Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-23

10 have CduSils pCCpCu llOiii DOhS"eiis
helping if frame face stamped with
innoncence and purity. Young people
always get sentimental in the evening
when surrounded by quiet, and / was
no exception to the rule, and almost
before knew it l was toying with the
little hand, so white and soft, lying
carelessly on the flinty quartz.
'.Nellie, :" | said, after few moments,
don't you ever long to leave this
rough place and go back to the East?"
Not now,"' she said, slowly, though
/ might under some circumstances. !"
"Why not now!''
s'Oh, ause-because-I don't want
to leave papa
is that the real reason!' | asked,
her shyness and evident avoidance of
my eyes giving me hopes that set my
heart beating with quicker pulsations.
LET us go down, she said, quickly.
as she arose.
mo, not until you answer me- and
| | caught again the little hand.
She drew it from my grasp, and. with
a Saucy Come started down the
| trail and | fastened to follow. made
several attempts to renew the CONVEX
sation on the way, but Nellie always
| turned off from the subject nearest
my heart; and yet when | left her at
her fathers door she shyly extended
hand, and / thought / detected q soft
pressure as | took it in mine. A mo-
ment, and she had vanished and 1 no.
ticed a rosy flush on her pretty cheeks
and an unusual lightsin her tender eyes.
| I went back to my little cabin with a
strange admiXture of certainty and
doubt in my feelings, and a quickening
of pulse that made me oblivious to my
rough surroundings.
After supper lit my pipe and sat
upon my roughly-hewn doorstep. The
sun had gone down, but yet there was
light enough for me to see her cabin
and notice her father standing in the
doorway chatting with Mineral Bob,
the best prospector in camp and the
| third owner with Stacy and myself in
the Ajax. l turned my head and saw
the lights in the shaft-house of the Big
Giant mine on Red Mountain gleam-
ing away in the distance; 1 heard the
| changing blows of the blacksmith at
his forge as he sharpened the tools for
the morning work, and the deep boom
of the blast in the Little Emily mine
came floating through the still night
air. Then my eyes wandered back to
the cabin which held Nellie. Bob was
still there, his tall figure and broad
shoulders contrasting greatly with the
little old man in the doorway. What
was he doing there so long, thought,
and pulled my pipe viciously as I saw
Nellie moment later join the two.
The night settled down and the cabins
faded from view, their presence only
revealed by the lights shining through
the little square windows or the sparks
streaming out of the stone and mud
chimneys. 1t was getting cool, too,
and knocked the ashes out of my pipe
and re-entered my little home and STIR
red up the smouldering emberS on the
hearth. An hour went by and the
moon sent its beams across my little
table, with its tin plates and cups:
across my earthen and rocky floor,
touching lightly my books on a.Shelf at
| the head of my bed and resting softly
on the rolled-up coat that served me
for a pillow. turned on my stool and
glanced out of the window. The tops
of the surrounding timber were silver
ed by the, moonlight, and the cabins
stood out against the dark background
of the tall Spruces. The sound of sing
ing came up from the saloon, and the
wind sighed fitfully now and then.
And so | fell into a sombre reverie,
and Nellie was the center about which
all my thoughts revolved. Presently
there was knocking at my door, and
at my invitation Mineral Bob entered
Hello! Philadelphia, he said, st
kinder thought you wasn't in.
why" [ asked, rather sorry of the
interruption. though Bob was good
company, and no one could look into
his merry blue eyes land pleasant face
covered all over with a luxuriant, rich
brown beard, without feeling better
and less out of spirits.
''Oh, / sort of calculated you'd be
somewhere around the girl. How's
your chances, partner! Good, eh z"
Come in, Bob, and stop your non
sense. Here, fill your pipe and sit
down"
Bob laughed good-humoredly and,
pulling up a stool, sat down near the
fire, and as he filled his pipe, said:
'I've dropped in on a little business
about the Sunshine, you kuow," al
luding to a mine of his and one of the
best in the camp. 'You know I'm
obliged to sink-ain't got no chance to
tunnel, and the surface water is get
ting the best of me. Must have a
pump, if I want to do anything-this
bailing water out by the bucketful
when she's coming in near as fast is
of no account. You know that =
nodded assent.
swell, then, Philadelphia as he
lighted his pipe and gave two or three
vigorous puffs, Il want to see what
kind of a dicker | can make with you
about running the mine. l amt got
the money to get an engine and pump,
though I guess / could borrow it, and
besides Eve got to go East on business
inside of a week, and don't want to
leave the Sunshine idle-I can't afford
it,"
Why don't you sell her to old
Stacy" said. He's got some ready
cash
"But he's going out shortly and