The Dillon tribune., 1886-11-05

thing in the simple crcdulity Of poor Concho
that made him uneasy. Not that his moral
consciousness was touched, but he feared that
Concho's companions might, knowing Col,-
cho's simplicity, instantly suspect him Of trad
ing upon it. He rode ON in deep study.
Was he reviewing his past life? 4 vaGabond
by birth and education, a swindlel by profess
sion, an outcast by reputation, without cbso-
lutely turning his back upon responsibility,
he had tyembled OH the perilous edge of crin,-
inality ever since his boyhood. He did not
scruple to cheat these Mexicans-they were u
degraded race-an,l for a moment he felt al
most an accredited agent of progress and civ
ilization. We never really understand the
meaning of enlightenment until we begin to
use i: aggressively.
A few PAGES further on four figures ap-
peared in tho now gathering darkness Of tho
trail. The stranger quickly recognized the
leaning smile OF Concho, foremost Of the
party. A quick glance at the faces Of the
others satisfied him that while they lacked
Concho's good huuor, they certainly did not
surpass him in intellect. Pedro was a stout
vaq,aro. Manuel was slim half breed and
cx-convers Of the Mission of San Carmel, and
Miguel Il recent butcher of Monterey.
u'.tler the benign influences of Concho that
s:,sAi4A<.A~ with ,rl;.-a +laa ie':a;nnt raoard
,rangers uied away, and the whole party en-
:o.'ted the stranEcr-who had given his name
IS Mr.. Joseph Wiles-to their camp fire. SO
.nxicus were they to begin their experiments
hat even tho instincts Of hospitality were
forgotten, and It was not until Mr.. Wiles-
low known as "Don Jose'-sharply reminded
hem that lie wanted some .grub," that they
:ame to their lenses. When the frugal meal
If tortillas, frijolcs, salt pork, and chocolate
vas over, OH oven was built of the dark red
,ock brought from tho ledge before them, ana
III ealthenwarc jar, glazed by some peculiar
ocal process, tightly fitted over it, and packed
with clay and sods. A fire was speedily built
If pine boughs continually brought from a
woo;lcd ravine below, and in few
moments tho furnace WIS in full blast.
Mr.. Wiles did not participate in these
.ctive preparations, except to give oc-
:asional directions between his teeth, which
we're contemplatively fixed over clay pipe
IS he lay comfortably on his back on the
ground. Whatever enjoyment the rascal
nay have had in their useless labors he did
lot show it, but it was observed that his left
,ye often followed the broad figure of the ex-
vaquero, Pedro, and often dwclt on that wor-
ihy's beetliag brows and half savage face.
Meeting that baleful glance once, Pedro
yrowled cut an oath, but could not resist
aideous fascination that caused him again
md again to seek it.
The scene was weird enough without Wiles'
.ye to add to its wild picturesqueness. The
mountain lowered above-a heavy Rem
orandt;sh mass of black shadow-sharply cut
aero and there against sky SO ipconceivably
remote that the world-sick soul must have
lespaired Of ever reaching so far or of climb
ms It's stccl-bluc walls. The stars were large,
Keen and brilliant, but cold and steatlfast.
They did not dance nor twinkle in their ada
a,nntilc setting. Tho furnace fire painted
the faces Of tho men al Indian red, glanced
OIL brightly colored blanket and serape, but
was eventually caught and absorbed in tho
waiting shadows of tho black mountain,
scarcely twenty feet from the furnace door.
Tho low, half-sung, half-wLispercd foreign
speech of the group, tho roaring of the fur
1ace and the quick, sharp yelp of tho coyote
u, the plain below werc the only sounds that
broke the awful silence Of the hills. .f
1t was almost dawn when it was announced
that the ore had fused. And it was high
lime, for the pot was slowly sinking into the
fast crun!Lling oven. Concho uttered a jubi-
lant God and Liberty but Don Jose Wiles
oadc him be silent and bring stakes to sup
port the pot. Then Don Jose bent over the
secthing mass. It was for a moment only.
But in that moment this accomplished met
tallurgist, Mr. Joseph Wiles, had quietly
dropped a silver half dollar into the pot!
Then he charged them to keep up the fires
and Went to sleep-all but one eye.
Dawn came with dull beacon fires on the
near hill tops and, far in the east, roses over
the Sierran Snow. Birds twittering in tho
alder fri..ges mile below, and the creaking
81 wagon wl,eels-the wagon itself mere
cloud of dust in the distant road-were heard
distinctly. Then the melting pot was SOL
EMMY broken by Don Jose, and the glowing
lncanGescent mass turned into the road to
cool.
And then the metallurgist clipped small
fragment from the mass and pounded it, and
Clipped another smaller piece and pounded
that and then subjected it to acid, and then
treated it to II salt bath which became at
once ,nilky-and at last produced white
neutrality-suspicious. dictu!-two cents worth
II silver!
Concho shouted with joy; the rest gazed at
each other doubtingly and distrustfully; COM
panions i'll poverty, they began to diverce
and suspect each other in prosperity. Wilcs'