New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-12-28
A MONTE FLAT PASTORAL
How Old Man Plunkett Went Home.
BRET HARTE's LAST STORY.
lProm Scribnel's for January !

l think we all loved him. Even afte
he mismanaged the affairs of the Amity
Ditch Company We Communicated him, al
though most of us were stockholders anC
lost heavily. / remember that the black
smith went 80 far as to say that Then
chaps a. put that responsibility on the ole
man tighter be lynched" But the black
smith was not a stock holder, and the ex
preston was looked upon a. the excusablt
extravaganza of large eyDpathizing ma
ture, that, when combined with powerful
frame, was unworthy of notice. At leas,
that was the way they put it. Yet think
there WAS a general f cling of regret tina,
old mans long cherished plan OF going
home"
Indeed, for the last ten years he had been
"gOing hUme." He wac going home after a
six months scjourn at Monte Flat He was
going home alter the first rains. He As
going home when the rains were over. He
was going home when he had cut the tim
Der on Buckeye Hill, when there was a pas.
ture on Doe's Flat, when he struck pay.
dirt on Eureka Hill, when the Amlty Com.
pany paid its first dividend, when the cleo
ton was over, when he had received an
answer from his wife. And so the years
rolled by, the spring rains came and went,
the woods OF Buckeye Hill were level with
the ground. the pasture on BOWS Flat gre W
dirt and swamped its owner, the first divl-
dends Of the Amity Companp were made
from the assessments OF stock holders there
c~ere new county officers at Monte Flat bis
wife's answer had changed into q persistent
question, and still old man Plunkett re.
manned.
1t is only fair to say that he had made
several distinct essays toward going. Five
years before he babe goodbye to Monte
Hill NTH rnuoh sffusinu ond h.plohaL;uc
But he never got any further than the next
town. Here he was induced to trade the
sorrel colt be was riding for bay mare-a
transaction that at once opened to bis live.
~ fancy vista of vast and successful flu.
ture speculation. A lew days after, Abner
Dean, OF Angels, received = letter from
MIN stating that lie was going to Visalia to
buy horses. ~ am satisfied" wrote Plum
kett, with that elevated rhetoric for hich
his correspondence was renal able, II am
satisfied that we are at last developing the
real resources of California The world will
yet LOOK to Dow's Flat as the great stock
raising centre. In view of the interests in
vOlved, have deferred my departure for
month" 1t was two before he again re-
turned to us, penniless. Six months later
he was again enabled to start for the East
ern States, and this time got as far as San
Francisco. have before me letter which
which give an extract: ." on know, my
dear boy, that / have always believed that
gambling. as it is absurdly called, is still in
it's infancy in California. l have always
maintained that a perfect system might be
invented by which the game of poker may
doe made to yield u certain percentage to the
intelligent player. / am not at liberty at
present to disclose the system, but before
leaving the city intend to perfect it," He
eseems to have done so, and returned to
eNonte Flat with 81 81, the absolute re-
mainder of his capital after such perfection.
1t was not till 1868 that he appeared to
pnsve finally succeeded in going home. He
lett US by the overland rOute-a route
which be declared would give great oppor-
tunity for the discovery OF undevelOped re-
sources. HIS last letter was dated VII GINA |
City. He WAS absent three years. At the |
close OF very hot day in midsummer he |
alighted from the Wingdam stage with hair |
and beard powdered with dust and age
There was certain shyness about his greet |
ing, quite different from bis usual frank |
v0lubllity that did not, however, impress |
Ms rs any accession of character. For some |
days he vas reserved n garding his recent |
visit, cODtenting himself with asserting,
with more or less aggrssiveness, that he had |
always said he was going home, and now
he had been there" Later he grew more
and spoke freely and criti-
cally Of the manners and customs of New
York aud Boston, commented on the social
changes in the years of his absence,
and, i remember, WAS very hard upon
what he deemed the fOilies incidental to q
high state of civilization. Still later he
daIkly alluded to The moral laxity Of the
higher planes of Eastern society, but it was
not long before he completely tore away the
veil and revealed the naked wickedness of
New YoIk social life in q way l even now
,hudder to recall. VIDOus intoxicatiOn, it
appeared, was . common habit Of the first
aOles OF the city; immOraIities which he
carcely dared name we're daily practiced
" the refined OF both sexes; ggardliness
nd greed were the common vices of the
ich. Il have always asserted" he CON
inued, THAT corruption must exist where
luxury and riches are rampant, and capital
, not used to develop the natural re-
ources of the country. Thank you'll will
lke mine without sugar."
A, is y. sslole that sumo Of these painful
..sols crept into the local journals. / re-
neln an editorial in the Monte Flat
.I' entitled 1.-The Effete East" in
men tns, fatal decsdence Of New York
. Inv. Gina rw Sland was deliberately stated,
aiv atm s.p Xrred as means Of natural &
we might add thsRS al. sau cnnns' o no.
,;Ih cs..;ss II""eemen" the Eastern visitor t
Later he spoke Of HE FAM Tha d.,u, +,
y he had left Q child had srSsn MO h.su
full wOinsbhOOd; the en- - sit..du . u.Hu
nd larger than bis father. sn6. In S.,sSf,i
il Of strength, ''ths yolng siscai, Sided