St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-02-07

were harnessed in the place of the
tired-out animals. The stations were
nothing more than rough log stables,
with accommodation for the men
who fed and cared for the mules.
The snow had been falling all the
afternoon in fine flakes, and had
spread over the earth a thin white
cover that partially hid the rough
ness of the mountains and whitened
the light that came through the
clouds, into which we sometimes
drove The road was becoming very
heavy and our progress slow, when,
to our relief, the coach, about 4
O'Clock, entered small park of a few
hundred acres and pulled up in front
of Sampson 's-twelve miles from
Leadville. While fresh mules were
being harnessed we alighted, and
stepped into the room that served as
bar, office, parlor, and reading-room,
for SIMPSONS was q hotel as well as
a relay station.
The establishment was owned and
managed by Mr.. Sampson and his
wife Alm1ry, or to put 1T IN another
way, SIMPSONS and Sampson him
self were controlled by Almiry. A
modern Deli1ah she, who, when she
married Sampson, had, speaking
fguratively, clipped his locks and
left him deprived of all ambition.
There was a rumOr current that
Sampson drank, a rumOr not alto
gether without foundation, since no
one had ever seen him entirely sober
His sole duty was to tend bar, and
when not occupied in miniStering to
the liquid wants of others, he was
looking after himself. There was but
one beverage sold at Simpsons
whiskey-though there hung upon
the wall, back of the rough bar, an
illuminated card, setting forth, in
f1y-specked characters, the superior
merits of Halls Jamaica Ginger. But
as for the ginger, that was not to be
had. Nor were there any indications,
beyond dusty autographs nailed
askew to the wooden partitions, that
Soda Water, Setter, and Mumm's
Extra Dry were prOcurable on de-
mand. And so it was fortunate that
the system of those passengers who
needed stimulation craved Wh1Skey
only, for that was positively all there
was.
We had not noticed at first, in the
dim light of the room, the figure of a
woman, clad in deep black and wear
ing a heavy veil drawn over her face.
She sat in dark corner and seemed
to shrink from observation. But
when Tommy entered, after looking
to his cattle, and had fortified his
nerves with four fingers of the reg
lar thing" swallowed without
murmur, Almiry took him aside and
engaged him in earnest conversation
and her gestures then, for the first
time, directed our attention to the
woman.
Our halt was necessarily short and
we were soon back in the coach; the
mules had been changed, and we were
ready to start. But Tommy linger-
ed, and when at length he appeared
at the door, seemed in no hurry. He
stood there, slowly drawing on his
gloves and surveying the scene with
a carelessly critical eye and an eX-
preston of countenance that seemed
to indicate that as for him, if he were
to be given the chance, he would make
a good deal better world than this
One-easv. In his mouth was cigar,
tipped up at such an angle that the
glowing end nearly touched the wide
br-im of his sombrero. The Major,
inspired, voiced the sen
timents of the party when he re-
marked, in a drawing tone:
II reckon that after bein' the Angel
q h,-ia1 for r,,1ra or1nr-v an CO fort IN
I'd ruther be driver to coach than
most anythin'!'
Just then there appeared in the
doorway the lady in black, to whom
Thomas CALAMITY offered his arm,
and thus escorted to the coach. AS
they approached, the colonel gave
little groan. "We're goin' to have a
lovely woman along with u.s. he
said, plaintivelv. CONSERVATION was
depicted on each face when the coach
door was opened, and Tommy, look
ing in, remarked authoritively:
Sorry, gen 'lemen, but | shall hev to
trouble you. Here's a lady gOin' to
Leadville, an she's goin inside. Jump
in, marml' and in the young lady
jumped with remarkable lightness,
ward corner.
"Cunnel, you look after her" said
Tommy at the door; shes in my
charge. Widder of Smith, she is; him
that was killed down to the Walker
mine last month, but she don't savy
a word of English, bein' French. You
know'd Smith, didn't We, Cunnel ?"
YES, know'd him well enough,
but never know'd he had widder.
I'll look after her-in English"
growled the colonel, and the door
and the stage rolled ahead.
AS we pulled out the clouds parted
for an instant, and bright ray of
sunlight lit up the coach, striking
full upon the dark veil of our new
1t made briefly visible |
the outlines of her face, and those of |
us who were fortunate enough to
catch glimpse of it were convinced |
that the lady had great beauty. In
deed, the judge, who had a happy |
facility of expression, acquired from
a long, though not lucrative practice |
at the bar, leaned over to the doctor
and whispered in tones of fervent |
She's as pretty as Cle-op-e-try, by
Jove!" to which the doctor responded
with an asserting nod of much vigor.
concluded Next Week.