The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-14


Times were hard in the camp; there was no
denying it Not very long before there had been
BOOM" but Mr.. Levi, who kept the clothing
store, on the main street, and found much profit
in that fleeing period of prosperity, had oracu-
larly declared it at an end.
'T dell you vot 1t ish, poys," he said one day,
standing on the threshold of his roughly boarded
store, fanked on one side by a pendant suit of
hideous plaid, and on the other by pair Of over
alls, "dot poom wash gone home.0
Old Cheyenne Joe, too, who had prospected
with unfsiline hopefulness and habitual bad
fortune since the earliest days of the Pike'speak
excitement, found the situation unprecedentedly
aolorous
az allow I never see wuss times in Coloraydo
sence we struck them sulphurets up to Clear
creek in a. !" said he as he sat on broken chair
In the "Delmonico Of the West" tso dilapidated
saloon was grandly called). eyes, jim" he add
ed with an unwonted sigh, II win take sugar
Ibis time"
The camp was situated in charmed region.
It lay on the slope of a mountain, facing the
west A 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 a detected air. "The boys"
had made good fight, but nature was against
Them, and nature always wins in the long rum
Down, deep down. through the fiinty quartz the
patient miners had chased the feeting veins
Quartz, from the shareholders point of view,
represents outgo; veins, income. When, there
fore, veins tip the BEAM the companys financial
horizon is touched with the rosy tint of divi-
dends; when quartz, then gather the lowering
Slouds Of assessments, often succeeded by the
thunderstorm of bankruptcy. The Louisiana"
had shut down." the Bismarck" changed su-
perintendents three times, and then followed
suit, and the two directors Of the 'Ariel," who
came ont from New York to inspect the proper
iy 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 tantalizing them with the most gor-
geous Of weather. when the air was electric, the
peaks of the Sangre de Cristo seemed but half a
mile away, and the moon, throughout the still,
silent nights. softened oil 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
ihe counterpart of the 'fall of 40 and spring Of
90 men in California; hence his respondent ut
terances deepened the gloom which had over
hung the frequenters of the singularlv- misnamed
saloon Some were young and strong, with the
flush Of health on their cheeks; others old and
gray, their faces furrowed with the deep lines of
Roll and care. Flannel shirts alternated with
Overalls; caps Of dubious hue and texture rivaled
seedy sombreros, curiously suggestive of joy
Gus and aggressive past; and tobacco of quality
proportional to the hardness of the times, lent
an aroma more pungent than agreeable to the
dingy room. There had been sound Of
wheels. 1t was not the day when the stage
brought the scanty mail; and, not very long be-
fore, the arrival Of special conveyance would
have excited attention, for it might have been
cotemporaneous with the arrival Of what we
have got in the bad habit of calling capital
ists.' This is at best an unsatisfactory word,
and in it's conventional use it has but vague
and Elusive significance Nevertheless the cap
italist is always the coming man to the honest
miner 1t Is popularity of silver mines that
the more valuable is their promise the more
anxious are their owners to let other people have
the opportunity of drawing profit from their de-
yelopmcnt Thus it is that, when the blossom
rock" is most blooming, and the prospect ''holes"
are the most seductive and the veins 'pan out"
their best, and in short, things are booming in
the camps, s'the boys are the most eager for tho
coming from afar Of him Of the blind faith and
the heavy bank account He is to them as
Montezuma to the poor Puenlos of New Mexico;
and, as the seuald priest at Old Pecos rises early
and looks to the sunrise for sign Of the Great
Deliverer, so do the prospecters 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 sanguine
enough to 'slook for the coming which may not
be.H Lucky for the boys If the sound of wheels
announce not the tax-collector, or the sheriff
with batch of foreclosed mortgages. None.
therefore, on this occasion had left the hard seats
of the saloon to view the newcomer; he reported
himself. He entered the smoky room; a stalwart,
active, CHEEKY young fellow; he saluted the COM
pany and he took seat. No one present seemed,
Rt first, to know him, but Cheyenne Joes face
showed an effort to recall his personality. All
last he rose and approached him. 'rveseed yer
before, pardner," said he, ''but disremember
whar on airth it wuz." The newcomer met his
searching look with half smile.
IT am not likely to forget the time or place OF
BUR meeting, Mr.. Cannon said he. I'm no:
quite so much Of a tendrfoot as was on the
Hillertoa. trail one summer afternoon"
"By thunder!" calculated Joe, pushing his car
On the back of his head, $50 you're the fellel
thet I've been thinkin' about many time sence
sed goodbye to yer up to Leadville. Gimme &
shake O. yer hand, pard. Why, you amt ten
herfoot wuth cent jest now. Boys" he went
an an he turned To tha attanfivA tyroun in the