The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1872-04-20

J
of Roaring Camp, its sin and shame
forever. do not think the announce
ment disturbed them much, except in
speculation as to the fate of the child.
C Can he live now?" was asked of
I Stumpy. The answer was doubtful
The only other being of Cherokee SAILS
sex and maternal condition in the set
tlement was an ass. There was some
conjecture rs to fitness, but the expert
ment was tried. 1t was less promble-
matical than the ancient treatment of
Romulus and Remus, and apparently
as successful.
When these details were completed,
which exhausted another hour, the
door was opened, and the anxious crowd
Of men who had already formed them
selves into Il queue, entered in single
file. Beside the low bunk or shelf, on
which the figure of the mother was
starl<ly outlined below the blankets,
stood a pine table. On this a candle
box was placed, and within it, swathed
in staring red flannel, lay the last arri-
val at Roaring Camp. Beside the cam
dle-box was placed a hat. Its use was
soon Indicated. HGentIcmen,' said
Stumpy, with Il singular mixture of
authority and e.r-0Dfcio complacency-
ssGentlemen will please pass in at the
front door, round the table, and out at
the front door. Them as wishes to con-
tribute anything toward the orphan
will find Il hat handy The first man
entered with his hat on he uncovered,
however, as he looked about him, and
so, unconsciously, set an example to
the next. In such communities good
and bad actions are catching. AS the
procession filed in, comments We're
, & rf3i I0i u
rather to Stumpy, in the character of
showman,-"Is that him?" "mighty
small specimen;" "hasn't MORN got
the color" ssain't bigger nor 4 derrin-
ger" The contributions were as char
acteristic a silver tobacco box; Il
doubloon; Il navy revolver, silver
mOunted; gold specimen; a very beau
tifully embroidered lady's handkerchief
(from Oakhurst, the gambler); Il dia-
mond breast-pin; a diamond ring Isug
gested by the pin,with the remark that
he "saW that pin and went two dia-
monds better'); a slung shot; a Bible
Contributor not detected); a gold spur;
a silver teaspoon (the initials, regret
to say, were not the giver's); Il pair of
surgeons shears; a lancet; u Bank of
England note for .e5; and about 5000 in
loose gold and silver coin. During
a silence as impassive as the dead on
his left, a gravity as inscrutable as that
Of the neWly-born on his right. Only
one incident occurred to break the mo-
notony of the curious procession. AS
Kentuck bent over the candle-boX half
curiously, the child turned, and, in u
spasrn of pain, caught at his cropping
finger, and held it fast fol a moment.
Kentuck looked foolish and embarrass-
ed. Something like a blush tried to as
sert itself in his Weather-beaten cheek.
"The id little cuss!' he said, as ne
eXtricated his finger, with perhaps
more tenderness and care than he might
have been deemed capable of showing.
He held that finger Il little apart from
its fellows as he went out, and eXamin-
ed it curiously. The examination pro-
vOked the same original remark in
regard to the child. In fact, he seemed
to enjoy repeating it. "Hc rastled with
my tinger,'' he remarked to Upton,
holding up the member, "thc id lit
tie cuss!"
1t was i o'clock before the camp
sought rcpose. A light burnt in the
cabin where the watchers sat, for
Stumpy did not go to bed that night.
Nor did Kentuck. He drank quite
freely, and related with great gusto his
experience, invariably ending with his
characteristic condemnation of the
new conner. 1t seemed to relieve him
of any unjust implication of sentiment,
and Kentttck had the weaknesses of
the nObler sex. When everybody else
had gone to bed, he walked down to
the river, and whistled retiectively.-
Then he walked up to the gulch, past
the cabin, still whistling with demon-
strative unconcern. At Il large red
wood tree he paused and rctraced his
steps, and again passed the cabin. Half
way down to the rivers bank he again
paused, and then returned and knocked
at the door. 1t was opened by Stumpy.
"How goes it?'' said kcntuck, looking
past Stumpy toward the candIc-boX.-
s'AIl Serene" replied Stumpy. "Any
thing up:' "Nothing.' There was Il
pause--an embarrassing Onc-Stumpy
still holding the door. Then Kcntuck
had recourse to his finger. "Rastled
with 1.-THE id little c,lss," he said,
and retired.
The next day Cherokee Sal had such
rude scpulturc as Roaring Camp afford
ed. After her body had been commit
ted to the hillside, there was formal
meeting of the camp to discuss what
should be done with her infant. a re-
solution to adopt it was unanimous and