Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-12-18
XII
A REVELATION.

still " the greatest mining camp on earth"
More than ten years had gone by inc
Mac and his young wife had been hidden
adieu from the porch of the Eldorado,
and though we had not correspondent reg
ularly all that time. had managed to keep
track OF one another. A letter from
Philadelphia in Macs rapid, bold hand,
told me quite a budget of news, Within
three months, his aged mother had gone
to her heavenly rest, another baby boy had
come to gladden. the heart Of himself and
fond wife. lie was the fifth child he
proudly wrote, four boys and one girl, all
hearty, healthy and happy. A response
bic and lucrative position iii a large mer-
camille house had been offered him and he
had accepted it, and surrounded by wife,
children and friends he could truly say he
was a fortunate mortal. What was | do
Ing? How was the world prospecting with
me? Was | married. and il not, why
not: These and many other kindly en-
quiries were contained in his letter and
closed with a cordial invitation 10 come
and see him If ever | came within five
hundred miles Of the Quaker city.
After their honeymoon visit to Macs
old home he and lis wife returned to
California, to the newly built mill, and
brand new house away up among the
grand old forests OF the Sierras. For
years Chase & Macleod did a thriving
lumber business, made money and made
it rapidly. Chase took sick and died:
They buried him BY the side Of his wife,
who had in early days been his companion
in the many ups and downs of pioneer
life.
By his will, his possessions Went to his
beloved and only daughter Violet Mae
Leod. In their haste to get rich the Mac
Leeds sought fortune in mining stocks.
1t was with them as with many Others,
they awoke one day to discover themselves
bankrupt. Disappointed but undaunted
Mac applied himself with renewed vigor
to his business. and from out Of debt and
obligations worked himself clear within a
year. The next year was his last in the
saw-mill. The business had been grow
ing more and more improbable. Prices
had gone down. The towns below were
now furnished with lumber by railroad
and the inevitable came. The mill was
shut down. sold for half its worth and so
with health and strength, wife and babies,
and a moderate little sum of money he
went back once more to his old home.
While walking along. some few even
ings after the receipt Of Macs letter, and
bordering upon the vast difference be-
tween his place in the world and my own:
a voice at my elbow said, "Some one
wants 10 see you down at the Red Light"
My immediate reply was in no very
temperate tone no. affable language
The man, or rather being, was one of
those poor unfortunates over whom al
cohol had long ago gained complete vic
tory. Energy gone, ambition fed, heart
crushed and shrivelled, a lettering, poor,
bloated wretch, errand boy and rousta-
bout for a dance house. Some said, that
Whisky Jack had been a good man in his
day: doubtless he had. for his CONVERSE
ton in sober moments betokened that his
watery eyes had beheid other scenes than
those Of vice and misery, and his feyered
tongue could even yet round a sentence
with fiuency and grammatical finish. "The
woman's in trouble. she wanted to see you.
| knew you by sight and told her I'd find
you" rs she drunk?' was my enquiry
''Oh no" he said" she's not drunk, Moll
is a pretty hard case but for two nights
she hasn't touched a drop" We had ar
rived at the big dance house by this time
and it being early the place was but half
lit up. Standing near the door was Il
woman with cloak and hat on who when
she, observed my entrance came up and
spoke to me.
It was Big Moll or the Missouri Blonde,
a noted character. whose drunken and
shameless career had gained for her a
wide notoriety. Calling me by name, she
said: s.Theres "A man a dyin' wants to see
YOU Who is heg' was my question.
you'll know i'm" she answered and add
ed: Il knew you ten or 'leven years ago.
Wheres' / broke in, "California"-and
she started back through the dance house
reckoning ne to follow. Follow [ did,
my curiosity was aroused, and when once
out in Tiger Alley had some difficulty in
keeping near the woman as with rapid
steps she threaded her way among shan