Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-03-13
Written for TIRE EvESISe STAR
THE HERMIT OF HUNGRY
GULCH.
AUTHOR OF "THE DENVER EXPRESS" "rwo
PARDs," ETC.

Times were hard In the camp; there was no
denying IL. Not very long before there had
been a "boom;' but Mr.. Levi, who kept the
clothing store the main street and found
much profit in that feeting period OF prosperity,
had oracularly declared it at an end.
II dell you vot it ish, poys," he said one day,
standing on the threshold of his roughly
boarded store. fanked on one side by pendent
suit of hideous plaid, and on the other by pair
of OveraIls IDIOT pOOBs Udsh gone home"
Old Cheyenne Joe, too, who had prospected
with unfailing hopefulness and habitual bad
fortune since the earliest days of the Pixies
Peak excitement, found the situation unprece-
dentedly dOlorous.
al allow I never see wuss times in Coloraydo
sence we struck them sulphurets up to Clear
Creek In e. said he, as he sat on a broken
chair in the " Delmonico of the West" $50 di-
lapidated saloon was grandly called), Eyes,
Jim," he added with an unwonted sigh, "I pill
take sugar this time"
The camp was situated in charmed region.
IL lay on the slope of a mountain, facing the
west. little beyond the group of houses this
slope became abrupt-so abrupt that the valley
below was out of sight of the town. Far beyond
this valley, lifting its jagged SUBMITS, bold
and sharply defined, against the western sky,
was the grand, majestic, solemn Sangre de
Cristo.
The camp wore detected air. "The boys
Tau MADE "a good night, but nature was against
them, ana nature always wins in the long run.
Down. deep down, through the flnty quartz
The patient miners had chased the fieeting
veins. Quartz from the shareholders point
OF view, represents outgo; veins. income. When,
therefore, veins tip the beam, the company s
financial horizon Is touched with the rosy tint
of dividends; when quartz, then gather the
lowering clouds of assessments, often succeeded
by the thunderstorm OF bankruptcy. The
Louisiana had "shut down." the bismarck
changed superintendentS three times and then
followed suit, and the two directors of the
spect the property, were obliged to pay the
mems arrears out of their own pockets before
they were allowed to depart. All this time
nature. so harsh to- those who would wiring her
hidden treasures from her grasp, was tantaliz-
ing them with the most gorgeous OF weather,
when the air electric, the peaks of
the Sangre de CristO seemed but half a mile
away, and the moon, throughout the still, silent
nights softened all the outlines so sharp and
clear in the daylight, and, casting its silver
sheen over the shabby and unlOvely buildings,
transformed them into fairy dwellings.
cheyenne Joe was an authority In the camp
of 80" men in California; hence his despond-
ent utterances deepened the gloom which had
overhung the irequenterS OF the SingUlarly
misnaIned saloon Some were young and
strong, with the flush of health on their cheeks
others old ana gray, their faces furrowed with
The deep lines OF toll and care. Flannel shirts
alternated with overalls; caps OF dubious hue
and texture rivaied seedy sombreros, curiously
suggestive OF a joyous and aggressive past: and
tobacco. of quality proportioned to the hard
ness OF the times, lent an aroma more pun@ent
than agreeable to tue dingy ROOM There had
been "A sound of wheels. II not the day
when the stage brought the scanty mail; and,
not very long before. the arrival of special
conveyance would have excited attention, for
IL might have been cOtemporaneOus with the
arrival of what We have gotten in the bad habit
OF calling capitalists This is at best unsat-
1sfactOry word, and in It's conventional use it
has but a vague and illusive significance. Never
theleSs the capitalist is always the coming
man 10 the honest miner 1t IS popularity of
silver mines that the more valuable is their
promise the more an XiouS are their owners to
let other people have the opportunity of draw
ing profit from their development Thus il is
that, when the .'biOssOm-rock" is most bloom
Ing, aud the prospect "holes' are tine most Sc
ductive, and the VEINS pan OUT their best,
ana, IN short, things are booming in the
cams, 1.-THE boys are the most eager for the
coming from afar of him of the blind faith and
the heavy bank account He is TO them as
Montezuma TO the poor Puebios OF New Mexico
and, as the sQualid priest at Old Pecos rises
early and looks To the sunrise for a sign of the
Great Dellverer, so do the prospectors gaze long
and earnestly up the mountain roads for the
dust OF the coming stages.
When, however, times are bad, and the dump
heaps show no accessionS, none are San9uine
enough to look for the coming which may not
be-" Lucky for the boys if the sound of wheels
announce not the tax collector, or the sheriff
with a batch OF foreciosed mortgages None
therefore, or this occasion had left the hard
reported himself. He entered the smoky room;
a staiwart, active, CHEEKY young fellow; he
saiuted the company and he took q seat. No
one present seemed, at first, TO know him. but
Cheyenne JOe's face showed effort TO recall
his personality At last he rose and approached
him "Fve seed yer before pardner, said he
.but disremember whar on airth ii wuz." The
new conner met his searching look with half
smile.
our meeting. Mr. Cannon" said he "i'm not
quite SO much of "a teuGertoOt as was on the
AillertOn trail one summer afternoon
by thunder CALCULATED Joe, pushing his
cap on the back of his head, $50 you're the
teller tibet I've been thinkin' about many a
time sence / sed goodbye to yer up to Lead
a
Why, your amt i tenderfOOt wuth u cent Just
now. Boys" he went on, rs he turned TO the
attentive group in the saloon. '.tnar's more N
one kind OF tenderfoct, but blame ne eff this
yere one didn't lay over any L ever see in all
the GunnlsOn with some young fellers, an we
warn't fur from Leadviile when we heerd
some one a-callin'; an We stopped. an we see
this yere man, an a boy with him, a-beckOnn'
u US W men they come up we larned tibet
some Small-sOuled cusSes up to Hiilerton he'd
told the boy he could walk easy from thar 10
leadVille in u day, an some of the same kind
he'd told this yere chap he could walk from
Leadyille 10 Hillerton. Wa'aI, this man he
about; an then he met the boy, who he'd
walked sence mornin an hednt he'd nothin'
10 eat. i dunno what would o happened to
'ern Ell We hedn't come along. The boy told
me he wuz Ike TO drop when they come to-
gether an he asked the man eff he could give
him some grub, an you bet my pard here
Jack Williams wuz the right sort; for SEE he
NY boy, ann aIeerd were both OF us gone IN
bat We got one sandwich, an I'll givey er half
the me-.
the LOOKS % the boys plainly expressed COM
IncNtis&tlOil and che OF the.l made suggestion
Is 10 reilesEInent t'Sctting up tue drinks" he
called ~ q. his expense. The visitor we'll
aware tnat ~. the social ethics of the mountains
proposition OF this t-IiId Is the recognized ex-
preston OF a genuine good WILL accompanied
his excuses with Il need OF gratitude Then the
tax became somewhat general, and the hardy
fellows spoke of lost trails and snow-slIdes and
ugAtS with Indlans-aii the necessary and az
cepJed concomitants OF their hard and stirring
Hves-as the average jewellers in towns talk OF
the Little variations III their num-drum ex-
istence.
'--ay. joe" at last said the newcomer. "per-
at Denver, but fve been putting in all the time
could spare on a still hunt after an old fellow
that think must Lave come out here from the
states some time ago He'd got at loggerheads
with things about him, and one day he pulled
up stakes ana went away-nO fellow knew
where. For some particular reason" he smiled
In a conscious way, 1--WE been anxious To find
This month couldn't get on his trail About
Two weeks ago. however, struck a drummerin
Denver w no saw an old chap up here that SEEM
Ell like him. You see, he's sure to have Changed
his name and not to cal! himself by his real one.
which is Ephrairn Wilson, and
"Ephraim, interrupted Joe, who had listened
with much interest. "why, the short tor Eph-
thar, believe you We struck the old cuss Twin
jest Ike a fust-class old hermit Up in Hungry
Guicb- Thar amt one OF the boys ez ever
knJwed his real name. but what every blamed
one OF EN- call him i Uncle Eph' They've
been a heipln MN when they got a.chance-
which amt Often, yer know, cause he's ez
proud ez Caesar and don't let on when he S
aFk