Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-11-01

But when he comes they will be.bright
tg0s Once more, and no longer weep.
THE LITTLE GOLD MINERS OF THE
.@.ea SIERRAS.
The mother had, died crossing the
plains, and their father had had a leg
broken by wagon wheel passing over
it as they descended the Sierras, and he
was for a long time after reaching the
mines miserable, lame and poor.
The eldest boy, Jim Keene, as [ re-
member him. was bright little fellow,
but wild as an Indian and full of mis-
chief The next eldest child, Madge,
was q girl of ten. her fathers favOIite,
4and she. was wild enough, too. The
youngest was Stumps. Poor, timid,
starved Little Stumps! l never knew
= shis real name. But he was the baby,
y sand hardly yet out of pctticoats. And
3 he was very short in the legs, very short
an the body, very short in the arms and
neck; and so he was called Stumps be-
cause he looked it. In fact he seemed
sto have stopped growing entirely. Oh,
you don't know how hard the old plains
were on everybody when we crossed
them in OX-wagOns, and it took more
than half q year to make the journey.
The little children, those that did not
die, turned brown like the Indians, in
that long, dreadful journey of seven
.'9months, and stopped growing for a
IS. time.
RI FoE-tbe first month or two after reach
mo the Sierras old Mr.. Keene limped
about among the mines trying to learn
the mystery of finding gold and the art
aOf digging. But at last, having grown
5strong enough, he went to work for
wages, to get bread for his half-Wild
little ones, for they were destitute in
deed.
Things seemed to move on well then.
Madge cooked the simple meals, and
Little Stumps chung to her dress with
his little pinched brown hand wherever
she went. while Jim whoOped it over the
hills and chased jack-rabbits as if he
were greyhound. He would climb
trees, too, like q squirrel. And, OH
it was .deplorable-but how he could
swear!
At length some of the miners, seeing
the boy must come to some bad end ii
not taken care of, put their heads and
their pockets together and sent the
children to school. This school was
miles away over the beautiful brown
hills, long, pleasant walk under the
green California oaks.
dinner bucket, and his slate, and all
their books under his arm and 90
booming ahead about half mile in adj
vance, while Madge with brown Little
Stumps clipging to her side like burr,
AaWould come stepping along the trail
under the oak trees as fast as she could
after him.
But if a jack-rabbit, or deer, or
fox crossed Jim's path, no matter how
late it was, or how the teacher had
threatened him, he would drop books,
lunch, slate and all, and splitting on his
hands and rolling up his sleeves, would
bound away after It. yelling like wild
Indian. And some days, so fascinating
was the chase, Jim did not appear at the
school-house at all; and of course NIadge
and Stumps played truant, too. Some
times a week together would pass and
the Keene children would not be seen at
the school-hOuse. Visits from the
>schoolmaster produced no lasting effect
The children would come for a day or
two, then be seen no more. The school
master and their father at last had a
sserious talk about the matter.
what cG1. do with him?" said Mr..
Keene.
You'll have to put him to work, ="
said the schoolmaster. ''Set him to
hunting nuggets instead of bird s-nests.
i guess what the boy wants is some
honest means of using his strength.
He's good boy, Mr.. Keene; don't de-
sspair of him. Jim would be proud to
be, an honest miner Jim's a good
boy, Mr., Keene." n
&, We'll, then, thank you, Schoolmas-
ter, y said Mr. Keene. "Jim's q good
boy; and Madgeris good, Mr.. School
master; and poor starved and stunted
motherless Little Stumps, he is good as
gold, Mr.. Schoolmaster. And want to
be mother to 'em-I want to be father
and mother TO 'em all, Mr.. SchoOlmas-
ter! And I'll follow your advice. I'll
put 'em all to work a-huntin' for gold. -
+ ~ The next day away up on the hillside
srlnder a pleasant oak, where the air was
q sweet and cool, and the ground soft and
dotted over with flowers, the tender
hearted old man that wanted to be
s-A'father and mother both, " located a
sclainlo. The flowers were kept fresh by
"A little stream of waste water from the
ditch that, girded the brow of the hill
above. Here he set a sluice-boX and
put his three little miners at work with
pick, pan and shovel. There he left
chem and Gmped back to his own place
IN the mine. below.
And how they did work! And how
pleasant it, was here under the broad
.bcughs of the oak, with the water rip