Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1882-06-20
THE WIDOWS SURPRISE.

n SdiloIula HiiniHS lo"h, """J II
amid the snow-clad, rock-bound peaks
of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The town was irregularly laid out. and
was scattered along a creek which empt-
led into the Consummes river several
miles below. Both the dwellings and
business houses-or, more properly speak
ing. cabins-were constructed of unhewn
pine logs, the crevices between the tim
bers being" chinked " and plastered with
mud. The town contained at least a
dozen saloons, or saloons and gambling
houses combined, and in these hells much
of the hard earned money of the miner
parted company with him, to take up its
temporary abode in the saloon.till or the
pocket of the professional gambler. The
dwellings OF the town were scattered
along the creek or built on the side Of
the mountain, the majority Of them be-
ing rough bachelor dens,' for women
were scarce in the newly discovered dig
gings.
In small cabin in the upper end of
the town sat woman in widow weeds,
holding upon her knee a bright-eyed,
sunny-faced little girl about five years
old, while little cherub of boy lay
upon bear-skin before the open fire.
place. 1t was Christmas Eve, and the
woman sat gazing abstractedly into the
FIRE. She was yet young, and as the
glowing flames lit up her sad sweet face
they invested it with weird beauty.
Mary Stewart was the widow Of Aleck
Stewart, and but two years before had
lived comfortably and happy in camp
on the American river. Aleck was a
bravny miner, but premature explos-
ion of blast in an underground tunnel
had blotted out his life in an instant,
leaving his family without a protector,
and in straitened circumstances. His
daily wages had been their sole support,
and now that he was gone, what could
thev do;
With her little family Mrs. Stewart
had emigrated to the camp all Western
mining towns are called camps and
there she carried on precarious liveli-
hood by washing clothes for the miners.
Hers was hard lot, but the brave little
woman toiled on, cheered by the thought
that her daily labor stood between her
darling little ones and the gaunt wolf of
starvation. Their clothes were patched
and shabby, and their food plain, and
sometimes scant, yet they were never re-
duced to absolute suffering.
Jack Dawson, a strong, honest miner,
was passing the cabin this Christmas
Eve, when the voice of the little girl
within attracted his attention. Jack pos
sessed an inordinate love for children, and
although his manly spirit would abhor
the sneaking practice Of eaves-dropping'
he could not resist the temptation to steal
up to the window just moment to listen
to the sweet, prattling voice. The first
words he caught were;
Before papa died we always had
Christmas, didn't we, mamma y
"Yes, Totty darling, but papa earned
money enough to afford to make his little
pets happy at least once year. You
must remember, Totty, that we are very
poor, and although mamma works very,
very hard, she can scarcely earn enough
to supply us with food and clothes"
Little bright. faced Benny raised his
curly head from its soft nest in the warm
bear-skin and cheerily said:
"Des' wait till git to be a man,
mamma, an, 90 won't have to wort.
Use doin' to be dreat bid miner ike
papa was, an dit 90 ever so much mon
ey, but | won't do near EN- hateful blast
in fings, an dit titled ike papa did"
Jack Dawson still fingered upon the
outside. He could not leave, although
he felt ashamed of himself for listening
"Why, bless my little man, what
brave future he has planned / do hope
and pray, darling, that you will grow up
strong and good man, and one who
will be blessing and comfort to man,
ma when she gets old"
"We hung up our stockings, last
Christmas, didn't we, mamma :" ques.
toned the little girl.
"Yes, Totty, but We were poor then,
and Santa Claus never notices real poor
people. He gave you a little candy then
just because you were such good child
rem"
"Is we any poorer now, mamma
"Oh, yes, much poorer. He would
never notice US at all now"
Jack Dawson detected tremor of sad
ness in the widows voice as she uttered
tho last words. and he Wiped a suspici-