Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-10-13

THAT'S so" repeated the unmoved
official. Then. seeing. that his custom
er had come to an end, he said: 81
reckon YOU want TO deposit your money
with us?''
That's the how of it, stranger.
Lock it up tight whar kin come for it
Tomorrow
Down with the dust, then" OBJ
served the Cashier. taking the pen from
behind his ear and preparing TO VIZ tie;
but seeing his customer throw q wary
glance right and lett, he beckoned him
to a more retired part of the bank,
where the depositor very coolly d vest
ed himself o. his shirt, in each corner
of VIII Oh five fifty-do lar "slugs" were
knotted. An equal sum in dust was
then produced from buckskin belt, all
of which was received without the least
comment upon the ingenuity with which
it had been concealed. A certificate in
due form was then made out, specifying
that James Wildes had deposited with
the Mutual Confidence and Trust
Company" subject to his order, two
thousand dollars. CHANGING at the scrap
of crisp paper as if hardly comprehend
ing how it could be an equivalent for his
precious heap of coin and dust upon the
counter, Jim heaved deep sigh of re-
lief, then crumpling the certificate
tightly within his big list, he exclaimed:
"Thar! l kin eat and sleep now. 1
reckon. Blamed if ever l knew afore
what a coward a rich man wasn'
dc then started for the door, hest
tated. came back to the counter, and
asked the clerk, in confidential tone:
Il say, what might be the valley of
that buzzum-pin of yourn? The old
woman at home might like some kind
of a trinket, you know"
The clerk eyed the questioner sharp
ly, carried his hand hastily to the dia-
mOnd cluster flashing in his shirt front,
and said. shortly: "Sixty ounces"
Jim gave long whistle, and went
out in search of a nights lodging.
Our man, who had acquired among
his fellow-miners the nickname of
Yankee JIM" had been a sailor be-
fore the mast. When the ships anchor
touched the bottom, he with his ship
mates started at once for the dig
gings." where he had tOiled for two
years with varying luck, but finding
himself at last in possession of what
would be considered little fortune in
his native town, we see him now re-
turning. filled with the hope of happy
meeting with the wife and children he
had left behind.
But while Yankee Jim slept soundly,
and dreamed blissfully of pouring gold
en- ca les into James lap, his destiny
was being fulfilled. The great financial
storm of 1856 burst upon the State un-
heralded. Like thief in the night the
one fatal word passed over the wires
that shut the door of every bank, and
made the boldest turn pale. Suspen-
sion was followed by panic, panic by
ruin aud dismay. Yankee jim. was
only an atom swallowed uO in the gen.
y; eral and overwhelming disaster of that
day.
In the morning he went early to the
bank, to find it shut fast, and an excited
and threatening crowd surging to and
fro before the doors. Men with haggard
faces were talking and gesticulating
wildly. Women were weeping and
wringing their hands. A sudden faint
ness came over him. What could it all
mean? Mastering courage to put the
| question to n bystander. he was told to
look and read for himself Two omi-
nous words, Bank closed" were
| posted on the front of the building.
! For moment the poor fellow could
not seem to take in the full meaning of
the calamity that had fallen like a
thunderbolt from a clear sky; but as il
dawned upon him that his little fortune
was swept away forever, and with it the
hopes that had opened to his delighted
fancy, the blood rushed to his brain,
and his face grew purple. Thenhe fell
back in n fit, deprived OF sense or mo-
| ton.
The first word he articulated when he
came to himself was: Home Some
kind souls paid his passage to San
Francisco, where the sight of blue water.
and of the big ships CALAMITY riding at
their anchors, seemed to revive him a
little. Wholly possessed by his one
idea of getting home, he shipped on
board the next home-bound steamer,
going about his duty like a man half
stunned, and who sees, without COM
pretending, what is passing around
him.
The sailing of homeward-bound
steamship was one of the events of
those days. To say that the whole city
turned out to witness, or rather to as
slst at, her departure, would hardly be
an exaggeration. On board, all was
hustle and hilarity. On shore, jeSts and
good-byes popped like champagne
corks. Those who were going were the
secret envy of those who were left be-
hind, in whom this scene aroused that
passionate, that uncomfortable yearn-
ing for the old home beyond the mount
ain-peaks, beyond the seas.
My own knowledge of the chief actor
in this history began at four o'clock in
the morning of the third day out from
port. The California's engines were
suddenly stopped. There was a hurried
trampling of feet, n rafting of blocks
on the deck, succeeded by dead silence
"a silence that could be felt. jumped
out of my berth and ran on deck. How
well can recall that scene!
The morn ng, cold, damp and foggy,
was an utterly dismal one. A pale light
struggled through the heavy mist, but
it was too thick TO see a cable's-length
from the ship, although we distinctly
heard the rattle of oars at some d stance,
with now and then a quick shout that