The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-16


just now. ] wish you look at it, Ben, ana
see what's the matter"
"Why didn't you tell us before?" was tne
| indignant inquiry of Smith. - Y or purity
cuss, to set a-gassin' thar 18th your broken
| leg, a-tellin' us what you've done FUR us, an
lettin' us lay round like a passed. O. coyote
pups waitin' fur Their grub"
An examination of the injured limb
showed that the ankle had received severe
| Sprain-that was all. But the legs ana leet
were terribly swollen from the pressure oil
the snow-shoe straps. Willing hands were
soon at work attending to the injuries.
Whisky was plentifully applied, and shlres
were torn into bandages; and when Billings
and Martin, who had been officiating as
cooks, announced dinner, Stoddart was rest
ing in comparative ease.
1t was a glorious feast-that dinner in the
heart Of the snow-mantled Slerras. ana
perhaps throughout the length and breadtn
of the world no dinner afforded more heart,
felt enjoyment, for it was eaten by famished
men. The vegetables were divided amenS
those afflicted with scurvy, Smith, Homer
and Stoddart persistently refusing to touch
them. .
And no thought was taken of the morrow?
Had old Tom not promised that the relleI
would surely reach them in few hours!
But the following day passed and no rel1eI
and q binding snow-storm raging
Scarcely an hour went by during the day or
Night I0aJ one OF Iue OIHeT VI tuO
bound did not force his way out into the
tempest and cry aloud for the help that it de-
layed. How feeble the voice Of q human
sounds through the whirlng snow -1lakes OF
a mountain storm-how dull and dead, now
echolessl Hour after hour they shouted
nay, shrieked-from that lonely spot in the
Sierra fastness, and no answering shout re-
piled to gladden. their sinking hearts. And
still the snow flakes fell, drifting, whirling,
driving.
Once more the pangs Of hunger fastened
| upon the Yitals of these strong, all-enduring
men. On two occasions Ben Smith and
Jerry Homer-the only able bodied men in
the attempted to cross the Grizzly
range in the hope of meeting the relief, but
the storm drove them back. Even old Tom,
had he been as strong as he was two weeks
before, could not have beaten his way
through the tempest. Eight days had now
passed since that memorable feast, and the
condition of the men was truly pitiable
Martinand Billings werelittle better than glib
bering idiots. Everything eatable had been
chewed to pulp and shreds, and those who
could least endure the frightful pangs that
racked them were chewing pine leaves and
fir twigs, which Smith Gron muscled)
brought in from the outside. Smith was the
only stay of the camp now, and even he
seemed about to succumb.
Then, like a horrid nightmare, the awful
problem was again mooted-notby innuendo
this time, but openly, with muttered curses,
by men who glared raVenously upon each
other, eager to ply the deadly knife to ap-
pease the now uncomfortable fever that ragged
within them. They no longer went to the
door. They were consulting who should die
to save the rest. .....
Gwen draw lots" said Ben Smith, in a
husky whisper. His tongue was thick and
black.
"Hurry up, then; we can't stand it much
longer. Let's know who it is" moaned
Homer, in gurgling, cracked voice, his
tleshess fingers cutchng nervously, and his
| dull eyes rolling in their sockets.
"No, no! Not while 1 live, boyssz.not
while l live" In piteous accents old Tom
, Stoddart put in his protest, as he crawled,
weak and almost helpless, from corner
, where he had been crouching during the
conversation. ''I'm old and useless, boys.
I've fought my fight. My end is near. And
if my old body can do anything to alleviate
your sufferings, you are more than welcome
to it. Let me be the victim"
"No, Tom; you have earned the right to
, live. We owe our miserable lives to you,"
said Homer.
! "Tom, you've done too much for us al
3 ready. One of us must die for you-only
! one is needed. The relief will be on hanC
soon enough after it is all over. It'll come
one life late-but what's the odds? We'd
, starved to death eff tibet life hedn't gon'
OUT"
"Then, boys, if you won't do it for me
I'll save you the trouble. l wanted to di,
: like a soldier, as if my face were frontin.
D the foe; but you refuse, and must sacrifice
, myself"
+ Old Tom had raised himself to his fee
I, during these words, and gradually retreateC
r to the farthest end of the room. AS he ut
/ tered the last words, his trembling hant
. sought the bosom Of his shirt, and before tn
stupefied spectators could make a movemen
a a derringer cleaned beside his temple.
t Boys, the heart of the Bruce put tn
+, Moors to flight. The blood of the Bruc
r flows through my heart. May it put the de
e mons of famine to fight after old Tom
gomez
q He pulled the trigger, and a crash-shout
"a confused medley Of sounds, and rus
n for the door. The cap on the derringer ha
r snapped. Old Toms life was saved. TIL
relief had arrived.
4 CHAPTER III.
A winter morning, 1877. Midnight ha
: Just passed, and the bells of Sonora wer
l Ginning merrily. Bonfires blazed, and oc
: casionally a rocket shot up, and, bursting
4 fell in q shower Of brilliant stars. The tow
|, was aglow. The people were celebrating
the birth of the Savior in good, old fash
Toned way. ALI was Joy, merriment, happi
ness. .t..
In a miserable hut on the outskirts of tn
= U0Wn man lay uyllS ny Inches. Crippled
I, by rheumatism, racked by a Thousand
e agonies, Sand hungered and athirst," hi
0 soul was tearing itself loose from decrepit
a useless, hopeless body. In the midst of ROY
Q ery, while joy-bells pealed their melodicu
notes, the noble heart OF hero was breNk
ing = forsaken by the world, starvin
while surrounded by plenty, in supreu
despair. . .t
+ "'Oh, my God, why hast Thou forsake,
mep Oh, yes, you laughing bells, ring on
2 ring on, but don't remind those who lister
: that old Tom Stoddart is dying of hunge
I and thirst in hole where the sun ca,
scarcely penetrate for the cobwebs that cove
the window panes. They called me crazy
) what could expect? What could crack
, brain, poor, harmless idiot, expect from al
! intelligent, high-souled, pure, and i'm
maculate worlds"
He paused, and fumbled under his pillow
He drew forth a derringer, caressed it trem
7 bingly in the utter darkness, and resumed
"The price Of dinner-perhaps two. Blu
how can use you to purchase them? Wha
messenger will come to bear you away wher
death may be exchanged for the staple o
life? You played me false once, on a simila
occasion, when despair gnawed at my vitals
an occasion when, il you had done your dut,
might have died the death of hero, god
! like death, the fame of which would hav
rung through the world and crowned m,
memory with a fleeing halo of glory. vii