Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-06-13

the valley below there were mining
camps; and you perhaps know what some
of the hangers-on of such camps are. /
sold beef-that is, heads of cattle-to the
miners; and as | had sometimes tide
sum of money by me, it was necessary to
by CAREFUL
"What a strange life fora young man.
For you, Elamn'
81 herded my CATTLE drove them to
market, cooked, studied, wrote and in
dulged in misanthropy, combined with
some rifle practice By the time that /
had entered upon the second summer in
the mountains / felt quite at home and
was getting rich. After all, the life had
it's charms. A man cannot quite tire of
it when he is but few years out of his
teens"
''And the girl-wifeT'
4" [ am coming to that. Having had
time to forget my ill-usage, a reaction set
in, you see, and | thought, after all, [
must ride to the Wallamet to see after
my girl But | was not in the hurry
over it that [ had been before. This is
all very dull, you will say, but there'll
be some stir presently.
It is not at all dull
zone Sunday afternoon-how did [
know it was Sunday, you ask? Because
[ had kept count of the days all along !;
kept my diary regularly. One Sunday
afternoon, [ was sitting outside a
writing, when a shadow fell across the
paper; and looking up, there stood a
skeleton. Accustomed as was to lonely
encounters with strange men of all kinds,
my hair stood on end as [ stared at the
spectre before me- He was the merest
boy in years, pretty and delicate by
nature, and evidently reduced to this
~shadowy state by starvation. His story
was soon told. He had left Boston on
board vessel bound for the northwest
coast, had been wrecked at the mouth of
the Umpaqua, and had been wandering
about in the mountains ever since, subsist
ing on roots and berries"
"He was"
"No, assure you," interrupted Elan,
with an amused look at my wife, "the
boy was not young woman IN disguise,
if that's what you are thinking. He was
Just poor, weak, half-starved lad named
Edwards | fed and nursed him until he
was able to work for himself, and then
got Sam Chong Sung to let him take up
a claim alongside Chinese camp, prom
ising to favor the Chinaman in beef
contract if he would be good to the boy.
[ still continued to see a great deal OF
him."
"And did Edwards succeedT
Yes, he got on. One day two China
men stole some of Sam Chong Sung's
horses; and he offered $400 to Edwards if
he would go after the thieves and track
them. Edwards asked my advice, and !
encouraged him to 90. telling him where
fancied he could find the men. So he
started in pursuit, and I confess [ missed
him"
Again Elan paused. We did not inter
rupt him.
A man came TO my fort one day who
was naked and starving. He was bad
looking fellow, very; but you will say a
man naturally does look bad when his
clothes are nowhere and his bones pro-
trude through their skin. [ clothed
him, fed him, cared for him kindly until
he was able to travel, and then he went
away. The next Sunday | was sitting
outside my fort, as customary on that
leisure day, reading some translations
from the Greek poets-for l dare say you
remember [ could never make much of
of Greek itself-when, CHANGING to look
off my book, beheld a vision"
A what?'
"a vision. A vision of a lovely
woman And / can tell you [ should as
soon have expected to see vision there
4 60
year or two. She was riding up the APP
proach to my fort on fine horse; riding
gracefully and very slowly, as if to give
me time to get over my surprise; and |
believe [ needed it. The picture she
made is in my mind now; [ see the very
flicker Of the shadow and the sunlight
across the road, and the glitter of some
steel that fastened her horses trappings as
he arched his neck in Impotence of her
restraining hand Are you tired, old
friend?'
Never less SO in my life"
You see, [ had been alone so long;
and I think [ must be susceptible. That
vision, breaking in suddenly, as it did,
upon my solitude, gave me the queerest
sensations. was just spell-bound. Not
SO Sne. he1nlng LII neT morse dC lily Sdte,
she squared round on her saddle and
looked at me, silently asking my assist
ance to dismount. I hel ped her down
what else could I do?-and then, at her
request, went to put up and feed her
horse. Had she dropped from the clouds?
[ did not know"
"Well?"
If you'll believe me, when I returned
indoors, my guest had got her habit off.
Evidently she meant to make herself at
home. A tall, young, beautiful, we'll
dressed woman! Just goddess she
looked to me. Her eyes were large,
black, and melting; her hair was grand,
her manner easy. She was hungry, she
said; would give her something to eat?
And while was making preparations to
give her my best, she read aloud one of
the Greek translations, an ode to Diana,
commenting upon it to herself. That
she was woman of culture and educa-
ton, whatever might have brought her
to her present strange position, was OBJ
vious. Well, now" continued Elam,
"you can guess whether young man,
! Al L II