The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1888-12-27

the floor instead Of upon the griddle in his
surprise. IAN his wilder an do little chill
len am at de do wild de corpse. Sho, sho,
now, dat am awful 'scouraging''
''Shet up, yer black yawp, am get 'em
something to eat" said one of the men,
roughly; they must be clean tuckered
OUT
The rough, toil-worn hands IF the
! miners helped the widow from the wagon
as reverential!y as if she had been a prin-
cess, and the children were taken to warn,
| hearts and tenderly cared for. while the
| fathers cold form was prepared for burial
in another shanty---the one which Dan
| voorhees, has SO recently scrubbed. little
mixing for whose reception he was max
ing it clean.
| Three days after the funeral the widow
was waited or by deputation from the
camp. We wanted to ask We, ma'am,
what ye was goin' ter do,' said the
, spokesman, touching his hearskir cap re-
| spectfuily,
Indeed, sirs, l do not know, replied
the widow. She had shed all her toars
and could speak of her trouble with dry
eyes "Ali have is here, and winter is
coming on.'
! "Thet's what we was thinkin'
ma'am,' said Dan Voorhees,, eagerly, ian
hopin' you would consent to stay at the
camp. We're rough set o. men, ma am,
but you can feel jest as safe weth us as Ell
yer own mother was roclsin' ye Eff
airy man says word O. sass to We we'll
run him out O. camp at the pint Of SHOT
| guns
| But what can 7 do for support" fal.
tered the widow. She had been tenderly
| brought up, and the idea Of spending the
winter with these rough men was appall.
| ing, deprived of the protecting presence of
| her husband.
! We've wrastled it all out for ye,'' re-
piled Sam Collins ''Ye see. we'd all OF.
us calkylated q pile on hevin' Brad :
woman an kids among us. an we're all
| sort O. ratified like at BENZ disappointed.
an we're willin' to do the square thing
! by We.
"brad's claim ain a pannin' out no great,
| but it's enough to make ye comfortable, an
We'll all chip in and do our share toward
workin' i, and pay over the proceeds to We
| jest as regular as if he war here. Dan'll
give up his shanty, an we want ter make
ye jest ez happy an comfortable as we
can, for we sot heap O. store by Brad.''
The widows lip quivered; the kindness
of these strangers touched her deeply. and
she replied in trembling voice: "And
what am going to do to repay you gentle
men for all this unexpected kindness ?n
She used the word advisably. for in her
estimation they were gentlemen OF the
truest sort
That's all right. Don't you worrit
about payin lna'an. We're sorter rough
set an we need woman around to kinder
pare Us down, au' eff you'll sing us a song
onct in awhile-Brad said you was a mas
ter hand to sing-an let US hev the kids ter
love and cuddle little, We'll call it souar
We've all on US had homes an it comes
rough on us, this kind % life wear in an,
year out, am if you'll live among US am
make home fur Us ter kinder look at, as
'twere, we she'll feel well paid"
She couldn't refuse such q request. COM
ing as it did from those who had been
her husbands friends and companions for
the two years past, and go it was settled.
and the Jew things she mad brought will
her were NOV ed into Dan Voorhees, shanty.
and with her woman's skill she made
such homeiike place of IT. that Bradley
would have thought it an earthly paradise
could he have lived to see it.
The children took to the kindly miners
wonderfully, and Willie and golden-haired
Katie were as contented as kittens when
St>AAA willis " hASA "UWuy entertained
them with stories or "yarns,n as they
called them, of their earlier days, or whit
tied out the curious wooden toys which
they were experts in fashioning.
Baby Nell's preference was for Black
Wash, and twas no uncommon sight to
see her little pink hood peeping up over
his battered old hat, rs she percE,ed on
his shoulder, her chubby arms clinging
close around his neck as he went to the
spring for water Or out to the timber I or
1aggots for his culinary operations
Burt Macomber had al old violin which
had seen its best days. and he often brought
1t over to the Widows cabin. and as he
was quite creditaole performer MANY an
evening which would otherwise have been
spent in drinking and dice playing was
whiled away in listening to the soueakv
fiddle and the widows really fine voice. as
she sang church music and the C4ospe!
hymns which had been sung in her Illinois
home until they vera old and thread bare,
but which were entirely new in the mount
aims.
II tell you, boys that air tears me all ter
pieces" said Dick Gowdy. as Mrs. Newell
sang THE Ninety and Nine" to her audi
ence;'" Their haint no shepherd goin' ter
do very much huntin' fer US eff we don't
otahc o0Vee7i NeSi VI OURSELVES, ana IL was
noticeable that he Left of swearing for
nearly week, and in many ways the pres
ence Of the little family, so helpless in
their bereavement, was refining and soft
eping influence
Sho, now, fellahs, Christmas ana comm
in about TO- weeks" said Wash jackson,
as he was lighting the evening lamps
"Pd clean done fo'got till dat ar little
Katie war tellin' whatter fine Christmas
tree dey had las yeah Tell you it mus
be mighty duh To- dem chillens up heah,
wild nottin' but us grown folkses ter muse
en-"
q What's sou and Dick Gowdy drummed