The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-01-22

lie started; ut 10 a man by the wayside
,oIG him it was eight miles to Moke-
lumne Hill. at l o'clock he sat down a
moment to hold n foot, which was
chatting with the heat, in q stream which
babbled across the road and here q
passer-b by informed him that it was
eighteenmiles to Mokelumne and "about
twenty-one to Columbia" Passing a
grocery, he stopped and asked for a
quarters worth of crackers, and when
they were weighed he took four of
them Che always remembered the num-
ber), and, putting down the quarter,
walked on. In the morning he had
hnmmed softly little songs to himself
as he walked, but the songs had long
been hushed, and he now trudSed grim
" on in silence. About ) p. m. he
stopped at a house and asked for a
drink of water. There was a solitary
man in the open door and a solitary
dog on q chain outside. The dog vas
a Newfoundland, and though he barked
f~uriously ard surged fiercely upon his
chain, his looks belied him, for his long
face spoke in every lineament that he
was dying for a romp. So Jep walked
rp to him and stroked his shaggy head
and expressed to him the belief that
his apparent bad humor was all a bluff
that he really would net hurt a kitten,
and the dog put his paws on Jep's
shoulders and licked his face. The
owner apologized for tie dog; said he
hoped he would be worth something
sometime, though he feared he was too
good-Eearted to ever be of any account.
He rendered the water, but taking a
second look at Jep, asked linn if he
would not prefer a drink of cool milk,
and without waiting for an answer,
turned and went to his milk-house hard
by and brought a pint of the beverage.
He was half gardener and half dairy
man, and lived all alone with his dog.
They were probably much alike. Both
tried to Look grum and sullen at stran-
gers, but they were,bothtoo good-hearted
TO make any attempt at being savage a
success. Jep sw allowed the milk with
ont taking his lips from the cup, and
thanking the man and shaking the paw
of the dog again trudged on.
About 1 o'clock he stopped once
more to inquire the way. The man of
whom he askedtold him it was eleven
miles by the road to Columbia, but by
taking a trail which was plain he could
save three and a half miles. This was
a consideration, and inanswer to further
inquiries he was told the trail led .ver
a hill in sight, then over another be-
ycnd, and there at the foot OF the sec
ond hill he would strike the main road
again where it crossed the Stanislaus.
He took the trail, but has never taken
once since where a road could be fol-
lowed. The first hill was an Alps to
his tired limbs-the second a Himalaya.
He says to this day the chaparral and
manzanita on the last hill will be the
last things he will remember on earth,
so horribly hot and dreery did they
seem to him.
But the river was reached ut last, and
for a quarter the ferryman landed him
on the further bank. By this time he
was tired indeed, aud sharp pains began
to pierce his limbs Ike needles. Up
That endless mill from the river he
climbed, and4so weary had he grown
that he was obliged to stop and rest
every fifty or sixty yards. Near the
summit he came to a little cottage, half
hid in a clump of trees beside the road.
Seeing a woman on the piazza, he en-
tered the gate and approached her to
ask for a cup of water. He was lame,
begrimmed with sweat and dust,
and haggard with fatigue. The
woman was young and pretty, and was
probably some miners pet just i'm
ported from the East, for she was evil
IDENTIFY frightened at the strangers ap-
proach-which q California girl would
not have been-and little nqmeless
tricks about her dress made Jep believe
she had made herself as pretty as pos
sibIe and was waiting a young husbands
return. She was dressed in simple
white, with a blue ribbon around her
neck and a sash or ribbon of the same
color around her vast, and had 4 little