The Sierra citizen., 1854-10-21

feebleness. laid my hand on his shoul
der and asked him why he looked so i'll
suppose there was something in the tom
of my voice, or gentleness in the pres
sure of my hand, that seemed to act lik
electricity on the lainting man, and h,
looked up in my face as though it was tn
first kind word that he had heard fo
months.
In the meantime the rest of the part,
had disappeared over the hill, and l never
saw them again. After resting while
succeeded in getting him to the edge of
little brook, where / bathed his face, which
was now flushed and fevered, and then hi
sat at the root of tree until / cut fil
branches and built shelter for the night
BY the time my shanty was finished
branches strewed on the ground and blan
kets spread down, my patient was unable
to walk, and was delirious. I dragged
him to the hut, covered him with blankets
struck fire, and sat down to ruminate
on my situation.
The twilight sank down behind the
hills, and one by one the stars appeared
The hills rose prccipitously on every side
and directly over our camp rough beet
ling rocks were piled on each other. so
high and naked that stunted cedar which
once stood half way up could not find sus-
tcna~cc. and had tumbled down to the
,..cm. The shadows Of night soon hid
the hill-tops. and the r.. r." trees grc"" thicker
and darker, until nothing could be seen
except by the light Of my campfire. Thus
was the first nj ght l had ever spent in the
woods alone, much less with dying man;
and such believed my companion to be.
1t is strange how the strong man sErinks
from contact with death when alone. /
had helped to gather up the mangled
limbs of my companions after the battle
of Ccrro Gordo, and when my task was
done, l threw myself down on the ground
and slept soundly; but when here in the
deep pine woods, in the noiseless glens of
the Sierra, shuddered at the thoughts of
witnessing the struggle between my
wasted companion, and the king of ter
rors.
That was long and dismal night to
me; nothing was to be heard but the gurg-
ling of the brook and the melancholy
wall of the wind through the tree-tops.-
Once or twice l heard the sharp angry
howl of the wolves that had scented us,
and then remembered hundred dread
full stories about being eaten up by wild
beasts. God preserve me from another
such eternity of misery as was that night !!
Just when the first streaks of morning
appeared, my companion became restless,
struggled, and seemed to be conversing
with some phantom. l crept up close to
him, and could distinguish broken SEN
tence now and then.
"There she is beating her now! Bill
is gone and now she is beating JAMIE ~
In an instant remembered the circum-
stances related in the first part of this
story, and could it be possible that this
was the widows son? Gloriously did the
day break on our camp in the wilderness.
The sunlight crept slowly down the hill
side to our camp, and l felt an indescriba-
BILE relief, that that long terrible night
was over. My patients reason returned
and the fever abated, and l sat down be-
side him and told him of the occurrences
of the night. For some reason l became
satisfied of his recovery, and it was with
difficulty that could refrain from shout
ing in exultation at the triumph over
death. That day he told me his story,
and his name; as l suspected it was wan
dering Bill, his other name l will not at
present reveal. Five days more passed
away, and Bill was gradually recovering.
Our provisions were gone, and I returned
to the nearest village for new supply
/ had no fears of his recovery and did not
make known his situation to any one; for
| i'regarded Bill as my patient, and did not
want any one to share in the pleasure
had in watching by his sick bed in the Wild
erness. On my return I was startled by
the appearance Of large athletic Indian
sitting in the door of the shanty. He
threw down his bow, and held up both
hands as sign of peace, and gave me to
understand that he comprehended my pa
tents situation had been watching as for
several days, but was afraid to approach
US. He had brought with him bundle
of roots and herbs, which he offered the