Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-02-11
HE HAD TO STAY.
Genuine Western Hospitality in
Eastern Nevada.

Ii was In lWlld ana arId region m
Eastern Nevada that man of middle
age and bronzed face was toiling up
the eastern slope of arocky hill, driving
before him a tired donkey that moved
slowly along, with Topped ears and
hanging head. The weather was hot,
although the month was October. At
each step the hoofs of the donkey
struck from the parched soil little
wreaths of dust. The man who fol-
lowed the patient beast was dressed in
the garb of a prospecting miner, one
of that class whose hopes and needs
send them forth t. explore the wilds of
far-away mountain regions. The
donkey bore Oh his back few mining
tools, roll of blankets and two or
three bags and bundles.
The slope of the hill was long and
steep. On all sides stretched brown
and treeleSs hills, about and between
which were spread sandy and alkaline
plains. The scene was one of dreary
sameneSs and saddest silence. The
broad waste was so thinly clothed with
stuntcd sa@cbrush that on all sides
patches of chall<y soil and great gray
rocks-the bones and nakedncss of the
mountains were exposed to view. Not
a living thing was seen; not the chirp
Of a bird was heard.
AT last man and animal reached the
crest of the ridge up toward which
they had so painfully plodded. As they
halted on the riG@e look of surprise
came into the careworn face of the
man, and the donkey raised his droop-
ing head and pricked up his ears.
Where the tired proSpector had expect
ed to find naught but a dreary cOntinu-
alton of the parched region he had long
been passing through he saw before
him signs of civilization.
the low sun was almost touching the
top of a range of rocky hills far away
in the west. and few tall peaks in the
nearer landscape were beginning to
send great creeping shadows along the
ground. Shading his eyes with his
hand, the prospector gazed down upon
a little valley, still in the sunshine, that
lay spread before him. Through this vale
meandered a willow-clothed stream,
and on terrace or plat of a few acres
stood human habltatlon.' .... ....
As the miner, with shaded eyes.
looked down into the brightly lighted
little valley before him his gaze was
first turned upon the dwelling it con-
tanned. He saw central cabin with
lean-to additions at each end. a stick
chimney rose above the roof of the CEN
trail building. and from one of the she'd
rooted additions projected a stove pipe.
Scattered at random about the dwelling
were few small outbuildings, rooted
with brush and straw, and rude pal
ING fence inclosed the whole
Above the dwelling. on the hillside,
appeared small grove of quaking
asps and willows, indicating the pres
ence of living water. Some distance
below the grove and the dwelling was
fenced off garden patch of two or
three acres, irrigated by the rill from
the spring. Down in the main valley,
watered by the -w...low-fringed brook,
We're fenced patches of ground many
acres in extent that showed cultivation
and growing crops, while on the COM
mon bordering the brook, below the
cultivated fields, were seen a horse or
two and ..handful" of cattle. -.
When the prOspectOr again turned
his eyes toward the little dwelling in
. the valley the creeping shadow of the
big mountain, miles away to the west
ward. had almost reached it. He
ordered his four-footed companion for
ward and began totdescend the slope.
Familiar sounds, as of old home music.
greeted the ears of our miner as he
Il, ,V.l
house, and its neighboring cultivated
patches. Dogs barked, sheep bleated,
cattle lowed, pigs squealed and even
- the voice of the turkey gobbler was
heard in the land. Better than all
else, in the mood he was in, he saw
children swarming about the place
among dogs and pigs. Some of the
youngsters were mounted upon the
roofs of sheds and pens and some on
the posts of the bars that formed the
entrance to the home Enclosure, while
still others were running to and fro,
apparently in the widest excitement;
and man was also seen standing in
the yard before the house.
This man, thus waiting in the yard.
was 1.-The man of the hp1Ise". He had
been brought forth by the barking of
the dogs and the wild-eyed reports of
his children. 1t was with great sur
prise that he saw the apparition of the
prospector and his donkey descending
the slope of the mountain. The man
who thus1stood forth wore pair OF
baggy butternut pantaloons, held up
by single knit wooden suspender; a
blue wooden shirt and tattered straw
hat. His abutternut-cOlOred hair
reached, ALMOST down TO his shoulders,
bnt his face was clean-shaved. He was
y q man forty-five or fifty years old. but
still solid and sound a, . ,nut,. From
the moment when he had first Seen the
miner and his donkey descending the