Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-15

oo"u anu iaJy nall 1ellrlOuS with q few
as the men came up from the mine +
moonlight and quietly gathered abo,
hlm. They had somehow learned
love him in spite of themselves.
lie was indeed very Ill. But VIII.
could they do? There was no doctor s
the Flat. There was not even drug
store. And if there had been. wis
then? Every pistol, rifle, knife. ever
available article, had been pawned-
"put up" as they called ito carry O
the work.
"Boys," at last cried Timothy. tn
lmpulsive young fellow who had firs
welcomed him; "boys, have an idea
yes, boys, I have. Let's make the xii
a pardner
s'Jist as we're striking - marmured
| voice with Southern accent, out on tn
edge OF the dark. Then, after a paus
long enough to turn quid, the voic
answered itself: "Waal, yes, Timothy.
Nut Crackers was not talker. Hi
lips quivered little, and he went out
side in the dark.
There was deep silence. The prop
osition seemed absurd to nearly ever
man there. The river surged on, nov
louder, now softer the fire leaped an,
licked its red tongue, as if about to breal
the stiffness, and that was all. But Tim
othy was in dead earnest, and, hearin;
a voice out in the dark breaking tn
awkward silence never so family, was OF
his feet.
"He may die, boys. He may no
live till morning."
In that case-in that case, I CUES
we can do it," Clipped in the man fror
Maine.
'Look here, boys, if We strike il
there Is enough for us all. And fit
here Timothy's two forefngers hoohe.
together angrly, as if they wece read,
to strangle each other at the thought
''if we don't strike it"
Several of the men were on their fee
and giaring at each other. Tie speaEs,
hastened on:
But Of course we will. Bows. IL
there. OF course it's there. Is's 8.
to be there. [ never doubted, boz.
But 1 an bit superstitiouS. And, as
sat there looking in that boys face,
says tomyself, says !, boys, God woilli,i'
couldn't Gisappoint that lace. Now.
lie was IL with us, boys, We c@uiln't po>
slhly mss it tomorrow.
No man answered, but several CROSSE
over to the other side CT the iira to t.
boy, and Lazarus put out his hand t
the sufferer and said, tenderiv, as
took up the thin and helpless fl gers
"Shake, pardner, shake. You're 20
of us now"
Even the sour and silent nan fro,
Maine> came up and shook the boy
hand then, as he shuf;led ctt t. i:
size OF the fire, he said, half 20 Liz
self
"Well, if we do miss it meow, there
one good deed we git credit for, any
heow."
"Key-rect, boys" said the lacor,-
Colonel, as he gave the hand of je:l,.>
ship aid walked off, feeling soGncwhn
broader III the chest and bigger ahcr
the heart than he had for year. "Bu
If God Almighty goes back on Us M
after what we've done-wa al, Ii: iist-
But the last OF this speech was browne.
III the roar of the Sacramento river s.
it rolled away in the darkness with it
mighty secret that, ON the morrow
should be torn from it's very heart.
In the lull which followed, v,ice WA
heard out In the dark i'll the tliraetio,
toward which Nut Crackers h,r} eon.
stumbling and twisting his long, III
calmly legs over the great bpwll:ers
And lis one of the men spoke to the k,
by the fire of tomorrow, OF the goll. III.
going home, the wife waiting at The doc
three thousand miles away. the oil,
mother waiting with one foot in til,
grave, who could not go to rest til 81!
said good-by to her boy, the moon SCENE,
to come down out of heaven to Sc,
and the river to stop and listen.
victory or defeat for tomorrow Il,
coward had as yet ever set his face fo
the Sierras. Each man here was hero
And every one of these worn. out fellow.
had heart like a girl. Even til.
laconic Colonel hooked his knuckles il
his eyes, and, turning away so as not t,
be seen: muttered:
"Biast me if Nut Crackers amt OF
there prayin' p
AS the man came back out of the dari
q song burst out in the mountains b,
the campfire such as the Sierras haf
never heard before and will never hea
again. It was not the words, not til,
air, not the singular occasion. But i
was the heart, the hope-the extreme O
hope which is despair. Il was the oil,
and simple song, lined by the man from
Maine:
From Green!and's icy Eleount'ins,
From Injys coral straIl';
Where Afric's sunny fcount'ins
Roll down their golden SAN.
Perhaps it was the "golden sand" tia.
had so long filled their souls, sleeping
and waking maybe it was the icy
mountains" about them that invoked The
song. But whatever it was, the hymn
broke on. and rolled on to the full com
pletion as strong aud as resolute as the
river it outsung. The man from Maine
sang loudest Of all it seemed that the
power OF the mountain pines was in hi:
voice.
And the boys no longer looked down
or turned aside now. They shook hands
in hearty mountain fashion, and sang
and sang together again. 1t seemed
that they had never become acquainted
through all that summer before.
When they had finished the hymn TO,
the second time, the man from Maine
grasped the hands of Lazarus and Nut