The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1871-12-07
TRIED AND TRUE.
An DER True Story Of California Life.

In the year 1851. there were among the
early settlements of San Francisco, California,
two brothers named Thompson, who, having
come thither from an Eastern state at the
| beginning of the "gold excitement" three
years before, and labored conformity for the
more generous faTors of fortune without COM
mensurate result, decided at last to separate
for time; the one to 60 to the mines and
work for the fraternal partnership there,
while the other remained in the city and i'm
proved such chances as ordinary business
should offer By such au arrangement two
promising fields would be worked at once,
and its wisdom was equally obvious to both
young men; but when it came to the question
| of which of them should assume the hard
ships and perils of miners life, neither ex-
hibited an a!acrity to name himself for the
adventure.
! To decide this delicate point they drew
lots, by which formula of fate, the elder
| Thompson was doomed to become the miner,
and accordingly procured an outfit, and pre-
pared to leave tho city Before taking the
latter step, however, the miner elect chose to
bring little romance of his California life to
climax by wedding young Eastern woman,
who like himself, had left homo to WOO for
| tune on the Pacific coast; and although he
could not take her with him into the wild,
comfortless life Of the mines, the satisfaction
| of feeling that he had at least secured her
for himself and had loved brother in whose
| care to leave her, gave him more courage and
| inspiration for bis departure than might have
| beea possible to him as bachelor Welded
| he was, then, aud after honeymoon of heroic
brevity he consigned his bride to the protec-
| ton of his brother, and bravely marched
away with pick and shovel to the gold fields
| of the north. Eager as he naturally was to
dig his prize from the earth and hasten back
to the greater prize left behind, he was yet
firmly resolved to deny himself wife, brother
and home, until he indeed be the bearer OF
some share Of wealth So when his first es-
say in the mines did not prove wholly salts
/ factory he went gturdily onward into the In
| dian country, aud. amongst the red men, ad-
| ding hunting and trapping to his mining pur-
! suits. Thence still, moving further north
ward, he reached Fraser River when the ex-
element about the auriferous yield of that
locality was in its height, and there succeeded
in digging no less than 200 ounces Of the
precious dust, which he at once sent by ex-
press 20 his wife and brother in San Francisco.
From them he had thus far heard nothing
on his travels, for it had been agreed that
they ohould not write until he should be in
some place reached by regular mails; but now
| he was impatient to know how they regarded
his present, and felt sure that they would de-
wise some means of forwarding their written
congratulation The feeling was vain, how
eyer; no letter came; and, after months of
waiting, the finally indignant Thompson
wrote to friend in San Francisco with en-
quiries respecting the silent ones. The an
swer come that they had recently disappeared
from the city, together, having apparently, IN
, ,aeir possession considerable sum of money,
obtained no ole knew how. The miner, OF
course, knew whence the money came; but
such intelligence of its seeming effect upon
those he held dearest in the world appealed to
his apprehension in most sinister sense
He believed that he was doubly betrayed;
that his wife and his brother had basely and
heartlessly practiced the blacklist treachery
against him, finally to use the gold he had
sent to help beyond his reach. Heart broken
and desperate the poor fellow thought no more
of any goodly fortune for himself, but cared
only for such wandering, wild adventure aud
savagery, az should divert him from all retro
spective and tender thoughts.
He Joined an EXPEDITION to the Great Salt
Lake, as it is called, and remained in the
wilderness beyond reach Of mail or messen-
ger for several years. Returning finally to
Victoria, or Fraser River, be went with an
| III o1,,,3ftyoo 70 bo opd fhnro opd IN
| Montana he was lost till as late as 1866
From the latter year until 1863 he was ares
dent Of Salt Lake City, going from thence
to the once famous White Pine mines. of Ne
vada, about eighteen months ago. Fortune
smiled net upon his generally listless efforts;
he had life of comf6rtless vagabondage and
the twenty years of his absence from San
Francisco wrought such lines in his sace and
Wilderness in his hair as forty happier ones
could not have produced. a9
| Some two weeks ago the broken, hopeless
i not far from the town Of Eureka, Neva-
da, for the purpose of joining a company ft
ting out for trip to Arazona, and there, says
the Eureka Sentinel, telling his story. he was
fated to be delivered at last from the ielusior
Of twenty miserable years. In the expedition
preparing for. Arazona, was another mar
named Thompson. who though neither reoog
pized nor recognizing at first, proved to be ne
other than the miners recreant brother.
! When the boor vagabond wandercr discoy
cred this despite his wrongs, he fell upon hi
brothers. neck aud cried like a child and no
only did that brother receive and return tn
caress without shame, but he took the CARL
est opportunity to reprove the other for leav
ing his wife and brother to suppose, for near
| " a score ofyears. rhsss he was dad la
The gold had been received, but without
address, or line to tell whether it came a
| q living mans gift, or dead mans legacy
No letter from the miner had ever been re
ceived by wife OR brother, although they ha
] sent many a one to him. The wife had q
last felt obliged to conclude that her husban
was dead the gold sent had been his dyio
gift and with the money she bought valua
! bic farm near San Jose, where wearing tn
e weeds of widowhood, she still lives AS 70
t the brother, he spent portions of the last fl
teen years is the pursuit Of some trace Of tn
miner, hoping at least to fld his grave an
sanity it with fraternal tear; but now ths
he saw the living man before him, nothin
was left to them but rushing Journey to