The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1875-01-28

to me, sez she, 'Ye don't ate it widout
gravy, do YEP Gravy, is itr sez 1.
Nobody liver heerd of gravy here sez
1. Thin it's toime,' sez she; an she
poured off the fat, an crumbed bit of
cracker in the pan, an put in some wa
ther, and whin thought the ould thing
'ud blow up for the stheam, it made, she
poured the gravy on me plate-yis she
did"
There were but few men at Tough
Case who were not willing to have their
daily fare improved, and as Mrs. Blizzer
did not make tour of instruction, the
boys made it convenient to stand near
Mrs. Blizzer's own fire, and see the mys-
teries of cooking. As a natural cOnse-
quence, Sim Ripson began to have in
quiries for articles which he had never
heard of much less sold, and he found a
hurried trip to Frisco was an actual
business necessity.
As several miners took their departure,
after one of these culinary lessons, Ar
kansas Bill, with a mysterious air, took
Fourteenth Street aside.
"Forty," said he in most appealing
tone, ken you see what twas about?
She KEEP a-lookin' at my left ham all the
time, ez if she thort there wuz somethin'
the matter with it. Mebbe she thort 1
wuz tuckin' biscuits up my sleeves, like
keerds in live game. Ken you see any
thin the matter with that paw"
The aristocratic young reprobate gave
the hand critical glance, and replied !:
"Perhaps she thought you didn't know
what buttons and buttonholes were made
for"
Thunder!" exclaimed the miner,
with an expression of countenance
which Archimedes might have worn
when he made his famous discovery.
From that day forward the gentleman
from Arkansas instituted rigid button
hole inspection before venturing from
his hut, besides purchasing share in a
new clothes-broom.
"'Pears to me l don't see Blizzer play
in keerds with you fellers ez much ez he
wuz," remarked Uncle Ben, one evening
at the store.
"Nop said Flipp, the champion eu-
chre-player, with sad face and strong
oath. HE used to lose his ounces like
a man. But t'other night l knocked at
his door, and asked him to come dewn
an hev a ham. He didn't say nothin',
but she up an sed he had stopped play
in. l RELY TUX it to be my duty to argy
with her, and show her how tough it
wuz to cut off feller's enjoyment; but
she sed twas too high-priced for the fun
it fetched"
"That amt the wust, nuther," said
Topjack, Flipp's usual partner. "There
wuZ Arkansas Bill and Jerry Miller,
thet used to be ez fond of their little
game ez anybody. Now ev'ry night they
go up thar to Blizzer's an jest do nothin'
but sit aroun' an talk. It's enough to
make marble statoo cuss to see good
men spilled that way"
"Somethin' 'stonishin' bout what
comes of it, though" resumed the dea-
con. "'Twas only yistiddy thet Bill
was kerryin' a bucket of dirt to the
crick, an just ez he got there his foot
slipped in, an he went kerslosh. Know
in Bills language on sech occasions
amt what a church-member ort to hear,
was maxim it convenient to leave when
along come her, an he choked off ez sud
din ez feller on the CALLERS"
Day by day the boys dug dirt and
carried it to the creek, and washed out
the precious gold; day by day the deni-
zens of Tough Case worked as many
hours and as industriously as men any
where. But no Tough Caseite was so
wicked as to work on Sunday. Sunday
at Tough Case commenced at sunset on
Saturday, after the good old Puritan
| eooL.o,, o,,J Ioe%o3 +bror0b until work.
ing time on Monday morning. But be-
yond this matter of time the Puritan
parallel could not be pursued, for on
Sunday was transacted all the irregular
business of the week; on Sunday was
done all the hard drinking and heavy
gambling; and on Sunday were settled
such personal difficulties as were supe-
rior to the limited time and low liquor
pressure of the week.
Theevening sun of the first Saturday Of
Mrs. Blizzer's residence at Tough Case
considered his days work done, and re-
tired under the snowy coverlets the
Sierras lent him. The tired miners
gladly dropped pick, shovel, and pan
but bedclothing was an article which a
that moment they scorned to consider
there was important business and ent r
tainment, which would postpone slueI
for many hours.
The express would be along in tn,
morning, and no prudent man could
sleep peaceably until he had deposited
his gold in the company's strong box
Then there were two or three old feud
which might come to ahead d-they always
did on Sunday. And, above all, Red
wing, a man with enormous red whis
kers, had been threatening all week II
have back the money Flipp had VOL
from him on the proceeding Sunday, ant
Redwing had been very lucky in hi
claim all week, and the two men wer
very nearly matched, and magnificen
players, so the game promised to las
many hours, and afford handsome 6ppor
tunities for outside betting.
Sim Ripson understood his business
By sunset he had his bottles freshly filleC
and all his empty boxes distributed aDou
the room for seats, and twice as man.
candles lighted as usual, and the card
tables reinforced by some upturned bar
rels. He also had neat little wOOdpil
under the bar, to serve as a barricad
against stray shots.
The boys dropped in pleasantly, tw'
or three at a time, and drank merrill
with each other, aud the two or thre
who were not drinking men sauntered i
to compare notes with the others.
There were no aristocrats or pauper
at Tough Case, nor any cliques; whai
ever the men were at home, here the
were equal, and Sim RiPson's was tn
gathering-place for everybody.
But in the course of two or three houl
there was a perceptible change in tn
general tone at Sim Ripson's-it was s
every Saturday night, or Sunday morr
ing. Old Hatchetjaw said it was b,
cause Sim Ripson's liquor wasn't good
Moosoo, the Frenchman, maintained
was due to the absence of chivalror
spirit; Crosstree, the sailor, said it ws
always so with landsmen Fourteent
Street privately confded to several tha
twas because there was no good blood
camp; the amateur phrenologist ascribe
it to an undue cerebral circulation: an
Uncle Ben, the deacon, insisted that tt
fiend, personally, was the disturbing ell
1 ment.
Probably all of them were right, for
seemed impossible that the Sunday e:
. citement at Sim Ripson's could procee
}; from any single cause-their proportion
were too magnificent.