The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1879-04-09
cit is not at all dull


looking up, | beheld a skeleton standing
there before me. Accustomed as | was
to lonely encounters with strange men Of
all kinds, my hair stood on end as !
stared at the specter He was the mereSt
boy in years, pretty and delicate by ma
ture, and evidently reduced to this
shadowy state by starvation. His story
was soon told. lie had left Boston on
board vessel bound for the northwest
coast, had been wrecked at the mouth Of
the Umpaqua, and been wandering about
in the mountains ever since, subsisting on
roots and berries
lie was y
"No, assure you,n interrupted Joseph,
with an amused look at my wife, " the
boy was not young woman in disguise,
if that's what you are thinking. lie was
Just poor, weak, half-starved lad named
Edwards. ] fed and nursed him until
got Sam Chong Sung to let him take up
aclaim alongside u Chinese camp, promis-
/ ing to favor the Chinaman in beef con-
tract if he would be good to the boy. |
/ still continued 10 see great deal OF
| him"
And did Edwards succeed?n
Yes he got on. One day two China
men stole some of Sam Chong Sung's
/ horses, and he offered four hundred dol
lars to Edwards if he would go after the
| thieves and track them. Edwards asked
my advice, and | encouraged him to go,
| telling him where / fancied he would 6nd
/ the men. Se-he started in pursuit, and
confess missed him.
! Again Joseph paused. We did not in
! terrupt him.
A man came to my fort one day who
was naked and starving. He was a
bad-looking fellow, very; but you will
say a man naturally does look bad when
his clothes are nowhere and his bones
protrude through his 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, rs was customary on
that leisure day, reading some transla-
tons from the Greek poets-for | dare
say you remember was never much of
hand at the original-when, CHANGING
to look off my book. | beheld a vision"
I" A what?"
"A vision. A vision Of lovely
woman. She was riding up the ap-
proach to my fort on a fine horse, riding
gracefully and slowly, rs if to give me
time to get over my surprise; and be-
ieve 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 impatience of her re-
straining hand. Are you tired. old
triend?h
Never less so in my life.
THAT vision, breaking in suddenly as
it did, upon my solitude, gave me the
lueerest sensations. | was just spell
bound. Not so she. Refining in her
horse at my gate, she squared round on
her saddle and looked at me, silently ask
ing my assistance to dismount. | helped
her down-what else could / do p-and
then, at her request, gently preferred,
went to put up and feed her horse. Had
she dropped from the clouds +? | did not
"Well p"
"If you'll believe me, when turned in
doors, my guest had got her habit off.
Evidently she meant TO make herself at
home. A tall, young, beautiful, we'll
dressed woman ! Her eyes were large,
black and melting; her hair was superb.
her manner easy. She was hungry, she
; said; would give her something to eat ?
And while | was making preparations to
give her of my best she read aloud one of
the Greek translations, an ode to Diana,
commenting upon it herself. That she
was woman of culture and education,
whatever might have brought her into
her present strange position, was obvious.
Well, now continued Joseph. You can
guess whether young man, isolated on
the mountains, ruined by the grasshop-
pers and Tilted by the girl of the Walla-
met valley, was bewildered or not En-
tertaining goddesses was not in my line. y
How long did she stay?"
! "Wait bit. What with reading and
: eating, our acquaintance improved fast
! She offered to sing song, and gave mt
. Kate Kearney.' | might have lost my
? head to her perhaps, to say nothing Oi
, my heart, but for certain inward latent
doubt. ! did not care that my CIR
2 should ride about, elegantly attired, on
prancing horses, and drop down uneX-
pectedly on heTmits. Still, it was &
pleasant feeling to find ones self neal
t her, and certainly a novel one. / asked
2 her history and she told it me- She was
G of good New England family, reared
I in affluence, well educated and accom-.
7 plished, but by freak of fortune she
had become reduced topOverty and exileC
from home"
= What was it, Joseph?n
e "Ah! what indeedP The old story,
> suppose; but / did not ask her. She haC
y made her way TO California, resolved t,
e get on and get money; and she had go
; il. She went about from camp to camI
e with stationery and various article;
1 needed by the miners and others, SOLE
e them these things, wrote letters fol
y them, sang to them, nursed then
0 when sick, and carried their letters ex
press to San Francisco to be posted FO
y all these services she received large pay
ments, and she had also had good dea
o of rough gold given to her as specimens
: Did she like that kind of life? / asket
her, so contrary to her early habits, ant
d she answered me quickly: 1t is no
S what we choose that we do in this world
!. but what fate chooses for us. hav
made n competency and gained a ricl
Is and varied experience. Life is not wha
l once pictured it would be, but l an
content She sighed as she said it; an
d / didn't believe in the content"