Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-11-27

ed on his turning out so well. But Dy-
and-bye came letter from him, written
on shipboard; then another, noting his
arrival, and a third from the mines, with
a remittance, too. He wrote with mar
velous cheerfulness. He was going to
make his fortune very soon, and do no
end of things for us. These things
chirked the dear old lady up wonderful
ly; the money made her quite easy, and
she began to conclude that it was all for
the best. More money, more remit
tances, until he had sent us in all nigh
$4,000; and then the letters ceased sud-
denly. We wrote, we waited, we wrote
to friends, to the newspapers, but no
news of Trip. Three years, and not a
word from him. 1t was awful. The old
lady's hair turned white, and she lost the
use of her Inns, and had to give up the
shop. That made no matter, for 1 had
got start on Trips money and was
doing well enough for both. But her
face was a haunting horror. She had
dreams of Trp--I did not know it then,
and she never spoke-and saw his white
bones bleaching on a desert waste-the
same killing dream, night after night.
Three years, and then a Californian
came to see us, assured himself we were
Trips folks, and told us he had been
Trips partner ut the mines, and had
come to bring US Trips effects. And he
piled some little bags of gold dust on
the table, and put Trips little Bible
alongside of these, and bundle of home
letters from his kit. My mother seized
these, held them to her heart, and ask
ed: where is my son, Triptolemus2
"The man had tender heart-honest
fellow, with all that treasure in his
pocket he hadn't enough of his own to
buy himself a decent suit of clothes
and hesbungled badly in telling his tale.
Trips claim had got thin, and, against
the advice of his best friends, he joined
a party to go prospecting elsewhere.
The party got lost, some were shot by
Indians, some came back starving, but
Trip never came back at all. Nothing
was heard of him, and the men of the
camp, after taking good care of all his
effects, had sent them home to us by the
first conner. My son Triptolemus lies
unburied in the wilderness I knew
it = cried my poor mother. Iput her
to bed; she was paralyzed, and for
many weeks the dear soul fingered be-
twixt life and death. Then she got well
enough to say Flavius, go find youl
brothers. remains and bury them!' The
miners had sent home pretty near four
thousand dollars, so left the old lady in
good hands and went Californiawards
upon the sacred errand. 1t was a fruit
less one. came back as [ went, only
had fallen upon some fortunate specula-
tions, and began to be rich man. Poor
old mother She would give me no
rest. Her dreams were incessant.
must find her boys bones, bleaching in
the wilderness. Well, about ten years
ago, to satisfy the dear old lady. I made
another trip to California, and, as luck
would have it, came across one of the
few survivors of the prospecting party.
Stranger, said he to me, none of us
can rightly say poor Trip is dead. We
were lost in sandy wilderness, and
were nearly all of us half crazy. Trip
had sunstroke, and wandered off from
us to the hills; that 1 remember WE'LL
" 1t is long story, Smith, and one of
pain for me. I heard of some abiect
Digger Indians, who were known to
have had an insane white man in their
camp and care, the most abject and de-
graded of the whole gang. 1 had long
search for these people. I found the
chief of the band, and, with money and
long cajolery, got him to tell me of the
white man who had been in his camp.
There could be no doubt it was one of
Trips party. Where is the man
buried 2 l asked. Man no dead, he
said, white man tuck um 7 Where
is he now, then p asked, trembling.
Me show uml' Hetook me to Havilah,
in Kern county. There, in the county
almshouse, gray, squalid, abiect, found
a driveling, grinning idiot. It was my
brother Do you see that house yon.
der 2" said he, pointing to large, Sc
cluded mansion, with extensive grounds
"Triplolemus, my poor brother, was
dead" said Bearn. "I came home,
bringing coffin containing some bones
L erected the monument you have seer
to my dead brothers memory. Once G
week my poor decrepit mother comes
there in padded coach, and lays hel
offering on the tomb to the memory o.
the deceased"
Bearn drove into the grounds of the
mansion he had called my attention to
He flung the reins to boy at the door
. and introduced me to a composed, mid
| dle-aged gentleman with gold spectacles
Chow is your patient, doctor9" h,
asked. "About the same" "May
: go in to see him9" "Of course" th,
doctor said. We walked up stairs, dow
a long corridor, very hospital-like, anc
Bearn opened the door of handsom,
apartment. There, before hot Goa
fire, in great easy chair, waited on b,
. smiling, pleasant-voiced attendant, sa
{ middle-aged man with long white hair
, whose eyes had no specnlation in them