The Labor enquirer., 1883-01-13

| Long ago, IN the early gay " S-s-t Ses-t
fornia, when all the rivers there were
thought to be full of gold, it was con-
sidered a matter of course that the great
Sacramento, far up at its source, was also
gold bearing and that it only needed
men and little labor to .wing-dam
the stream some summer and find a vein
of gold almost as rich as the famous de-
posts of the Feather and the American
rivers, which feed the Sacramento and
drain the melting snowsof the Sierras
far away tosthe south.
And so it was in the spring of 1S----,
with this purpose in view, that a party
of strangers in San Francisco hastily
pooled their fortunes, consisting mainly
of hope and muscle, and ascending the
Sacramento river to within thirty miles.
of its source, settled, down there and be-
gan to cut it in two with a wing dam.
How in one short and yet uncom-.
pleted summer these ten men had man
aged, to do the amount of work which
they had, it is hard togsay. Winter was
not far off at the farthest, in. this lati-
tude, but then how a man working for
himself will strike out, with the thought
constantly before him that the very next,
blow of his pick may mean to him wife,
children, father, mother, home, or, what
is the same thing, gold that would pave
the road leading back to these and all
else dear to man. ::.
Late one evening, as the brawny, hairy,
half-robed miners still wrestled with the
powders down in the bed Of the river,
which as yet had yielded no sign of its
secrets,-a pale, slim boy stood on the
bank and inquired in helpless way, and
with a weak, tired voice, if they did not
want to ''hire help"
The men stopped, looked up, then at
each other, then at the boy above them
on the bank, and then they roared with
laughter. 49,. 4
Hire help Look here, are you the
help?" howled the strongest Of them,
called Samson. -. /.
eyes, sir" Z 4 Il
Again the ragged men leaned on their
picks and shovels, lifted up their heads
and roared. 4
"Say, are you an orphan?" laughed
Colonel Lasses, turning quid. Were
all orphans here and long way from
home. Are you an orphan and a long
way'from home ?" I
"No, sir" piped the tired boy. "I'm
not an orphan, but I'm long wav from
home" /..- .f f-.. f:
''Well, you better start for home, then.
1t will be dark by the time you get
there, l reckon. From the Flat, eh?"
From the Flat, sir. Where is that ?"
"Why, Portuguese Flat" chimed in
tall fellow, with touch Of gentleness in
his voice. TITS four. miles down, the
only mining camp on this end Of the
river. Where did you come from, my
Kid, you don't know that, eh?"
/ 'Why, sir, l came from the other way
down from Oregon"
Some of the men looked at each other
and held their breath, and others shook
their heads. But the very tall and rag
ged one, who was called Nut Crackers,
leaned soberly aside on his pick.
At last one of the men, a sprightly.t
handsome fellow, called timothy, threw
down his long-handled shovel, and COM
ing up out of the mine, said
"Well, my kid, you may not be an Or
phan, but you're mighty long ways
from home; about a thousand miles, |
guess. And as you can't get back there
tonight, you'd better bunk with us-eh,
boys"
"Bet your boots!' cheerily cried Nut
Crackers at his side, as he twirled a
finger through the boys yellow hair.
A heavy-booted, balf-bear creature,
that came crawling out of the mine af-
ter his younger partners, grunted out
qualified assent, and the party went
slowly stringing out toward. the brush
shanty Of the company, which stood
little way back from the foaming river,
Others followed. for the sun was down
and it was time to knock off," y
The boy was, weary and altogether
wretched. He was tall and bale and
thin, like weed that has grown in the
shadow, and was not likely to be an adj
dition to the working force of the mine.
but he was reserved and resnectf,l