Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-06-30


ReGERsD NCK.
| ROeerS's luck was prOveFbil .110n&
his associates. Il Was luck unmIdgnfed
and unvasying. # f0rtitude and buoy
ancy 81 spirit were It III instrumeue.i y
lplacating the Fates, little Rogers patient
epdesyor and sweetness Of temper might
long slncc have disarmed the maIevoIent
arbiters Of destiny To every nouf ana
frowu Of Fortune he turned his quaint:
whimsicslly alert cOuntenance. lighted
i With brave and cheerful smile. From
every tumble on the sliOpery ways OF en-
i terprise he lifted himself blithely. bear
ing aloft the orifiamme Of his orange
cofored hair. stifiy erect In accepted crest
| fashion. If good blood does not whine
anv more than lie, then little Rogers
micht have laid claim to whatever grace
comes with that strain; for no plant or
fermentation ever ESCAPED the piucKy iitlle
fellow. He never objurgated the luck
He always found some practical. perfect
| " matter-of-course reason Tor the iaiiure
/ Of his ventures, and he no sooner bowen
1 to defeat In one instance than ne rallied
!! to renewed effort in some other direction:
Swayed BY his natural bias. Rogers had
elected at first to tread the unstable paths
Of Journalism. But his critical turn was
| too imperative. his taste too exacEng.
aRogers's work ID too finished" his su-
perior in Office declared; he edits copy
out of all its original semblance. Too
stilted-too carefully turned" He went
with the Independent American Topo-
graphical and Atmospherical Survey.
which. it may be remembered, penetrated
to the interior of the provincial posses
sions OF certain foreign Power lying on
our borders. All the world remembers
how that expedition was ''headed OF" by
arbitration Of the jealous home Govern
ment. Nexta consulskip was gotten for
Rogers. BY friends who admired his gal
liant pertinacity. But his Quixotic course
in regard to family Of American adven-
turers. stranded at bis port. very nearly
involved rs in war. and Rogers was re-
called. Then he tried the stage; but his
determined prediction for tragedy was
at lopgerheads with his comical, h0meiy
face and grotcsque outstanding hair; so
one more avenue narrowed TO the vanish
g.point.
Il was when his resources were at their
lowest ebb that he conceived the idea of
going as rod man with surveying party
under contract for Mexico. No less ext
gent situation would have let him consent
to go away from home and Caroline How
ard, but the lowest depths of his depleted
scalp yearned for the reported Astounding
shekeis of the Montezuman land; and so.
after many mutual pledge with the lady
of his heart, poor little Rogers tore him.
selfaway. The young man was not de-
void of certain self consciousness, and he
rather plumed himself upon freedom from
false pride and singleness of purpose, as
exelnplified in his acceptance of his not
exalted position.
II remember" he said to STRAIN, the
chief of his party, looking through the
arch of the Pierced Rock. as their steam
er lay off Cape San Lucas; II remember
once when Richardson and were down
in Tulare county. we ran across two of
our old schOolmates, who were .toting'
chains for the survey on Page and Miller's
ranch. They were the valedictorians OF
their years too. Do you know. l never
admired those young fellows half so much
as when they leaned there on our wheels,
in overalls and sunburned straw hats,
snatching how goes it while they
waited the word from their boss And
now you're my boss, old fellow, you may
as well respect my independence"
"Oh. that's all right" said Strain. lit
tie disdaintully; "a mans a man for a.
that The question is. how will Queen
Caroline take it? OF course you told her
your line"
1.-The fact is-no,'' said Rogers, rueful-
"; for strain was more or less distant
relative of Caroline Howard, and the tone
was significant. 81 told her l should
join your party, but without specifying
my office. Oh, Caroline's girl Of gold,
She's superior to such small preJudices. a
"Humph," quoth Strain. her cousin.
Ofall Rogers unpracticable projects,
this last one was the worst. While they
were getting their bearings at San Cuales,
all went well enough. But from the day
they took the field, Rogers mishaps be.
gan. He was the willingest soul that ever
lifted hand; but frail physique was
against him, and labor that may be en-
dured very tolerably under northern sky
becomes quite preposteriously out of the
question in tropic latitudes, where the
labor is handicapped, too, by ali the spiny,
briary appendages that Mother Earth's
face there is decorated withal. Alas, the
notifications of the spirit were bitter.
To race giving servants to its servants,
the performance Of offices like Rogers is
applicable only by the assumption of in
ferior caste and so, Notwithstanding the
uniailing consideration of his comrades,
Rogers found himself relagated too often to
mental status. twas not strange that
he soon began to fail in health the won
der was that he endured so long. The
party worked their way across the Hacien-
da del Carrizal and the valley of Rio
Ruidoso, and camped in the sandy bed of
ditch, under the sycamores and cotton
woods, at Santa Catarina. And the very
night they came, Rogers. lying down ex-
hausted for nap before supper. awoke
raving with delirium, wherein a vein of
pathos ran through the absurdities.
Poor devil I" said one of the engineers.
coming from an inspection of the patient,
''he must have had pretty hard lines. His
very soul seems to be ebbing out through
q hole that some girl pointed out in his
boot Look here. Strain, do you suppose
that's a factp Was any girl ever so de
spicahlep | know the sex is given to