Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1873-07-04

to walk on the green earth nor TO ride on
the DEVILS mall coach,"# And. by love /
he WASH. iar wrong either for when
You wake up 10 the freshness of the
early morning, afier a good nap beside
your campfire under warm Macinaw
blanket, Sand see the clear sky above you,
and the green waves Of the prairie, swell
beyond swell, stretching away la miles
aud miles In the glory Of the sunrise
and the great plain all alive with the
twittef Of birds and grasshOppers-and
tho fresh, fragrant morning air running
through you like the breath of life, and
every drop Of blood in your veins LEAP
Ing and dancing like living flre-I tell
you, old fellow, there's nothing on earth
TO hold candle tO II
"POOr old Jim braver fellow or q
better eomrsde, never stepped. / mt
him at Denver, on my way across the
Plains, and We were quite like old
friend directly. A simpler, 10 ller, kinder
fellow you can't imaglnei and al drst, he
had quite fatherly compassion for poor
little delicate me, gradually warmlngiuto
real honest delight when he found that
| could handle ride, or CARRY a s'swag. ''
or stand days work as we'll as other
man. Many Jolly day DID we have of
II together, down In Colorado and Arlzo.
na a-he teaching me All the ins and outs
oi hunling and trapping and putting
MN up to the uses Of the different plants
'rv Iell In with (you know was always
bit OF \ hand at botaOy,) which was
Just tue kind of thing be wanted. And
then at hight, when we were sitting over
our campfire after supper, mixing our
grog (and he was rafting good hand at
that, | promise you,) we used to get to
spinning yarns, he telling me of the ad-
ventures he'd had in California and
Nevada In the old gold-dggng days, and
| telling hlm Of all that I'D seen in Eu-
rops.
"After we'd been out In Arizona about
month, we struck the southern end of
the Yosemite Valley, and worked our
way up II toward the main ridge of the
Sierra Nevada. Jim was bound for Sac
ramento, and l thought | might Just as
well stick tO him as long rs | could, and,
after all II lay pretty nearly in my road,
for, Of course, had TO get to Ban Fran.
CLEO If | wanted to go across to the
Sandwich Islands, which was my next
point. mustn't say anything about the
Yosemite, for If were once to begin,
shouldn't be done this week. What with
the Big Timber, and the Yosemite Falls,
and the seHtinel Tower, and Bridal
Veil, I and the North and South Dome,
and the cliff of El Captain (thlrty-lhree
hundred feet of sheer granite without a
break-I'ye seen nothing like II before or
sirce)-in fact, as | heard an Irishman
say once, Nobody can imagine thin
sOights but him that's seen thim-and he
can't.
'Just at this point, ss III luck would
have 1t, poor old Jim fell III Il can't think
how he managed It, for he was as big and
strong as buffalo, and had TO lie up at
a shanty on the road side just at the foot
of the main ridge. Ny own money was
nearly expended: so we agreed that the
best thing | could do was to push on to
Sacramento (Which was only u little
more than a hundred miles to the north
west } aud send him back such 'fixmgs'
as be needed. The poor fellows farewell
to me was very characteristic; Goodbye,
boss take care y yerself amt a-gWina
to 20 under die this bout yew bet /;
and wc'll be on the tramp together agiu
atore long so don't yew co stckm' yer
self In any o. them big smokin' COACHES
as seares away all the bars aud bufllcrsl"
"My new guide II prairie Indian (very
appropriately named RavenOus dog,) a
little, dirty, sheakinls.looking bcggar
whose sole object in life seemed to be to
get drunk us often and ms thoroughly as
possible. However, | wasn't likely to
want him more than four or five DAYS,
and | thonght ] could do with kun that
long 10 | gave him to understand that
If he behaved himself, ia give him
as much rum as he could drink, when
we got in, and If he didn't, I'd send a
bullet through him at once upon which
understanding we started. That day all
went smoothly enough but the next
morning, my evil star made me catch
sight of u rare plant nn the top OF ire
ciptous bank, thirty feet high; and
must Iet ds 20 after il, WLile Master Rcd
skin trudged slowly on with the hoi scs.
1t was a still climb, hut got mp at last,
and had Just collarcd the vegetable, when
lol the edge of the bank broke away, aud
down | went II was only a tluke that /
didn't break my neck; but the bricrs aud
fallen earth saved me bit. However,
when / came to, I found myself all
bruised and covered with blood, and my
watch (Which by some miracle wasn't
hroken) showed me that I'd been lying
there Il good hour at least, but what was
worse, there wasn't q sign of my worthy
esquire or the horses Al first thought
he might have got tired of waiting, and
struck ON ahead but wheR ! got to the
crown of the pass, aud couldn't see him
anywhere, | guessed ~ once that he'd
boiled. In fact Gas | afterwards found
out, } he had seen me fall, aud making
sure that | was either dead or 100 much
damaged to look after him he'd Just con-
stltuted himself heir to all my property
| (rillc aud saddle-hags included and
made tracks with them. SO there ! was
left high and dry in the worst part OF
the Sierra, with four dollars in 1y pocket
and only my knife If got into trouble
for the lock of my revolver had goi
broken in the fall. l must have looked 9
fool rather ~
Aud at this enlivening reminisence b,
indulged in a hearty burst Of laughter, tC
my no small umazcment
swell, there was nothing to be gaineC
by standing still, and when Il thing hai
got to be dOne, you must just do IT. 50
h0hbled along anyhow, AMI got on pretty
well after bit though just at first,
felt us shaky as if I'd been going up iO
my degree exam. over again. just about
sundown | came TO Il hut, whose Onll
tenants seemed to be q tall, gaunt
demonstrating Yankee, aud just abol
tho uglicst niggcn ever cav In my life
"GOod evening, mate" said "cal
you put fellow up for tonight don
feel like going much farther, somehow I
Kin yeN pay for il i-thttethe ideel,
said my host with a grin. "Ycw dom
look like as yew he'd made yure pile
thet's Il fact :"
sit was my weakness in those day
N've got over il now 10 be always rlhei
by that kind of thing. | whipped on
my pouch ard slapped II down on III
liable; aud with ali the small change 4
il it made very lolerable Jingle. | say
the fellows eyes light up, and | kne'
directly that I'D done wrong. fOu'v
been 10 the Interior of Russia, aud your
know how VOLTS eyes CLEAN when h
comes at you in good earnest. That
lust the look saw on that fellows fac
ihen-and on the nigger's, too, for tha
matter.
'Good IA pork, mister" slid be, nod
ding at the pouch. "Guess yew'll De IL
bic fore gwine too ro0st Just hold q
, minnit, and we'll fix for supper rlgt
away" ~
"An right" answered l "l'l jul
look round outside to sec If there ale an
/ plants worth picking up ~h le you -
, ready"
= This vas bit of diplomacy on M
part; for | knew that, If they meal
mischief, they'd lay their heads togeth'
. the moment my back was turned, and
wanted to make sure. As soon as they
, gore into the hut again, | sneaked rour
/, TO the back, and crouched behind Il
y wood. pile, where could hear every woi
u tbov aaid And. sure enough, in q mil