The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-01-10
THE LOST CARIN

y
had pointed out to me as the city among
ten thousand where crowding cases and
flowing fees would overwhelm the am
bilious disciple of Blackstone, had
really more claw than it could con-
veniently carry with any prospect OF
municipal progress. Had every inhab-
liant of the place given himself up
entirely to the spirit of acrimonious
and implacable litigation, the felicitous
equipoise of demand and supply would
not yet have been restored; ON the con-
trary, q gaunt forest of legal climbs
would have remained idle and unap-
ropriated-waving bleakly in the win
ter of inevitable decay. A "heart of
oak, suppOsing it to have been in the
law business, could not, under these
circumstances, have been joyously i'm
ponderable; and it was no wonder that
my own, being of very common timber,
weighed heavily on this April night,
and dragged me down into fathomless
depths of dependency. What was ]
to do when the few hundred dollars
brought with me had wasted utterly
away? This interrogatory rose upon
me again and again with a spinx-like
emphasis that was appalling? While
amusing myself with reveries of this
cheerful nature, some one raped at
my Office door, and in response to my
/" come in, not uttered in the gentlest
of tones, tall young man, of dark
complexion and habited in a suit of
heavy brown cloth, entered. | recog-
nized him, after the usual salutations
had passed, as a person who had, for
several weeks, been sOjourning at my
hotel, the c. House Taking the
chair proffered, he seated himself near
the stove, and, bending upon me from
under a pair of heavy, black eyebrows,
a glancr glittering and keen with
scrutiny, said, cit is nasty night for
April!'
1t is, indeed" l replied, stopping
to replenish the stove; land you seem
to have had the benefit of it."
eyes; had some difficulty in finding
your office-and that reminds me that 1
did not come here to discuss the
weather, but to talk business.
He bent his head for a moment, as if
to reflect, and l fixed myself in an atti-
tude of respectful attention, my first
fee being the idea that YVES uppermost
in my mind.
care you satisfied with this?" and,
rs he spoke, he waved his hand satiri-
cally toward the single Fabstaffian
column of law books largely recruited
from the Patent Office Department, on
a shelf against the wall opposite.
/ smiled, and, without waiting for
further answer, he proceeded.
elf you succeed at all in the practice
of the law in Portland, it will be after
years of patience, persistent labor, and
En Of oY,I
ton. I believe that you realize this
yourself, and for that reason l have
come here tonight to share with you a
valuable secret, and to solicit your
assistance in project which, if success
fully prosecuted, will enrich us both. Z"
A suspicion of double-barreled bur-
glary flashed across me, and 1 suppose
he must have seen something of the
kind in my face, for he resumed imme-
diately, with an impatient gesture,
Nay, it is honorable; and all ask of
you in return for the confidence lem
about to repose in you, is n pledge of
secrecy in the event that you do not
join me in the project to which have
alluded"
Having received every assurance of
good faith on my part, and drawing his
chair closer to mine, and then looking
toward the door, suggested that 1 had
better lock it. / got up to attend to
that, and when resumed my seat be-
side him, he had lighted cigar, and
was evidently going to be comfortably.
He held his cigar-case toward me, and
asked:
did you ever hear the story of the
Lost Cabin?''
[ never had.
''No? / will tell it to you now. In
the Spring of 1856, while the southern
border of Oregon was ringing with the
battle$Of that memorable war between
the heroic settlers of the Territory and
the Shasta and Rouge River Indians,
two brothers by the name of Wilson
James and Henry-arrived at Jackson
vile, and, getting together a small
set out, fully armed, to prospect for
gold along the rivers and among the
broken ranges of the mountains south
ward of that then prosperous mining
town. The party had been out for
several weeks, meeting with but little
success, and had just lost one of their
number in a skirmish with the Indians,
when a council was called, and all but
the Wilson brothers concurred in the
opinion that it was best to return to
Jacksonville and wait for the conclusion
of the war.
"The Wilson's were of a naughty,
obstinate spirit, thorough in mountain
craft, and brave to recklessness. With
them daring was habit and danger a
luxury, and they held out against the
arguments and entreaties of their more
prudent comrades, until it was agreed,
finally, that they should have the great
er part of the provisions, ammunition,
&C, and continue in their search, while
the others would retrace their steps by
the shortest and safest route.
On the morning of parting, James
Wilson rose in his stirrups, and, swing
ing his rife aloft with an arm splendid
ly muscular, exclaimed: 'Good-by
boys! and good luck Ito you, but we
can't go back. There is gold somewhere
yonder behind that smoky line of
mountains, and we are going to dig it
out, though all the redskins of the
wilderness stand guard over it, Well
come back rich as kings, bOysl or,leave
our bones to bleach there; it's n glorious
battle-ground!
This high speech fired the hearts of
the retreating party for a moment, and
some of them turned, as though they,
too, would fain peril their lives for that
without which life is more bitter than
death; But the momentary flash of
heroism went down, aud shaking their
heads in denial, they rode away, shout
ing back rude woxSlsaaf cheer.
"They nevs gain. The main
division reaeHE ksonville after
many days Of kFne and perilous
travel, and wait4AG in, vain through
Iengthening months for some tidings of
the Wilson's. Their story is sealed to
all, save me. I owe my own knowledge
to their further progress and final fate
to the fact that we were cousins and
confidential friends. With this word of
explanation, Will give you so much of
the history of the brothers as came to
me in the letters of James, written at
San Francisco, in the year 1859. ] have
them here'-and, as he talked, he drew
forth packet of perhaps dozen let
ters. much worn, creased and soiled,
and held them in his hand" but have
no need to recur to them, as | have read
them many times.