Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1889-08-23
TIE LOST BRACELET.

ed with that bit Of jewelry," said a gen.
tloman recently to an Alta reporter, who
was examining with some interest a
much worn silver bracelet, on which
with difficulty could be traced the letters
NOMAH, scratched evidently with a
knife. 1.-THE bracelet came into my pos
session, said the gentleman, "in a pecul-
lar manner, and II you don't mind a
short story I'll tell you about it."
The reporter, Of course, was anxious
for the story, and the gentleman, after
lighting a cigar, went on with his narra-
tive; II suppose you know that some
time back ! was for several years con-
nected with the Columbia river steam
boats, and 80 was often thrown among
old time steamboat men, whose pioneer
and legendary knowledge was most pro
found.
THE Columbia river Is a magnificent
body Of water, and l doubt II there 4 any
grandor scenery in the world than that
along the river from Tho Dalles to the
Pacific ocean- II is at the Cascades, how
ever, that the country is of the widest
description and the mountains are lark
with the gloom of dense forests or rugged
with tremendous cliffs and frightful pre-
cipices. There Is a tradition among the
few struggling Indians that one now sees
along the river, which is to the effect that
many, many years ago a great arch of
rock SPAWNED the river at the Cascades
forming o natural bridge Of stupendous
size. OnO day the two great spirits liv-
ing one OF either side Of the river got
into a desperate quarrel, and in their
mighty wrath and fury they tore the
bridge RsuDder, and in it's fall it choked
with huge blookB Of stone the current of
the river, thus forming the Cascades,
around which Uncle Sam is now building
q series Of locks at enormous cost. Not
only WAS the bridge destroyed, but FROM
the mountain sides the angry spirits
clawed of masses Of rock and stone to
huri at each other. Strangely enough,
the mountains on each side of the Column
bia at the Cascades do look as II they had
been savagely dealt with In some Titanic
struggle, and 1t takes but little stretch Of
the imagination to believe that the tradi-
tion Is r 80 far as the natural bridge is
concerned.
"But the bracelet" interposed the re-
porter.
IL am coming to that" continued the
gentleman, as he brushed the ashes from
his cigar.
''In the mountains around the Cascades
there nre numberless lakes unsurpassed
IN beauty, ane many Of them that to this
day no white man has ever seen, 80 rough
and terribly wild is the country through
which n must travel to reach them.
Some OF these lakes are many acres in
extent. the heavy timber coming right
down 10 the edge of the water. Clearer
than the brightest diamond that ever
sparkled are the waters of these lakes,
and Of unfathonGable depth. In the
hottest days of August the water is al
most at the freezing point, and, as you
can easily imagine, the trout In the lakes
are magnificent fighters, and take a fly
with such savage earnestness that II
makes your blood bound through your
veins with excitement as your reel
whirrs TO the first mad rush Of the
sturdy fish. Many an hour I've hshed in
those lakes with a halfbreed boy to pad
die my shallow dugout noiselessly
through the water. Curious, amt It,
that those trout will never take a fly
unless the wind is blowing down stream,
and as for
"Hayen't heard anything about the
bracelet yet" interrupted the reporter.
That's 30. Well, one day the wind
was blowing stiff down stream, and as
our steamboat was waiting to tow up a
barge loading with railroad iron, Capt.
Kow suggested that we go a fishing to a
certain lake some miles back in the
woods. We knew that no one had
dshed there for several years, and that
the Indians never went near it, as they
said an evil spirit In the shape of a mon
ster man lived in its waters, and though
several Indians had in bravado gone 10
the lake TO fish, none of them ever
returned. After a hard tramp We
reached the lake, and in a few minutes
had constructed a rough craft, pushed
out 20 the center of the lake and thrown
our flies. Inever had such sport in my
life. A Fly could scarcely touch the
water before it was seized by some hun
CRY and keen eyed trout. Finally, tired
of the sport, we determined to put bacL
to the shore, and, just for luck, / threw
my fly onc more. There was a slight
tug, but 70 my annoyance found the
ny was caught in a bit Of drift We
padded up to IL, and, reaching over to
free the hook, l saw a piece Of SHINING
metal on tho drift. ! hauled In the
branch, and there was that bracelet you
have been looking at. AT first I did not
notice the letters scratched on it, but fell
TO wondering how it got into the lake,
for certainly for twenty years past 40
Indian had been within a mile Of the
lake.
capt. Eow, who was n Of the oldest
pilots on the river and deeply verBed in
all Of the river lore, took the bit Of Jew
elry in his hand and began aelose exam
ination. He was, In the main, one Of the
coolest men / ever knew and seldom
showed the slightest emotion under any
circumstances. He had examined the
bracelet but q moment or 20 when