The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1881-08-10

uring the most precipitous sides of those
lofty and mysterious hills, ''that when a
man aspircs to touch the sky he would
want a higher guerdon than mere gold,
not, however, that I hold the metal in
contempt"
81 had, madame, and that was the
whole matter. | was desperately In
love-that was n solemn fact, expressed
in as few words as possible-and | be-
lieve that she loved me, but the top of
Mt. Shasta was not more unattainable
to me than Jennie. Her father, nm old
Philadelphia druggist, had money, and
| had none. He was as proud as Luci-
fer, and as ambitious for his daughter as
he was proud. felt that could move
mountain, if could find n mountain
to move; SO Jennie and | said good bye
one afternoon under an old oak in Fair
mount Park, and in the very depths of
my heart l believed that she would
be true to me. 1t was not a Sc
we're seven days ride in palace car
from New York to San Francisco i'll
those days, and the tall, slender, hungry,
penniless lad who tramped along hero
twenty-nine years ago, seeking his for
tune like another Dick Wilmington,
was weary and homcsick one as well. ;"
"By here, which you have twice
used, do you mean this vcritable Valley
of the Sacramento?' said Ruth.
"The very same. My objective point
was n place now famous in the annals of
that period, called 'Bidwcll's Bar, on
account of rich bar in the Feather
River, full Of golden sand, which was
discovered by General Bidwell. The
place was many miles from me; the
country was thinly settled; | did not
know soul (for even tramps were scarce
i'll those early days., and so my courage
and my legs gave out together. Pulling
off my boots about 5 o'clock one sultry
day, | barred my blistered feet to the
cool evening breeze, and, creeping into
a clump Of young malzanitas, fell
asleep, hoping that would never awake
again this side of the stars. did, how
ever, conscious that my toes We're being
licked in gentle fashion, and discovered
that it was being done by brown softer
dog, about as hungry looking and.Bcncr-
ally dilapidated as | was myself,
"Whcre he came from never knew,
but, looking into his half-human eyes,
we speedily entered into sort OF DUMB
compact to trudge on together found
that the poor fellow q never could call
him n brutc) had q sore knee, intlamcd
and bleeding. tore strip of from my
last handkerchief to bind it up, and, IN
place of the Good Samarltons oil and
wine. gave him my last scrap OF cold
bacon. 1t is strange, but iorIorn as !
was in those days, | recall them with n
tender pleasure almost unncConntablc.
If ! had been raised Brahmin | would
have believed that some immortal spirit
of unfajling checrlulncss and unonding
resources was imprisoned in that dog $
body. Did you ever read the fairy le-
gcud OF tho White Cat, who, after
she had persuaded tho young
Prince, her lover, to cut OIL her
head and tail and throw them in the fire,
suddenly stood before him woman, us
fair us Aurora. Fritz for that was the
name 10y which | called tho dog, looked
at me with Jennie brown eyes,
half roguish half thoughtful and to-
gcthcr we resumed our journey. Nor
would | have followed in the wake of the
Young Prince, even had | known the re-
suit would have been similar, for Fritz,
the dog, was invaluable just as he was,
All lonCsomcucss was gone now that he
rarely left my side, and, although our
shadows had grown less by the time we
reached the bar, our immatcrial entities
were in prime order for everything III tho
shnpc Of adventure. 'lIave never seen
any gold dug. Then I'll not at this late
day spoil your first impressions OF min
er's camp by describing mine rs | ap-
preached Bidwell's Bar may say,
though that one might have supposed
an earthquake or tornado had been there,
tearing up the hundreds of thousands of
cubic feet that had been moved aud ro-
moved by mortal hands in their frantic
and persistent search for gold.
"rhe bar was world in miniature.
Almost every nationality was there repre-
sented, and almost every feature OF hui
man kind but humanity. Armed with o
pick. pan and shovel, T. like hundreds of
others, began to dig and burrow and
wash dirt. But my labor and its results
would not balance, for somehow my lit
tie leather bag of gold dust got no
heavier, toll MS | would. Wages being
good, | stopped digging and hired my,
self as u camp-scullion. | did every kind
of iobbing within the range OF miners
wants. Washing dirty flannel shirts and
cottons overalls, patching leather trou-
sers and cooking tlapiacks is not the
most dignified and tlower-strewn path to
fortune, you must know; and to a boy
whose IDEAS of chivalry, independence
and deeds of knightly valor were purely
and intensely Byronic, such n fate you
must acknowledge, was. sort of poetic
injustice. My aim, though, was to earn
enough money with which to buy GER
tain claim of which | knew, and that [
had, in advance, labeled Bonanza.
81 might have succeeded, but | was
prostrated by malarial fever, and for
days and weeks lay unconscious at the
tender mercies of a few rough Welsh
miners with human hearts. Ny little
hoard of money and my energy melted
away together like spring snow. But for
Fritz I'd have died of disappointment
alone. He had adopted the Never say
die motto, and as often read in his
glorious eyes the sentence, You great
coward, At him againl' as a tender and
appreciative sympathy which the gift Of
speech could not have made more assur-
ing My nurses had pitched me a tent
on the south side of low hill, and had
left me to get well at my own leisure.
Nv bottom dollar had dwindlcd to the
value of a dime, my legs to thickness Of
a pair of tongs Gor all appetite was
gone and one evening hope failed me;
Believing was going to die, | resolved
to do the fair thing by Jennie, apprise
her of the event and advise her to forget
me. By the Pickering light of bit of
tallow candle l began the letter, the first
F. rl.t