The Labor enquirer., 1883-01-13

miles away with one IooG IN the grave,
who could not 60 to rest until she had
said goodbye to her boy, the moon
seemed to come down out Of heaven to
see and the river to stop and listen. \
This was the eve of battle. What vic
tory or defeat for the morrow No cow
ard had as y ct everset his face for the
Sierras. Each worn out fellow had a
heart like a girl Even the laconic
Colon.el hooked his knuckles in his eyes,
and turning away. so as not to be seen,
muttered IS :--.
t BLAST me, if Nut Crackers amt out
there a-praying."
AS the man came back out of the dark,
song burst out in the mountains by the
camp fire such as the Sierras had, meyer
heard before, and will never hear again.
1t was not the words, not the air, not the
singular occasion, but it was the heart,
the hope, the extreme Of hope which is
despair 1t was the old and simple
song, lined by the man from Maine:
From Greenland's icy mOunt'ins,
From Injy's coral stran';
Where Afric's sunny Fountains
Roll down their golden SAN"
Perhaps it was the golden sand" that
had SO long filled their souls, sleeping
and waking; maybe it was the icy
mountains" about them tha at invoked the
song. But whatever it was, the hymn
broke. out and rolled on t4 full compile
ytion, as strong and as 4 Iesolute as the
river it outsung. The IN hn from Name
sang loudest Of all it seemed that the
power Of the mountain pines was in his
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
for the second time the man from Maine
grasped the hands of Lazarus and Nut
Crackers, and cried out:
"Once more, boys, once more. And
boys the pint and main thing in the
prayin' and singin' is that the kid gifts
well, Of course. But, boys, chip in a
sort o side prayer for the mine. Now,
altogether:
From GreenIand's icy moun-t'-i-n-s:
Yes boys, heave in for the mine on the
sly, like. Keep her up; now
From lnjy's coral stran';
Where Afric's sunny feO-u-n-t'ins
Roll down their golden SAN.
Yes, boys, weather eye on the mine.
Don't cost cent more, you know, to
come out fat-foOted for the mine, so that
she can't miss in the mornin' under no
possible derned circumstances"
The song was finished, and with light
hearts they laid down at midnight-sol-
diers in the trenches, waiting for the
dawn.
The boy had heard and understood it
all. He was not so i'll now. Care, the
thought Of those at home, the hope de-
ferred-these things had made the heart
sick and the body sick. But now he
should have gold Gold Gold Not
for himself had he come to the Sierras,
| but there was mother who had been
tenderly reared, there was father who
had been a scholar in his day, then the
little, ones-all these had been pitched
headlong into the wilderness, and were
utterly out of place. How he pictured
the return-the escape from the wilder
ness! 1t made the blood leap in his
heart, and after night of sleep he felt g
new flush of strength with the first gray
of dawn, when the men were ON tlleil
knees before Fortune in the mine.
No man had tasted food. No mar
thought of that. And well enough, too
No! Their first meal =should be down al
the Flat. They would all take back
their rifles, rings and knives, and pay
the men with gold ravished from the un
willing river
The boy sat on the bank. wrapped in &
blanket, just above the knot of eager
breathless men. The dull, blunt pick
axes were driven to the eyes at every
blow The worn-out shovels sent the
gravel ringing to the rear. Only one foot