Amador weekly ledger., 1857-11-14
[ Conclud
THE LIKENESS MUST BE FOUND.

The naturally strong constitution of Wa
ters aided much in bringing him once more
on his feet but he was not able to labor
till the rains Of winter set in We then left
our tunneng for the purpose of endeavorng
to make something, at surface mining, to pay
expenses. Waters usual cheerfulness had
deserted him; it was evident his mind was
fixed upon the image of his young love. Al
though we were doing extraordinarily well,
yet Waters was uneasy. Our partners won
dered at his conduct; /, who knew his infat-
uation, was not so much surprised.
One morning at the breakfast table, Wa
ters surprised us by stating that be intended
to leave.us for an indefinite period. He gave
us then no cause for his going, save that he
wanted some rest; yet | surmised his object
and would have opposed his going had l not
known that it was useless to endeavor to
turn him from his purpose. Leaving his bu-
siness in my hands, lie bade good.by to our
partners, requesting me to accompany him to
Volcano, where he would get conveyance
For some time we walked in silence know
ing that till he spoke he would little heed
what was said to him At leugth he com
menced the conversation by telling me he was
going in search of the one whom he had seen
at the camp Of the emigrants the Fall previ-
GUS. | suggested that he had no clue to her
whereabouts or name, but he declared that
he had considered all the difficulties and that
they only the more determined him in his in
tentons. That it was his Minnie, he did not
seem to doubt and Oh my limiting that if it
were she was probably wife, he yehemently
exclaimed, No no; not again; she could
not be that"
parted with him, much doubling his san
ity; he promising to write me if anything im-
portant occurred a regular correspondence
he would not agree to keep up l returned
to work with a heavy heart. Secrets are
ever burden, especially if they are such as
to be the cause of frequent thought was
not at liberty to impart to my partners the
strange story of Waters, and if | had they
were not the men to sympathize with him.
Although wel-informed and good men, yet
they were mere men Of fact, possessing none
Of the ideal. But | am DEPRESSING from my
subject
Nearly year had gone into the past, and
| had received no tidings of Waters | did
not believe him dead, but | feared that he
was an inmate of the asylum for those who.
having lost their reason, are worse than dead.
This anxiety led me often to visit Volcano,
in order to hear from him whom | had come
to think Of as favorite brother. In one of
these visits was forced, by storm, to re-
main in town over night. At ehotel met
u stranger who, being one of the sociabe
kind, engaged me in conversation and man
aged to learn from me that | was a miner,
and the locality Of my claim. "Ah!" said
he, 81 must have been near it once, as
camped in that vicinity one night in the Fall
of '53, with some emigrants" Here was
one who could solve the mystery | trembled
with excitement
1t needed but few questions to draw from
my new acquaintance full explanation
The lady whom Waters had seen was Miss
Minnie Eastfeld, the daughter of her who
had leen Minnie Stanford. She was in com
pany with an uncle with whom and Others
my informant had crossed the plains. Mr.
Stanford and his niece had located in one of
the valleys near the Bay Of San Francisco,
aud were now living on farm in q quiet,
comfortable manner. Miss Eas!feld was yet
unmarried and from the description given
me, she was SO like the picture Waters had
plinted to me of her mother that l ceased
to wonder at his seeming hallucination.
What would not have given to know
where to find my friend. The knowledge
now possessed would have been dearer to him
than life My impatience was great but what
could do? My excited brain suggested no
mode of finding him.
The stranger saw that was deeply inter-
ested in his information; and desired to know
lie | was acquainted with Stanford Telling
I him that had heard much of them and OF
the romance of Miss Eastfed's MOTHER
/ roe,netod him IN rive mo n history of the