished, and tlie party were not equipped or provisioned for dehu'. This fact ho pointed out lo his companions curtly, v/ith :l philosophic commentary on the folly of " throvv'ing up their liand before the game was played out." Bat they were furnished Vfith liquor, which in this emergency stood them in place of food, fuel, rest, and prescience. In spite of hia remonstrances, it was not long before they were more or les^ under its influ- ence. UnclG Billy passed rapidly from a bellicose state into one of stupor, the Duchess became maudlin, and Mother I Sill in: filol he I go 5 foil or- th. ci' mmwMWM^^^^^ ^mf TlVi OU A () OK 'LV fi the road, M>(-'<-l out of easy good- cxcliaii"-- sorry innlo 1 not dra^r ■S" woman h a fccbh' ?scsFor of ^ iiicliided •:'d^' yet ex- Flilt, C021,- cniigrauts it a day's soon pas- -Iiills into 1 Vv-as nar- biit of her g nio; no V woodod rccipiLous ■est of an- wa.'i, iiji- camping he part}' 3 fact lie ilosophic id before cd with of food, ances, it, tB InfiU- tate into Mother Shipton ^>!io^(Mj. 0;ik])ur:it iiloiic rcniLr.ncd oioct, le:iu- ing n;^.::iinrr-t a rook, cala'ily svirveyhig thorn. Mr. O.ildiiirst did not dnih. It interfered ■\vli:h a p'-ofes- k1o:i -vviil:;;.! r^'qulred coolne::;^, 'iupassiveness, and presence of ]\ih\'], ;■.:;.!, l:i hi-:; own L;ir.;;r.{5ge, lie '' co'jld'nt afford it." Aii he g;::;^,l at M'5 rcciiin^oent fellovv'-exilcv:, llic kmeliiic>?3 IjC- gottvn of LU j/::;l.i.h-!.rade, hi^ iriblt^ v.l life, hi? verj' viceH, for the :]y:-X si rlousl^" opprc;;;od hi;n. lie bestirred iiimself ill dn-ling hi:^ bl^ick elotlK;i\ washing hi;: hands and face, and otlicr a;:!s chnra^■tc■r!^;.lc <;i: h'r:, :-lud lonely neat Iiabir-, and for a i!i'j:n:i:it foi'gwt LI..; annov.ince. Thc3 tboucrhtoi de:;^ert- Ing id.i weaker a;id more pniabki er^::-ipa;l'oll^ never pcrhap-i oeeui'L'c ] to ];iin. Yet hecoitkl :\':.i lidv) ficlinirtke waiit of I'Kit exclionc id ■whick, ;;k!.:n]Liri3^ ciieiigh, wa-i most conihi- eivo t) tiiat cakn e(p.uiil!;i]:y f.^i" vrkiek he was notorio^is. li'o L">oked a:. t!ie glooi\jy wali ^ liiat r:);;j a l;i.ou,--and f.-et ;ske>.!r abov3 liu cli'cilng piae^ around ]i!::i; al the sky, o;ni- noiisl,' cloiided : ;:.t tk:j vall-'V below, :'k-':'a ly deepening into ;..had(rv,. .;Vjd, doi'^g ;-), sinklenly k'' tieai'd hlj own name ealkd. A}r(ir::e:ni"a hlowiy a.;ejnd:'d Wv. tvall. In tke fr;;;,k, open face of the new-comer r:Ir. OakkMr^t recog:ii::3d Toai Sim- eon, o!;K'rwi.-;e iino^vn a:^ '' Tk':' Innocent" of Sandy Bar. lie kid inci; kiai some montks kcroro over a "little game," andknd, with ]^orfect ecpiaiihvii'y, won Ike entire fortune — anionntki'::; to r-.onie for(v doliar;> — aftknt guileless vonth. Afler Ike game ws'.s llnl.;k'd, T-,Ir. Oakhnrst drew the youth- ful specuL\lor bel)l'.id the door, and thus audrcs^^ed him : " Tommj^ youk'o a ;!,ood littTe man, b-,it you can't gamble ^7orthaeenk Dcnt4ry i*. over agaki." lie then handed him Ills money back, [>r;;ihed him gently from the rooui, and so made a devoted slave of Tom Simson. There v/a3 a remembrance of this in hii boyish and enthu- siastic greeting of ISlw Oakknrst. Ho had started, he said, to go to Poker Flat to seek hh lorLune. '• Alon" ?" Xo, not ex- actly alone; in fact (a giggle), he had ran away v/itii Pkiey Woods. Didnk :J\'. C'akhursl rrm.^mker Pin;^y ? tike that 18 TilE OUTOA.sT.S OF I'OKER FLAT, used to wnir, on the tabic ut llic Temperance House ? They had been cugiigod a lon-;^ tuns, but old Jake Woods had ob- jected, and so they had runaway, and were golnir to Poker Flat to g-et married; juid here tiny were. And tliey were tired out, and how lucky it was Ihey had found a plac ' to camp and company. All this the Innocent delivered rapid- ly, while Pniey,a stout, comely damsel of fifteen, eiuerged from behind the pine-tree, where she had ])een iiidin'.j un- seen, and rode to the side of her hwcr. Mr. Oakliurst seldom troubI(!d Irimself witli sentiment, still less with propriety: but he had a va^vue idea tluit tlic situation was not fortunal(\ lie retained, however, his pre- sence of mind sufficiently to kick Uncle Bill;/, who wa8 •about to s.'iy soraethiD.';-, and Uncl( Billy wrts sober enough to recogniz(! in j\rr. Oakhurst's kick a supm-ior power that would not bear trldinu'. lie tlieii endeavored to di.isuade Tom SluT^ou from d.'laying furiher, but in vain. lie even pointed out the fact tii;it thtm' was no provision, nor means of making- a cam]"). Bui, unduekily, the Innijceiit met (ids objection l)y assuring tiic party thai he was provided v.dth an extra mule loaded wlih ijrovision-, and InMhe discovery of a rude attempt at a log house near liie. trail. " Pia^y (^•in stay with Mrs. Oakhurst,'' said the Innocent, pcin'liig to th'. Duchess, *' and I can shift, for myself." Nothing but Mr. Oakhurst's admonishing foot saved Unci? Billy from bursting into a roar of laughter. As it vras, he felt compelled to retire up the canon until he could vecoyei' his gravity. There he confided the joke to the tali pine- trees, wltli manv slaps oL' his leu', contortions of his fa.'e, and tlie usual profanity. But \w]v:-n he retuig^ied to the party, he found them seated by a lire— for the air had grown strangely chill and the sky overcast — in apparently amicable conver- sation. Piney was actually talking in an imjvdsive, girlish fashion to the Duchess, who was listening with an interest and animation sho had not shown for many days. The Innocent was holding forth, ap[)ar- ently with equal effect, to i\Ir. Dakhurst and 3Iothcr Ship- ton ycr| he thel mill ItM to ^1 brel the auc^ As Lor SW{ :4o ^r/;i;nr.w;Hir»«i»snfiW'«imirt|tim'Wf^g.;y^^^ THE OUTCASTS OV I'OKER I'LAT. 11) e ? Tlicy !s had ob- to Poker ley wero plac- to eil rupid- emcrged Mdimout, that tlie , hisj)re- ho was cnongli i^cr tlial li^suade 'Ic ovcu r Hi cans 'let I his "Ci with ■^covciy lii;;: to was, lie ocoyei' I piuc- ^'0, and L'fy, he ang ely ;onvor- ulsive, toiling- II far Eippar- Sliip- to!i, v»dio v;as actually relaxing into amiability. '* Is this ycr a d — d ))icnic':'" said Lncle Billy, ^vlili inward scorn, as he surveyed the sylvan group, the glancing firelight, and the tethered animalr, in the i'oreground. Biiddenl^^ an idea mingled with the alcoliollc fumes that de.iturbed Ids brain. It wafj apparently of a jocnhir nature, for lie fell impelled to slap his leg again and cram his fist into Ids mcivih. As the tiiadows crept slovvd}'- up the niountain, a slight breeze roeiLcd the tops of tlie pine trees, ;ii;d mo;:ned through their long and gloomy .aisles. Tiie ruined cabin, patched and covered vith pine-boughs, vras set apait for the ladies. As the lovers parted, they unailectedly exchanged u kiss, so honest ami sincere^ that it might have been heard above the swaviiMi: uiiies. The frail Duche:-.s and the malevolent Mother h>hii)ton were probably too stmmed to remark upon this la-t eviiler.ee oL" simplicity, and so turned Avithout a word ti) the liiit. The lire was replenished, the men lay down before the door, and in a few minutes were asleep. Mv. Oakiuirst ^^as a liglit .'^leeper. Toward morning he awoke benumbed and cold. As he stirred the dying lire, the wind, ^viileh was novr blowing strongly, brought to his cheek that v.-Jiieh caused tlic blood to leave it,— ?now ! lie started to his foot Vvitli tlie intention of av^^akening the sl^'cpers, for there v.'as no tiriC to lose. Ihit tvuming to where Uncle Billy had been lyin;r, he found liim gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered; tl;ey were no longer th':.'re. Tiie. tracks were already rapidly dis- appearing in the snovr The momentary exetitemeiit brou;:;ht Tdr. Oakhursl back to the fire with his u'-ual calm, lie did not waken the sleep- ers. The Innocent slambereil peacefully, with a smile on his '. 1. !!■.■'/ !■•• '^ v:it- Ci.' {■;;iC :l!l^ 1 i 1 r i - ' !-;'t />,. '•!. r(''*c vori'r'j \viiliii':," to ii; an?. Mil MA SOCi.ClipCCi .;S'.:'.L I'lC i':u.;t tl'dt tl.u Lniocj].!;-, •' ir L i. i'i r '!< < I.. ^ Ll . I' Di-j i;: Mseii to (; 0)J CO •re ;i3 1' IvlU' ;lo-: .' I n* ^.-"i jiili)' !.;cls l;:icl: witli pro- ^;'r. 0;iLI;;i-':;u could not ■^lily's rnircaHty, and s^o ,r;in.li:'i'cd fr:-;:ui!iG camp u It H- iliid out MO rrood lo^':i .Miaijo; not wo; ;i,- < .^ ysr :/rc :it. tiio 1)1:1', ncit lo cnuy- pr. ■ct of the- I J I I 1 .< . 'ive LOO 1 ram;-) for a .1- and l;:c:i tl "II iJK'JL ;u^ -.o, i> rr'j. dicci-ru] 1! ':ai VO! :o Oc iiiao, an; carai infcciod the ot i J a:? ivnio TV .1 of o!: D 1 lOiiL!;]:;: c::t!anv:ovi lc?s calil a, :o.id I V,'i TV; ! a Uialcii for lli^ roof- Irccl^jd Piaey iu tb3 raiirraii^^c- .p fi uw. uv': aoi Idnc eyes of {\v:A Tirovia'; " I r. ^ l0;i now voi illi a t "..1 -■. lai It U:Od • •1 ., I '> r, 1 :k1 lact fiial cpoiied the \ai-,Kii lo th(;;r fidk-i^t extent. 10 lilU.' I i L L . . ^^j tt t !>.,■' oaCi lat. nald Pincy. Tlio ])i'-Iu;,;i turned away sharply to conceal som'^ra-ni;' tliat radd'aiod her ciicg'^s throiiLdi its profes-dona] tint, and Motlic-r uihinton rccrie:-.-led Pincv iioito " '-liattcr." But wlicn Trlr. O.dahurst ro'iirnod from a Vv earv soarcii for tiio tntd, 1k' lieard llio sonnd of ]ia;->n7 lanfuter eclioed from tat ock lie i^loppt d in ae '.1- nd this t'.ion Tilts thi ^1 mil in: dll 1^-- jinyi-niirtHHiHUJHHlis^jiijMS BiisM THE OUTOAST.S OT POKini iM.AT. 21 ct of for a firat naturally reverted lo tii'> ^vliiskfy, whicii l;c had pru- dently cacled. " And yet it uou't somehow soimi likc\\his- kcy," said tho gainblcr. It av:i3 not until lie caught fci;;ht oi" the bhizlnci: lire throu'rli tho p( ill blinding GtoriiMUid the ;^ronp uronnd it, th;it he KCltled to the conviction that it waa " square fun.'* "VVhothev Mr. Oaiiliurst hud ciLclcd lih cards with the whiskey aa i-oinet linf:? debarred the free access of the com- numitv, I cannot f ".y. It y.'ai^: certain that, in Iilothcr Sliip- ton's worcb, he " didn't r^ay caroB cnco" during that cveii-.- inn;- ilaply the time wnfi bc/pii'ed by an jiccordion, pro- duced sonievrhat ostcntatiQUjdy hyTcni f^>inison from his pack. Xotwithslandi)-;;: ronn^ diihcidlics attcndino; the manipuhitlon of tliis i'.istrunicnt, Piney 'Woods ni:ina52;cd to i\',i reluctant meh:)dies from ihs keys, to an aceom- ok sevf plu panient by the Innocent on a pah* of bone castiiiet.s. But the crovv'ninLj festivity of the evening was reached hi a rude camp-nieetiiig hymn, which the hoverL!, joining hands, fiacg with great larncstnc^-s and vociferation. 1 fear that a cer- tain defiant tone and Coyenamer's swing to i(3 chvorus, rather tiian any devotional quality, caused it speedily to infect the otherr'., yy-jio at last joined in the refrain : — "I'm proud to \\\c in the f-ervlce of tlio Lord, Ariu I'm Ijocncl to die* in Hi:- annj'."' The piues rocked, the storm eddied and whirled above tlie miserable group, and the flame:; of tlicir altar leaped hciven- ward, as if in token of tlie \o\\. At midnight the f-;torni abate.l, the rolling clouds parted, and the stars glittered keenly above t]:e [deep- ing camp. SFr. Oakluirst, Vn'Iiosc professional habits had enabled him to live on the wnallcrit possible amount of sleep, in di\i4«iitJ \n' 'iL' Tlli; OL'KASTfS <»:' POKi:il Vi.A'l'. tloii.^iy ; " \v]\c}] !i;aan p'^s aftrcak of luck— r.iixger-luck — lie doji'l ;.i(.l, tin i!. T'lc Iticl; !:ivcs in first. Luck," con- tinued l?io g;inibl( r, rdloctivcly, " is a niiglity (lucer tiling. All yuu kjiow .';l)i);(l il for certain l.s that it's hound to cli ui'AX!. And It's ill: luvr «hi;. Vviien its ti'oinL'' to cli:i.u:?e that makes you. W'e'v^- !i-d s slr.vik of l>!id luck since \vc left Pol-Lcr Flat — you Cv)Ii;l' alon^:c, Mid slap j^ou get into it, too. If you can hold vour cards ritrht jdong vou're rli riiiht. For," added the gamhier, with cheerful irrelevaiico — 'I'mproK'l to livcin t'ii(3 f-crvicc of the Lord, And I'm hound to die in His arrnv.'' " The third day canie, and the sun, lookiKg through the white-curtained valley, saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of provisions for the morning mcak It was one of the peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry liuid,-.cape,aa if in regretful commiseration of the past. LUU it revealed drifl on ilrift of snow piled high around the hut— a hope- less, unchartered, trackkss sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which the cast a wavs still clunir. Tlirouirh the marvellously clear air the snioko of the pastoral village of Poker Flat rose miles away. ]\rother Shiptou saw it, and from a remote pinacle of her rocky fastness, hurled in that direction a final malediction. It was her last vitupera- tive attempt, and perhaps for that reason was invested with a certain degree of sublimity. It did her good, she privately informed the Duchess. " Just you go out there and cuss, and see." She then set herself to the task of amusing " the child,' as she and the Duchess were i)lcascd to call Piney. Piney was no chicken, but it was a soothing and original theory of the pair thus to account for the fact that she didn't swear and wasn't improper. When night crept up again through tlie gorges, the reedy notes of the accordion rose and fell in fitful spasms and long- drawn gasps by the llickering camp-tire. But music failed to Jill entirely the aching void left by insufhcient food, and r TilH OUTOAST.S OF i'OIC;;it, FLAT. •i;5 :ir-]iick — ck," Con- or tiling, oiind to iiigc iliat \vc left o it, too, 11 riirlit. ugli tiic slowly It was tliat its ■cape, as revealed I Iiopc- OVv^ tjiC iiroiigh village s:iw it, irled in tupera- ed witli rivately id cass, ig " the Piney. u-iginal ! didn't 3 reedy 1 long- failed )d, and a new diversion was jn'oposcd by Pincy— storey-telling. Ncitlier Mr. Oakliurst nor his female companions caring to relate thoir personal experiences, this plan would have failed, too, but for the Innocent. Some months Ixifore he had chanced upon a stray copy of Mr. Pope's ingar. And so for the rest of that. the Homeric demigoiln again walked the eartli. Trojan bully and wily frrcck wrestled in the winch-j, and the great pines in the canon seemed to bow to the wrath of the son of Peleus. ]\rr. Oakhnrst listened willi quiet satisfaction. Most especial^" was he interested in the fate of " Ash- heels," as the Innocent persisted in d;'nominating the " swift- fooled Achilles." Ho with small food and much of Ilonier and the accor- dion, a week passed over tthc heads of the outcasts. 'I'ho sun again forsook them and again Irom the leaden skies the snow-flakes were sif*f''l over t lie land. Dnyliy dav closer around Iheni drew the snowy circle, until at last they looked from their prison over drifted walls of dazzling v/hite, that towered twenty feet e.bove their heads. It became more and more difficult to replenish their fires, even from the fallen trees beside them, now half hidden in the driftt*. Au-d yet no one ( omplained. The lovers turned from the dreary prospf^ct and looked into each other's eyes, and were liappy. ]Mr. Oakhurst settled himsell coolly to the losing game before him. The Duchess, more cheerful than she had i)ven, assumed the care of 1 'iney. Only Mother Ship- ton — once tlie strongest (;f the party— s':'emcd to sicken and fade. At midnight on the tenth day s'le called Oakhurst to her side. *' I'm going," she saitl, in a voice of querulous weakness, " lint don't say anything about it. Don't waken t!ie kids. Take the bundlr fr(>m imder m,y head and open it." Tdr. OMklturst did so. It contained blether Shipton'j^ rations for the last week, uitouched. " Give 'em to the i'i;«>!t«»tf •fliir i'.i l.IIB Ot;T'A^>TS (>!•' i'OrCy.Pw PLAT. c1)il'l," dm said, poixUno: to tho slccpin!! Pinny. *' Yoivvo starvcayomvclf," Ktiicl the guinbler. " Thfit's what liioy call it," said the vroniiin, qi.icrulourOy, iiSKlicl.ay down again, ■d)y], turning her face to the w:;ll, passed quietly tiwf\y. Tlie nccordion :uid tlie honcB were put risldc that day, and ITomer was forgotten. Trhen llie body of Mo'.hcr Sliip- ton had iDCtn committed to the snow, ?.Ir. Oakliursl took the Innocent r.^ide, and showed him n pair of snow-shoes, whicli lie had fashionivd from tiie ohl paek-«add]e. " Tiiere's one chanee In a hundred to !:,.iv(; her yet,'' he paid, pointing to Piney ; " l)Ut it's there," he added, pointing towards Pol;(!r Fiat. '*ir.youc;ia rcacli there in two days slie's safe." *' And vou '.'" a-^lied Tom Simson. "I'll stay liere," was the eurt reply. Tl'.e l')Vir.-^ p'.r.Ud witli vt loiiy; (Mubniee. " You are not going, too V" paid tlie Dueho:-;s as siio sav/ 7,Ir. Oalihurst ap- ])arently awaill!\g to accompnny him. " As far as the e.'inoji," he repiit'd. i/,e turned snddenlj--, and l;Is?cd the T)u(;hess, leaving her pallid faeo a'lame, imd l)cr trembling limbs Jigid with amazemen!;. Kight came, but not Mr. «)al:hi'.r.4. Ii: brought the storm again and the wirling Bnow. 'Dien the Duchess, feeding the lire, found that some one had quietly piled besid.c the Imt enough fuel to last a few days longer. The tears rose to her eyes, but she hid Ihem from Piney. The women slept b'lt little. In the morning, looking into each other's faces, thej' read their fate. Neither spoke ; but I'iney, ;»eccpting the position of the stronger, er!;,w near and ])laced her iirm fsround tlie I)uchep?*'s waist. They kept this attitude for the rc/^t of the day. That night the storm reached its greatest fmy, and, rending asunder tlie ]u-oteeting pines, invaded the very hut. Tovrard morning they found themselves unable to feed the fire, which gradually died away. As the embers slowly blackened, the Duchess crept closer to Piney, and broke the silence of many hours:— ''Piney, can you pray?" "No, dear," said Piney, simply. The Duchess, witliout knowing m- nirifi !h ^ jBW TIIK OL'TlJASTri OF i'OKER ri.AT. 25 oxartly '^vby, ivlK reliovetl, iind, putfln*; her licad upon Pincy's slKUildcr, rqtoko no more. And so rccliuiup', tho you)i,i.n'r and purer pillowin^o; tlu; head of lior .soiled sister upon her viiiiin breast, they fell asle(>p. The \viiul lulled as is it feared to waken tlicni. Feathery drift-', of pncw, shaken from the loi:g pine-honi^lis, llev.- like ■\vhi!e-win;;ed birds, and settled abo'it Iheni as they slept. The niooii tlirough the rifted elouds looked down noon TvliJit had been the camp. ]iut all human stain, all Irioe of earthiv 1rav;nl, -was hidden beneatk tlie spotless mantle mcr- eifuily ilnng froui above. T!i(T slrpt, all tliat dav and liie next, nor did th.ey Avakcii whi'Ti voicrs and footsteps broke the silence of the eamp. And vv'lien pityhig Ilngei's bnv^b.ed the snow from thejr wan faces, j'on eould scarcely ha\e t<»ld, frcni the eqr.al peace that dwelt upon thr'm, which Wiis ^Iw. that sinned. Even the hnv of Poker Flat recognized thi'^, and turned away, leaving theni still locked in each otlier's arms. I .it at the head of the gulch, on one of tiie lan;e;t i)inc- trce?., tluy 1\Mind the deuce C'f clubs pinned to tiic bark with a bovvii'-linife. It bore tlie following, wrlttcjn in pencil, in a llrni hand: — f DENEATH THIS TKEE LIES THE BODY OP JOIIX OAKIIURST, WHO STRUCK A STllEAK OK BAD LTJCK ON THE 2;]i{--) OV XOVEMI'EK, 1850, AND IfAKDED IN Ills CHECKS ON THE "lUl DECE^riJEll, 1^'jO, I And piilselct^s and cold, wiih a Dei-ringcr by his side and a bullet in hi« heart, though still calm as in life, bein^atli tho SDOW lay he who was at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat. l!t!S!i)HH!M!^*iPi'; u*. ('"•■•'•Hit' ■f^rHifc' :^ii<;<;les. WE Avcrc cig]\t, inc'lndini,^ llio driver. Wc h;ul not spoken (luring the passage of the last six iiiile.^, pinco the jolting of the heavy vehicle over the roughening road had spoiled the Judije's last poelicil quotation. The tall man heside the Judge v/as asleep, his arm pas.se(l through the swaying strap and his hend resting upon it — altogether a limp, helpless-looking objeet, as if he had hiinged himself and been cut down too late. The Frcinch lad}' on the back seat was asleep, too, yet in a half-conscious propriety of attitude, shown even in the disposition of the handkerchief which she held to her forehead, and which partially veiled her face. The hi"^y rroni Virginia City, travidling uith her husband, had long since lost all individuality in a v/ild con- fusion of ribbons, veils, furs, and shawls. Ther(; -was no sound but the rattling of wheels and tin? dash of rain upon the roof. Suddenly the stage stopped, and we became dimly aware of voices. The driver was evidently in the midst of an exciting colloquy witli some one in the road — a colloquy of which such fragments as " bridge gone," "twenty feet of water," "can't ])ass," were occasionally distinguishable above the stonn. Then came a lull, and a mj'sterious voice from the road shouting the parting adjur- ation, — " Try Miggles's.'' We caught a glimpse of our leaders as the vehicle slowly turned, of a horseman vanishing tlirough the rain, and we were evidently on our way to jMiggles's. Who and where was Miggles ? The Judge, our authority, did not remember the name, and he ktiew the country MI(J(JLr!M. 27 1j:i(1 not la=i, Pinco ini!: roiicl Tho tail through togetlior ITunsclf the b:ick prioly of Ikcreliief y veiled with her vild con- wa'H no in upon became V in the the road e o-oiie," i«ionaily 1!, nnd a lig adjur- slowly , and we iitliority, country thoroughly. Tirj Washoe traveller thought JILggles must kecj) a Iiotel. We only knew that W(! were stopped by high water front and rear, and thit Migglc-i was our roclc of refuge. A ten minutes' splasli through a taugU-d l)y-ro;id, Hcareely wide enough for the stage, and we drew up before a barrcnl and bonrded gate in a wiile stone wall or fence about r'l'^h'i ftict high. Evidently Miggleii's, and evidently ]\Iiggles did not keep a hotel. The (h'iver got down nnd tried the gate. It was securely locked. "i\Iigglea! OMiggle.-t!" No answer. " .Migg-ells! Vou ?diggles!" continued the driver, with rising wrath. " j\ligglcsy ! " joined in the exprcssnum, persuasively. **C MiggyjMig!" But no reply came from th(! apparently Insensate Miggles. The Judge, who had Mnaily got the window down, put his head out and propounded a series of question:-!, w'hich if answered categorically would have undoubtedly elucidated the whole mystery, but which the driver evaded by replying that " if we didn't want to sit in the coach all night, we had better rise un and sing out for Miggles." Ro we rose up and called on J^Iiggles in chorus ; then sepa- rately. And when he had finished, a Hibernian fellow-jjas- senger from the roof called for '* Jtlaj'gells !" whereat we all laughed. While we Avere laughing, the driver cried " Shoo !" We listened. To our infinite amt'.zemcnt the chorus of " Miggles" was repeated from the other side of the wall, even to the final and supplemental " ]\Iaygells." '• Extraordinary echo," said the Judge. " Extraordinary d— d skunk !" roared the driver con- temptuoubiy. " Come out of that, Miggles, and show your- self ! Be a man, Miggles ! Don't hide in the dark ; 1 would'nt if I v/ere you, Miggles," continued Yuba Bill, now dancing about in an excess of fury. m- ItM 28 MlfinLKM, "Mi.ij'i--V's!" continnrfl llic voice, " O Ml.^^irius !" '• i"\[y /.^loclman! 3Ir. M'.'yi.'-li:iil !" s;iiil Iho .Jii(l,ii:o, soften- in;? tin; ii-pciilics of t'lo niunci ns much m poisihlf. " ('oq- slder the iiiho-pltality of refusing slu.'ltcr from Hk; iiiclem- ciicy of llio weather to lielplens i'einiiUs. lically, my (le:ir fc^ir " 13ul IX sacee.ssion of " ^li^^'^les," eiiuin;,' iu u buiat of laii«:hlcr, drowned hi;-, voice. Yubii Uill hesittitetl no lon;;-er. Takini^ a hcnvy stone from the road, he battered down the .t^ale, tmu wilJi the cxi»rt.-,M)i;in entered the eiielosure. We loilowed. Iscbody was to be t-een. in thegatlieriiig darl^ness rdl tlitit we eoulil distiiii^uish was that we were in u garden— from tlie roi>e- bu.-hes thai fceaLterei.|,— ; inldn-.; into ludf Iuh f1/o and rindistln;;-tn':di:\ble henp of elotliinrr. " Well.derumy f^liin," pitld irdl, loohin^'^iippcaliii^rly at uh, and hopelessly rolirin;; from Wvi contefst. The Jiidg' now stepped i'orv.wrcl, and W3 lifted tlic niyste- riou- invertebrate back into h*^; oirfmal position. Hill was (■ismi.-f'cd v.dlk the lanl(>ni lo reconnoitre ontr.ide, for ir was cvid' nt that from thu helplccsne.?'^ ol! thi^ folitary man tiicro mu^l be attendants near at hand, n;id we all drew around the lb"'. Tlie Judge, who liad regained ]ii;5 authority, and had never lost hl3 conversational a^niabilily, — standing be- fore u^ with hii back to the lieart'i, — charged u?, as an imaginary jury, as follow,-; : — '• It iB evident that cither our d!;;tingui:diedfnend h"reha9 rcaclie 1 th.at C(mdition dci-cribed by Sliakei-'pearo as * the sere and yellow leaf,' or has r-ulTercd some premature abate- ment of Ida mental and phy^icil facullii;:-;. Yrhether ho is reallv the Tvligclef? " lie was interrupted by *' ^Migiiles ! O ?,iiggles ! IMiggl-^py ! 5Iig ! aiid, in fact, the whole chorus of ^liggles in very iv.ucli the fame key as it had once before been delivered unto us. We gazed at each other for a moment in some alarm. The Judge, in pnrticular, vacated lil"; position fpiickly, as tlie voice acemed to come dircctl}'- over hi^ shoulder. The cause, however, wai^ soon discovered in a large mngpie who was perched upon a slielf over the fireplace, and who immedi- ately relapsed into a sepulchral silence, v;hich contrasted ir:i::2i>!"?«;"«'."n!; ;]u MiCOLE;^. singularly wi<.li liis previous volubilitjr. It was, undoubtcaly , his voioe ■\vliicli wc had heard in the roud, and our friend in the chair was not responsible for the discourtesy. Yuba Bill, who re-entered the room after an unsuccessful search, was loath to accept the explanation, and still eyed the help- less sitter with suspicion. He had found a shed in which he had put up hia horse?; but he came back drippini,' and sceptical. " Thar ain't nobody but him within ten mile of the shanty, and that ar' d— d oldskecsicks knows it." But the faith of the majority proved to be securely based. Bill had scarcely ceased growling before we heard a quick step upon the porch, the trailing oi a wet skirt, the door was fluu|^ open, and with a Hash of %Yhite teeth, a sparkle of dark eyes, and an utter absence of ceremony or diffidence, a young worn im entered, shut the door, and panting, leaned back against it. " O, if you please, I'm 3Iiggles !'' And this was Miggles! this bright- eyed, full-throated vouug woman, whoso wet 2:own of coarse blue stuff could not hide the beauty of the feminine curves to which it clung; trom the chestnut crown of who?e head, topped by a man's oil-s''rin sou'wester, to the little feet and ankles, hidden somc- whert m the recesses of her boy's brogans, all was grace ; — this was ^^liggles, laughing at us, too, in the most airy, frank, off-hand r.ianner imaginable. " You see, boys," said she, quite out of breath, and holding Oi;.. l.UiG han«l against her side, quite unheeding the spee^-h- lesb discomfiture of our party, or the complete demoraliza- tion )f Yuoa Bill, whose features had relaxed into an cx- press.'on of gratuitous and imbecile cliecrfulness, — "you see, boi'f , ''. was mor'n two miles away when you passed down me roai. I thought you might pull up hero, and so I ran the wh(»le wa}', knowing nobody was home but Jim, — and — and— I'm out of breath— and— that let's me out." And here Jliggles caught her dripping cil-skin hat from her head, with a mischievous swirl that scattered a shower of rain-drops over us: attempted to put back lier hair; i) \ 'M\\ W^MM^^MMxiMW^^AMx^^ iblcdly , ricnd in Yuba search, he liclp- Q wliicli ing and mile of y LnsccL a quick [oor was :; of dariv dcncc, a J, letinecl tliroated ifl could it clung; a man's sn some- grace ; — V, frank, holding ! ^pee^'h- noraliza- an cx- vou see, ed down e:o I ran , — and — lat from 1 shower er hair ; MIGGLES. 31 dropped cwo hair pins in the attempt ; laughed and sat down beside Yuba Bill, with her han.Is crossed lii^htly on her lap. The Judge recovered himsoif first, and essajx'd an extrava- gant compliment. " I'll trouble you for that thar har-piii," said Miggles gravely. Half a dozen hands were eagerly stretched for- ward ; the missing hair-pin was restored to its fair owner ; and Migglcs, crossing the rv>om, looked keenly in the face of the invalid. The solemn eyes looked back at hers with an expression we had never seen before. Life and intelligence seemed to struggle back into the nigged fa(;e. ?rliggles laughed again, — and turned her lilack eves and white teeth once more towards us. " This afllicted person is '' hesitated the Judge. "Jim," said ]Migglcs. "Your father?"^ " No.'" " lirolher '^" "No." '< Husband?" Miggles darted a quick, half-dehant glance at tlio two lady passengers who 1 had noticed did not participate in the general masculine admiration of Miggles, and said, gravely, "No; iL's Jim." Th..-e Wiis an awkward pause. The lady passengers moved closer to e;ich other ; the Tv'ashoG husband looked abstract- edly at the fire ; and the tall man apparently turned his eyes inward for self-support at this emergency. But ]Miggles's laugh, which was verv infectious, broke the silence. "Come," she said briskly, " you must be hungry. Yv^ho'il bear a hand to help me get tea ?" She had no lack of volunlivrs. In a few moments Yuba 15111 was engaged like Caliban in bearing logs for this Miran- da : the expressman was grinding colfee on the verandah ; to myself the arduous duty of slicing bacon was aHsigm-d ; and the Judge lent each man his good-humored and voluble counsel. And wIumi Miggles, assisted bj' the Judge and our Misiu^^^' iiiiJiiii]*' ""lUi"UJ"'iP" "^!] .-rim 3S> MtGGLEt?. IIuiOriMii-i •' (!!^( •: nnsisenger," sot the taWo with n]] ihn avail- able crockery, vv'e had become quiie joyouM, in spite of the rain thnt, ly.\it ji.'2:ainst tlic windowf'., the v^lnd th.;it ^y^lirlcd down t:!e chimney, tlie t'.vo ladies v^lio whispered to;:ethcr in tho corner, < our ques- iioforc wc )sed a half ihaimche?., itlitudo of I MiaULES. 3:^ men d lean ey, and looked admirinj^ly at IMiurj^h's, with a very singular reseml)]anco in his maj.ner to Yuba Blil. "That'ti my watch-do,L>-," said Mig-ghr.', in explanation. " O, he don't bite," she added, as tlie two lady passengers lluttered into a corner, "Does he, ohl Toppy 'r" (the latter remark being adih'essed direct!}" to tlie sagacions Joaquin) "I tell you what, boys," continued Miggles, after she liad fed and closed the door on Ur-a Mino7\ "you were in big luck that Joaquin wasn't hanging round when you dro-pped in to-nigiit." '* Wliere was he?" asked the Judge. "With me," said Hig- gles. " Lord love you ; '\e trots round witli me niglits like as if he was a man." We Avere silent for a few moments, and lisU'ned to Iho wind. Perhaps we all had the i^am^) picture before us, — of Miggles v/alking through tlie rabiy v.'oods, with her j-avago guardian at her side. The Judue, I remember, said some- thing about Una and her lion ; but Jliggles received it as she did other compliments, with quiet gravity. Whether she was altogether unconscious of the admiratiy the lire as v;ell as you can," she added, " for thar ain't but the one room." Our sex — by which, my dear sir, I allude of course to the stronger portion of liunumity — has been genendiy relieved from tlui imputation ol' curiosity, or a fondness for ivossip. Y''et I am constrained tr. -.ar, that hardly had the door closed >n(<4t:i( iyijilat;-d [or ;t nu)nie!it. on the thrcsliold, with a blanket on Ir r '(rin, ,^he seemed to have le.^t h"iiin:l her the frank fenrle-iMi; s--. wiiieh had chnnned us ;^ mouvnt )>eforc- Cominic into th.e room, s'ne drew a low stool besid.e the para- lytic's cliair, sat down, drew tli(> blanket over h^-r shoulders, and sayinp:, "li' it's all the same to you., Itovs, as we're rather crowded, I'll stoj) here to-ni.'^ht," took t:)e invalid's "witliercd hand in her ov/n, and turned her eyes upon the dyinrr fire. An instinctive feelini;^ that this was only pre- monitory to more confidentird rclati(^n«, and perhaps some shame at our previous curiosity, kept rs silent. The rain Ptill beat npon the roof, ^vandering gaists of wind stirred the embers into momentary brightness, until, in a lull of the elements, ]\Iiggle3 suddenly lifted up her head, and, throw- mg her hair over her shoulder, turned lier face upon the group and asked, — " Is there an}' of you that knows me ? " There was no reply. *' Think again ! I liv(?d at j\r!irysvide in '53. Everybody kntw^ me there, and every'oody had the right to know me. I kept \]h.' Polka Saloon until I came to live with Jim. That's six years ago. Perhaps I've clianged some." The absence of recognition may Inive disconcerted lier. She turned her head to the fire again, and it was some seconds ])efore she again spoke, and then more rapidly, — ""Well, vou see, I thought some of vou must have known W illGGIiES. 35 suicker- 1, imd a Ll^ss and led that n in our ist in liis rai'''^;t of \v hoiii'.s ;ast, and with a 1 her tlio It I >e fore- rue para- boulder?, as we're invalid's upon the only pre- ips some The rain irred the dl of the d, throw- up on the verybody tnow me. idth Jim. rtcd her. van some )idly,— fe known me. There's no great harm done, anyway. What I was going to say was this: Jim here" — she took his hand in both of hers as she spoke — *' used to know me, if you didn't, and spent a heap of money upon me. I reckon he spent all he had. And one da}' — it's six years ago this winter — Jim came into my back room, sat down on my sofy, like as you see him in that chair, and never moved again without help. He was struck all of a heap, and never seemed to know what ailed him. The doctors came and said as how it was caused all along of his way of life, — for Jim was mighty free and wild like, — and that he would nevei get better, and couldn't last long anyway. Tlicy advised me to send hitn to Frisco to tlie hospital, for lie was no good to any one and would be a baby all his life. Perhaps it was something in Jim's eye, pr-'rhaps it was tliat I never had a baby, but I Bj).id ' No.' I was rich then, for I was popular with everybody, — gentlemen like yourself, sir, came to see mc, — and I sold out my businesss and bought thl& yer place, because it was sort of out of the way of travel, you see, and T brought my baby he'T." With a woman's intuitive tact and poetry, she had, as she spoke, slowl}'- shifted lier position so as to bring the muto figure of the ruined man between her and her audience, hiding in the shadov/ ])ehind it, as if she offered it as a tacit apology for her actions. Silent and expressionless, it yet spoke for her; helpless, crushed, and smitten Avith the Divine thunderbolt, it still stretched an invisible arm around her. Hidden in the darknt-ss, but still holding his hand, she wenr on, — *Tt was a long time before I could get the hang of things about yer, for I was ui^ed to company and oxcittnnent. I couldn't get any woman to help me, and a man 1 dursent trust ; but what with the Indians hereabout, who'd do odd jobs for me, and liaving everything sent from the North Fork, Jim and I managed to worry through. The Doctor would run up from Sacramento once in a while. He'd ask {Ut"ili""?"{'i"i'3i?K»;'l)?''i{*ll» iHHSW^^ :i iji "^^ 3G MIOOLES. to SCO * Min^i^k's's bab_y,' as he called Jim, and when he'd fro awny, he'd f(iy, ' ]Mi,a:iilf », you're a trump, — 'rod bless yovi ! ' and it didn't seem bo lonely after thnt. But t!io last time he was here he ?aid, as he opened the door to ,o;o, *Do yon know, JTlirGjlcF!, your baby will fe-row np to bo a PTU) yet and an honour to his mother; but noi here, 3Iiircr1e«. not here !' And I thou.c:ht he went away sad — and — sind — " and here ]\Ii<:p;]es's voice and head were somehow both lost completely in tbe shadow. " The folks about lipre are very kind," snid Mijrcrles after a pause, coniiufr a little into the li.frht again. " Tlic men from the fork used to hanir around here, until they found thev vrnsn't wanted, and the women are kind — and don't call. I v.'as ]>retty lonely uniil I ])icked up Jonquin in the woods yonder one dav, Avhen ho, wasn't so hlirh, and tnucht him tobeo; for hl;^ dinner ; and then thar's Polly — that's the majipie — she knov/s no end of tricks, and makes it quite soeinblc of eveninLrs with her <^alk, nnd so I don't feel like as I was the only livin/x hv'infi; about the rnncii. And Jim here," said Miirirles, v,iih lier old laugh a,a;ain, and comir^x '^nt qui'e in the linlijiht, "Jim — why, boys, you would jidmire to see how much he knows fora man like him. Sometimes i brinn; him tlowers, and he looks at 'em just ns natural ns if he knew 'em ; and limes, when we're sittiiio: alone, I read him those thinr;;s on the wall. Why, Lord" said Mifr-amblcrs' epigram, lie threw away his useless pistol, and rode back with his captor. It was a warm night. The cool breeze which usually sprangup with the going down of the sur. behind the cha- parral-CYCsted mountnin was tiiat evening withheld fi^^m Sandy Bar. The little cimon was stifling with heated resin- ous odours, and the decaying drift-wood on the Bar sent forth faint, sickening exhalatit)ns. The feverishncss of day, and its lierce passions, still filled the camp. Lights moved restlessly along thebiink of the river, striking no answering reflections from its tawny current. Against the blackness of the pines the windows of the old loft above the express- liiiiii:iilliii»ili"?{ili!!S!!J}?{»;!?g!JiSli^ii 42 TKNNEfSKK S I'AllTXEP.. oflUic Stood out stiuiii!.:ly l)r;;i,ht ; niul tliron,i',li llioir curtiiin- loss panes Iho loungers below coukl vca tlirt forma of those who wcro even then deeidiii!; tlie fjvlo of Tennessee. And above Jill this, etched ontlie diirk iirni:inent, rose the ^^ierra, remote und piissionles „: crowned with remoter passionless stars. The trial of Tennessee was conducted us fairly as was con- sistent AVith a Judge and Jury who felt themselves to some extent obli,^ed to Justify, in their verdict, the previous irrc- f?uhirities of arrest and indictment. The law of Sandy Bar was imi^lacable, but not vcnujcful. The excitement and personal fee.' ing of the chase were over; with Tennessee safe in their hands they were ready to listen patiently to any defence, which they were already satisfied was iusiif- lieient. There hchrs, no doubt in their own minds, they were willing to give the prisoner the benelit of any that might exist. Secure in the hypothesis that he ought to be hanged, on general principles, they indulged him with more latitude of defence than his reckless hardihood seemed to ask. The Judge appeared to be more anxious than, the prisoner, who, otherwise unconcerned, evidtntly took a grim pleasure in the responsibility he had created. " I don't take any hand in this yer game," had been his invariable, but good-humoured reply to all (piesticns. The Judge — who vras also his captor — for a moment vaguely regretted that he had not shot him "on sight," that morning, but presently dismissed this human weakness as unworthy of the judicial mind. Nevertheless, v/hen there v>ras a tap at the door, and it was said that Tennessee's Partner was there on behalf of the prisoner, he was admitted at once without question. Perhaps the younger members of the jury, to whom the proceedings were becoming irksomely thoughtful, hailed him as a relief. For he v/as not, certainly, an imposing figure. Short and stout, with a square face, sunburned into a preternatural redness, clad in a loose duck " jwmper," and trousers streaked and splashed with red soil, his aspect under any circum- 8 tan l0U5 baj dev( whil Intel witll pen seric upoi i] lolr curtiiin- 'ins of those essoc. Anil ; tliQ Sierra, passionlcsa as wns con- ges to some )vi()us irre- tv of Sandy tcnicnt and Tennessee aticntly to was iusiif- linds, they any that i.fjht to be witli more seemed to than the )ok a grim don't take iable, but l!?c— who cl that he presently e judicial door, and behalf of question, horn the il, hailed >hort and ernatural streaked circum- TEXNESHEES I'AUTNEIl. 43 stances would have been quaint, and was now even ridicu- lous. As lie stoop«d to dei»oait at his feet a heavy carpet- bag he was carryin,-,', it l)L'came obvious, from partially develoi)ed legends and inscriptions, that the material with which his trowiriers had been patched had been originally intended for a less ambitious covering. Yet he advanced with great gravity, and after having shaken the hand of each person in the room witli laboured cordiality, he wiped his serious, i)erplexed face on a red bandanna handkerchief, a shade lighter than his complexion, laid his powerful hand upon the table to steady himself, and thus addressed the Judge : — "I was passin' by," he began, l)y way of apology, " and I thought I'd just step in and see how things was gittm' on with Tennessee thar — my pardncr. It's a hot night. I dis- remember any sich w^eathcr before on the Bar.' lie paused a moment, but nobody volunteered any other meteorogical recollection, he again had recourse to his pocket-handkerchief, and for some moments mopped his face diligently. " Have you anything to say inl^ehalf of the prisoner?" said the Judge, linally. " That's it," said Tennessee's partner, in a tone of relief. I come yer as Tennessee's pardnor — knowing him nigh on four year, off and on, wet and dry, in luck and out o' luck. His ways ain't allers my ways, bui thar ain't any p'ints in. that young man, thar ain't any liveliness as he's been up to, as I don't know. And you sez to me, sez you — confidential- like, and between man and man — sez you, ' Do you know anything in his behalf?' and I sez to you, sez I — confiden- tial-like, as between man and man — 'What should a man know of his pardner.' " " Is this all you hare to say?" asked the Judge, impati- ently, feeling, perhaps, that a dangerous sympathy of humour was beginning to humanize the Court. "Thet's so," continued Tennessee's Partner. "It ain't for me to say anything agin' him. And now, what's the i*i52!I!!{?»J'i?"«t!»! ■(tl trfftK' 44 Tennessee's partner. case 9 Here's Tennessee wants money, wants it bad, and doesn't like to ask it of his old pardner. ^Tell. what does Tennessee do ? He lays for a stranger, and lie fe- cues that stranger. And you lays for Idm and you fetches Mm, and tlie lion ours is easy. And I put it to you, bein' a far-minded man, and to you, gentlemen, all, as far-minded men, ef this is'nt so.'' ' ' Prisoner ," says the Judge, intcirupting, " have yon any questions to ask this man V" "No! no!" continued Tennessee's Partner, hastily, " I ni».v this hand alone. To come down to the bed-rock, it's iust I'lis : Tennessee, thar, has played it pretty rough and exp^nsive-Iikc on a stranger, and on ihis yer camp. And now, what's the fairthing? Some would sny more ; some would say less. Here's sevenloen huntired dollars in coarse gold and a watch— it's about all my pile— and call it square!" And before a hand could be raif^ed to preven*; him, he had emptied the contents of the carpet-bag upon the table. For a moinent his life was in jeopardy. C'ne or two men sprang to their feet, several hands groped for hidden weapons, and a suggestion to " throw him. fr^.n the win- doA\" was only overridden by a gesture from the Judge. Tennessee laughed. And apparently oblivious of the excit^i- ment, Tennessee's Partner improved the opportunity to mop his face again v^ ith his handkerchief. When order wan restored, and the man was made to undeistand, l>y the use of forcible figures and rhetoric, that Tennessee's oll'cncc; :ould not be condoned by money, his face took a more seriotls and sanguinary hue, and those who w»''re nearest to iiim noticed that his rougn hand treriibled slightly on the table. He hesitated a moment as he slowly returiied the gold to the carpet-bag, Jis if he had not yet entirely caught the elevated sense ox justice which swayed the tribunal, and was perplexed with the belief that he had not olVered en»ugh. Then he turned to the Judge, and saying, •'• 7'his yer is a lone hand, played alone, and with to AV hav: now n»^r his V hisl mg, un] .I, suniaisi!inm?ni»inn!f'itHnii{\feU^V.'ltUl!HlltU^'' Tennessee's pautnepw 45 ,cl, and It does les that I J and minded ef this ^ou any •iiy. " I ick, it's gh and ). And ! ; some a course call it prevent, ig upon wo men hidJen ,he win- Judgo. excit'j- to mop ade to ic, tliat cy, his 1 tho3e hand nent as he had wliich ief that Judge, ue, and u without my pardner," he howcd to the jury, and was ahout to withdraw, wdien the Judge called him back. " T*" yoa have anytliing to say to Tennessee, you liad 1)01111' say it now." For the first ti' \c that evening the eyes of the priso- n»^r ium the strange advocate met. Tennessee smiled, sliowed I his white teetli, and saying. "Ei^chred, oUl man !" held out I his hand. Tennessee's Partner took it in his own, and say- ing, '* T just dropped in as I was passin' to see how things wnsgettin' on," let the hand passively fall, and adding that *' it was a warm night," again mopped his face wltli his hnndkerchief, and without another word withdrew. The two men never again met each otliir ;dive. For the unparalle'efl insult of a brii)eo{lered to Jiu];..e Lynch — who, whetlier bigoted, weak, or n irrow, w^a.< at L-ast uncorrupt- ible — firmly fixed iii the mind of that m.vtiru'.tl ]M.'isonagc an.Y wavering determination of Tennessee's fate ; and at the break of day he was marched, closely guaraed, to meet it at the top of ^Marley's Hill. How lie met it, how cool he was, how he refused to say anytliing, how perfect were the arrangements of the committeee, were all dul}'- rej orted, with the addition of a warning moral and example to all fuiare evil-doers, in the Red Dog Clarion, by its editor, who Avas present, and to whose vigorous English I cheerfully refer tlie reader. But the beauty of that mid-summer morning, the blessed amity of earth and air and sky, the awakened life of the free woods and hills, the joyous renewal and promise of Nature, and above all, the infinite Serenity that thrilled through each, was not reported, as not being a part of the social lesson- And 3'et, when the weak and foolish deed was done, and a life, with its possibilities and responsibilities, had passed out of the misshapen thing that dangled between eaKh and sky, the ])irds sang, the flowers bloomed, the sun shone, ascheer- il}^ as before; and possibly the lied Dog Clarion was right. Tennessee's Partner was in the group that surrounded the ominous tree. But as they turned to disperse, attention was drawn +.o the singular appearance of a motionless don- 46 Tennessee's partner. key-cart halted at the side of the road. As they approadied^ they at once recognized the venerable '* Jenny" and the two wheeled cart as the property of Tennessee's Partner, — used by him in carrying dirt from his claim ; and a few i^aces- dibtant the owner of the equipage himself, sitting under a buckeye-tree, wiping tiiC perspiration from his glowing face. In answer to any inqoiry, he said he had come for the body of the " diseased" " if it was all the same lo the committee." He didn't wish to " hurry anything;" he could " wait." lie was not working that day ; and when the gentlemeu were done with the " diseased," he would take him. " Ef tliar is any present," he added, in his simple, serious way, " a» would care to jine in the fun'l, they kin come." Perhaps it was from a sense of humour, which I have already intimated was a feature of Sandy Bar, — perhaps it w*s from some- thing cren better than that ; but two thirds of the loungers- accepted the invitation at once. It was noon wlfen the body of Tennessee was deliveied into the hands of his partner. As the cart drew up to the fatal tree, we noticed that it contained a rough oblong box, — apparently made from a. section of sluicing, — and hall filled with bark and the tassels of pine. The cart was fur- ther decorated with slips of willow, and made fragrant with buckeye-blossoms. When the body was deposited in the box, Tennessee's Partner drew over it a piece of tarred can- vas, and gravely mounting the narrow seat in front, with his feet upon the shafts, urged the little donkey forward. The equipage moved slowly on, at that decorous pace which was hibitual with " Jenny" even under less solemn circum- stances. The men— half -curiously, half-jestingly, but all good-humouredly — strolled along beside the cart ; some in advance, some a little in the rear of the homely catafalque. 'But, whether from . the narrowing of the road or some present sense of decorum, as the cart passed on the company fell to the rear in couples, keeping step, and otherwise as- suming the external show of r, formal procession. Jack Folinsbee, who at the outset played a funeral march in iURiU»;i;uiiiii}i?HJi'Hiiiiiii;;i?itHU^t:'itUtliUin<^^ Tennessee's T>ART2fER. 47 roaclied^ the two r, — used \V JMICCS. : under a higface. the body imittee." lit." He leu wcro :f tlmr is my, " as jrhaps it itimated m some- loungers. leliveied tp to the mg box, and halt yas fur- mt with in the red can- it, with brward. e which circum- but all some in afalque. some 3mpany vise as- Jack arch in I I i, 5 I "dumb show upon an imaginary trombone, desisted, from a lack of sympathy and appreciation, — not having, perhaps, 3^our true humourist's capacity to be content with the enjoy- ment of his own fun. The way led through Giizzly Canon-^by iliis time clothed in fuucrenl drapery and shadows. The red woods, burying their moccasoncd feet in the red soil, stood in In- dian file along the tracP, trailing an uncouth benediction from their bend irg boughs upon the passing bier. A bare, surprised into helpless inactivity, sat upright and pulsating in the ferns by thr. roadside as the cortege svcni by. Squir- rels hastened to gain a secure outlook from higher boughs; and the blue-jays, spreading their wings, fluttered before tlicin like outriders, until the outskirts of Sandy Ear were rcMCLied, and tiie solitary cabin of Tennessee's Partner. Viewed under more favourable circumstances, it would not have been a clieeriul place. The unpicturcsqvie site, the riidc and unlove!}'- ouHines, the unsavoury dc tails, which dli=.tingui'4i the nesi-')uHding of the California miner, were all luTc, with the drcnrinerxs of decay superadded. A few paces from the cabin there was a rough enclosure, which, in Iho br'of days of Tennessee's Partner's matrimonial fclicit}'-, luivi liecn used as a garden, but was now over;;rown witli fera. As v>»-(^ approaciie:! it, wo were surprised to find that v/lixt we had Vd'.svn for a recent attcuij-.t at culilviition vras the brolson soil ubov.; an open grave. Til; ccirt, w;iM halted before the enclosure; '.\]v\ rejecting the ofiers of assisLtance with the same air of t-implc self-re- liance he had dii-plnyed throughout, Tenne.-;;;<>e's Partner lified the roui'-h cofiin oihis back, and depo-ited it, un- aided, witliin the shallow grave, lie then niiiled down the board v.diich served as a lid ; and mounting the little mound of earth beside it, took off his hat, and .slowly n-.o'^iped his face with his handkert'hief. This the crowd felt was a prc- Ijmiriary to speech; and the/ disposed themselves variously on stumps and boulders, and sat cxpe'-'taui. * AVhen a man," began I'cnneBaee's Partner, slowly, " has ifitft and so fetched him home, when he couldn't si)eak, and didn't know me. And now that it's the last time, why — "he paused, and rubbed the quartz gently on his sleeve — "you see it's sort of rough on his pt*rdiior. And now, gentlemen," he added abruptly, picking up his long-hAudlet] shovel, "the fun'l's over ; and my thank-;, and Teuni^e^see's thanks, to you for your trouble." Ilesisling any proffers of assistance, he began to fill in the grave, tumtiii^^ hib back upon the crowd, that aft(;r a few moments' Iiesitaiion gradually withdrew. As they cros" sed tlic little ri(]ge that hid Sandy Bar from view, some, looking back, tlioupnt they could see Tennessee's Partner, his work done, sitting upon the grave, his shovel between his knees, ?.nd hi:^ face buried in his red bandanna handker- chief. But it W!iH ai^ued by others that you couldn't tell his face from his handkerohief at that distance; and this ooi?U remained undecided. In the reaction that followed the feverish exciteujcnt of that day, Tenner?>;;ce'B Partner was not forgotten. A secret investigation hud cleared him of any complicity in Tennes- see's guilt, and left ouly a suppie.ion of his general sanity. Sandy Bar made a point of calling on him, and prof?Vring various uncouth, but well-meant kindness. But from that day ]\h rude licallii and great strength seemed visibly to decline; and when the rainy season fairly set in, and the ti»iniiU»iU}i{t?StiU»H\^ti\Ut('i:-ia^uiiilst?^- g for him a condi- Jiy, bring ling free, [(3 paused, Uffhtfiilly ime that now. It yer cabin h'si lime ron hill, when he that it's c quartz :b on his -', picking and my oublc." •o fill in t after a licy cros" w, some. Partner, between landker- dn't tell md this ujent of A secret Tennes- Ranity. 'offtrlug oni that sAhly to and the Tennessee's partner. 4:9 I thiy grass-blades were beginning to peep from the rocky mound above Tennessee's grave, he took to his bed. One night, when the pines beside the cabin weie swaying in the storm, and trailing their slender fingers over the roof, and the r©ar and rush of the swollen river were heard below, Tenness'"Vs Partner lifted his head from the pillow, saying, "It is time to go for Tennessee ; I must put ' Jinny * in the cart ;" and would have risen from his bed but for the restrainst of his attendant. Struggling, he still pursutd his singular fancy; "There, now, steady, 'Jinny,' — steady, old girl. IIow dark it is ! Look out for the ruts, — and look out for him, too, old gal. Sometimes, you know, when he's blind drunk, he drops down right in the hill. Thar — I told you so ! — thar he is,— coming this vfny, too, — all by himself, sober, and his face a-shining. Tennessee ! Parducr !" And so they met. EiiiJWfc i!i;3;K;t»;;?;>«;!ii;it!!in»H;{?{ii;a»!3»{;{;!;^ij;iII::! THE IB>YL OF REB ^UL€II. O ANDY was very drunk. lie was lying under an azaloa- ^ busli, in pretty much tlie same attitude in wliicli he had fallen some hours before. IIow long he had bscn lying there he could not tell, and didn't care ; how long he should lie there was a matter equally indefinite and unconsidered. A tranquil philosophy, born of his pliysical conditions suffused and saturated his moral being. The spectacle of a drunken man, and of this drunken man in particalar, was not, I grieve to say, of saHicient novelty in lied Gulch to attract attention. Earl-cr in the day some local satirist had erected a temporary tombstone at Sandy's head, bearing the inscription, " Effects of ]\IcCork]e's whiskey. — kills at forty rods," with a hand pointing to JVIcCorkle's saloon. But this, I imoginc, was, like most local satire, jiorsonal ; and was a refl<;ction upon the unf;iirness of the process rather than a commentary v;pon the impropriety of the result. With tlii;! faectious exception, Sandy had been undisturbcru. A, v.tnidering mule, released from his pncic, bad cropped tiic scant herbage beside bim, and snifTed curiously at the prostrate man ; a vagabond dog, with that deep sympathy vvhicli the ST->ecies have for drunken men, had licked his dusty boots, and curled himself up at his feet, and lay there, blinking one eye in the sunlight, with a simulation of diss'jiation that was ingenious and dog-like in its implied flattery of the ■unconscious man beside him. Meanwhile the shadows of the pine-trees had slowly swung around until they crossed the road, and their trunks iil^?^«j|l;^\I^lJiHii»l^iilUijSfc THE IDYL OF BED GULCxI. 51 an azaloa- wiuch he )2ca lying he should •iisiclf'red. 3oiulition» (.Irunken sanicient cr ill the ^mbstone Iffects of a hand !C, was, reflection r.ontaiy Vicetious ".iidering ic scant prostrate licli the y boots, ■Aug one ion that of the slowly r trunks barred the open meadow with gigantic parallels of black and yellow. Little puffs of red durt, lifted by the plunging hoofs of passing teams, dispersed in a grimy shower upon the recumbent man. The sun sank lower and lower ; and still Sandy stirred not. And then the rjpose of this philosopher was undisturbed, as other philosophers have been, by the intrusion of an unphilosophical stx. " Miss Mary," as she was known to the little flock that she had just dismissed from the log school-house beyond the pines, was taking her afternoon walk. Observing an unusually fine cluster of blossoms on the azalea-bush opposite she crossed the road to pluck it, — picking her way through the red dust, not without certain fierce little shivers of disgust, and some feline circumlocution. And then she came suddenly upon Sandy ! Of course she uttered the little stac:ato cry of her sex. Bat when she had paid that tribute to her physical weakness she became overbold, and halted for a moment, — at least six feet from this prostrate monster, — with Ber white skirts gathered in her hand, ready for flight. But neither sound nor motion came from the bush. With one little foot she then overturned the satirical head-board, and muttered " Beast,3 !" — an epithet which pro- bably, at that moment, conveniently classified in her mind the entire male population of Red Gulch. For Miss Mary, being possessed of certain rigid notions of her own, had not perhaps, properly appreciated the demonstrative gallantry for which the Californian has been so justly celebrated by his brother Calif ornians, and had, as a new-comer, perhaps, fairly earned the reputation of being " stuck up." As she stood there she noticed, also, that the slant sun- beams were heating Sandy's head to what she judged to be an unhealthy temperature, and that his hat was lying use- lessly at his side. To pick it up and to place it over his face was a work requiring some courage, particularly as his eyes were open. Yet she did it and made good her retreat. But sh3 was somewhat concerned, on looking back, to se» .«nm>jij«>mjj;t!r:nr ^.I 52 THE IDYL OF IlED GULCH. tliat tie hat was removed, and that Sandy was sitting upund s?.ymg something. The truth was, that in the calm depths of Sandy's mind he was satisfied that the rays of the sun were beneficial and healthful; that from childhood he had objected to lying down in a hat ; that no people but condemned fools, past re- demption, Livcr wore hals ; and that his right to dispense with them when he pleased was inalienable. This was the ^' at "ment of his inner consciousness. Ui fortunately, its outward expression was vague, being limited to a repetition of the following formula, — " Su'shinc all ri' ! Wasser maar, eh ? Wass up, su'shinc ?"' 3Iiss ]\Iarv stopped, and, taking fresh courage f '-om her vantage of distance, asked him if there was anything that he wanted. "Waf-'sup? Wasser maar?" continued Sandy, in a very high key. " Get up you horrid man ?" said Miss Mary, now thor- oughly inccjised ; "get up. and go home." Kjundy staggered to his feet, lie v/as six feet high, and Miss Mary trembled. He started forward a few paces and then stopped. "WassI go home for?" he suddenly asked, uith great gravity. " Go and take a bath," replied Miss Mary, eyeing his grimsy person with great disf av( >ur. To her infinite dismay, Sandy suddenly pulka off his coat and vest, threv/ them on the ground, kicked cff his boots;, and, plunging wildly forward, darted he?,(Hong over the hill, in the direction of the river. " Good Heavens !— the man will be drowned !" said Miss Mary , and then, with feminine inconsistency, she ran back to the school-houso, nnd locked herself in. That night, wiiile seated at supper with her hostess, the blacksmith's wife, it came to Miss Mary to ask, ('omurely, if her husband ever got drunk. " Abner," responded Mrs. Stidger, reflectively, *' let'f> see ; Abner hasn't been tight I since h he pre cold hi an exp conten red-ch( efflores Thene think least ol I do nc able." In le except conscic every r among her litt invar i a i5!;rjr5U!M-i'^niiJisi5Jj!Ks!ilHil«<''H^^^ rni'i THE IDYL OP RED QULCII. 53^ I since last 'lection." Mis3 Mary would hcve liked to ask if he preferred lying in the sun on these occasions, and if a cold bath would have hurt him ; but this would have involved an explanation, which she did not then care to give. So she contented herself with opening her gray eyes widely at the red-cheeked Mrs. Stidger — a line specimen of South-western efflorescence, — and then dismissed the subject altogether. The next day she wrote to her dearest friend, in Boston : " I think I find the intoxicated portion of this community the least objectionable. I refer, my dear, to the men, of course. I do not know anything that could make the Avonicn toler- able." In lc«s than a week Miss Mary had forgotten this episode, except that her afternoon walks took thereafter, almost un- consciously, another direction. She noticed, however, that every morning a fresh cluster of azalea-blossoms appeared among the flowers on her desk. This was not strange, as her little flock were aware of her fondness for flowers, and invariably kept her dcek bright with anemones, syringas, and lupines ; but, on questioning them, they, one and all, professed ignoranc.8 of the azaleas. A few days later, Master Johnny Stidger, whose desk was nearest to the win- dow, was suddenly taken with spasms of apparently gratui- tous laughter, that threatened the discipline ( f the school. All that Miss Mary could get from him was, thai, some one had been "looking in the winder." Irate and indignant, shcsallie." from her hive to do battle with the intruder. As she turned the corner of the school-house she came plump upon the quondam drunkard, now perfectly sober, and inex- pressibly sheepish and guilty-looking. These facts Mi«s Mary was not slow to take a femhiine advantage of, in ner present humor. But it was somewhat confusing to observe, also, that the beast, despite soniu faint signs of past dissipation, w as amiable-looking — in fact, a kind of blond Samson, whose corn-colored, silken beard, ap- parently had never yet known the touch of barber's razor or Delilah's shears. So that the cutting speech whiclv quiv- Ki<*H;i!f'!!t!::;i;;!' ;*;"J!'("**W!';{fT":;;' T. K'-:p di THE IDYL OF RED CJULCM. €recl on her ready tongue died upon licr lips, and sho con- tented herself with receiving his stammering apology v;ith supercilious eyelids, and the cathered skirts of uncontamin- ation. When sho rc-entei'ed the scliool-room, her eyes fell upon the azaleas with a new sense of revelation. And then «he laughed, and the little people all laughed, and they were all unconsciously very happy. It was on a hot day^-and not long after this — that two short-legged boys came to grief on the threshold of the school with a pail of water, which they had laboriously brought from the spring, and that Miss Mary comjmssion- ately seized the pail and started for the spring herself. At the foot of the hill a shadow crossed her path, and a blue- fhirtcd arm dexterously, but gently, relieved her of her bur- den. Miss Mary was both embarrassed and angry. *' If you carried more of that for jourself," she said,' spitefully, to the blue arm, without deigning to raise her lashes \o its owner *' you'd do better." In the submissive silence that followed she regretted the speech, and thanked him so sweetly at the door that she stumbled. Which caused the children to laugh again, — a laugh in which Miss Mary joined, until the co]o'.:r came faintly into her pale cheek. The next day a barrel was mysteriously placed beside the door, and as mysteriously filled with fresh spring- water every morning. Nor was this superior young person without other quiet attentions. "■ Profane Bill," driver of the Blumgullion Stage, widely known in the newspapers for his " gallantry" in invariably offering the box-scat to the fair sex, had ex- cepted Miss Mary from this attention, on the grouni that he had *a habit of " cussin' on up grades," and gave her half the coach to herself. Jack Hamlin, a gambler, having once silently ridden with her in the same coach, afierward threw a decanter at the head of a confederate for mention- ing her name in a bar-room. The over-dressed mother of a pupil whose paternity was doubtful had often lingered near this astute Vestal's temple, never daring to cei Kn55UiHi^{lJi5U!(Uit!!!tiiJJm«5l^'S?5«V'< THE IDYL OF RED GULCH. 55 enter its sacred precincts, but content to worship the priestess from afar. With sucli unconscious intervals the monotonous pro- cession of blue skies, glittering sunshine, brief twilights, and starlight nights passed over the Rod Gulch. Miss Mary- grew fond of walking in the sedate and propor woods. Per- haps she believed, with Mrs. Stidgcr, that the balsamic odors of the firs " did her chest good," for certainly her slight cough was less frequent and her step was firmer ; perhaps she had learned the unending lesson which the patient pines are never weary of repeating to heedful or listless ears. And so, one day, she planned a picnic on Buck- eye Hill, and took the children with her. Away from the dusty road, the straggling shanties, the yellow ditches, the clamor of restless engines, the cheap finery of the shop- windows, the deeper glitter of paint and coloured glass, and the thin veneering which barbarism takes upon itself in such localities, — what infinite relief was theirs ! The last heap of ragged rock and clay passed, the last unsightly chasm crossed, -how the waiting woods opened their long flies to receive them ! How the children — perhaps becauso they had not yet grown quite away from the breast of the bounteous Mother — threw themselves face downward on her brown bosom with uncouth caresses, filling the air with their laughter ; and how Miss Mary herself — felinely fas- tidious and entrenched as she was in the purity of spotless skirts, collar, and cuffs — forgot all, and ran like a crested quail at the head of her brood, until, romping, laughing and panting, with a loosened braid of brown hair, a hat hanging by a knotted ribbon from her throat, she came suddenly and violently, in the heart of the forest, upon — the luckless Sandy! The explanations, apologies, and not overwise conversa- tion that ensued, need not be indicated here. It would seem, however, that Miss Mary had already established some acquaintance with this ex-drunkard. Enough that he was soon accepted as one of the party; that the children, with 59 THE IDYL OP RED OULCII. tbat quick intelligence wbicli Providence gives the helpless, recognized a friend, and played with his blond board, and long sillcen mustache, and took other liberties, — as the help- less are apt to do. And when be had built a fire against a tree, and had shown tliem other mysteries of wood-craft, their admiration knew no bounds. At the close of two such foolish, idle, happy hours he found himself lying at tbe feet of Die schoolmistress, iruzing dreamily in her face, as s'le sat upon the sloping hillside, weaving wreaths of laurel and syringa, in very much the same attitude as he bad lain when first they met. Nor was the similitude greatly forced. The weakness of an easy, sensuous nature, that had found a dreamy exaltation in liquor, it is to be feared was now find- ing an equal intoxication in love. I think that Sandy was dimly conscious of this himself. I know that he longed to be doing something, — slayine: a grizzly, scalping a savage, or sacrificing himself in some way for the sake of this sallow-faced, gray-eyed schoolmistress. As I should like to present him in a heroic attitude, I stay my hand in great difliculty at this moment, being only with- held from introducing such an episode by a strong convic- tion th.'tt it does not usually occur at such times. And I trust that my fairest reader, who remembers that, in the real crisis, it is always some uninteresting stranger or unromin- tic policeman, and not Adolphus, who rescues, will forgive the omission. So they sat there, undisturbed, — the woodpeckers chatter^ ing overhead, and the voices of the children coming plea- santly from the hollow below. "What they said matters little. What they thought— which might have been interesting — did not transpire. The woodpeckers only learned how Miss Mary was an orphan ; how she left her uncle's house, to come to California, for the sake of health and independence; How Sandy was an orphan, too; how he came to California for excitement; how he had lived a wild life, and how he was trying to reform; and other details, which, from a woodpecker's view-point, undoubtedly must have seemed stuvj the gatl] strcl outJ ofl 5!i'nruttJ5ii?'i!5!«!«ti'^tUH*uuii*'ijiUiii^ THE IDYL OF RED GULCU. C7 5 helpless, »ni(J, and tlio lielp- a<;ainst a aft, their wo such t the feet IB she sat Lirel and lin when id. The found a ow find- himself. 'hi3'ln£: a )me way nistress. i, I stay ly with- convic- Andl the real ronnn- forgive shatter, ig plea- s little, g— did v^ Miss use, to dence; fornia )w he fom a ?emcd stupid, and a waste of time. 13ut even in such trifles was the afternoon H[)ent ; and when the children were again gathered, and Sandy, with a delicacy which the Rchoohnis- strcss well luiderstc od, took leare of them (quietly at the outskirts of the settlement, it had seemed the Bhortcst day of her weary life. As tlie long, dry summer withered to its roots, the school term of Red (iulch— to use a local euphuism — "dried up'* also. In another day Miss Mary would be free ; and for a season, at least, Red Gulch would know her no more. She was seated alone in the school-house, her cheek resting on her hand, her eyes half closed in one of those day-dreams in which Miss Mary, I fear, to the danger of school dis- cipline — was lately in the habit of indulging, Iter lap was full of mosses, fci'us and other woodland memories. She was so preoccupied witli these and her ow^n thoughts that a gentle tai)ping at the door i)assed unheard, or translated itself into the reiuembrance of far-off wood-peckers. When at last it asserted itself more distinctly, she started up with a Hushed cheek and opened the door. On the threshold stood a woman, the self-assertion and audacity of whose dress were in singular contrast to her timid, irresolute bearing. Miss Mary recognized at a glance the dubious mother of her anonymous pupil. Perhaps she was disappointed, perhaps she was only fastidious ; but as she coldly invited her to enter, she half unconsciously settled her white cuffs and collar, and gathered closer her own chaste skirts. It was perhaps, for this reason that the embarrassed stranger, after a moment's hesitation, left her gorgeou. parasol open and sticking in the dust beside the door, and then sat down at the farther end of a long bench. Her voice was husky as she began, — " I heerd tell that you were goin' down to the Bay to morrow, and I couldn't let you go until I came to thank you for your kindness to my Tommy." K^ili^ifin liiMiiMiiiiiuiiinnimmmtniHTmKi- 58 THE IDTL OF RED aULCH. Tommy, Mis3 Mary said, was a good boy, and deserrtd more than the poor attention she could give him. " ThanR you, miss ; thank ye !'* cried the stranger, b^ig^* ening ev3n through the colour which Red Gulch knew facetiously as her " war paint," and dtriying, in her embarrass- ment, to drag the louir bench nearer the schoolmistress. " I thank you, miss, for that ! and if I am his mother, there ain't a sweeter, dearer, better boy liyes than him. And if I ain't much as says it, thar ain't a sweeter, dearer, angeler teacher lives than he's got." Mis* Mary, sitting pricnly behind her desk, wilh a ruler over her shoulder, opened her gray eyes widely at this, but said nothing. " It ain't for you to be complimented by the like of me, I know," she went on, huiriedly. "It ain't f or me to be comin' here, in broad dixy, to do it, either ; but I come to ask a favour, — not for me, miss, — not lor me, but for the darling boy." Encouraged by a look in the young schoolmistress's eye, and putting her lilac-gloved hands together, die fiugers downward, between her knees, she went on, in a low voice, — " You see, miss, there's no one the boy has any claim on but mo, and I ain't the proper person to bring him up. I thought sc jic, last year, of sending him av/ay to 'Frisco to school, but vhen they talked of bringing a schoolma'am herp, I waited till I saw you, and then I knew it was all right, and I could keep my boy a little longer, And 0, miss, he I'oves you so much ; and if you could hear him talk about you, in his p.-eity way, and if he could ssk you what I ask you now, you couldn't refuse him. "It is natural." she went on rapidly, in a voice that trembled strangely between pride and humility, — "it's natural that he should take to you, miss, for his father, when I first knew hirji, was a gentleman,— ar«d the boy murit forget me, sooner or later,— and so I ain't a-goia' to cry about thati For I come to asV. you to take my Tommy,— Cod bless him for ■witl S| and I CM,,i.'.i:,»iEi)|i',t.t'«'t*t}!tt(ttM'*i''^l l7C'pak. Do not deny me iiow. Yor. will !— I see it In your sweet face.— such a face as I have seen in my dreams. I see it in your eyes;, 3Tl3s Mai-y ! — you Avill take my boy !" The last red beam crept hlglier, sulfu^f^d Mi?s Mary'^ eyes with something of its glory, llickered, and faded, and Avent out. The sun had set on Red Gulch. In the twiliglit and silence Miss Mary's voice sounded pleasantly. *' I will take the boy. Send him to me to-night." iiniH' 60 THE IDYL OF RED GULCH. The happy mother raised the hem of Miss Mary's skirts to her lips. She would heve buried her hot [face in its virgin folds, but she dared not. She rose to her feet. " Does — this man— know of your intention ?" asked Miss Mary, suddenly. "No, nor cares. He has never even seen the child to know it." " Go to him at once,— to-night,— now ! Tell him what you have done. Tell him I have taken liis child, and tell Lim— he must never see— see — the child again. IVherever it may be, he must not come ; wherever I may take it, he must not follow ! There, go now, please — I'm weary, and have much yet to do !" They walked together to the door. On the threshold the woman turned. " Good night." She would have fallen at Miss Mary's feet. But at the game moment the young girl reached out her arms, cau.o-lit the sinful woman to her own breast for one brief monu^it and then closed and locked the door. It was witli a sudden sense of great responsibility that Pro. fane Bill took the reins of tlie SlumguUion Stage the next morning, for the schoolmistress was one of his passengers. As he entered the high-road, in obedience to a pleasant voice from the "inside," he suddenly reined up his horses and respectfully wailed, as " Tommy" hopped out at the com- mand of Miss Mary. *' Not that bush. Tommy— tlie next." Tommy whipped oat his new pocket-knife, and, cutting a branch from a tall azalea-bush, returned with it to Miss Mary. " All right now ?" " All right." And the stage-door close:! on the Idyl of lied GmIc'i. am; M'k't.'.'alfi UaitTi ifi 's skirts to its virgin sked Miss cbilj to lim what , and tell ^Vherever ''ike it, he ry, and— ?^ioId the lit at the ?, CHUglit inomont. that Pro. fhe next g<;rs. As iut voice 'ses and he com- itting a to Miss HIGH-WATER HARK. "TTTHEN the tide was out on the Dedlow Marsh, its cx- ^ ^' tended dreariness was patent. Its spongy, low-lyini;; surface, sluprgisli, inky pools, and tortuous shniglis, i wistin;; their slimy way, eel-like, toward the open bay, were all hard facts. So were the few llow Marr^h, and must mal:e a night of it, and a gloomy one at that, — then you migl3t kn^^v some- thing of Dedlow vlarsh at high water. Let me recall a story connected with tins bitter view which never failed to recur to my mind in my lonci' gunning excursions upon Deilow M;irsh. Although tb.e event was briefly recorded ia the county paper, I had the story, in all its cdoquent detail, from the lips of the principal actor. I cannot hope to catch the varying emphasis and peculiar fi I ^;:U«iJi{iliiU)«i!!!i:!:.U'iUu!i':tJl ornitholo- ; nor the the marsh nhid Tvhe- i'ccl in the be able to ident at a I told un- mii^n-atioii d satisfac- ipatjon by leerless at when the ew chilly 1 faces of fi a steel- lions line of fallen pnrpose- :'ttini^ no d-^y'is de- 1 the fog ', even as am, lost nt what :vi't; keel, like the h;it they J:ht of it, V some- er view L,mnning mt was r% in all ctor. I )eculiar HIGH-WATER MARK. 63 colouring of feminine delineation, for my narrator was a woman ; but I'll try to gi^e at least its substance. She lived midway of the great slough of Dedlow Marsh and a good-sized river, which debouched four miles beyond into an estuary formed by the Pacific Ocean, on the loniij sandy peninsula which constituted the south-western bound- ary of a noble bay. The house in which she lived was a small frame cabin raised from the marsh a few feet b}"- stout piles, and was three miles distant from the settlements upon the river. Her husband wis a logger,— a profitable busi?iOS3 in the county where the principal occupation was the manufacture of lumber. It was the season of early spring, when her husband left on the ebb of a high tide, with a raft of logs for^the usual transportation to the lower end of the bay. As she stood by the door of the little cabin when the voyagers departed, she noticed a cold look in the south-eastern sky, and she re- membered hearing her husband say to his companions that they must endeavor to complete their voyage before the coming of the south-wesitern gale which he saw brewing. And that night it began to storm and blow harder than she had ever before experienced, and some great trees fell in the forest by the river, and the house rocked like her l}aby*s cradle. But however the storm might roar about the little cabin, she knew th^t one she trusted had driven bolt and bar with his own strong hand, and that had he feared for her he would not have bft her. This, and her domestic duties, and the care of her little sickly baby, helped to keep her mind from dwelling on the weather, except, of course, to hope that he was safely harboured with the logs at Utopia in the dreary distance. But she noticed that day, when she went out to feed the chicke ns and look after the cow, that the tide was up to the little fence of their garden patch, and the roar of the surf on the south beach, though miles away, she could hear distinctly. And she began to think that she would like to have some one to talk with about matters, :l(!r.ju!sjsn VI iii';iA'.iitit'.:ii m HIGH- WATER MARK. and i!lic believed tliat if it Lad not been so far and so stormy, and the trail so impassable, she would have taken the baby, and have gone over to Ryekmun's, her nearest Hei!i:hbor. But then, you see, he might have returned in the storm, all wet, with no one to see to him; and it was a long cx]iosare for baby, v*'ho was croupy andailinir. But that night, she never could tell why, she didn't feel like sleeping or even lying down. The storm nad somewhat abated, but she still "sat and sat," and even tried to read. I don't know whether it was a Bible or some profane maga- zine that tills poor w^oman read, but most probably the latter, for tlie words all ran together and made such sad nonsense that she was forced at last to put the book down and turn to tliat dear volume which lay before her in the cradle, witii its white initial leaf as yet unsoilcd, and try to look forward to its mysterious future. And, rocking the cradle, she thought of everything and everybody, but still was wide awake as ever. It was nearly twelve o'clock when she at last lay down in her clothes. How long she slept she could not remember, but she awoke with a dreadful choking in her throat, and found herself standing trembling all over, in the middle of the room, with her baby clasped to her breast, and she was "saying something." The baby cried and sobbed, and she walked up and down trying to hush it, when she heard a scratching at the door. She opened it fearfully, and was glad to see it was old Pete, their dog, who crawled, dripping w^ith water, into the room. She w^oidd like to have looked out, not in the faint hope of her husband's coming, but to see how things looked ; but the M'ind shook the door so savagely that she could hardly hold it. Then she sat down a little while, and then walked up and down a little while, and then she lay down a little while. Lying close by th^ vrall of the little cabin, she thought she heard once or twice something scrape slowly against the clap -boards, like the scraping of branches. Then there was a little gurgling sound, "like the baby made when it was swallowing ," then i Id i}*lltU!it,iSlJnu«""UUt'"iUU5r!l*8 niGH-WATEFw MARK. G5 iir and so ave taken er nearest ned in the van a long didn't fee! ■jomewliat 1 to read, ne maga- bably the such sad :»ok down er in the nd try to king the but still down in ^member, I'oat, and liddle of she was and she iieard a find was Gripping 3 looked ?, but to door so it down e while, by the r twice ike the urgling " then somethuigwent "click-click" and "cluck-cluck," so that she sat up in bed. When she did so slie was attracted by some- thing else that seemed creeping from the back d(jor towards the centre of the room. It was'nt much wider than her little finger, but soon it swelled to the width of her hand, and be- gan spreading all over the floor. It was water. yhe ran to tlie front door and threw it open, and saw nothing but water. She ran to the back door aud threw it open, and saw nothing but water. She ran to the side win- dow, and, throwing it open, she saw notliing but water. Then she remembered hearing Jier husband once say tliat there was no danger in the tide, for that fell regularly, and people could calculate on it, and that he would rather live near the l)ay than the river, whose banks might overllow at any time. Bnt vras it the tide ? So she ran again to the back door, and threw out a stick of wood. It drifted away towards the bay. She scooped up some of the water and pui it eagerly to her lips. It was fresh and sweet. It was the river, and not tlie tide ! It was then — O, God be praised for his goodness ! she did neither faint nor fall ; it was then — blessed by the Saviour, for it was his merciful hand that touched and strengthened her in this awful moment — that fear dropped from her like a garment, and her trembling ceased. It was then and there- after that she ncA'cr lost her self-command, through all the trials of that gloomy night. She drew the bedstead towards the middle of the room, and placed a table upon it, and on that she put the cradle The water on the floor was already over her ankles, and the house once or twice moved so perceptibly, and seemed to be racked so, that the closet doors all flew open. Then she heard the same rasping and thumping against the wall, and, look- ing out, saw that a large uprooted tree, which had lain near the road at the upper end of the pasture, had floated down to the house. Luckily its long roots dragged in the soil and kept it from moving as rapidly as the cur- rent, for had it struck the house in its full career, even the ::iuusi CG HIGH-WATER MARK. stroivj nails and bolts in tlie piles could not liave withstood the shock. The hound had leaped upon its knotty surface, and crouched near tho roots shivering and Avhining. A ray of hope Hashed across her mind. She drew a heavy blanket from the bed, and, wrapping it about the babe, waded in the dcepcninij; waters to the dour. As the tree swung again, broadside on, making tho 'itiiO cabin creak and treml''", she leaped on t^ it., tavi' . V/ God's mercy she succeeded in obtaining a foots fi;^ (m ii- slippery surface, and, tvv'ining an arm about its looti o h"^'■^ in the other her moaning child. Then something cracjvC-l near the front porch, and the whole f]"ont of the house she had just quitted fell forward, just as cattle fall on their knees before they lie down, — and at the same moment the great redwood tree swung round and drifted away with its living cargo into the black uight. For all the excitement and danger, for all her soothing of her crying babe, for all the whistling of the wind, for all the uncertainty of her situation, she still turned to look at the deserted and water-swept cabin. She remembered even then, and she wonders how foolish she was to think of it at that time, that she Mdshed she had put on another dress and the baby's best clothes; and she kept praying that the houso would be spared so that he, when he returned, would have something to come to, and it wouldn't be quite so desolate, and— how coald he ever know what had become, of her and baby ? And at the thought she grew sick and faint. But she had something else to do besides worrying, for whenever the long roots of her ark struck an obstacle, the whole trunk made half a revolution, and twice dipped her in the black water. The hound, who kept distracting her by running up and down the tree and howling, at last fell off at one of these collisions. He swam for some time beside her, and she tried to get the poor bcasL upon the tree, but he " acted silly " and wild, and at last she lost sight of him for ever. Then she and her baby were left alone. The light which had burned for a few minutes m the deserted cabi whil on tl tree slacy by tlj .Tr:."l« Li'ijo into ^tiling of , for all > look at red even nk of it er dress that the I, would luite so become :ck and )rrying, jstacle, dipped racting at last le time he tree, ight of i. The eserted withstood y surface, g. A ray y bhmket waded in io swung rcak and icrcy slie face, and, 3ther her tlie front 3t quitted 'ore they v'ood tree I I IIIGII-WATEK MARK. or cabin was (luenchcd suddenl}-. She could not then tell whitlicr she wa- ''ifthig. T1)r oiUHur^ of the wliitu dimes on the pcninsul; showed dimly ahca.l, and she judged the tree w.".s moving "n a line with the river. It nnu ' bo iibout slack water, an'i she h-^d probiibly I'oached the eddy formed by the conflucr i ^ of the tide and the overiiowing waters of the rivf.r. Unless the tide f( 1 r on, there was jn-esent dan- ger of her drifting to its channel, and being earned out to sea or crushed in the floating drift. Tint peril averted, if she were carried out on the ebb toward the bay, she mii^ht hope to strike one of the wooded promontories of the penin- suln, and rest till daylight. Sometimes she thought she heard voices and shouts from the river, and the bellowinf^- of cattle and the bleating of sheep. Tlien again it was only the ringing in her cars and throbbing of her heart. She found at about this time that slic was so chilled and stifTened in her cramped ^)osl tion tluit she could scarcely move, and the baby cried so v.dien she put it to her breast that she noticed the milk refused to How ; and she was so frightened at that, tliat she put her head under her shawl, and for the first time cried bitterly. "W hen she raised her head again, the boom of the surf was behind her, and she knew +hat her ark had again swung round. She dipped up the water to cool her parched throat, and found that it was salt as her tears. There was a relief, though, for by this sign she knew s^e Avas drifting with the tide. It was then the wind went down, and the great and awful silence oppressed her. There was scarcely a ripple against the furrowed sides of the great trunk on which she rested, and around her all was black gloom and quiet. She spoke to the baby just to hear herself speak, and to know that she had not lost her voice. She thought then — it was queer, but filie could not help thinking it- how awful must have been the night when the great ship swung over the Asiatic peak, a:^<^ the sounds of creation vrere blotted out from the world. She thought, too, of mariners clinging to spars, and of poor women who were !?t!M 68 HIGH-WATER MARK. lashod to rafts, and heaUm to death by the cruel sea. She tried to thank God that she was tlius spared, and lifted lier eyes from the baby who had fallen into a fretful sl(;cp. Suddenly, away to the southward, a ^j^roat ]lj;ht lifted itself out of tlie gloom, and Hashed and Ilickered, and llicktred and flashed again. Her heart fluttered (luickly against the baby's cold cheek. It was the liglithouse at the entrance of the bay. As she was yet wondering, the tree suddenly rolled a little, dragged a little, and then seemed to lie quiet and still. She put out her hand and the curretit i^urgled against it. Tlie tree was aground, and, by tlie position of the light and the noise of the turf, aground upon the Ded- low Marsh. Had it not been for her baby, who was ailing and croupy, had it not been for tlie sadden drying up of that sensitive fountain, she would have felt safe and relieved. Perliap? it was this wliieli tended to make all her impre.^sions iiiournful and gloomy. As the tide rapidly fell, a great flock of black bient fluttered by her, screaming and crying. Then the plover flew up and piped mouDifully, as they wheeled around the trunk, and at last fearlessly lit upon it like a grey cloud. Then the heron flew over and around her, shri( king and protesting, and at last dropped its gaunt legs only a few yards from her. But, strangest of all, a pretty white bird, larger than a dove, like a pelican, but not a pelican, circled around and around her. At last it lit upon a rootlet of the tree, quite over her shoulder. She put out her hand and stroked its beautiful white neck, and it never appeared to move. It stayed there so long that she thought she would lift up the baby to see it, and try to attract her attention. But when she did so, the child was so chilled and cold, and had svich a blue look under the little lashes, which it didn't raise at all, that she screamed aloud, and the bird flew away, and she fainted. Well, thai ^v'J,s the worst of it and perhaps it was not so much, after all, to any but herself. For when she recovered her senses it was bri-rht sunlight, and dead low watei*. au'i u';!iS!;!t;;i;!»;i!in'S£ijj«jus!ia;:;:w IIIOH-WATER MARK. 09 }a. She fled lier il sleep. L'd itself lilckcred inst the ranee of uddonly lie quiet i;ur--lcd ;itioii of the Ded- croupy, icnsilive P-?rhap? )ros3ion9 a .j^rcat ■ crying. a3 they upon it around .s gaunt >f all, a but not st it lit Siio put and it hat she try to lild was der the ;rcamed not so covered watej'. I There was a confused uoIho of i!:uttnral voir(!s about her, and an old squaw, singini.j an Indian "liushahy," and rock- ini? herself from side to side before a tiro built on the marsh, l)r>fore which a'le, the recovered wife and mother, lay weak and weary. Iler first thoutjht was for her baby, and she was about to speak, when a yoim,'^ squaw, who must have been a mother herself, fathom^nl her thought, and brought her the " mowiteh," i)ale but living, in such a queer little cradle all bound up, just like the squaw's own young one, that she laughed and cried together, and the young squaw and the old squaw showed tlieir big white teeth and glinted their black eyes, and said, "Plenty get well, skeena mowilch," '' wagee man come plenty soon," and she could have kissed their brov/n faces with joy. And the;! she found that they had been gathering berries in the marsh in their qneer, comical baskets, and saw the skirt of her gown fluttering on the tree from afar, jind the old squaw could not resist the temjitation of procuring a new garment, and came down and di^;covered tlic "wagee" woman and child. And of course she gave the giirment to the old squaw, as you may imagine, and when he came at last and rudied uj) to her, looking about ten years oklcr in his anxiety, she f(;lt so faint again that th ey had to carry her to the canoe. For, you sec, he knew nothing about the flood until he met the Indians at Utopia, and knew by the signs that the poor woman was his wife. And at the next high-tide he towed the tree away back home, although it wasn't worth the trouble, and built another house, using the old tree for the foundation and props, and called it after her, " Mary's Ark ! " But you may guess the next house was built above High-water mark. And that's all. Not mucli, perhaps, considering the malevolent capacity of the Dedlow Marsh. But you must tramp over it at low water, or paddle over it at high tide, or get lost upon it once or twice in the fog, as I have, to understand properly Mary's adventure, or t» appreciate duly the blessings of living beyond High- Water Mark. A LONfflLY St]III>E. A S I stepped into the Slumgullion stage I saw that it -^^AViis a dark night, a lonely road, and that I was lh» only passenger. Let mc assure the reader that I have no ulterior design in making this assertion. A long course of light reading has forewarned mc what every experienced in- telligence must confidently look for from such a statement. The story-teller who willfully tempts Fate by such obvious beginnings ; who is to the expectant reader in danger of be- ing rcbbed or half-murdered, or frightened by an escaped lunatic, or introduced to his lady-love for the first time, de- serves to be detected. I am relieved to say that none of these things occurred to m '\ The road from "VVingdam to Slumgullion knew no other banditti than the regularly licensed hotel-keepers ; lunatics had not yet reached such imbecility as to ride of their own free-will in California stages ; and my Laura, amiable and long-suffering as she always is, could not, 1 fear, have borne up against thes« de- pressing circumstances long enough to have made the slight- est impression on me. I stood with my shawl and carpet-bag in hand, grazing doubtingly on the vehicle. Even in the darkness the red dust of Wingdam was visible on its roof and sides, and the red slime of Slumgullion clung tenaciously to its wheels. I opened the door ; the stage creaked uneasily, and in the gloomy abyss the swaying straps beckoned me, like ghostly liands, to come in now and have my sufTcrmgs out at once. I must not omit to mention the occurrence of a circum- stance which struck me as appalling and mysterious. A lounger on the steps of the hotel, whom I had reason to [ltili»illliti!liy.iliiiVid{l!iuiiiiUUrilil^^^^^ fiSi^s^ A LONELY RIDE. n w that it '. was lb» have no lourse of enced in- tatcment. 1 obvious ;er of be- escaped time, de- none of igdam to regularly hcd such alifornia g as she ,hes8 de- .e slight- , Cazing the red and the leels. I d in the ghostly at once, circum- Dus. A ason to suppose was not in any way connected with the stage com- pany, gravely descended, and, walking toward the convey- ance, tried the haiulle of the door, opened it, expectorated in the carriage and returned to tbo hotel with a scrrious de- meanor. Hardly had he resumed his position, when another individual, cijually disinterested, impassively walked down the steps, proceeded to tiie back of the stage, lifted it, ex- pectorated carefully on the axle, and returned slowly and pensivel}'' to the hotel. A third sjiectator wearily disen- gaged himself from one of the Ionic columns of the portico and walked to the box, remained for a moment in serious and expectorative contemplation of the boot, and then re- turned to his cohmin. There was something so weird in this baptism tliat 1 grew quite nervous. Perh.ips I was out of spirits. A number of inllnilcsimal annoj'-ances, winding up with the resolute persistency of the clerk at the stage-ollh (5 to enter n\y name misspelt on the way-bill, had no', predisposed me to chcerf'ilnei-s. The in- mates of the Eureka House, from a social view-noint, vv'erc not attractive. There was the prevailing opinion — ."-'o com- mon to many honest people — that a serious style of deport- ment and conduct towards a stranger indicates high gen- tility and elevated station. Obeying this prhiciple, all hilarity ceased on my entrance to supper, and gencr.d re- mark merged into the safer and uncompromising chronicle of several bad cases of diphtheria, t!ien ei)ideniic at Wing- dam. When I left the dininii:-room, with an odd fceUng that I had been supping exclusively on mustard and tea-leiives, I stopped a moment at the parlour door, A piaiio, h.vrnioni- ously related to the dinner bell, ti kled resi">onsive to a difri- dent and uncertain touch. On the white wall the !>]iadow of an old and sharp profile was bending over severa. symmetrical and shadowy curls. " I sez to Maria r, I^Tariar, sez I, * Praise to the face is open disgrace.' " I heard no more. Dreading some susceptibility to sincere expression on the subject of female loveliness, I walked away, check- ing the compliment that otherwise might have risen iiiiiliUmiRV: iNHMJ4iTiw?. ei?nSi£2i2!2!»Ma{I.NIIfy!!lI!J!RE}?«!«!?BBniJ!iS.'n!S!r V2 A LONELY RIDE. unbidden to my lips, and have brought shame and sorrow t« the househohl. It was with the memory of these experiences resting- heavily upon me, that I stood hesitatingly before the stage door. The driver, about to mount, was for a moment illuminated by the open door of the hotel. lie had the wearied look which was the distinguishing expression of Wingdam. Satisfied that I was properly M^ay -billed and re- ceipted for, he look no furtlier notice of me. I looked longin<^^ly :ii the box-seat, but he did not respond to my app(;al. T lliing my carpet-bag into the cliasm, dived reck- lessly afti'r it, and — before I was fairly seated — with a great sigh, a creaking of unwilling springs, complaining bolts, aud harshly expo>;tulating axle, we moved away. lialJier the hotol doar -;lipped behind, the sound of the piano sank to rest, and tli" ni^jht and its shadows moved solemnly upon us. To say it was dark expressed b;it faintly tbe pilclij' obscurity 1h;it encompassed tlio vehicle. Tlie roadside trees were s;'\rcely •li'^tinguishablo as deeper raas-scs of siiadow ; I ];new tliom only by the peculira' sodden odour l'A;\t from lime io time sluggishly flowed in at the open window as wo rolled by. Wo proceeded slowl^y ; so leisurely tluit, loaning from the Avind'nv, I more than once detected the fragrant sigh of some astonished cow, whose ruminating repose upon the highway we had ruthlessly distarbed. But in the darkness oui- !)i\>2'i'ess, more tlie guidance of some mysteri- ous instinct than any apparent volition of our own, gave an indeiinablech;irm of security to our journey, that a moment's hesitation or indecision on the part of the driver would have destroyed. I had indnlgf'il a hope that in the empty vcliich^ T might obtain that rest so olten denied me in its crowded conditicm. It was a woaiv delusion. When I stretched out my limbs it Wris only toilnd that the ordinary convenience's for making several pcopb' distinctly uncomfortable were distributed it my individual frame. At last, re: the st Beientl [torture ||;ularly, Enfully ^rge'l ii hotel ^nunibii ||aise-to- (flnd only 'a' 'ia 'y eclianic; ,e mon( tiling t( :ikly, a: ^ccislty, her ann le last fc '' Was til' was no .';)i\vayn ihitherV Eis fancv > use t^) |l|id here fnaich, I; uatry i- :'.c:iuse t' luc is k^ A LONELY RIDE. ntl sorrow :es rcptiug e the stage a moment e had the [iression of lied and re- I loolied )ond to my dived rcck- ^'ith a great 4' bolts, ai.d fl;ilJH!r the mo sank to iQinly upon tlie pi tell}' idside trees f shadow • ■ t;i;!t from .idow t).s we ;il, lc!i]}ii)g le fragrant iposG- upon it ia the mysterl- n, gave an moment's oiddhave e T might condition, my Iim]:'ji for making iisdibuled y my arms I the straps, by dint of much gymnastic eflort I became ciently composed to be awaro of a more refiaed species torture. The springs of the stage, rising and falling ularly, produced a rhythmical beat, which began to nfully absorb my attention. Slowly this thumping rge'''. into a senseless echo of the mysterious female of hotel parlour, and shaped itself into this awful and R limbing anxiom, — " Prai3e-to-thc-face-is-f)peu-dii^grace. l^aise-to-the-face-iH-open-disgrace." Inequalitie:^ of the ?oni'l only ({uickened its uttoranoe or drawled it to an exas- perating length. Ii was of no use to seriously coiisivier the statement. It Heas of no use to except it indignantly, it vv'as of no use to picaU the many instances where prai;se to tiie fuce hud i\'- lo.iiiiled to the everlasting honour of praiser and bepraised ; jf no use to dwell sentimentally on modest genias and :0'i;;ige lifted up and commended !fy ojien commendation ; i Lo use to except lo the mysteriu:i'3 D.-uiale, — to picture ler as rearing si thin-bloorled generation on sellish and acclsanicaliy repeated axioms, — all this failed to coimtcrat't ;hc monotonous repitition of this sentence. There v/as letiung to do but to give in, and I was al)out to H(>co|:;li\vayman, who did the hing .-o (luietly, driving me — litlier? The tiling U perfectly feasible. And what is HhU fancy nov»'' being jolted out of me y A story ? It's of pii) mQ to keep it back, particularly in this abysmal vehicle, ail 1 licre i; come.* ; I am a luanpus —a French Marquis ; Fiviich, because the peerage is ]iot so well known and ths CO iiitry is better alapted to roni;intic incident — a Marquiti^ k'ciiuse the demo'ratic reader d'dight.s. in nobility. My biine is woaiethiug Ugn;/. I am oniin jj from Paris to rcjr 74 A LONELY KIl»K. counUy s<'al ;it St;. Gcrmiuii. It is n dark i'ii!i:iit, and fall a-lcep a^d tell my honest co:tcU:n;in, Andre, not to dis- turb iiie, iwid dreini cf an ai^-el. The CMrria,2;e at la^^t stops at tlio clialeau. It is so dark tii;it, when I a1i,i^ht, I do not recoiniize the IV.ce of the footman who hokls the carriuff. door, il'it wJiat of that V — j>c;^-;L'ne<' of tiic l)ri:.rand who has ([uietlj; g-agged poor Andrv' ;i!id e;!nd(icte 1 the carriage tiiitiier. There is noth- ing for in(! to do, as a gallant French JNIarquis, but to say ^' Parblcu T'' draw my rapier, and die valoronsly ! laml^ found, a week or two after, outside a dc^Qvtcd cabaret near the barrier, with a hole through my rulHed linen, and ir.v po( ket.s stripped. Is o ; on second thoughts, I am rescued,— rescued h'V tlic. an :r','i 1 have been dreaming of, who is the assumed daughter of tli;' brigand, but tlicreal daughter of an intimate friend. Lo('king from the Avindow again, in the vain hope of dis- (inivuishing the driver, I found mv eves were growing accns- tomed to tlie darkness, x could see the distant horizon, dc- tined by India inky-woods, relieving a lighter sky. A fe^v stars, widely spaced in this [)icturc, glimmered sadly. 1 noticed again tlie iniinite depth of patient sorrow in their serene f;ices; and 1 hope that the Vandal who first applied the llippant " twinkle'' to them may not be driven melan clioly and by their reproachful eyes. I noticed again the mystic charm of space, that imparts a sense of individual solitude to each inte^r of the densest constellation, involvini^ the smallest star v.dth immeasurable loneliness, yomethin;: of this calm and solitude crept over me, and I dozed in my gloomy cavern. AYlieu I awoke the full moon was rising. Seen from my window, it had an indescribably unreal and tlieatrical ellect. It was the full moon of Norma — tha I re- markablo celestial i>hcnomenon which rises so palpably to a hushed audience and a sublime andante chorus, until the CoMa 1 thcreaft part of white-r( bable i cold cl recitativ the pri\ enchan upon nr iMy fi moon. the full tions. F lips wer and soot mind, a: as when my cavv forward ;m interi of the r( or t'vist {■haract( ar,s." ] curls of whisper female, upright lingers. 1 ha.l Uvion I feeling humbk shape ^ eeived l to sepa n!?m-'<'»;*4^i-uJi "i^i^'it, and i 'li'o, nf)t to dis. :^(i at la^t stops 1>! the caiThiw. iv}' with sleep, ■ iudceenciesof and it opeii< yself j;i a trap, y gagged poor There is iioth- i«, but to say. ^'i^ly ! I am d cabaret near linen, and my ain rescued,— t wlio is tho an, filter of an n hope of di^ rowing- acciis- t horizon, dc- J sky. A feAv ■ed sadly. I ^row in their first applied riven melan cd again the f individual )!)., involvinir youiethin;: ozed in my was rising. unreal and na— tha t re- silpabl^ to .1 Js, until the A LONELY IIJDE. . Til . (J.'Hta Diva is sung — the " inconstant moon" that then and ; thereafter remains fixed in the heavens as though it were a part of the solar system inaugurated by .loshua. Again the white-robed Druids filed past me, again I saw that impro- bable mistletoe cut from that impossible oak, and again cold chills ran down my back with the first strain of the recitative. The thumping springs essa^^ed to beat time, and the private box-like obscurity of the veliicle lent a chea]) enchantment to the view. But it was a va^^t imjirovement upon my p:-.,st experience, and I hugged tlie fond deluFion. iMy fears for the driver M'cre dissipated with tlie rising moon. A familiar sound had assured me of lii,-; presence in the full possession of at least one of his most important func- tions. Frequent and full expectoration convinced me that his lips were as vet not sealed with the gag of the highwayman, and soothed my anxious ear. With this load lifted from my mind, and assisted by the mild presence of Diana, who left, as when she visited Endymion,much of her splendour outside my cavern, — I looked around the empty vehicle. On the forward seat lay a woman's hair-pin. I picked it up with an interest that, however, sooii abated. There was no scent of the roses to cling to it still, not eve]., of hair-oil. Xo bend CD I or twist in its rigid anodes belraye:! anv trait ol' ii.-; Avearer's character, 1 tried to think tliat it \\\\'s\\\ i;:ive Oeeu ?.lari- ar,s." I tried to iiiiagine that, contlning the syienietrical curls of that izirl, it might have lieard the sort coiiinliments whispert'd in her e:irs,wh;c]i [('.'ovoked 11:-.' wi'a'.a oi' Llieaged female. But in vain il was reticent ni:;! 'in-werviag in its upright fidelity, and at Li-t slipped li.;te.-dy tiirougii my lingers. I had dozed reiicateJly, — ^v■aked v,\\ tiie ii. \v<. .-■.holi.l of ob- livion by contact v,'itli some oi" the a^iglri of Llie coiel!. and feeling that I was unconsciously asiumiiv.', i^i iniita::v)n of a humble insect OL my child; ii reeoUeetio'i, tiial sp'ierical '■^hapc which (•i>U!d h:-.:l 'c-'- Jio-e Impr;' -loni, \vhe:i 1 per- ceived that the moon, riliag iiig'.i i:i th.' lie.iv 'a>. .a: '' '.'[S^ww to separate the formless mo-ses of the slia.'owy -tii !scuj:e. ..saaBi.i.iA uttitrtrmTi A LONELY RIDE. Trt'es i:solat'.\ii, in clamps and assemblages, changed pliJ before my window. The sharp outlines of the distant hil came back, as in dayliixht, but little softened in the dri cold, dewless lur of a California summer ni::hl.. I was \\m derinf^ how late it way, and thinkuig that if the horses of t'lj ni'^ht travelled as slowl}^ na the team before ns, Fansti might have been spjired his agonizing prayer, when a siiddJ spasm of activity ;i,:t:u'la'd my driver. A succession of wliiJ sn.^ppiiigs, like a -pack of Chinese crackers, broke from ttl box bc.'fore me. The stage leaped forward, and whcnj could pick mys'.'lf fr'^sm under the seat, a long white buildinl had in some mystciious vay rolled before my windows I must 1)0 Slumgulliou ! As I descended from the s'agc I 4 dressed the driver : — " I thought yon changed horses ou the road V" " So we did. Two hours ago." '' " That's odd. I didn't notice it." " Must have h:v.n asleep sir. Hope you had a pleasanil na}). Bully place for a nice quiet snoose— empty stnge, siri r either, i^ |llattkr tc tvou know splendi' )ear the jslie had t |and booli ; the rich £ ■ and very beautifu -Rattle jcut up V IValpara cood so; He \vc \ stolidly •.;i?!:;iti: HiUit: .(i>ii' nm Mky of ^^ a€Ci>ij?<'i\ f tlic distant hi: eiK'd in the dr i^til- I u-as \v(, the horses oft] foi-o us, Fansd '*, wlion a suddf :^c.sslori of wliij broke from tt | TLS name '■.vas Fag? — David Fagg. He came to California I'd, and whcnP-^ in '52 with us, in the " SkyBcraper." I don't think he '•^ white buiUlicJid it in an adventurous way. lie i)robably had no other fiiy window. Mlace to i^o to. V/hen a knot of us youm^ fellows woukl 1 the s'.a^'e I ajccite Avhat splendid opportunities vrc resigned to go, and ow sorry oar friends were to have us leave, and iunv tlaguer- cl ':■" ieotypes and locks of hair, and talk of Mary and ISusan, the lan of no account used to sit by and listen with a pained, lortified expression on his plain face, and say nothing. I had a pleasanilihink he had nothing to say. lie had no associates, except ^pty stage, sirlp\'hen we patronized him; and, in ijoint of fact, he was a rjooddcalof sport to us. He was al^'ays sea-sick v/henever w'C hiul a capful of wind, lie never got his se.i-legs on either. And I never shall forget how wc all laughed when liattlcr took him the piece of pork on a string, and — But you know that time-honoured joke. And tlien we had such Sa splendid lark with him. Miss Fanny Twinkler couldn't sljear the sight of him, and we used to make Fagg tliink that ishe had taken a fancy to him, and send him little delicacies jaiid books from the cabin. You ouglit to have wiinessed •the rich scene that took place when he came up, stammering and very sicic, to thank her I Didn't she flash up grandly and beautifully, and scornfully V So like " Medora," ilattler said Rattler knew Byron by heart— and wasn't old Fagg awfully jCut up V But he got over it, and when liatller fell sick at , Vidparaiso, old Fagg used to nurse him. You see ho was a ii^ood sort of fellow, but he lacked manliness and spirit. He had absolutely no idea of poetry. I've seen him sit stolidly by, mending his old clothes, when Ilattler delivered ■t j /" 78 Till-: MAN OK NO ACCOUNT. ♦(Tied (V. L niucU a| [!)i,MV:iy, — was tic source ot inimcniiu amusemeiu to lis tiiiiidny. If ;v})j)(.';iiv';l that lu3 li.id coacL'ived the idea that ho ooiikl v.'aK; lo Sacramento, and actually started oil" afoot. We liad a ;.': ))d liiiv^, and shook hand^ with one another :ili around, and so p-;rU'd. Ah nio 1 only ci-!,'ht years ago, anti yet ti'.nw' o'l U\n.^:; iKMr.U then clasped in amity liave been (denclie;! at each other, or have dijipfid l';;rtively in one an- other's pockets. I ]:vo\v that we didn't, dine togetlier Jiexi year, hecause youn;.!,' liarivcr swore he v.'ouldn't put his feet under the same mahogany wii]i sucli a yjvy contemptiLde scoundf* 1 as thatriiixer; .'ind Nibbles, wlio borrowed money at N'a.iparaisn of youug Stubbs, \v])o was then a waiter in n restaurant, didn't like to meet such i)eople. AVheu I hought a junnbcr of shares in tlie Coyote Tim - ml at 3Iu;v:'insville, In Til,! thouiiht I'd take; a run ni) there aad see ii. I stopped at the Janpire iiotel, and after dimier I ^oi a l:'.H'.-e and rode round the town and out to tlie clahu. ()i)o ot those individuals whom newspaper ccrrcs- pon'Jeu'scall " o;u- intelligent informant,'' and to whom in edl eommuR'Lies the right of au.sv.'ering (.|Uesliv>ns is tacitly yield(.'d, w:'..s (juleliy pointed (lut, to me. Habit had enabled liim to Y.'ork and t.ilii at the same time, and ho never preter- mitted eitiur. ilc gave n.u> a history of tlie chiim, and ad- ded : •• \'uu ^,0.', stranger," (he iidslressed 'die bank before him), " u'oid is s;u"e t') come out'er that theer claim (ho ] ut in a comma villi liis jiick), but the old pro-pri-e-tor ho wrig- sonie e: have a neccssa You 1 a\\fvdly I heard holders, prietor j struck i All this ! tUngnr daught( by hear the hot llobins I Utile tl though marry of som look a! It di my dri qncral I tallie thougl and hi THE MAN OF NO AiJt'OUNT. {in. He fiskcu yroii was cvcr|hnucli :uxiount (a Ions ^-troko of the pick for a period. lie ^vi^s green, and let the boys about lieve Jump liim." — Jilt 1 know AVi was something' iiclsco, woliad r and perpctn you see, noAv UutoldFa,!^^..', i ve years old, isemeut to us cidea that lie L'd oil" afoot, c auollier ali ?ar3 ag-o, an(i y Iiave been ly in one aii- I and the rest of his sentence was confided to Ids liat, which > lie had removed to wipe his manly brow wilh his red ban- I danna. I asked him who was tlie original proprieloi-. " His name war Fag'r?-" I went to see him. He looked a little older and plainer. lie had worked harder, he said, and was gettin-i; on "so, so." I took quite a liking to him, and jiatronized liim to some extent. AVhetlier I did so because I was l)eginning to ^1 Iiave a distrust for such fellows as IJattler smd iMixer is not t necessary for me to state. You remember how the C'oyote tuniul went, in, and how awfully Avc shareholders Avere done I Well, the next thing i I heard was that Rattler, who was one of the heaviest share- holders, Avas u]) at Mugginsvilk?, keo-'-ping bar for ihe ])ro- ogetlier Jiext prietor of the :Mugginsvine Hotel, and that old Fagg had : put his feet ontemptible )wed money waiter in u ^cyc^te Tu li- ve a run uj) 'h nnd after 1 ou.t to tlie i])er ccrrcs- wiioni ill s is tacitly id enal)le(l verpretcr- n, and ad- ;fore him), 3 put in a ho wrig- struck it rich, and didn't know wh;it to do with his money. AH this v/as told to me by ]\Iixer, who had been there, set- tling up matters, and likewise that Fagg was sweet upon the daufditcr of the proprietor of the tiforesaid hotel. And so by hearsay and letter I eventually gatlnn-ed that old ilobins, the hotel man, Wiis trymg to get up a matcli between Mellie Ilobins and Fagg. Nellie was a pretty, plumji, and foolish little tiling, and would do just as licr fatlier wished. I thought it v:ould 1,e a good thing for Fagg if lu' sliould marry and settle down; tliatas a married man he miglit be of some account. So I ran up to jMugginsvillc one day to ]ook after things. It did me an innnense de:\l of good lo make luittler mix inv drinksfor mo,— Ilattler: the gay, brilliant, and uncou- riucrableHattler, who had tried to snub me two years ago. I talked to him about old Fagg andXeilie, particularly as 1 I tliought the subject was distasteful. He never liked Fagg, I and he was sure, he said, that Nellie didn't. Did Nellie '■1:J 80 TUB MAN OP NO ACCOUNT. like anybody else ? He turned around to the mirror behind the bar and brushed up his hair ! I uuderstood the conceited wretch. I thought I'd put Fagi^ on his guard and get hiti to hurry up matters. I had a long talk with him. You could see by the way the poor fellow acted that he was bad- ly stuck. I[e sighed, and promised to pluck up courage to hurry matters to a crisis. Nellie was a good girl, and I think had a sort of quiet respect for old Fagg's unobtrusiveness. But her fancy was already taken captive by Rattler's super- ficial qualities, which were obvious and pleasing. I don't think Nellie was any worse than you or I. TVe are more apt to take acquaintances at their apparent value than their intrinsic worth. It's loss trouble, and, except when we want to trust them, quite as convenient. The difficulty with wo- men is that their feelings are apt to get interested sooner than ours, and then, you know, reasoning is out of the ques- ilt u. This is what old Fagg would have known had he been of any ret' J unt. But he wasn't. So much the worse for him. It was a few months afterward, and I was sitting in my office, wlien in walkcl old Fagg. I was surprised to see him down, but we taUrod over the current 'topics in that mechanical manner of people who know that they have something else to say, but are obliged to get at it in that for- mal way. After an interval Fagg in his natural manner said, — " I'm going home !'* " Going home ?" " Yes, — that is, I think I'll take a trip to the Atlantic States. I came to see you, as you know I have some little property, and I have executed a power of attorney for you to manage my affairs. I have some papers I'd like to leave with you. Will you take charge of them?" '* Yes," I said. " But what of Nellie ?" Hts face fell. He tried to smile, and the combination re- sulted in one of the most startling and grotesque effects I ever beheld. At length he said, — ■gizcl thinl no ai T.I i *i Qirror behind the conceited and get hiti I him. You t ho was bad- ip conra^^c to 1, und I think btrnsiveness. ttler's super- 'ng. I don't /"e are more le than their hen we want Ity with wo- rsted sooner of tlie ques- had he been i worse for ttiug in my ised to see )ics in that they have in that for- al manner Atlantic lomc little y for you e to leave at ion re- elf ects I THE MAN or NO ACCOUNT. 81 f •' I shal' not mirry Nellio,— Ihat is^,"— lie seemed to apolo- •gize internally for the positive form of expression,—" I think that [ had h.'tter not." '•David Fa^%^;' I said with sudden severitv, "you're of no account !" To my a:slonishmeut his face brightened. " Yes," said he i " that's it !— I'm of no account ! But I always knew it. You see 1 tuougiit Rattler bved that girl a^ well a^ I did, and I knew s!u.' liked hiin better tliau she did m(!, and woidd be happier I dare say with him. But then 1 knew that old Robins woidd have preferred me to him, as I was better off, — and the girl would do as he said, — and, you see, I thou<^ht I was kinder in the way, — and so I left. But" iie continued, as I Avay about to interrupt him, " for fear the old man might object to Italtler, I've lent Inm enwugh to set him up inbusi- ne?5S for himself in Dogtown. A pushing, active, brilliant fellow, you know, like Kattler, can cet along, and will soon be in his old position again, — and you needn't be hard on him, you know% if he doesn't. Good bye." 1 Avas too much disgusted with his treatment of that Rat- tler to be at all amiable, but as his business was profitable, I promised to attend to it, and he left. A few weeks passed. The return steamer ar.iived, and a terrible incident occui)ied the papers for days afterward. People in all parts of the State conned eagerly the details of an awful shipwreck, and those who had friends aboard went away by themselves, and read the long list of the lost under their breath. I read of the gifted, the gallant, the noble, and loved ones who had perished, and among them I think I was the first to read the nam.e of David Fagg. For the "man of no account" had *'Eoae home I" II.---ST0 11IES ^l L I s s ClIAPTElt I. JUST where the Sierra Xevadabc.'iiiis los,nl).si(l(3 in gentler unrlalations, ami tlic rivers ^tow less rapid and yellow, on tlie side of a groat red mountain, stands" Suiitli's Pocket." Seen from the red road at «nnset, in the red light and the red dust, its white houses look like the outcroppings of quartz on the mountain-side. Thp red stage topped with red-shirted passengers is lost to view half a dozen tiraes in tlic tortuous descent, turning up nnexpcctedly in out-of-the- way places, and vanishing altogether within aliundredyards of the town. It is probably owing to this sudden twist in (he road that the advent of a stranger at Smith's Pocket is usually attended with a peculiar circumstance. Dismount- ing from the vehicle at the stage office, the too confident traveller is apt to walk straight out of town under ^he im- pression that it lies in quite another direction. It is related that one of the tunnel-men, two miles from town. m'*t one of these »elf-reliant passengers with a carpet-bag, umbrella, Harper's Magazine, and other evidencies of " Civilization and Refinement," plodding along over the road he had just ridden, vainly endeavoring to find the settlement of Smith's Pocket. An observant traveller might have found some compen- mi^iwi IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) A // :/- "^ -5^ . dcplytion. Altiiough SmiiLi piorccd tlH> bowels of the grear red mountain, that live thousand dollars Avas the tirst and last return of his la'oour. The monntain grew reticent of its golden secrets, and the Hume steadily ebbed away the remainder of Smith's fortune. Then h-mith went into quartz- mining ; then iiito quartz-millinij ; tLen into hydraulics and ditcliing, and then by easy degrees into saloon-keeping. Presently it was whispered that Smith was drinkhig a ,^reat deal ; then it was known that Smith was a habitual di'uijkard, and then people began to think, as they are apt to, that he had never been anything (»lse. But the settlement of Smith's Pocket, like those of most dLr-coverics, was happily w^f dependent on the fortune of its pioneer, and other parties projected tunnels and found pocket.^. So Smith's Pocket became a settlement with its two fancy stores, its two hotels, its one expres8-ofl[ice, and its two first families?. Occa- sionally its one long straggling street was overawed by the assumption of the latest San Francisco fashions, imported p«r express, exclusively to the first families; makiitg out- MLISb. 8» of thtkt nhd (Us- cliaos of of man;. narrow au cnor- 'Qvy step w depths »e union 13 d there one left n to the th. Five hour by mithand 1 Bmith'3 ke other )owels of s the first reticei;it vay the qufirtz- ilics and ceping. a ,5:reat uukard, that he Smith's pi!y not parties i Pocket its two !s. Occa- bj the mported iig out- raged Nature, in the ragged outline of her furrowed surface, look still more homely, and putting personal insult on that greater portion of the population to whom the Sabbath,, with a change of linen, brought merely the necessity of cleanliness, without the luxury of adornment. Then there was a Methodist Church, and hard by a Monte Bank, and a little beyond, on tlie mountain-side, a graveyard ; and then a little school-house. *' The Master," as he was known to his little flock, sat alone o!i(3 night in tlie school-house, with some open copy- books before him, carefully making those bold and full characters wiiich are supposed to combine the extremes of chirographical ;ind moral excellence, and liad got its far as "Riches are deci:iUul," and was elaboratinc the noun with the insincerity of iloufish that w?is quite in the spirit of his text, when he he;ird a gentle tapping. The woodpeckers liad been bu-jy about thereof (luring the day, and the noise did not disturb his work. But tlie opening of Die door, and tho tiipping continued rtoiiiliio insidt', caused him to look up. He was Gligiuly sUirtled by the lignre of a youn.;j girl, dirty and shabbily clad. Still, her great black eyes, her coarse, uncombed, lustrele.-JS hair falliac^ over her sun-burned face, her red arms and feet streaked with the red soil, were aU familiar to him. It was ]Melii-;sa Smith — Smith's motherless child. " What can she want here?" tho'i;;ht the masli r. Every- body knew " MIlss," a.^ she was called, tliroughoiit theltugth and height of IWd Mountain. Everybody knew her as an incorrigible girl, ilerlicrce, un^;<)vernaV»le di^vposition, her mail freaks and lawless cliaiacier, was in their way a^3 i)ro- verbial as the story of her father't. weaknesses, and as phil- osophically accepted by the townfolk. She wrangled with and fought the school -boys with keener invective juid quite as powerful arm. She followed the trails with a woodman'a craft, and the master Jiad met her before miles away, shoeless,. stockingless, and bareheaded, on the mountain road. The minera' camps along the stream supplied her with subsistence } m MLISS. during these voluntary pilgrimages, in freely offered alms. Not but that a larger protection had been previously extended to Mliss. The Rev. Joshua McSnagley, "stated" preacher, had placed her in the hotel as servant, by way of preliminary refienient, and had introduced her to his scholars at Sunday- school. But she threw plates occasionally at the landlord, and quickly retorted to the cheap witticisms of tlie guests, and created in the Sabbath-school a sensation that was so inimical to the orthodox dullness and placidity of tkat insti- tution, that, witli a decent regard for the starched frocks and unblemished morals of the two pink-and-wliite-faced children of the first families, the reverend gentleman had her ignominiously expelled. Such were tfie antecedents, and such the character of Mliss, as she stood before tho master. It was shown in the ragged dress, the unkempt hair, and bleeding feet, and asked his pity. It tlashed from her black, fearless eyes, and commanded his respect. " I come hereto-night," she said rapidly and boldly, keep- ing her hard glance on his, "because I knew you was alone. I wouldn't come here when them gals was here. I hate 'em and they hates me. That's why. You keep school, don't you ? I want to be teached !" If to the shabbiness of her apparel and uncomeliness of her tangled hair and dirty face she had added the humility of tears, the master would have extended to her the usual moiety of pity, and nothing more. But with the natural, though illogical instincts of his species, her boldness awak- ened in him something of that respect which all original natures pay unconsciously to one another in any grade. And he gazed at her the more fixedly as she went on still rapidly, her hand on that door-latch, and her eyes on his: — " My name's Mliss— Mliss Smith ! You can bet your life on that. My father's Old Smith— Old Bummer Smith— that's what's the matter with him. ISIliss Smith — and I'm coming to school I" " Well ?" said the master. . MLISS. sr id alms, xtended readier, itninarj sunday- mdlord, e guests, was so lat insti- l frocks te-faced lan had 3cdenta, !oro tho nkcmpt d from r, keep- s alone, ate 'em 1, don't g of her illty of ; usual aatural, s awak- )riginal grade, ent on eyes on 3ur life Imith— nd I'm Accnislomed to be thwarted a7id opposed, often wantonly and cruelly, for no other purpose than to excite the violent impulse of liernatnrp, the nmsicr's 'phlegm evidently took her by surprise. She stopped ; she began to twist a lock of her hair between lior lingers ; and tlie rigid line of upper lip, drawn over t!ie wicked little teeth, relaxed and quivered slightly. Then her eyes dropped, and sometliing like a blusii struggled up to her cheek, and tried to iisscrt itself through the splashes of redder soil, and the sunburn of years. Sud' denly she t lire v/ herself forvvr.rd, cidiing on Ood to s^^trike her dead, and iVll (Miiic weak and hcl-oless, with her face on the master's desk, crying and sobl)in from school without shoes, leaving those important articles on the threshold, for the delight of a bare-footed walk down the ditches. Octavia and Cassandra were "keerless" of their clothes. So with but one exception, however much the " Prairie Rose" might have trimmed and pruned and trained her own matured luxuriance, the little shoots came up defiantly wild and straggling. That one exception was Clytemnestra Morpher, aged fifteen. She was the realiza- tion of her mother's immaculate conception, — neat, orderly, and dull. It was an amiable weakness of Mrs. Morpher to imagine that " Clytie" was a consolation and model for Mliss. Fol- lowing this fallacy, Mrs. Morpher threw Clytie at the head of Mliss when she was " bad," and set her up before the child for adoration in her penitential moments. It was not, therefore, surprising to the master to hear that Clytie was coming to school, obviously as a favour to the master and as an example for Mliss and others. For " ClyMe" was quite a young lady. Inheriting her mother's physical peculiarities, and in obedience to the climatic laws of the Bed Mountain ^ regio», she was an early bloomer. The youth of Smith's 94 MLias. i :•! > > Pocki'l, to wlioni this kind of llowor M'ns iiire, fei.^iu'd for lu.'i* ill A])ril ami luii^^uisljcd Id INfny. Enanioun d swains btuiiiU.'Ll Ihc Ku!iaol-liou> rt'qucift omowluit l)u]]y re- ft rouiul, cc lier CO- cr IjIoiuI I ]• T have , — il's of h(>vcrelv i];u"!g' hov ilr curves I lliat lie iny liavc ytie ; but use after until tho etn'ourefJ from tUo id bitter- unestra's did not istioning left for I another 'cning he as really li of her, iscovery. Aristldes was summoned as a probable accomplice, but that equitable infant succeeded in impressing the housi^hold with his innocence. Mrs. Morpher entertained a vivid impression that the child would yet be found drowned in a (»or MIis8 in all this praise of Clytie. Secondly, there was something unpleasantly confidential in his tone of speaking of Mrs. Morpher's earliest born. So that the master, after a few futile efforts to saj something natural, left without asking the information required, but in his after reflections somewhat unjustly giving the Eev. Mr. McSnagley the full benefit of having refused it. Perhaps this rebuff placed the master and pupil once more in the close communion of old. The child seemed to notice the change in the master's manner, which had of late been constrained, and in one of their long post-prandial walks 8he stopped suddenly, and, mounting a stump, looked full in his lace with big, searching eyes. " You ain't mad ?" said fihe, with an interrogative shake of the black braids. " No.' "Nor bothered?" "No." "Nor hungry?" (Hunger was ito Mliss a sickness that might attack a person at any mo- MLISS. 101 rst mect- iit it was t to the iousness ack his lorcover «h," and .imatiz.'' ' " since I pray." rite his he book id to in- o Chris- " added i^ gal,— •fcftions welt for bly cm- eon trast y, there Mine of lat the natural, : in his ev. Mr. ce more notice ite been 1 walks i full in ?" said No.'' t( jer was iny mo- ment). "No." " Nor thinking of her ?" " Of whom, Lissy?" "That white girl." (This was the latest epithet invented by Mliss, who was a very dark brunette, to express Clytemnestra). " No." " Upon your word ?" (A substitute for " Hope you'll die !" proposed by the master). " Yes.'' "And sacred honour?" "Yes." Then Mliss gave him a fierce little kiss, and, hopping down, liuttered oif. For two or three days after that she condescended to appear more like other children, and be. as she expressed it, "good." Two years had passed since the master's advent at Smith's Pocket, and as his salary was not large, and the prospects of Smith's Pocket eventually becoming the capital of the State not entirely definite, he contemplated a change. He had informed the school trustees privately of his intentions, but, educated young men of unblemished moral character being scarce at that time, he consented to continue his school term through the winter to early spring. None else knew of his intention except his one friend, a Dr. Duchesne, a young Creole physician known to the people of Wingdam as "Duchesny." He rever mentioned it to ^Trs. Morpher, Clytie, or any of his scholars. His reticence was partly the result of a constitutional indisposition to fuss, partly a desire to be spared the questions and surmises of vulgar curiosity,, and partly that he never really believed he was going to do anything before it was done. He did not like to think of Mliss. It was a selfish instinct, perhaps, which made him try to fancy his feeling for the child was foolish, romantic and unpractical. He even tried to imagine that she would do better under the control of an older and sterner teacher. Then she was nearly eleven,, and in a few years, by the rules of Red Mountain, would be a woman. He had done his duty. After Smith's death he addressed letters to Smith's relatives, and received one an- swer from a sister of Melissa's mother. Thanking the master, she stated her intention of leaving the Atlantic States for California with her husband in a few montjis. This was a slight superstructure for the airy castle which 102 MLISS. ■;, I! !' ' I . 1:1. the master pictured for Mliss's home, but it was easy to fancy tliat some loving, sympathetic woman, with the claims of kindred, might better 2;uidc lier wayward nature. Yet when the master liad read the letter, IMliss listened to it carelcsi^ly, received it submissively, and afterwards cut figures out of it with her scissors, supposed to represent Clytcmnestra labelled " the white girl," to prevent mis- takes, and impaled them upon the outer wall of the school- house. When the summer was about spent, and the last harvest had been gathered in the valleys, the master bethouglit him of gathering in a few ripened shoots of the young idea, and of having liis llarvest-IIomc, or Examijiation. So the savaiis and professionals of Sniitli's Pocket were gathered to witness that tune honored custom of placing timid child- ren in a constrained position, and bullying them as in a witness-box. As usual in such cases, tlie most audacious and 8elf-po?sessed were the lacky recipients of the honours. The reader v»'ill nuaglne tliat in the present instance ]\Iliss and Clytle were i>re-eminent, and divided public att-ention ; TvDiss Avith her clearness of material perception and self- reliance, Clytic witlilier placid self-esteem and saint-like correctness of deportment. The other little ones were timid and blunderiiiLT. Mliss's readiness and brilliancy, of course, captivated the greater number and provoked the greatest applause. ]\Iliss's antecedents had unconsciously 'ared into Astronomy, and was tracking the course of our spotted ball th.iough space, and keeping time with the music of the spheres, and defining the tethered orbits of MLISS. 103 the platicts, when McSnajley impressively iirose. "Mcelissy! ye were speaking of the revoKitions of this yere yearth and tlie move-ments of llic sun, tuul T think ye said it liad been a-dohig of it since tlie creasliun, eh V Mliss nodded a scornful amrmativc. *' Well, war that the truth V" aaid .MeSnagley, folding his anus. " Yes," said Mliss, siiulfmg up lior little red lips tightly. The handsome outlines at the windows peered further in the schcol-roon), and a salnlly Kaphael- facc, with blond beard and soft blue eyeii, lielwnging to the biggest scamp in the diggings, turned towaril the ciiild and whispered, " stick to it, i'vlliss !" Tiie reverend ^gentleman heaved a deep sigh, and cast a compassionate glance at the master, then at the children, and then rested his look on Clytie. That young womtm softly elevated her round, white arm. Its seductive curves Avere enhanced by a gorgeous and massive specimen bracL'lei, the gift of one of her hund)lest wo^shipper^, w(U'n in h'>nour of the occasion. There was a momentary silence. CMytie's round checks were pink and soft. Clytie's low-necked wiiite book-muslin rested softly on (Uy tie's white, plump 5;iouldeis. (iytie looked at the master, an.l the master nodded. Then (Jiytio spola* softly : — "Joshua commanded the smi to stand still, and it obeyed him I' There was a low liuia of a])plau^e in the school- room, a triumphant expression 0:1 I>rcSnagicy's face, ;i ^;rave shadow on the master's, and a comical look of disappoint- ment retlected from the v.'indow.-;.. Mliss skimmed lapidly over her Astronom}'', and then s;jut the bool: Vv-itli aloud snap. A groan burst from T'JcSnagley, an CApression of astonishment from the school-room, a yell from the windows, as Mliss brought her red fist dov/n en the desk, with the emphatic declaiwtion, (( It's a d — n lie. I don'c believe it !" 104 MLISS. CHAPTER IV. |! VI- Titis long wet season had drawn near its close. Signs of spring were visible in tlie swelling buds and rushing tor- rents. The pine-forests exhaled the fresher spicery. The azaleas were already budding, the Ceanothus getting ready its lilac livery for spring. On the green upland which climbed the lied Jdountain at its southern aspect the long spike of the nion];'s-liood shot up from its broad-leaved stool, and once more shook its dark-blue bells. Again the billow above Smith's grave was soft and green, its crest just tossed with the foam of daisies and buttercups. The little graveynrd had gathered a few new dwellers in the past yeai', and tlie mounds were placed two by two by the little paling until they reached Smith's grave, and there there was but one. General superstition had shunned it, and the plot beside Smitli was vacimt. There had been sevci-al i)]acards posted about the tovrn, intiniatmg that, at a certain period a celebrated dramatic company would perform, for a few days, a series of "side-splitting" and "screaming farces;" that, al- ternating pleasantly with this, there would be some melo- drama and a grand divertisement, which would include singing, dancing, &c. These announcements occasioned s great fluttering among the little folk, and were the theme of much excitement and great speculation among the master's scholars. The master had promised Mliss, to whom this sort of thing was sacred and rare, that she should go, and on that momentous evening the master and Mliss '' assisted." The performance was the ])revalent style of heavy medio- crity ; the melodrama was not bad enough to laugh at nor good enough to excite. But the master, turning wearily to the child, was astonished, and felt something like self-accu- sation in noticing the peculiar elfect upon her excitable na- ture. The red blood flushed in her cheeks at each stroke of her panting little heart, ller small passionate lips were !krLISS. 105 slightly parted to give vent to her hurried breath. Her widely opened lids threw up and arched her black eyebrows. She did not laugh at the dismal comicalities of the funny man, forMlifS seldom laughed. Nor was she discreetly af- fected to the delicate extremes of the corner of a white handkerchief, as was the tender-hearted " Clytic," who wiis talking with her " ftsller" and ogling the master at tlie same moment. But when the perforiiance was over, and the green curtain fell on le little stage, ]\[liHs drew alonir, deep breath, and turned to the master's grave face with u half- apologetic smile and wearied gesture. Then she said, "Now take me home!" and droi);)ed the livlsof lier black eyes, as if to dwell once more in fancy on the inimic stage. On their way to ^Irs. Morpher's the master thought prope'' to ridicule t he wliolo periormance. Now he shouldn't won- der if Mliss tuou^ht, that ti:e young lady who acted so beau- tiluily wa4 really in earnest, and in love with the gentleman who wore such line clotbes. Well, if she were in love w^ith hiiiJ, it was a very unCortuiiate thing I " Why V" said Mliss, with an upward sweep of the drooping lid. " Oh ! well, he couldn't support his wife at his present salary, and pay so much a week for his fine elotiies, and tiieu tliey wouldn't receive as much wages if they v/ere married as if they weie merely lovers, — that is," advled the master, " if tluiy Jire not already married to somebody elt^e : b think the husband of the pretty young countess takes the tickets at the door, or pulls up the curtain, or snuffs the candles, or does some- thing equally refined and elegant. As to the young man with nice clothes, which are really nice now, and must cost at least two and a half or three dollars, not to speak of that mantle of red drugget which I happen to know the price of, for I bought some of it for my room once — as to this young man, Lissy, he is a pretty good fellow, and if he does drink occasionally, I don't think people ought to take advantage of it and give him black eyes, andthro-.v himinthemud. Do you V I am sure he might owe me two dollnrs and a half a long 100 MLISS. timo, bc'torc; I woiiUl throw it up in liis luce, as tlic fellow did the other nii^ht ut Win.i,^{lam." MHbh litid liiken his IkukI ia Ijoth of her.s aiul -svas trying to look ill liis eyes, which the young nitui kept as resohitely averted. ^UiL'S had a faint idea of irony, indulging heroclf soinelinies in a species of sardonic humour, wliicli was equally visible in her actions and her speech. ]]ut the young ma]i continued in Ihi,^ .itrain until they had reached Mrs. ]\Iori)her's, and he had dei)osiled 3liis^j in lier maternal chara-e. Watching the invitation of Mrs. Morr.her to refresh- ment and rest, and shading his eyes with his hand to keep out the blue-eyed Clytcnmsetra's glances, he e.\(aHed him- self, and went luMue. For two or three days after the advent of the dramatic company, ^Iliss was late at school, and the master's usual Friday afternocm ramble was for once omitted, owing to the absence of his trustworthy guide. As he w\a8 putting away his books and preparing to leave the school-house, a small voice piped at his side, "Please, sir:" Tlie master timicd, and tliere stood Aristides 3Iorj)her. "Well, my little man," eaid the master, impatieutlj^ '"v/hat is it? quick!" "Please, sir, me and 'Kerg' thinks that Mliss is going to run away agin." "What's that, sir?" said the master, with that unjust testincL^s A'ith which wo always receive disagreeable news. "Why, sir, she don't stay at home any more, and 'Kerg' and me se(?. her talking with one of those actor fellers, and she's witli him now ; and please, sir, yesterday she told 'Kerg' and me she could make a speech as well a3 Miss Cellcrstina ]\[ontmoressy, and she spouted right off by heart," a)ul tlie little fellow paused in a collapsed condition. - "Wliat actor ?" asked the master. "llim as wears the shiny hat. And hair. And gold pin. And gold chain," said the just Aristides, putting periods for commas to eke out his breadtii. The master put on his gloves and hat, feeling an un- MLISS. lor follow s trying solutcly llCTaClf ell was Ihit Uk; leached internal rel'i'osli- to keep c'd liim- Iramatu; 's usual \g to the ng away a small L' turned, y, '"what g'oiug to t unjust 3 news, id 'Kerg' lers, and she told 1 a3 Miss it off by ondition. gold pin. ■riods for :; an un- ploasnnt tightness in his ehest and thorax, and walked out in the road. Aristldes trotted along by his side, endeavoring to keep paec witli h'.sshortlegs to the master's strid(!3, when the masi(>r stojiped suddenly, and Aristldes bumped U|> against him. "Where were tluy talking ? asked the master, as if continuing the conversation. "At the Arcade," said Aristides. When they reached the miin street the mister paused, "rinn down home," said he to the bo}-. "If Mllss is there, come to the Arcade and tell mc. Ifslic inly to tell j'ou tiiat I am her guardian, and responsible lor her career. You know as well as I do the kind of life you offer her. As you ma}' learn of any one here, I have already brought her out of an existence worse than death, — out of the strccia and the contamination of vice. I am trying to do so rgain. Let us talk like men. Uhe has neither fath(!r, mothar, sister, nor brother. Are you seekirig to give lier an equiva- lent for thece ? The man with Ihv' gla/ed hat examined the poiut of the cue, and then looked around for somebody to enjoy the joke with him. " I know that she is a strange, wilful girl." continued the master, " but she is better than she waa. I believe that I have some intluence over her still. I beg and hope, there- fore, that you will take no further steps in the matter, but HH a man, as a gentleman, leave her to me. I am wil- ling throat, ar Theme lilencfl, ] iftid in a '•Want young mt Tke fni in the gla nature th khid of a his pent-i act, he St sent the j the glove joint. It and »^o\ to come. There tram pi in; left, and rapid sue nent, and picking b his left h ing at it, fingers w knife. I: The mj He hurrii back, an( parched I paid Mr. '. linto the j Isaid that Imoments Uomebod MLinn. 109 ling " But h«r« something rose again in tho master's throat, and the sentence remained unflnished. The man with the glazed hat, mistaking tho master^ lilence, raised his head with a coarse, brutal laugh, and ■aid in a loud voiee — '• Want her yourself, do you ? That cock won't fight here, joung man !" Tko Insult was more in the tone than the wordn, more in the glance than tone, and more in the man's instinctive nature than all these. Tho beat ai)prcciable rhetoric to this litud of animal is a blow. Tho master felt this, iind with his pent-up, nerrous energy finding expression in tho one act, he struck the brute full in his grinning face. Tlie blow sent the glazed hat one way and tho cue another, and tore the glove and skin from the master's* hand from knuckle to joint. It opened «p tho cornerd of the ftillowa moulh, and sijoilt tho peculiar shape of hi,^ beard lor some time to come. There was p shout, an imprecation, a scuftlc, and the trampling of many foot. Then the crowd parted right and left, and two sharp quick reports forllowed each other in rapid succession. Then thoy closed again about his oppo- nent, and the master was standing alone. He remembered picking bits of burning wadding from h's «oat-slcevc willi his left hand. Some one was holding his olher hand. Look- ing at it, he saw it was slill bleeding from the blow, but his fingers were clenched around the handle of a glittering knife. He could not remember when or how lie got it. The man who was holding his hand was Mr. Morpher. He hurried the master to tho door, but the nuister held back, and tried to tell him as well as he coulil with his parched throat about *' Mliss" "It's all right, my boy," said Mr. Morpher. "She's home!" And they passed out into the street together. As they walked along, Mr. Morphcr said that Mliss had come running into the house a few moments before, and had dragged him out, saying that somebody was trying to kill the master at the Arcade. 5 110 MLISS. "Wishing to be alone, the master promised Mr. Morpher that he would not seek the Agent again that night, and parted from him, taking the road towards the school-house. He was off t was surprised in nearing it to find the door open — still morepctors V surprised to find Mliss sitting there. The master's nature, as I have hinted before, had, like most sensitive organizations, a selfish basis. The first." brutal taunt tbrown out by his late adversary still rankledl With in his heart. It was possible, he thought, that a construcJwith lier lion might be put upon his affection for the child, which atfc'een Ica^ best was foolish and Quixotic. Besides, had she not volun-per quick larily abnegated his authority and affection ? And whalold life, m The m •' Yes," I knew it to stay J] " That'; mill the had everybody else said about her? Why should he aloue combat the opinion of all, and be at last obliged tacitly to confess the truth of all they had predicted ? And he had care whic . been a participant in a low bar-room fight with a common ne ! ISTc boor, and risked his life, to prove what? What had be despise m proved? Nothing' Wliat would the people say? Whal would his friends say V What would McSnagley say ? In his self-accusatior the last person he should have wishf liem awa ed to meet was IMliss. lie entered the door, and, going ir to his desk, told the child, in a few cold words, that he v; busy, and wished to be alone. As she rose he took hel' to vacant seat, and, sittmg down, buried his head in his hanq When he looked up again she was still standing there. Sb was looking at his face with an anxious expression. " Did jovL kill him ?" she asked. " No !" said the master. " That's what f gave you the knife for !" said the child quickly. " Gave me the knife ?" repeated the movSter, in bewilder ment. '' Yes, gave you the knife. I was there under the bai Saw you hit him. Saw you both fall. He dropped hit; ol knife. I gave it to you. Why didn't you stick him ?" sai Mliss rapidly, with an expressive twinkle of the black eye find a gesture of the little red hand. The pa )eeped o^ liem rasps. "If y( keei 'ather ki ul of tha md she s The m jrave, an ng her h le said,— " Lissy, The ch ally, *' 1 "Butn " To-ni And, ow roa( Morphcr tha t, and parted ol-liouse. He en — still more BCtors The first. before, had basis. J still rankled at a construe bild, whicb a she not volun-iier And what old Lould he alone liged tacitly to ' And he had ith a commoB ne What had hjdespise le say? Wha ^Icy say V )iild have wish ', and, going njiffasp •ds, that he wa 50 he took he id in his hands ing there. Sbi ession. ' said the child er, in bewilder under the hopped his ol( :ick him ?" sai( I the black eye ilLi.S«. Ill The master could only look his astoul&hment. " Yes," said Mliss. " If you'd asked me, I'd told you I was off with the play-actors. Why was I ofl with the play- ? Because you wouldn't tell me you was going away. I knew it. I heard you tell the Doctor so. I wasn't a-goin' to stay liere alone with those ]\Iorpher's. I'd rather die With a dramatic gesture which was perfectly consistent with her character, she drew from her bosom a few limp gi-een leaves, and, holding them out at arm's len^lli, said in quick vivid way, and in the queer pronunciation of her life, which she fell into when unduly excited, — " That's the poison plant you said would kill me. I'll go ^ ffith the play-actors, or I'll eat this and die he re. I don't are which. I won't stay here, where they hate and despise ! Neither would you let me, if you didn't hate and me too !" The passionate little breast heaved, and two big tenrs eeped over the edge of Mliss's eyelidci, but she whisked Iiem away with the corner of her ai)ron as if they had been " If you lock me up in jail," said Mliss fiercely, to keep me from the play-actors, I'll poison myself. ather killed himself, — why shouldn't I ? You said a moutb- ul of that root would kill me, and I always carry it here," md she stmck her breast with her clenched fist. The master thought of the vacant plot beside Smith's rave, and of the passionate little figure before him. Seiz- ng her hands in his and looking full into her truthful eyes, le said, — "Lissy, will you go with me .?" The child put her arms around his neck, and said, joy- bafully, - Yes." "But now— to-night?" " To-night." And, hand in hand, they passed into the road, — the nar- ow road that had onee brought her weary feet to the 112 MLIS3. ma-iter's door, and which it seemed she should not tread again alone. The stars glittered brightly abore them. For good or ill tlie lesson had been learned, and behind them the school of Red Mountain closed upon them for> ever. ■»— ♦- d not tread ibOTC them. and beliind n them for- TSIE RICJIIT EYE OF THE €OMMANI>EK. rj^HE year of grace 1797 passed away on the coast of J- California in a south-westerly gale. The little bay of San Carlos, albeit sheltered by the headlands of the blessed Trinity, was rough and turbulent ; its foam clung quivering to the seaward wall of the Mission garden ; the air was filled with flying sand and spume, and as the Senor Comraandante, Hermenegildo Salvatierra, looked from the deep embrasured window of the Presidio guard-room, ho felt the salt breath of the distant sea buffet a colour into his smolce-dricd cheeks. The Commander, I have said, was gazing thoughtfully from the window of the guard-room. He may have been reviewing the events of the year now about to pass away. But, like the garrison at the Presidio there was little to review ; the year, like its predecessors, had been uneventful, —the days had slipped by in a delicious monotony of simple duties, unbroken by incident or interruption. The regularly recurring feasts and saint's days, the half-yearly courier from San Diego, the rare transport-ship and rarer foreign vessel, were the mere details of his patriarchal lite. If iherewas no achievement, there was certainly no failure. Abundant harvests and patient industry amply supplied the wants of Presidio and Mission. , Isolated from the family of nations, the wars which shook the world concerned them not 80 much as Ihelast earthquake ; tht struggle that eman- cipated their sister colonies on the other side of the continent to them had no suggestivenegs. In short, it was that glori- ous Indian summer of California history, around which so lU THE WIGHT EYB OF THE COMMANDER. much poetical haze still lingers, — that bland, indolent au- tumn of Spanish rule, so soon to be followed by the wintry storms of Mexican independence and the reviving spring of American conquest. The Commander turned from the window and walked toward the fire that burned brightly on the deep, oven-like hearth. A pile of copy-books, the work of the Presidio school, lay on the table. As he turned over the leaves with a paternal interest, and surveyed the fair round Scripture text, — the first pious pot-hooks of the pupils of San Carlos, — an audible commentary fell from his lips : " 'Abimelecli took her from Abraham' — ah, little one, excellent! — 'Jacob sent to see his brother' — body of Christ! that up-stroke of thine, Paquita, is marvellous ; the Governor shall see it ! " A film of honest pride dimmed the Commander's left eye,— the right, alas ! twenty years before had been sealed by an Indian arrow. He rubbed it softly with the sleeve of his leather jacket, and continued: "'The Ishmaelites having arrived ' " He stopped, for their was a step in the cou"t-yard, a foot upon the threshold, and a stranger entered. With the instinct of an old soldier, the Commander, after one glance at the intruder, turned quickly toward the wall, where his trusty Toledo hung, or should have been hanging. But it was not there, and as he recalled that the last time he had seen that weapon it was bemg ridden up and down the gallery by Pepito, the iafant son of Bautista, the tortilio- maker, he blushed and then contented himself with frown- ing upon the intruder. But the stranger's air, though irrever'^nt, was decidedly peaceful. lie was unarmed, and wore the ordinary cape of tarpaulin and sea-boots of a mariner. Except a villanous smell of codfish, there was little about him that was pecu liar. His name, as he informed the Commander, in Spanish that was more fluent than elegant or precise, — his name was Pcleg Scudder. He was master of the schooner General\ THB RIGHT BTB OF THE COMMANDER. 115 nclolent au- Y the wintry \g spring of and walked p, oven-like the Presidio 3 leaves with id Scripture San Carlos, ' 'Abimelecli mt ! — ' Jacob up-stroke of lall see it ! " •'s left eye,— sealed by an sleeve of his [jlites having -yard, a foot With the r one glance 11, where his ing. But it time he had id down the , the tortilio- with f rown- ras decidedly linary cape of t a villauousl lat was pecu- r, in Spanish I se, — his name ooner Gcnerdi Court, of the port of Salem, in Massachusetts, on a trading voyage to the South Seas, but now driven by stress of weather into the bay of San Carlos. He begged permission 10 ride out the gale under the headlands of the blessed Trinity, and no more. Water lui did not need, having taken in a supply at Bodega. He knew the strict surveillance of the Spanish port regulations in regard to foreign vosels, and v/ould do nothing against the severe dis- cipline and good order of the settlement. There was a slight tinge of sarcasm in his tone as he glanced toward^ the desolate parade-ground of the Presidio and tlie open unguarded gate. The fact was tiiat the sentry, Felipe Go- mez, had discreetly retired to shelter at the beginning of the storm, and was then sound asleep in the corridor. The Coaamander hesitated. The port regulations were severe, but he was accustomed to exercise individual autho- rity, and beyond an old order issued ten years before, regard- iug the American ship Columbia, there was no precedent to guide him. The storm was severe, and a sentiment of hu- manity urged him to grant the stranger's request. It is but just to the Commander to say, that liis inability to enforce a refusal did not weigh with his decision. He would have denied with equal disregard of consequences that right to a seventy-four gun ship which he now yielded so gracefully to this Yankee trading schooner. He stipulated only, that there should be no communication between the ship and the shore. " For youself, Senor Captain," he continued, " accept my hospitality. The fort is yours as long as you shall grace it with your distinguished presence ;" and with old-fashioned courtesy, he maas the semblance of withdrawing from the guard-room. Master Peleg Rcudder smiled as he thought of the half- dismantled i'ort, the two mouldy bra^^s cannon, cast in Ma- nilla a centuiy previous, and the shiftless garrison. A wild thought of accepting the Commander's oUer literally, con- ceived in the reckless spirit of a man who never let slip an oflbr for trade, for a moment filled hi.^ brain, but a timely IIG THK UI(}HT FA'li OF TliE COM-MAXDEU. lefiectloii of the commercial unimportance of the transac- tion checked him. He onlj took a capacious quid of to- bacco, !is the Conimander gravely drew a settle before the fire, ainl in liouour of his i^uest untied the black silk hand- kerchief that bound his grizzled brows. Vriiut passed between Salvatierra and his guest that ni'^ht it becomes nie not, as a