The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-01-25

before, and it was now the only name
by which he was known. The
amount Of gold which he had boarded
and hidden away in that dismal old
cabin, through years Of incessant toll,
Was computed to be enormous.
Year after year the grass stole farth-
I er down from the hilltOps to which II
/ had been driven, as it were, in the ear
! ly settlement of the camp; at last,
( itenvirOned the few remaining cabins,
as if they were besieged, and it stood
up tall and undisturbed in the only
remaining street. still regularly three
times a day the smoke curled up from
[ The Gopher's cabin, and the bull dog
kept unbroken sentry at the door.
a quartz lead had been struck a lit
tie ways farther up the gulch, and a
rival town established. The prOprie-
| tor named the new camp "OrOdelphi," "
| but the man of the saloon of Mexican
| Camp, who always insisted that he
was born a genius called it ''HOgem."
I It stuck like wax, and HOgem Is the
only name by which the place is
| known to this day.
One evening there was consterna-
| ton among the idlers OF Mexican
| Camp. 1t was announced that the
| last saloon would be moved to Hogem.
/ A remOnstrance was talked OF, but
I q man known as the Judge"
| from his calm demeanor in the face of
the graYest trouble, urged that the
calamity was not so great after all,
since each man could easily transport
| his blanket to the vacant cabins Of
| Hogem, no more was said.
The next winter The Gopher was
! left utterly alone, and in the January
spring that followed the grass and
clover crept down strong and thick
from the hills and spread in a pretty
carpet across the Unmeasured streets
of the once populous Mexican Camp.
Little gray horned toads summed them
selves on the great fiat rock that had
! served for hearth-stone, and the wild
hop-vines clambered up and across
the toppling and shapless chimneys.
Some idlers sat at sunset on the YER
andah of the saloon at HOgem, look
| ing dowu the gulch as the manZanita
smoke curled up from The GOpher's
cabin.
A sailor broke silence: "Looks like
q Feejee camp on South Sea Island y
Robinson Crusoe-the last man Of
Mexican Camp-the last rose Of sum-
mer." This was said by a young man
who sent some verses to the Hd1gtOl0Tl
Weekly.
"Looks to me, in its crows nest Of
chaparral, like the lucky ace Of
spades" added a man who sat apart
contemplating the wax under the nail
of his right forefinger.
The school master here picked up
the ace of hearts, drew out his pencil
and figured rapidly.
"There!" he cried, fiourishing the
card, 'I put il an ounce day for eight
years, and that is the result" The
| figures astonished them all. It was
decided that the old miser had at least
q mule load Of gold in his cabin.
"It is my opinion" said the Squire,
who was small of stature, and conse-
quently insolent and impertinent, 'he
had ought to be taken up tried, and
hung for killing his partnerin '49.
"The time has run out" said the
coroner, who now came up, adjusting
q tall hat to which he was evidently
not accustomed; "the time for such
cases, by the law made and provided,
has run out, and it is my opinion it
can't be did"
Not long after this it was discovered
that The Gopher was not at work.
Then it came out that he was very i'll,
and that old Forty-nine was seen to
enter his cabin.
Early one frosty morning in the
fall following, old Forty-nine Jimmy
sat by the door of the only saloon at
Hogem. He held an old bull dog by
O tow string, and both man and dog
were pictures of distress as they shiv-
cred from the keen cold wind that
came pitching down from the snow
peaks. AS l approached, the man
shivered till his teeth chartered, and
clutching at his string looked help
| Iessly over his shoulder at the uncOm-
promising bar-keeper, who had just
arisen and opened the door to let out
the bad odors Of his den. The dog
shivered, too, and came up and sat
down close enough to receive the
sympathetic hand of old Forty-nine
on his broad bowed head. This man
was a relic and a wreck. Nearly
twenty years of miners life and labor
in the mountains, interrupted only by
periodical sprees, governed in their
duration solely by the result of his
last ''clean up," had made him one Of
type Of men known only to the
Pacific. True, he failed to negotiate
with the savage einnamon-headed
vender of poison: but he was no beg
gar. It was simply failure to obtain
Wall street accommodation in a
small way. I doubt if the bristle-
haired bar keeper himself questioned
the honesty of Forty-nine. 1t was
merely question of ability to pay,
and the decision of the autOcrat had
been promptly and firmly given
against the applicant. Perhaps, in
strict Justice to the red-haired wretch
that washed his tumblers and watched
| for victims that frosty morning, l
certainly against FOrty-nine. 1t IS
nothing at all against brave, frugal
gold miner, lifting his heart out of and
| over the Sierras to a group awaiting
him away in the East, to be found
wearing patches on his clothes, and
even patches on the patches; in fact, a
have known many who, coupling
quaint humor with economy, wore l
neatly stitched on that portion of q
certain garment most liable to wear
and tear when the owner had only
boulders and hard benches to sit upon
the last weeks flour sack, bearing
this inscription in bold black letters,
Warranted superfine, so lbs" But
Forty-nine had not even a patch,
therefore, no -four sack, ergo, no flour.
The most certain sign of the total
wreck of a California miner is the
| absence of top boots. When all other
signs fail this one is infallible. You
can with tolerable certainty in the
place mines, tell how a miners claim
| is paying by the condition and quality
| of his top boots. FOrty-nine had no
boots, only pair Of slippers impro-
vised from what had been," and be-
tween the top of these and the legs of
/ his pantaloons there was no COM
promise across the naked, cold-blue
ankles. These signs, together with q
| buttonless blue shirt that showed his
hairy bosom, frightfdl beard, and
hair beneath q hat that drooped like q
wilted palm-leaf, were the circumstan-
! tial evidences from which judge Bar
keep made his decision.
I have noticed that those who stop,
stand and look longest at the tempting
display of viands in cook-shop win
dows, are those that have not pen
nv to purchase with. Perhaps there
was something of this nature in old
Forty-nine that impeiled him to look
again and again over his shOulder-as
he clutched tighter to the tow string
at the cinnamon-hea1ed bottle
washer behind the bar at Hogem.
AS 1 stood before this man he turn
ed his eyes from the bar-keeper and
! lifted them helplessly to mine
Charlie is dead"
Charlie who? Who is Charlie:'
"CharIie Godfrey, The Gopher, and
here is his dog" and as he spoke, the
dog, as if knowing his masters name
and feeling his loss, crOuched close to
| the old mans legs.
/ A new commOtion in HOgem. Say
what you will of gold, whatever any
one shuts his eyes and turns forever
from it, as if in contempt, for a day,
at least, he assumes q majesty proper
tionate with the amout he has left be-
hind him and seems to despise.
The coroner, who was a candidate
for a higher Office, marshaled the
leading spirits at HOgem and proceed
/ ed to the cabin where the dead man
lay. He felt that his reputation was
at stake, and entering the cabin, said in
! q Solapn n vOioa GfiD the name of the