Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-01-05
Bakers Cat-A California Yarn.

Speaking of sagacity, it reminds me of
Dick Baker, pocket-miner of Desdhorse
Gulch. Whenever he was out of luck
and little dcwn-hesrted, he would fall
10 mourning over the loss of a,wonderful
cat he used to own (for where women aud
children are not men of kindly impulses
take up with pets, for they must love
something). And be always spoke of the
strange sagacity of that cat with the air
Of q man who believed in his secret heart
that there was something human about it
maybe even supernatural.
heard him talking about this animal
once. He said Gentlemen, used to
have q cat here, by the name of Tom
Quartz, which you'd a took an interest in,
/ reckon-most anybody would. ! had
him here eight year he was the re-
markablest cat | ever see. He was
large gray one Of the Tom specie, and he
had more hard, nat'rsl aense than any
men in this csmp-snd poDer of dig
nity-be wouldn't let the Gov ner of
California be familiar with him. He
never ketche6 arstin his life-'peared to
be above it. Ha never cared for nothing
but mining. He knowed more about
mining, that cat did, than any man 1
ever see. You couldn't tell him nothing
about placer diggings-snd as for pocket
mining, why he was just born for it. He
would dig out after me and Jim when We
went over the hills prospecting, and he
would trot along behind us for ss much
as FIVE mile, if we went so far. And he
had the best judgment about mining
ground-why you never see anything
| like it. When we went to work, he'd
scatter a glance around, and if he didn't
think much of the Indications he would
give look as much as TO say: "Well,
| I'll have to get you to excuse me-" and
without another word he'd hyste his nose
into the sir and shove for home. But if
the ground suited him, be would lay low
and keep dark Till the frat pan wss
washed, and then he would sidle up and
take look, and if there was about six or
seven grains of gold he was satis6ed-he
didn't want no better prospect that
and then he would lay down on eur coats
and snore like steamboat till we'd
struck the pocket, and then get up and
| superintend. Jef
"Well, by and by, up comes this quartz
| excitement. Everybody was into it
every body was picking and blasting in
stead of shovelling dirt on the hill side
verybody was putting down a shaft in
stead of scraping the surface. Nothing
would do Jim, but zoe must tackle the
Iedges, too, and so we did. We COM
menced putting down shaft, aud Tom
| Quartz he began to wonder what in the
| alckens il was all about. He hadn't
ever seen any mining like that before,
| and he was all upset, as you may say
be couldn't come TO right understand
ing cf Il no way-it was too many for
him he was down on it, too, you bet
you-he was down on il poweriul--sud
always appeared TO consider il the cussed-
est foolishness out But that cat, you
know, be war dlpays sgin new tangled
arrangements-some he never could
ahiaa Zee. Yce k.c= hs= Z. I. g g vita 5;55
habits. But BY and BY Tom Quartz be-
gin TO git sort Of reconciled little,
though be never could altogether under.
stand that eternal sinking Of shsft aud
never psnniug cot anything. At last be
eot 10 coming down in the shaft, hisself,
10 try to cipher il out And when bed
eet he blues, and feel kind o scrufy,
Aggravated aud diseusied-knosing as
be did that the bills were running up all
the time aud We varn't making cent
he would curl up on . Runay ssez IN the
corner end 20 70 sleep We'll, one day
when the shaft was down sbout eight foot,
the reck got 90 bard that We had 70 put
in blasl--the frst Blasting we'd ever
done since Tom Quartz vas born. And
then we III the fues and clunb oui aud