The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1869-04-04

1 Al Pa M "a distance of forty niles vhe,
female at,en. ion could be procured. But the ii
lucky so,7gesh IN met WIN nerce ssd uasnimcs
ebts,ied ns,,ine 2, ON their new acquisition woul
~ rnrrns ha Entertained. ''Besidesn saj
Tom Ryder ats em !, >lows at Red Dog woul
swap It and ring in someb, 'dy else on u.s." A d'
belief IN the honesty Of othe- camps prevailed
The insrod1etjor - ov : female M rise In the CAM
also met with objection. u was = euee .nnt
decent woman could be pre- vailed to cceps hosf
| ing Camp ss her home. and the speaA o. urge
that they didn't want any m ore Of the osns
mother, harsh as IL may seem. was the first spasm
| OF proprety-the first symptom o. the camps
regeneration. stumpy advanced nothing. Per.
bsps he felt certain delicacy in interfering With
the selection of possible successor n Office.
Bot when questioned he averred stoutly that be
| and "JiDDy"-the MANNED before alfuded to-
could manage to rear the child. There WAS
something original, independent and heroic about
me plan, that pleased the camp. Stampy was re-
tanned. Certain articles were sent for to Sacrs
mento. Mind said the treasurer. as he pressed
bag OF gold Dust into the expressmsu's hand,
The best that can be COTTAGE, yoa know, and
Strange to cay, the child thrived. Perhaps the
ipvgoratlng climate Of the mountain camp was
compensation for material de6ciences. Nature
rare atmosphere of the Sierra ot-hills-that cir
puDgeDt with balssmic odor; that ETHEREAL cordial,
ct once bracipg and exhilarating, be nav have
found food and nourshment, or Q subtle chsmis-
Try that transmitted esses' milk to lime and phos
phorus. S,umpy inclined to the belief that Il was
the latter and good nursing. me and that ass,
him Don't you, ;" be would add. spostrophizing
tne helpless bundle before him, never 60 back
BY the time be was month old, the necessity
OF giving him name became apparent. He had
generally beer known as "the Kid" 'Stumpy's
hcr fbn NonA faD Ia r1xx~c~ A. IL -
powersl- land even. by Ksntuck's endearing
diminutive Of "fhe id little cussn But these
were felt to be vague and unsatisfactory, and
were ct last dismissed under another influence.
Gamblers and adventurers are generally supersti-
tous, and Oakhurst one day declared that the
baby had brought ''the luck' TO Roaring Camp
Il was certain that Of late they had been success
full. Luck" was the name agreed upon, with
No alluson was made to the mother, and the
father was unknown. "lt's better,v said the
philosophical Oakhust, sto take fresh deal all
around. Call him Luck, and start him fair.r A
day was accordingly set apart for the christening
What was meant By this ceremony the reader may
imagine, who has already gathered some idea Of
the reckless irreyerence Of Roaring Camp. The
master Of ceremonies was one Boston F" q noted
greatest facetiousness. This ingenious satirist
bed spent two days in preparing q burlesque of
the church service, with pointed local illusions.
The choir was properly trained, and Sandy Upton
BfoccS6IOQ
had marched to the grove with music and banners,
and the child bad been deposited before nook
altar, Stumpy stepped before the expectant
crowd. ut amt my style 70 spoil fun, boys"
him, "bnt it strikesme that this Thing amt exactly
On the squar. It's playing 1t pretty low down
on this yer baby TO ring in fun on him that he amt
going TO understand. And If there's going to be
any godfathers round, I'd like to see who's got
any better rights than MEL silence followed
stumpy's speech. To the credit of all humorists
be It said, that the first man to acknowledge s JUS
tiee was the satirist, thus estopped Of bis fun.
"But,' said stumpy quickly following up his ad-
vantage, we're here for q christening and we'll
have IL. Iproclsim you Thomas Luck, according
70 the laws of the United States and the State OF
California-So help me God.r II was the
first time that the name Of the Deity had
been uttered aught but profanely In the camp.
The form of christening was perhaps even more
ludicrous than the satirist had conceived, but
strangely enough, nobody saw 1t and nobody
laughed. " Tommy" was christened ss seriously
as be would have been under christian roof and
cried and wss comfcrted in as orthodox fashion.
And 60 the work Of regeneration began in
Roaring Camp. Almost imperceptibly Q change
came over the settlement. The cabin assigned to
Tommy Luck"-or 1.-The Luck as be was more
frequently called-frst showed signs of improve
ment. 1t was kept scrupulously clean and white
washed. Then u was boarded, clothed and paper
ed. The rosewood cradle-packed eighty miles
BY mule had. in Stumpy's way of putting 1t,
'sorier killed the rest Of the furlituren 80 the
rehabilitation of the cabin became necessity.
The men who were in the habit of lounging In at
Stumpy's TO see "how The Luck got onn seemed
70 appreciate the change, and, 10 sef.defenss the
rival establishment of Tuste's grocery" bestirred
itself and imported carpet and mirrors. The re-
Elections OF the latter on the appearance Of Roaring
al cleanliness. Again Stumpy imposed a kind OF
quarantine upon those who aspired to the honor
and privilege of holding "The Luck" TWAS q
cruel modification to Keniuck-who. In the care
lesspess of large nature and the habits OF from
tier life, had begun to regard all garments as q
second cuticle, which like snakes only sloughed
of through decsy-to be debarred this privilege
from certain prudential reasons Yet such was
the subtle influence OF innovation that he there.
ffter appeared regularly every afternoon In q
clean shirt, and face still shining from his ablu
tons. Nor were moral and social sanitary laws
nc elected. Tommy who was supposed 20
spend hs whole existence In persistent attempt |
10 repose, must not be disturbed by noise. The |
shouting and yelling which had gained The camp |
It's inielictous title were not permitted within |
hearing distance Of Stumpy's. The men con- |
versed in whispers, or smoked In Indian gravity.
Profanity was tscity given up in these sacred |
precincts, and throughout the camp a popular |
form Of expletive, known IS "d--n the luck ~ |
snd course the luck, wss abandoned, a. having
new personal bearing. Vocal music was moth |
teTdicted, being supposed TO have a soothing, |
'man-o'-wsr Jack" an English sailor from Her |
Msjestys Australian colonies, was quite popular |
rs a lullaby, IL was a lugubrous recital OF the |
exploits Of the Arethusa, seventy four" in q
muflied minor. ending With prolonged dying fall |
at the burden of each verse, "0n |
b.o.o.ard of the Arethusa.n Ii was q foe |
sight 10 zee Jack holding The Luck, |
rocking from side to side as il with the mo |
ton OF ship, and grooming forth this naval dtty.
Fiber through the peculiar rocking Jack or the
length of his song-it contained ninety stanzas,
and continued with conscientious deliberation
70 the bitter eDd.the lullaby generally had the
at full length under the trees, 10 the soft summer
twilight, smoking their pipes and drinking ia the
melDdous utterances. Al indisunct idea that this |
was pastoral happiness pervaded the camp. This |
ere kind % thins," said the Cockney Simmons,
medtetively reclining on his elbow, "is eyiagly.n
II reminded him Of Greenwich.
On the long summer days The Luck was usually |
carried TO the gulcb, from whence the golden store
Of r airing Camp was taken. There, on blanket /
spread over pine bouehs, be would lie while the /
men were working IN the bitches below. Lstterly /
there was rude attempt 10 decorate THE bower |
with flowers and sweet smelling shrubs and gen l
orally some one would bring him olusier OF wild /