The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-05-19
Selert Stnry.
THE DEVILS CANYON.
By HERO STRONG.

with the rough miners aOOut MIN E'l
IDENTIFY he held himself far above them
and when he deigned to soil his whit,
hands with the filthy ore for which they
were ali toiling, he entered upon th'
work with an air of protest, as if hi
would like it understood that he was no
brought up to such menial business.
| Of course he got a slang name by hi
behavior-indeed everybody had name
in that vicinity not given them at thei
christening The miners calle1 hin
Count Luke. and the name clung to hin
till his death
Shortly after the advent of the count
at the diggings, there was another notice
able arrival A tall, supple, slender
young fellow, with complexion like ar
Indian creole, an eye dark and piercing
and hair soft and fine, and abundant as ;
woman's Nobody kn where Charlie
King hailed from, nor what were his an
teceden,s. He was reticent, without be
ing sulky, and all the miners agreed that
he had "seen trouble" and treated him
as tenderly as it was in their rough na
lures to treat any one Charlies hands
were blistered over ana over again by
the harsh toll, but he was brave and
Iplucky. and he held his way nohly, and
made his little pile with the rest of them
One thing about him his companions
could not Understandable neither drank
nor gambIed, and it was something which
could not have been truthfully said of anv
other man then at the Peak He had q
little hut all by himself, and he kept il
scrupulously neat and clean: and when
sunset came lie sat outside the door on q
rude bench, and looked at the red sun
light as it quivercd and glintea across
the broken spurs Of the mountains. He
never smoked either, and whenever any
OF his acquainances asked him to 90
down to Pages with them Pages
was canvas covered grog-shop in the
heart of the shanty village which had
sprung up around the diggings-he al
ways thanked them, with grave polite.
ness very strangei in that locality and de
clined.
Count Luke seemed'to seek Charlie on
every occasion, but was repelled by the
latter; and more than once some miner,
more observant than his fellows, declared
he had seen the veins in Charles fore
head swell into cords, and his slender
fingers clutch the palms of his hands un
til blood came, and all because Count
Luke had slapped him familiarly on the
shcnlaAs--~--r-~n~-i-s -s,la S.faLi -tanSlnll
curl of his long hair
!, They all agreed that there was some
mystery about "the boy as Charlie was
called; but there was rude kind of
honor in their natures which prevented
them from seeking to penetrate it.
Matters went on quietly enough for
year, and then to the vicinity Of the dig
gings came Col. Lauderdale and his
daughter Maud. The colonel was large
owner in the ore bearing tract, and had
come to see after his claims His daugh
ter had begged to accompany him be
cause she was young and romantic, and
wildly fond OF adventure She was nine.
teen that summer, ,and beautiful as peri
Her hair and eyes were black, her com
plexion clear and waxen, like the petals
of water-lily and her lips as red as the
innermost crust Of spray of coral
She had the free, graceful step OF an an
telope, and voice sweet as the ring ot
silver bells In Philadelphia, where there
were plenty of women, she was o belle
Judge what she was out there in that
uncivilzed region, where women were
scarcer than white elephants. and, as one
old miner expressed it, ga man would
walk dozen miles to see woman
apron hanging on clothes line"
They were all ready to fall down and
worship Miss Lauderdale, and Miss Lau
derdale was quite ready for the worship
to begin.
Count Luke was among the first TO Of
fer up his incense of admiration at hel
shrine. Handsome and cultivated he
certainly was, and no doubt he appeared
at his hest by contrast with the roughly
dressed, ,uncouth harbarians around him
for certain it was that Miss Lauderdale
smiled on him in the sweetest manner
and before the colonel had time to SCI
down his wrathful old foot and forbiG
the love making it was all overland Maud
had promised to be Count Luke's wiie
The girl had the temper of mule
not to speak disrespectfally of her-and
to all her fathe,'s rawlings she male but
one reply-she loved Nj. Bretonne, anf
lshould marry him. SO the colonel:
wrath soon boiled itself clear, like tum
ibler Of soda water, aud he gave his con
sent, and doubtless was ready with the
historical, "Bless you, my children J!
I He would, however, have delayed th'
celebration of the nuplials until their re
turn to Philadelphia: but Maud was no
mantle, and the idea of being married
out there in the wilds had taken strong
hold of her, 1t would be something t.
tell ones grandchildren, she said, and o
course she had her way-a determined
woman always does.
Not far from the cluster Of shantie
was deep gorge, through which ran
noisy stream, dry in the summer, but
swollen torrent in the season of the fal
rains. 1t was a most wild and romantic
place, and was known as Devils Can
Iyon" A narrow foot path ran along tn
edge of the ravine, and high above, 70
hundreds of fathoms, lowered the bleare(
and storm bleached crags Of the noun
tains
, And just there Maud Lauderdal
would have her marriage service per
formed No amount Of opposition in
Ifluenced her to change her mind-sh
was bent upon being married in an en-
J tirely original manner. She was sick o
the darkened churches. and blazing ia
pers, and perfume of hot-house flowers
she said-she wonld speak her vows i
cathedral Of Natures own building
with the wild roar of the mountain tor
rent by way of organ responses Al
very pretty and romantic, no doubt; an
, as the colonel had yielded SO much, h
| al, ID Lot al