Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-12-27
TOT.

"Stmngo? why I toll you II WAS just
the most curious thing ever hear tell
of. There she was, a wee chit OF u lass
scarce as tall as my boots q pretty,
soft eyed, sunny.haired baby. Why,
man, that girl was fortune to us pill.
grims Of Rock Bottom"
Something supernatural, heyP" I
asked.
"Eh? Super y yes, it was
natural to her." responded the good
natured miner rs he gazed about him in
n most puzzled manner. mistrust that
supernatural was not contained in his
phraseology. "What was her manner
OF proc-dureP' asked.
"Eh?"
"How did she do it? find gold =? point
out the particular places where the rare
yellow vein existed?' added.
ooh! Why, she Just asked some one
to bind cloth over her eyes. Then
she'd walk along over the ground, and
suddenly she'd stop, then stamp her
baby foot down in spiteful manner,
and say, Here, here, take it away, it
hurts me, oh, it hurts me- I've seen
her do it hundreds Of times, and she
never missed once"
"This little gold.fnder must have
been in great demand among the inhabi.
tants Of Rock Bottom" I said.
eyes, she was. But the pilgrims all
agreed to one thing"
"And that was? ?" interrupted.
"Never to let one man use her servi-
ces more than one time. BY the way,
that reminds me of little incident,
small affair where one man found out to
his sorrow that the little gold.fnder
told him to dig once too often"
"Will you relate it to me?" I asked.
Certainly" quickly replied the
miner, looking up.
I lit q cigar and awaited his recital,
which was as follows:-
"You see the littlo gill was o waif.
One OF the boys found her in d lonely
hut on the mountains. The strangest
part of chat was, she was clasped close
to dead woman's breast. Who OF
what the woman was, the man who took
the wee baby from her stiff arms could
not tell, as there were no articles, not a
single paper or bit of writing, to
identify her or the child.
"He brought the baby to Rock Bot
tom, left her in the care of Aunt Chloe,
the only female in the camp, while he,
with two or three pilgrims, went back
to the lonely hut and put the dead
woman into the ground.
"The little one grew rapidly. The
surroundings seemed to agree with her,
for her cheeks were plump and brown
as berry with health. The first dis
covery of her power as gold-finder
happened one evening, when jim Blud-
soc, the man who found her, came from
his claim and said Tot, it's all up now.
You and must move away from here.
The little one was tive or six years old
then, still she was perfectly abe to
comprehend Jim's words. She just
give him one look and with a stamp of
her little foot upon the rough floor OF
Jim's cabin, she said, "Here, here, take
away, it hurts me, oh, it hurts me"
"a strange look must have been in
Jim's eyes, for his heart told him that
there was some meaning contained in
little Tots words.
"He tore up the boards, and with pick
and shovel dug right there, down in the
soft soil, under the floor. Strange, he
found gold.
"Jim was none Of your jealous, mean
minded pilgrims. He knew how to dc
the square thing every time. He didn',
keep the little gold.finders powerful
gift all to himself for his own benefit
He told the rest OF the pilgrims all
about it. He showed them his new
find right inside of his cabin, under
tile floor. He pointed to Tot, and said,
She done it. She said take It away, il
hurt her. don't know what it al
means. Gents, there's the proofP and
he produced an empty can nearly full
of little yellow nuggets about the size o
pea.
"Then the boys all wanted Tot Il
find gold for them. Finally they ar
ranged matters, and made an agree
ment never to use her services NOR
than once for each man.
"Just about this time, a soft-handet
sport, one Of them chaps that handle
the cards finely, came to Rock Bottom
He soon made holes in the pilgrims
caches, for he played what's called
nasty game Of poker.
"He heard about Tot, the little gold
finder, and one day he asked Jim il To
couldn't do some prospecting for him
! Now, according the rules connecte'