New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-12-28

| near me! Gays she, anu with That sue jump
forward, and left. It's ten years, bOys
how, when she fetched that leap, / materially
left"
He had been standing beside the bar-bil
usual attitude-when he made this speech
but at this point he halt-fsced his auditors
with q look that was very effective. Indeed
q few who had exhibited some signs Of
skepticism and lack Of interest, at once as
sumed an appearance of intense gratifca
ton and curiOsiiy as he went on.
"Well, by bsngin' round there for q day
or two, found out ut last it was 10 be Me
lindy's birthday next week, and that che
was going to have a big party. l tell ye
what, boys, it weren't no SLOUGH of recep
ton. The whole house was bloomin' with
flowers, and blazin' with lights, and there
was no end of servants and plate and re-
treatments and fxins-"
"Uncle JOe"
"Well9"
"Where did they get the moneys.
PluDkett faced his interlOcutOr with &C.
we're glance. II always said" he replied
slowly. that when went home I'd send on
ahead OF me q draft for $4,000. ALWAYS
said that, didn't ~ Ehs And said l was
going homeland I've been home-haven' t
II WenT
Either there was something irresistibly
conclusive in this logic, or else the desire to
hear the remainder Of Plunkett's story was
stronger; but there was no more intsrrup
ton. His ready good humor quickly re.
turned, and, with q slight chuckle, he went
| on.
II went to the biggest iewelry shop in
town and bought pair OF diamond ear.
rlngs and put thu m in my pocket, and went
to the house. what namep says the chap
| who opened the door. and he looked like a
| cross between a restaurant waiter aud
parson. 'Skeesicks,' says l. He takes me
in. and pretty soon my wife comes sailin'
into che parlor and says, Excuse me, but
don't think recognize the name' She was
mighty polite, tor had on q red wig and
| side-whiskers. "A friend Of your husbands
from California, ms'am, with Il present tor
your daughter, Miss - and made as If
l had forgot the name. But of sudden a
| voice said, That's too thin,' and in walked
Melindy. Its playip' it too low dowa,
tatl er, to pretend you don't know your
daughters name-ain't 1t, nowi How are
you, old mani And with that she tears off
my wig and whiskers and throws her arms
around my neck-instinct, sir. pure iDstiuc r.
Embroidered by tie laughter which fol
lowed his description of the filial utter
ances Of Melinda, he again repeated her
speech. with more or less elaborat ion. Join
ing in with, and indeed often leading, the
hillarlty that accompanied it, and return
ing to 1t with more or less incOherency, sew
eral times during the evening.
And SO at various times, and at various
places, but chiefy in bar-rooms, did this
Ulysses of Monte Flat recount bis wander
lngs There were several discrepancies in
his statement, there was sometimes cunsid-
cradle prOlixity of detail, there was occa
slOnal change of character and scenery.
there was once or twice an absolute change
OF denOuemeDt, but always the fact of his
having visited his wife and children IT,
manned.
Of course in skeptical community like
that of Monte Flat-a community accus
toned to great expectation and small real.
ization-a community wherein, to use the
local dialect, "they got the color and struck
hardpan." more frequently than any other
mining camp-in such = community the
fullest credence was not given to old man
PiunBetts facts. There was only one ex-
ceptiOn to the general unbeliel-Heury
York, Of Sandy Bar. 1t was he who was |
always an attentive listener; it Was bis
scant purse that had often furnished Plum.
kett with means to pursue his Improbable |
speculatiOns; it was to him that the charms |
OF Melinda were more frequently re-
hearsed; it was he that had borrowed her |
photograph, and 1t was he that, sitting |
alone in his cabin one night, kissed that |
photograph until his honest, handsome face |
glowed sgain in the freight. 1t WIS dusty !
in Monte Flat.
The ruins of the long. dry season were
crumbling everyw here; every where the |
dying summer had strewn irs red ashes a
foot deep or exhaled its last breath ia a red
cloud above the troubled highways The
alders and cottonwood that marked the l.
line OF the water courses were grimy with
dust, and looked as If they might have taken
root in the open air; the gltamiDg stones Of
the parched water-cOuIses themselves were
as dry bones in the valley Of death. The
dusty sunset at times painted IN the TANKS
other days there was an .dd. indetinable
earthquake hollow on the volcanic cone Of
the further coast spurs; again I'm acrid,
resinOus smoke from the burning wood on |
Heavytree Hill, smarted the eyes and
chOked the free breath of Monte Flat, or q
fierce wind, driving every
the shriveled summer like u curltd leaf
before it, swept down the TANKS of the
Sierras and chased the inhabitants to The
doors of their cabins, and shook It's red fist
in at their windows. And On such = night
Be this-the dust having, in some way,
chOked the wheels of material progress in
Monte Flat-nOst of the inhabitants we're
gathered listlessly in the gilded bar-roOm of
The Moquelunne Hotel, splitting silently ON
tain winds to the shorn lambs Of Monte
Flat, and waiting for the rain.
Every method known to the Flat of be- |
quilting the time until the advent of this |
ong looked for phenomenon had been tried. |
1t is true the methods were not Many-be-
ng limited chiefly t. that form OF popular
facthe known ne practical joking; and
eve n this had assumed the seriousness of q |
business pursuit. Tommy Roy, who had
spent two hours digging q ditch in front OF
bla own dOOr-iDtO which y few triends cas- |
1ally dropped during the eveniLg-looked |
and dissatisfied; the four pIcini-
rent citizens, who, disguised AZ foutpa,Is,
lad stopped the county treasurer On the |
Ningdam road, were jaded from their play
al efforts next morning; the principal ply
ician and lawyer OF Monte Flat, who had /
inferred into an unhsliow+a conspiracy to I
Ompel the sheriff of Calaveras and his | ,
'osse to serve q writ "f tj-ctm-nt on a I
rizzly bear. feebly disguised under the
anne Of zone Major Ur-u-." WIN haunted q
he groves OF Heavytree Hill, wore An ex- Z
resslOn Of resigned weariness. Even the | '
ditor OF the Monte Fiat Monitor. who t
ad that morning written y CLOWN nc q
cunt of . battle with the Wipneck Indians I
Or tbs benefit of Eastern readers-even he | I
,oked grave and worn. When, at last,
.bnrr Dean, of Angels, who had been ON u K
lsit to San Francisco, walked INFO the | il
pom. he was. of course, vioiimizrd in the u
sual way by one or Two sppar ntly honest y
uestiUns, which ended in his answering
lem, and then falling into the trap OF ask r.
x anO,her, to his utter and complete b
lame and mOrtlicatipn-but that was pll. y
Obody laughed. and AbB-r, although a q
ctiu, did nut lose his good humor. He y
rDed quietly on his tOrm-Dts's and said: d
" I've got something better than that c.
Oh know old man PlunkettT h
Every body simultaneously spat ut the Y
owe and nodded bic head. b
IS You know be went home three years f
or Two or three changed the position Y