The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1880-02-28
from the Philadelphia Timesl
sSTACYS GAL

"STACY'S GAL"
The colonel, think, was the first per
son To propose to her He did it IN the
oratorical style for which he was noted
III the camp and was promptly refused,
much to his own and the BOYS astonish-
ment. ! believe the Judge was the next,
but as he had fortified his courage with
large quantity Of whisky, his breath
was strong enough and his words thick
enough to ensure speedy rejection He
was considerably mortified at II and
never able to explain the cause OF his
defeat, but when a Mexican woman
drifted into the camp shortly afterward
and engaged III washing for the men the
Judge tried his hand again and was ac-
cepted. 1t took him month 10 get
loose from the bonds and he swore he
would "never give any other female
crltter chance to hook him again, +" and
lie carefully avoided all Indian squaws
and homely senOritas who occasionally
passed through Mineral City. After the
Judge and q dozen or more OF the bows
offered their hands and fortunes TO
Stacv's gal and Jared III precisely the
same manner, while old Stacy himself
quietly chuckled and ''bet on his gal
every trip, as lie afterward explained.
She had come into the camp a week or
two previously to the greatest surprise
OF everybody, including her father. Old
Stacy a good many years before. some
eight or ten, had lost his wife. and so
great was his grief that he could not be
induced to remain longer in the place
she had made little heaven for him.
So he placed his daughter-his only
child-in the fashionable female semi
nary Of the state, provided her with
everything that was necessary for her
comfort or happiness, and then struck
out for San the Juan silver mines TO for
get his loss among the eXcitements and
prlvati0us If the frontier Stacy was
one OF IL" fortunate few out OF the I'M
lucky many that enter mining country,
and IN few years he was possessed OF
properties yielding him an excellent in
come from their hard, white quartz.
he regularly correspondent with his
daughter, and kept her supplied III
probationary far III excess of her needs
or requirements, bat he never went back
On a visit, and when that young lady was
duly graduated with high honors she
determined Ia seek ont her long-absent
paterna progenitor. With an indepen-
dence and courage, the wonderment of
the boys, she travelled across the plains,
took passage on the stages and finally
rode into Mineral City on horseback, the
first white woman III camp and the OBJ
Jet Of the shy alteration Of the men.
It was some time before the boys could
stand their ground and face her, instead
If scampering away at her approach, az
bad hitherto been the case; but the
western miuer is not long IN getting ac-
customed 10 strange things. and it was
not over ten DAYS after her arrival that
the colonel inundated himself on the
altar OF his affections Encouraged bv
his example and unterritied by his uncer-
enormous defeat, the bows one after an
other tried their luck, though. as ! have
before mentioned, with no better success.
Stacy was partner Of NINE III the
AJAX mine, in which there were three of
us interested, and as we were doing con-
siderable development on the vein | was
of necessity much In his company and
consequently III that Of his daughter
She was very pretty girl, with dainty,
delicate ways far more BETTING house
on Walnut street than rough mining
camp: but she loved her father with an
earnest, clnging affection that would not
listen 70 her leaving him. and so she
continued to reign queen of Mineral City
aIl through the summer of 1876.
/ don't know when II was that | was
nnduly attracted toward Nellie | think
i vas when she asked me to call her
thereafter by that name. She made the
request 50 lnnocently, so sweetly, and so
tenderly, alleging that a. | was her
fathers partner, a gentleman by birth
and education, and such a kind friend TO
her, It would be ever so much nicer for
ne to say Nellie. instead Of Miss Stacy,
which sounded 50 formal, that | came
very near adding other words 10 the
name that our short acquaintance would
not Justify. After that | spent most of
my evenings with Nellie. and sometimes
OF an afternoon we took delicious little
rambles together on the mountain sides
and into the heavy timber lining the
valley or cannon OF the Uncompahgre
One evening. as We were returning home
We stopped to rest on the rock-crested
summit of Mineral point 4 few hun
dred feet below Ms lay the little mining
camp, its log cabins looking doubly pic
turesque IN the gathering cleaning
The blue smoke was curling from dozen
chimneys as the menprepared their even
ing meals; and here and there, over the
various trails, blue shirted miner, with
pick and drills across his shoulder, came
stndlng home The sun sinking behind
the Wasatch mountains, one hundred anG
slxty-five miles distant, cast great Ions
shadows across the surrounding peaks
and yelled the ravines and gulches il
deepening darkness.
Nellie sat on the groupings OF a VEN
OF quartz and lay stretched out at be