The Portland daily press., 1868-09-26

mother, harsh as it may sc IN, was the first
pasm'of propriety-5he first symptom Of the
amp regeneration. Stumpy advanced moth
ng. Perhaps he teit certain delicacy in in
erleflng with the selection OF a possible sue
lessor in office. But when questioned he
lyerred stoutly that he and "Jinny"-the
before alluded to-could MANAGE TO
ear the child. There was something origi-
nal, independent and heroic about the plan,
mat pleased the camp Stumpy was retain
ed. Certain articles were sent for to Sacra-
mento. "Mind,'' said the treasurer, as he
pressed bag of gold dust into the express
mans hand, 'the best that can be COTTAGE
you know, and tilagree work and frlls--d-m
the costr'
Strange 10 say, the child thr7ed. Perhaps
the lnvigorating climate Of the mountain
camp was compensation for maternal de Glen
cies. Nature took the founding to her broad
er breast. IN that rare atmosphere of the
Sierra loot hiils-that air pungeEt with bal
same odor; that ETHEREAL cordial, at once
braclnS and exhleTat'n2, he may have found |
food and nourishment or !, subtle chemistry |
that transmitted asses milk to lime and phos-
phorus. Stumpy inclined to the belief that it |
was The latter and sooi nursing. "Me and
that ass" he would say, "has been father and
mother to him! Don't you," he would add,
apostrophizing the helpless bundle before |
hun, "nevnr go back on U.S."
Nv the time he was a month old, the ne
cessity OF giving him a name became appar- !
emf. He had generally been known as 1.-The |
KID" "Stumpy's boy" 1.-The Cayote"-(an al
luslon to his vocal powers)- even by
Kentucks endearing diminutiye of sthe id
little cuss." But these were felt to be vague
and unsatisfactory, and were at last dismissed
under another influence. Gamblers and adj
venturers are generally supeIstitious, and
holy l,,Va IL IL.
brought the luck to Roaring Camp" 1t was
certain that OF late they had been successful.
Luck" was the name agreed upon, with the
prefix Of Tommy for greater convenience. No
alluSiOn was made TO the mother, and the
father was unknown. "It's better" said the
philosophical OakhI rst, "to take a fresh deal
al. around. Call him luck and start him fair"
A day was accordingly set apart for the chris
tenng. What was meant by this ceremony
the reader may imagine, who has already
gathered some idea of the reckless rreverence
Of Roaring Camp. The master of ceremonies
was one "Boston,"a noted wag, and the &C.
casion seemed to promise the greatest face
liousness. This ingenious satirist had spent
two days in preparing burlesque of the
church service. with pointed local illusions
The choir was properly trained, and Sandy
Upton was to stand godfather. But after
the procession had marched to the grove with
music and banners, and. the child had been
deposited before mock altar, Stumpy step
ped before the eXpectant crowd. ''It amt
my style to spoil fun, boys" said the little
man, stoutly cycling the faces around him,
but it strikes me that this thing amt exactly
on the squar. It's playing it pretty low down
ON this yer baby to ring in fun on him that
he amt going to understand. And eff there's
going to be any god-fathers round, I'd like to
see who's got any better rights than me-" A
silence followed Stumpy's speech. To the
credit OF ali humorists be it said that the first
man to acknowledge its justice was the satr-
st, thus stopped OF his fun. "But," said
Stumpy quickly, ''were here for christening,
and Wen have it, l proclaim you Thomas
Luck, according to the laws OF the United
States and the State of California-so help
me God" 1t was the first time that the
name OF Deity had been uttered aught but
prolanelv in the camp. The'form OF christen-
ing was perhaps even more ludicrouS than
the satirist had conceived, but strangely
enough, nobody saw it, and nobody laughed
Tommy" was christened as seriously as he
would have been under Christian roof, and
cried and was comtorted in an orthodox
fashion.
And so the work of regeneration began in
Roaring Camp. Almost imperceptibly
change came over the settlement. The cabin
assigned to Tommy Luck "The Luck"
as he was more frequently called-tirst show
ed signs OF improvement. 1t was kept scru-
pulously clean and white-washed. Then it
was boarded, clothed and papered. The rose
wood cradle-packed eighty miles by mule
had, in Stumpy's way of putting it, ''sorter
killed the rest of the furniture" So the re-
Mobilization of the cabin became necessity.
The men who were in the habit of lounging
in at Stumpys to see show the Luck got on"
seemed to appreciate the change, and in self
defense, the rival establishment of "Tuttles
grocery" bestirred itself, and imported car
pet and mirrors. The reflections of the lat
ter on the appearance of Roaring Camp tend |
ed to produce stricter habits OF personal
cleanliness. Again Stumpy imposed kind |
of quarantine upon those who aspired to the +!
honor and privilege of holding "the Luck."-
1t was a cruel modification to Kentuck- |
in the carelessneSs OF a large nature and the |
habits of a frontier lie, had begun to regard !
all garments as second cutice, which, like |
a snakes, only sloughed off through decay, to |
be debarred this privilege from certain pru-
dental reasons Yet such was the subtle in
huence of innovation that he thereafter ap- |
peared regularly every afternoon in clean |
shirt, and face still shining from his ablu-
lions. Nor were moral and social sanitary |
laws neglected. Tommy" who was suppos- |
ed to spend his whole existence in persist |
ent attempt TO repose must not be disturbed |
by noise. The shouting and yelling which |
had gained the camp its intelicitOus title were |
not permitted within hearing distance of |
Stumpy's. The men conversed in whispers. |
or smoked in Indian gravity. Profanity was
tacity given up in these sacred precincts, and |
throughout the camp popular form of ex-
pletive, known as "D-n the luckm and |
Curse the luck" was abandoned, as having a
new perS )nal bearing. Vocal music was not |
nterdicted, being supposed to have sooth-
ing, tranquiizng quality, and one song sung
by Man O-War Jack" an English sailor,
nom her majesty's Australian colonies, was
quite popular as a lullaby. IL was luaubri-
Gus recital of the exploits of the Arethusa,
Seventy-four," in muffied minor, ending
with prolonged dying fall al the burden Of
eacn verse. "On bo-o-ard of the Arethusa"
1t was fine sight to see Jack holding The
Luck, rocking from side to side as if with the
motion of ship, and grooming forth this ma
val ditty. Either through the peculiar rock
ing OF Jack or the length OF his song-it con-
tanned ninety stanzas, and was continued
with conscientious deliberation to tho bitter
end the lullaby generally had the desired Ell
feet. AT such times the men would lie at full
length under the trees, in the soft summer
twilight, smoking their pipes and drinking in
the melodlous utterances. An indistinct idea
that this was pastoral happiness peryaded the
camp. "This ere kind o'thnk," said theJ
Coekney Simmons, meditatively reclining ON
his elbow, sis evingly." 1t reminded him of
Greenwich.
On the long summer days The Luck was
carried to the gulch, from whence
the golden store or Roaring Camp was. taken.
There, on blanket spread over pine boushs,
he would lie while the men were working in
the bitches below. Latterly, there was a
rude attempt to decorate this bower with
lowers and sweet smelling shrubs, and gen.
orally some one would bring him cluster of
Wild honeysuckles, azalias, or the painted
blossoms OF Las Mariposas. The men had
suddenly awakened to the fact that there
were beauty and significance in these trifles.
which they had so long trodden calelessly be-
meath their feet. A flake of glittering mica.
a fragment OF Variegated quartz, bright peb
bic from the bed of the creek, became beauti.
iul to eyes thus cleared and strengthened.
and were invariably put aside Tor The
Luck" Ii was wonderful how many treas
ures the woods and hillsides yielded that
would do for Tommy" Surrounded by
playthingS such as never child out of fairy
land had before, il is to be hoped that Tom
my was content. He appeared to be securely
happy-albeit there was an infantine gravity
about him-a contemplatise light in his
fR1HNN @l,.,s 1