The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1881-08-12

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 l often read in his
glorious eyes the sentence, You great
cowardl AT him again' as tender and
appreciative sympathy which the gift Of
speech could not hnve 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.
My bottom dollar had dwindled to the
value Of dime, my legs to thickness of
pair of tongs Qor 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 | began the letter, the first
! had written for months. | thought
aloud and wrote. Fritz lay beside me,
his nose wedged between his paws, hut
/ knew by the twiteh of his ears that
he understood every word was writ
ing,
II had reached the climax Of renun-
citation md wtetchedness- rather,
itly expression Of it-when he suddenly
rose and went out. / soon heard him
paving and scratching and tearing tho
earth about six feet from me, as though
he were under contract to dig tunnel
10 China before daylight. Thinking he
had found the burrow of wolf or fox,
called him off; but he was as deaf as O
rock to my voice. Seizing the candle, |
hurried to the spot, around which lay q
half bushel Of gravel which he had loos-
ened, when my eye caught the CLEAN Of
a dull. red etreak that veined d piece OF
quartz about the size Of an egg lying
among the fresh earth. Would you be-
lieve it? That streak was worth $50, for
it was virgin gold. Nor was it the only
one upon that hillside, Fritz had found
q lode thanks to the gopher, and |
thereby had found a fortune. As soon
as possible / had the gold Of
that precious stone wrought into ring
of my own designing all Of it, at least,
but the contents Of one blunt corner,
which, in fits native roughness, / had
mounted as brooch. Sending these to
Jennie, l."
can act Of great generosity, sir, I
think, interrupted Ruth with d laughing
CLINT in her eye. cone would have
thought you'd have preserved such a
piece Of rare good fortune as memorial
and stone"
''You anticipate me, madam It was
as memorial that / sent my first bit Of
treasure, but expected to get it back
again within two years, and the girl with
it."
'And did you?7
'No; nor even received liue Of nc
acknowledgement that my offer had been
accepted Nothing finds gold quicker
than gold, when q man has once got
fair share of it, and in two years ! had,
in various ways, secured $4,000 In
vesting it, as l thought snfely, Ireturned
t. Philadelphia in all the pride Of con-
quering hero. My story ought to end
here; TO wind up with the chime OF we'd
ding bells and beautiful Rachel as
my reward for faithful serving; but | had
scarcely arrived when heard, incident
ally, that Jennie had gone with her
father to Europe, nor left no sign that
she ever remembered me.
tYou certainly did not let that fact
dampen the ardor of your pursuits"
queried Ruth; ''you followed her, Of
course.
81 did no such thing, madam. / re-
turned to San Francisco, and plunged
into the excitement Of gold hunting with
a recklessnesss that a woman can not
understand. Six months after and lost
every dollar, but by that time / had
learned that experience is worth nothing
as solid capital until it has been dearly
bought. whistled my rhyme:
"Ioss and gain, pleasure and pain,
Balance the see-saw of life,
in the sensitive ears Of my faithful Fritz,
hugged his brown head close to my
shoulder don't laugh, that dog was my
friend-rolled up my sleeves, and again
went to work with yigor that knew
meant certain success If the vein held
out. 1t did, and five years afterward ]
had bank account which ran largely
! into the thousands. invested it in
| land. BY that time i was \ bachelor Of
thirty. Hard knocks and my one big
disappointment had shaken, all the
romance out of me, and when / again
went East it was on business connected
with the construction Of this railroad. !
"And you have quite outlived youl
boyish fancy, as heart began to lose its
yoiith?" said Ruth, with the least bit o.
cynicism in her tone.
81 think Fritz knew" said the con
ductor quietly. 81 had become almos
misanthrope for his sake. If I left hin
10 90 into society such as we had-fol
a few hours, he either whined like sicl
child or kept up such an increasing
barking and baying that to save him be
ing shot as a nuisance went to no plac'
where it was impossible for him to &C
company me. The oldfellow went with m,
even to New York, and on the journey
often caught myself cogitating how he
born in a wilderness Of wild mustard
and as fond Of camp-life as an Indian
would take to the constraint of an ol.
CITY. Well, ] had not been in New Yor
a week before there was a strong tugginl
at NV heart to run down to Philadelphia
Not that it was home for me, for M
parents had died before | first left it.
called the desire the charm OF associt
ton, and it led me.
ssIhere. as I went down Arch stree