St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-04-19
Chuck.
A COLORADO ROMANCE.

If yOu stand upon IL certain bluff on
the south side of the ARKANSAS river, ii
few miles above the mouth of the Pur-
gatoirc. YOU will he the spectator of il
scene not easily forgotten in future
wanderings. Eastward stretches dimly
away the winding. Sedgy valley OF the
dreariest river of the West treelrsS.
sandy, desolate. All around YOU are
the endless unduationS of the wilder
ness. Beneath You are the Vet silent
camps of those who are here day and
gone tomorrow. Westward i some
thing YOU anticipate rather than sec:
vague and misty forms lying upon the
horizon. But while the world is Yet
dark below and around Won. and there
is scarce the faintest tingc of gray in the
east, if You chance to look northWard.
you will see something crimson high up
against the sky. At first il i> Il ruSratc
glow, shapelcsS and underlined. Then
it becomes cloud-clStlc. hattlcmcnted
and inaccessible. drapcd in mist and
hung about with Il lowering curtain of
changing purple. But aS it grows
winter and clearer. the vague outlines
of Il mighty shape appear below it.
stretching downward toward the earth.
What You see is the lofty pinnacle which
has cleaned first in the flying darkness,
Sun-ki>Scd and gloriticd in the rosy
mornings of all the centuries. 1t is
Pixies peak. sixty miles away.
Years ago. Il victim of the nomadic
instinct. named Lcmucl Sims. Il man
who had forSakcn his home in the Mis-
souri, h0ttnnlS for gold hunting jour
ncy to California. and who. after many
changes. had again started eastward.
was finally stranded upon the banks of
Arkansas. within the magic circle of
protection around old Fort l.vum. Sims
had grown middlr-aged III wandering
and had consumed almost the last re
mains of that dog@cd energy in migrH-
tion which is the characteristic of his
class, 10y the time he reached spot
than which it would have been hard to
find amy more utterly wanting in at
fractions. But he WAS not alone, for he
had il wife who had been his companion
in all his journeys, and three daughters
who had iIregularly come in upon his
viciSSitudcS. In sending those guests
which are always unwclcOmc and never
turned away. the old mans tateS had
not been kind. What he needed WAS
lbN S.-bDNS - bl NlltHl Iltltdlltl
he made the ranchcrs. the Indian fight
erS, the hunters and the pokcr-playcrs
who should diligently follow in the
footsteps of their wild predecessors, and
live hard and die suddenly. When
Sims came to his last residence. the
order of march waS aS follows: First,
Sims. hundred yards i'll advance.
gun in hand; secondly. two mules and
an old wagon, with Mrs. Sims ut the
helm thirdly. three COWS, four sheep,
four dogs: and behind all, two freck
led. brawny. moccasined girls. The
third and Youngest. the darling of the
family,-too young. indeed, for service.
occupied Il coy nest among the house
hold goods, and pecped out from be
meath the tattered cover, plump, saucy
and childishly content. She had ac-
quired the name of Chuck, abbreviated
from chicquitd, little one, and amid
all the changes which befell her there
after, the name clung to her as Il part of
herself.
The Sims ''outttr was only an inte-
grail portion of Il cavalcade of such.
strong enough for all purposes of mu-
tual society and defense. Months had
passed since the family began this last
move. The long summer days had
passed, and the nipping nights and
scanty pasturagc were the cause of the
premature ending of the journey. Hav-
ing stopped only for the night, they had
concluded to stay until spring. or some
other time when spasm OF the mlgra-
tory disease should seize them. But the
rough house of cottonwood logs Sims
made with the help of his family was
sheltered nook which soon became
hOme-like. There was game Ill abun-
dance, and what was not Immediately
consumed the old man exchanged f0l
groceries at the post. What was still
more fortunate, Sims house was neal