Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-03-04

ty lucky to get to sleep and get owe
it as You did. You were lucky, to-
in attending pleasant theatrical PEI
formance, instead of fighting devil
and snakes and rats, as most fellow
do, when they have the horrors
"I'm afraid you're right said tn
Major, after bordering over the Cap
tian's words good while. Sim afrai,
you're right, Captain. had, SO i
seems to me now, sort of notion
several times, while the thing was 60
, ing on, that there was something
wrong and unreal about it, but tn,
i latter part of 1.-THE supper and what
followed-seems as real as any expe,
rience / ever had in my life. But how
did they come here and how did thew
get away without leaving any traces!
1t must have been-it was phan.
tasy?
{" 'Well, said the Captain, there is
but one thing for you to do, my friend.
And that is to turn short corner and
, quit drinking altogether Your tenn.
perment is such that if you drink any
liquor at all you loose your head and
go on hell-roaring SPREE
"Pardon the expression, gentlemen.
but that was what the Captain said,
and he was not given to the use of
protane language. He went on and
told the Major that he believed that
his honor was stronger than his thirst
yet, and that if he would pass his sol
emn word not to drink any more, he
believed he would be able to keep it,
as he had always kept his word so far.
! The upshot Of it was that the Major
gave his friend his word of honor that
he would drink no more spirituous
liquor of any kind.
"That was enough. Major Brack-
en- was not pious man, but he never
failed to keep his word. If he prom
ised to help fellow, he kept his word
no matter how much it cost him; and
if he promised to thrash man, he
did it no matter how long it took him.
"The next day he went to work in
my diggings. Being strapped, he had
to come down and work for wages. In
those days no American miner would
work for wages as long as he could
raise the means to go on prospecting
on his own account, and when driven
to work in some other mans diggings,
he always went back to prospecting
as soon as he had made raise. The
The Major worked with me about two
weeks, and then he went in with Cap
tain Merrick, who had rugged up the
necessary machinery in a creek near
by for washing dirt which had miner
al scattered through it-wash dirt,
they call 1t in the diggings. They had
the run of a big pile of pretty rich
dirt, and made money fast enough.
That is-they made every day that
they worked at least three times as
much as they needed to spend, and
they had long job before them.
"Toward spring they sold ont their
washing works and privileges to
some Cornish miners, and bought a
smelling furnace in Galena, the Cap.
tain advancing most of the funds, and
giving the Major chance to make
up his share upon fair terms as to in
tie rest.
zone night, about the first of April,
they went together to a theatrical
performance at hall in Galena, and
there the Major found the very
troupe that had haunted him when
he had the horrors. There was no
mistaking them. There was the old
gentleman and his stout young wife,
the two young men and the two
young ladies. The Major said moth
ing, but ascertained the next day
where the actors were stopping, and,
taking the Captain with him upon
some pretext, called on them, and in
troduced the Captain as the proprie-
tor of the house where they had
spent the last New Years night.
"The whole party struck up an in
innate acquaintance on short notice,
and the two smelters became regular
visitors at the clearinghouse where
the troupe put up. 1t appeared, up
on inquiry, that when the actors
spent tho night at Captain Merrick's
cabin, they first stopped at a deserted
cabin close by the Captains, and
took their horses into it, the poor
brutes having wallowed and dragged
the heavy wagon through the snow
until they could go no further. Tho
troupe had made up their minds to
stay there till mornlng-men, women
and horses together. After having
been there about an hour, cold and
miserable enough, they become aware
of the light at the window of the
Captains cabin, which was nc more
than ten rods off Thereupon they
reconnoitered the promises through
the window, and seeing nothing but
a gentleman reading in what seemed
TO be a large library room, they took
courage to knock for admittance.
The ladies explained the appearance
of the Captains kitchen by frankly
confessing that they were not great
housekeepers, and could think of no
better plan than to leave things just
as they found them.
"Jennie, the little brunette, after
few days acquaintance, confided to
the Major that her mother had been
hanged at New Haven upon the
charge of poisoning child, protest.
ing her innocence to the last. That
her innocence had recently been
made to appear by the death-bed
confession of the real murderess.
That she, Jennie, was little girl at
the time of her execution, end was
taken in and cared for by the Majors
aunt, whom he frequently visited,
he being then a young man. That
she had fed from the scene of her
mothers death and disgrace as soon
as she was able to take care OF her.
self, and taken to the stage, where
she was tolerably successful, but
had no hopes of ever becoming a