The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-03-19
yosEpH,s ADVENTURE.

nad returned from his many years a., -,,5
In Tho busb. and was sitting WIN me aalu
] smy vile, Il And, though he had been apsens
soaong, he was, so to speak, o young ii,a"
get ,,eu have met With
n,enty., Rough ones, some OF then. -.
p'snSSSy ..se ;eiI ma OF ONE. chimed In Mary.
Sd .ts : nohed. al can tell you OF
nro.r one lint / met with in the noun
s@. mnb. YES; do! Which mountains ~"
DIN Ca;iiornia-upi in one OF its wild aus
MTbat viii be The very thing"
swell" said Joseph, running his faper.
ing fingers through his hair and smling ~
INV wife. "pil soften down things IN the
telling as well IS my blunt speech ana ui,'
civilized modes OF thought VIII ADMIT o''
and you must excuse the rest.
ooh, iii excuse anything. f'eaS' oe-
gin" ,on,o 70 sett,e in
unfrcouenied districts" began Joseph,
set up theory that no man shoulu ass
wonan 70 marry him until he has prepared
a homo for her. 1t is surprising how much
Won brrin TO think OF wife West yonder;
which arises, I suppose, from the extreme
Loneliness ct ones existence. / was no eA-
nen,ion. The land I took up was in the
Rorue-Riyer Valley, and after had got 1t
a bit ship-shape worked away with only
one object in view-to bring home wi1c.
"But, Joseph, had you selected wife!"
I asked.
nNo. ! intended to do that as soon as
could, though you may say | was ralhef
youne to be thinking OF it. worked on
and was pretty successful. l built me
house, cot considerable STOCK OF catt'e,
made flower garden for my wife, anG even
put up the pegs and nails she would want
TO hang her dresses on. lntenoed tnat
same autumn 10 mount my horse, ride
through the Willamette Valley, find my
wife, and bring her home"
At the notion of counting in that OIL
hand STYLE We laughed little. Joseph
laughed too, as if the recollection pleased
him.
..You think it strange, see. 1t was not
so very strange in those days out there,
where girls were as scarce as angels. lhcre
was not a girl Within forty miles OF me !;
and assure you that the very thought OF
one. as drove in those nails for her gar
mcnts to hang On, went through me like
thrill. You don't believe? 90 west your
self and try it,
"But do believe"
nI had about two hundred and fifty head
Young orchard, vegetables growing, sweet
scented fowcrs-all in readiness FOR the
wife hoped to bring home to bless me, and
TO take care OF these my possessions. And
what do you think happened to them?"
We could not tell.
..Thcre came such plague OF oraSsbop-
pers upon the valley that everything per-
lshed. Crops, orchard, flowers, grass
every green and delightful and promising
thing; the grasshoppers destroyed all. You
remember the second chapter OF Jocl!"
nodded.
1.-THE land is as the garden OF Eden be-
fore them, and behind them desolatc viii
Gerness.' was ruined. My stock died.
at least the greater portion OF it; the cattle
had nothing to feed upon. Yes, 1t was COM
pete and absolute ruin"
Joseph paused moment, mentally LOOK
ing at the past.
II considered myself disappointed in
love, too" he resumed in the quainteSt OF
tones. "Though had not yet been out to
find nv girl, knew she was somewhere in
that other valley waiting for me; and when
the greedy grasshoppcrs ate up everything
felt that l had been Tilted. 1t actually
gives me pang DOW to think OF those use
less pegs on which my imagination had so
often seen a girls pink cotton dress and
white sun-bonnet."
Joseph gave great sigh. He was an &C..
centric fellow.
II became msanthropic-said 10 myself
that between Fate and the grassborpers
had been hardly used. Packing up my
books and few other traps. l babe adieu
TO the Rogue-River Valley forever, and
started for the mountains. 1T was long
ish journey. as had to drive before me the
stock which was left me. There, in the
mountains. settled down again, built my
self fort, and played hermit. No lifting
girls should come near now"
"A fortfo
"a regular fort-a stockado eighteen fee
high, with an embankment four feet hl9t
around it, and strong gate in the middle.
NV tent was in the midst Of the enclosure
with my books and household gods, hre
arms, and all the rest OF my property slowed
away in it,"
Were you afraid Of Indians?"
"Indians and white men. Yes, saw {
GOOD many Indians at first within the range
of my rifle. They learned to keep away
from nay fort, finding il did not pay TO al
1emDt an invasion. Down in the valley be
low there were mining camps; and you pc.
haps know what some OF the hangers-on o.
such camps are. / sold bcci--that is head
of cattle-to the miners; and as had some
times Il tidy sum OF money by me it wa
necessary to be careful." ...
"Wbat strange life for young man -
said Mary. "For you, Joseph! J"
81 hcrded my cattle, drove them to mar
kct, cooked, studied, wrote, and indulget
in a mixture OF misanthropy and ritle-prac
tice. By The tine had entered on The sec
opd summer IN The mountains felt quite
at home, and waS getting rich. After all
the life bad its charms. A man canno
quite tire of it when he is but = few year:
out OF bis teens"
land the girl-wife?"
81 am coming to ner. Having had time
to forget my il.uSage, reaction set H.
you see. aud thought, after all. must
ride to the Willamette 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. butthere'll be some stir presently"
So 1t is not at all dull"
lone Sunday afternoon chow did
know it was Sunday? you ask. Because
had kept count OF The days all along-kept
my diary resulariy)-one Sunday afternoon
was sitting outside writing, when a sha-
dow fell across the paper, and, looking up.
I beleld skeleton Standing there before
me. Accustomed as / was to lonely en-
counters with strange men OF all kinds, my
hair stood on end as stared at the spectre.
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 Umpaqun, and been wandering about in