The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-02-16
A runIILI,o cAI1ForS1A 1Nc1DEsr or -

A THRILLIasG cALIFoRSIA INCIDENT or ~.
Spindle was a new arrival. The camp,
with customary propriety, had dubbed
him thus because he was so slim. On
the same principle his awkwarl1ness
soon gave him notoriety. Nor this only;
like One-eyed Tom, Spindle made one
of the happiest hits.
Young, passionate, elated beyond de-
gree with the splendor Of his prospects,
il was no surprise that he should court
the pale-faced gamblers, who were the
aristOcrats of the camp. 1t was no won
der that they should discover his weak
ness and determine TO 'salt' him.
Play? No, no; Spindle did not play; he
only came in to watch the game; ID was
tiresome sitting there in the tent alone.
"Try it; double your stake on 'threes ;
triple it on FULL" said a pleasant
faced fellow, who was raking in hund-
red slugs or more. Spindle was inclined
10 listen. "Tell you what TO do" said
the gambler, continuing, Ego me halves
for an hour, and see how you come out"
He did so.
At the end of the hour he had won
''stake" of several thousand dollars.
Spindle was fascinated. "I will double
this tomorrow night" said he, men,
tally, as he left tine gamblers tent. He
doubled it. "Tkis must be tripled,"
said Spindle, as he sought the tent
again; two nights afterwards IL was
tripled. Spindle means to break or be
broken" said the bystanders one night,
about week after his original venture.
"Look at the dust he is betting.u He
is indeed betting heavily. The rattle
snake has charmed him. Bet after bet,
till the winnings Of the week have left
him. bet after bet, until its earnings
are all gone-till the last ''slugI is up,
and he has but a single "sight" for it.
Woe 10 him, for he wins The tide is
floating again, and Spindle is even.
'Safe, safe,n he remarks, betting a
hundred ''slugs" as "blindp on the
strength of his confidence. One by one
the cards go round to the players. Spin
die does not look at his, but gathered
them under his hand on the table. II
see your blind and 90 you a hundred
better.n 1t was "Eaglenose" who spoke
looks at his cards. He has a first-class
hand-fOur queens and king; four aces
only will beat him. EaglenOse can have
but three of those, for he saw one on the
bottom OF the pack as the gambler laid
the cards on the table; the gambler
meant that he should see ii.
81 see your bet and raise you a hun
dred BETTER" replied Spindle. Eagle
nose is uncertain. He looks wistfully
at the gold, furtively at his antagonist,
and very carefully at the cards in his
hand. He waits, he weakens," said
Spindle to himself. 81 thought he was
'bluffing." Spindle does not see the smile
on the face of the bystander at the back
of the gambler, or he would think very
differently. Rising from the rough
stool on which he sits, EaglenOse steps
back in the tent and opens a strong
wooden chest. Two bags of dust are
taken from il, and the gambler staggers
under the heavy load, as he brings il to-
ward the table. Spindle sees a $4,000
mark on each of them. "Bet you them
'ere things" says Eaglenose, as he lays
the two bags with the other gold. 1t is
now Spindle's turn to hesitate Can il
be that he has the other ace? No, he
will not think it; but what shall he do d?
He had not money enough on hand to
"call" him. He does not wish to do
this; it would be cowardly "Har' saws
Spindle, 81 have it now; / will bet my
claim and the few thousand have left
against his pile, if it only be large
enough" This TO himself. Then to
Eaglenose. ''Whatis your pile e?u
''There are five more bags in the chest, -
said the gambler quietly; "what do you
do ~ 'Bet my claim against your
pile" said Spindle, intensely excited.
The bet was taken. Spindle threw his
cards on the table with a half paralyzed
motion and face whittier than the tent
above him-fOur queens and a king.
Eaglenose filed his of, one by one-three
aces, a king, and an ace. Not word
was spoken by either, and Eaglenose
had no reason for SO doing. \ few mo-
ments afterwards the ruined miner stag
gered to the door of the tent, passed out
into the moonlight, and the game goes
on as ever
Half an hour later, Spindle sat in his
tent alone. Before him was the picture
of fair, sweet face that had won his
love Il few years back. Nobody sees
him weep while he watches the play of
light in those eloquent eyes. You could
step in, and step heavily, too, without
startling him. He is lost in reproachful
thought, leading down 10 despair. All
that he had hoped 10 do was vanished.
last night, rich in gold, tonight bank
rnpt. Why, then, should he Iive2 He
can hear the roar of the Yuba as it tum-
bles over the cliff only a mile above
him. He steps out into the open air;
the cataract glimmers in the distance,
and the sound of its waters soothes and
Asclnates him. Nobody will miss him;
why should he hesitate5
n ne moves toward it with eager bound
hn1 hIm determined purpose. Up the rocky
n5ill-up, up, up, till he stands on the
Tee oi tne preeipiee, far above the fall.
ts1oo. oHs l al the white tents in the dis
them. He looks at the white snTav f far -
iar, below him. hundred pha1toms
Deseecn him TO come to them. A neySo
1or an instant only, a whispered some,
tnlng-was 1t prayer? 4 oniclr far-
rlele leap, then the same moonligbt o.
before shone on the fower-slad biiIs
around, on the white tents Of the sleep
ing amp ana n on the whittier face of the
II is dangerous to be ''highly spokepn
of in Cincinnati a ho obx- ,,-as