Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-07-27
DANDY FERGUSON.
The Hero OF the ChaparraI Shaft.

The Hero or the ShapRrrRI Shaft.
1 do not believe that Quasimodo was
moro pitiaby deformed creature, or
Quilp more hideously unnatural look
ing object, than Dandy Ferguson when
] saw him for the first time, that calm
Summer afternoon, laughing and joking
with crowd of boon companions in the
cool shade of an awning at Quartz Noun
tain.
His face was scanned and distorted by
peculiarly glossy scars-the ineradicable
evidence Of close and long contact with
that shriveling element, FIRE. His body
was bent, and he walked with q siding
movement. He was sickening spectacle
at hrst sight. suggesting fearful suffering
in the past, and my curiosity in regard to
him was thoroughly aroused.
'.Who is that man 2" / asked sceost-
ing tall blusshirted miner who was
standing In front of the postoffice.
Don't you know him ?" answered the
man; "why, thet's Dandy Ferguson,
thought everybody knowed Dandy Fer.
guson.
"Why do you call him Dandy Fergu-
son ?"
"3ecause--well, because he used TO be
0 dandy-a regular out-an'- '-out sport.-
When Dandy Ferguson first come to this
camp he was a gilt edged geutlemsn, an
no mistake. He wore q plug, an flashed
spark in his billed shirt front as big as
peanat lie put on more dog'n mine
superintendent, an mos. all the boys
we're down on him from the start. That
was about three years ago, an he come
up here from the Bay to git Whit o.
fresh air, an make nature an the pines
give him back what he'd lost spreenn'
round with them stock shsrps an young
bloods o. Frisco. ..~si.
mo, he don't look like he was more'n
half human, that's fact but I'd ruther
have them scars O. his than wear the
clothes of the richest man in Californy-
thet is, if I'd gone through what he has
an suffered what he did. Proud of 'em
Mister, thar amt man in this yer coun-
ty-no, s.r. ner in this yer. State--as is
prouder'n Dandy Ferguson OF what other
men might grieve over and sigh about,
an no mans got better right 10 be
proud either. When no first came to
Quartz Mountain he used to parade the
streets with his nose cooked up so he'd
hydraulic himself with patchouly an
smell water I'LL you couldn't git within "a
mile of him, He was delicate looking
cuss, an his hands we're as soft as a bar
ber's. The boys used to bet thet If big
Bridget Sullivan--or washorwoman-
was to take it into her head to Jump him,
she'd knock spots OUT o. him in derned
short order. Thet was our opinion of
him when he played his small cards in
this yer camp-bu he showed down both
bowers an the ace before he quit the
game, you bet yer life. Dye SEQ thet
quart, mill over. thar on the side hill :?
Thctsthe Chaparral mine, re know, an
it's thar thet Dandy Ferguson showed US
what sand was.
Zone night, about month after Fer
guson got here, somebody out there, yell
e6 Fire " an the camp turned cut. The
histin' works WAS in light blaze, an the
flames sheoun' high dp in the dark We
Nj! rushed TO the spot Ike pack Of mad
animals-you know how a fire stirs men
zap an excites 'em. OF course, nobody
knowed what to do, an for q rninute we
all stood round lookin' at the fire creepin
;:longtha caves, an the busnia' shingles
droppin' down the shaft. Purity soon
some one says, What = kinder sharp an ,
Ferce like. Then there was little move
rnent ~ the crowd, aH a man with a face
ssBalsas death springs away from the
mouth Of the shaft ysllin' frantic Wa
ter /! Water For tho love o. God, turn
oil the water-the night shifts in the low
er Drift
"There was an awful agony in thet
mans voice he had jist romem bered thet
his brother was down there, an thet the
fire under the bier oil the engine was
banked, thet the cage was too heavy to
work by hand, an the timbers in the
shan pitch pine, an sdfy1as bone will
great sparks droppif' down like flakes in
IA snow storm. You've heerd how fast
man thinks in time OF danger. Jim Slo-
elm thought ef his brother, the dry tim
bers, the engine, the cage, an water all
in a second, but that was all. He didn't
hev time think OF the fact thet there
wasn't bar'l o. water within mile Of
the mine.
Somebody rushed to the tank-ther
was about tubful there. The FIRE was
piayin' ronnd the biler aa' the engineer
he'd turned tlles safety cocks 70 lei thet
out. I've AL rushed every which way
yellln' fur ropes, ladders, anything-as eff
ladders could reach down two hundred
feet to where they was. They was clesn
gone with excitement, an didn't know
what to do, and the FIRE roaring and
cracklin' like the devils own blaze.
TSP mo rqslied one way an zone anothr
or. while some of them stood starin' into
the hot, black smoke an yalar fire, dsz-
ed, scared, helpless. QuickI'n it takes
me to tell it man jumped though the
door ofths h'istin' works an caught
held OF The chains. His coat an hat
was gone, an he looked like an angel
sdmosf- --as he swung over the shaft irlhis
whitefrilled shirt and his long, ya1ler
hairs ssqss~ & - aINr r ssh
sH-was Dandy Ferguson. - ~ y
"He didR't'wait fur nobody,sbpt jam
med big scantlin, thet two men couldn't
n liftad down over the shaft Than ha