Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-10-12
DOLCE FAR HIEHTE.
A QUIET SATURDAY IN THE MOUNT.
AIMS.
How a Couple of BoherA.ans Kill Time
In a quicksilver .Mine-In-
eide cts


nad been confiped in our Offices all week |
md Bob said VIC needed recreation We
we're enjoying sun-bath and wondering |
what we could do to break the monotony |
that enveleped Us. The streets of the vii |
lage were sprinkled to degree of exact
ness; there was a clink Of blacksmith
hammer at intervals, and in front of
store few men carried on conversation
in sleepy tones. A flock of flies zigzagged
in the air in dreamy, drunken way, and
described the mazes OF country quadrille.
The dogs of the hunters lay on the side
walk, with tired heads resting on their
muddy paws, and at the sound of our foot
steps raised the lid of one eye languidly
and then launched eff into slumber again.
A half-dozen Indians appeared on the
horizon, but in five minutes had deposited
their goods and calamities on a sidewalk
and had become as immovable as statuary,
and silence fell again like pail 1t was
unbearable, Bob thought, for l could see it
in her eye.
Suddenly the air was pierced by the
whistle of a steamer, cutting the stiffness
SO completely that we could hear the
torpid air close around the break. There
came the little black thing busting across
the water toward u.s. The lake was all
that showed sign of life, and it stroye to
make amends by throwing kisses at the
sunbeams, coquetting and laughing in
great glee. Who can see it in this mood
and think it does not laugh?
Bob said: Lets GO" "Barkis was
willin'," Of course, for Bob always knows
what is best, and [ never question move
she makes. In five minutes we had pre-
pared for jauni | mean Bob had, for |
never know anything when she is engineer
ing things, and off we trudged, laden with
jackets, sketch books, a volume in brown
and one with cover that was fearfully
and wonderfully yellow. We reached
the wharf at the end of the street and
waited. The passengers filed down the
gang-plank towards the six-horse coach
that had swung down with great sweep
and crash to the shore to receive them.
They were from the springs, the passen-
gers were, and there were the varieties
that are found on the yerandas of those re-
sorts. There was the eye-glass and cane
with a small man attached, the spare man
who has liver, the fat woman with her
tin cup, and the seasons belle with coat
of tan and valise full of souvenirs. We
got them started and resumed our wait.
Bob gazed dreamily into the water and
grew poetical, but / couldn't, because it
was dotted with dead fish and oyster
cans. | turned my back and struck up
an acquaintance with an Individual
In bell-bOttom trousers, who entertained
mo ROYALTY vvft a,,aaI14a-
"young gal he knowed who stole HOSES
twict and got jagged" l thought that
would wake Bob up, and it did. She shot
a whitening glance at me, but l did not
wither, but smiled a good-by at my blue
denimed entertainer and followed my men
tor on the boat.
They say all things come to those who
wait, so we drew long breath and eontin-
ued it. From behind the line of high
reeds that skirt the shore an old canoe or
dugout glided noiselessly into view. It
was guided by an old, old Indian with
gray hair and almost blind. He padded
his unwieldy old craft by u.s. blinking his
bleary eyes in the bright sunshine. Bob
made lunge for her sketch-book, but /, of
a more inquiring turn of mind, leaned
over to see what his cargo consisted of.
The bottom of the dugout was filed
with layer of cat-tails, and in one end
lay his shotgun, fshpole, few fish gasp
ing and turning their glazed, appealing
eyes upwards, and peeping from under was,
alas misguided Lo, a flask labeled "Old
Bourbon" and empty, oh, so empty.
Swinging along the wharf came the
Captain, his white teeth cleaning. his
hat on the back of his head, row of
very straight blonde bangs meeting his
eyes, a gorgeous pink-siIk shirt, and
trowsers a Ia half-mast, in true sailor fash
ion. One arm was full of bundles and the
other carried basket. From out one
side protruded a long, slim neck capped
with silver seal. Around it had been
wrapped RECoRD-UNIoN, but little ra IS
and tags ends disclosed the nature of lis
burden. Then the thought dawned upon
us, lunch! In our eagerness to enjoy
day of rest and release from the bondage
of the village society laws we had omitted
the all-important item of eatables. Bob
might subsist a day on soul communion.
but | demand the substantiaIs.
At last we see signs Of start. A col
umn of smoke rises from the miniature
smoke stack and we feel the thrill of life
beneath US. The wheel plows up the mud
and we leave path of murky water be-
hind us. Such perfect day Clouds
obscure the mountain tops as if in eal-
ousy to protect them from our admiring
gaze. An occasional baby cloud obscures
the sun, a fresh breeze blew, and as the
prov Glove the ripples they answered
with the sweetest lullaby. The misty ap-
pearance in the canyon and mountain
gorges show that rain is falling there,
while We are basking in sunshine. We
catch little Of it, but so gently does it
fall it seems like a play rain.
Our destination is Sulphur Banks, and
lunch time finds us anchored at the wharf
and gathered in the cabin laughing
over the contents of that basket.
Our knees are our tables, the cushioned
seats our side-boards, the Union our
damask, and with appetites whetted by
the ride in the brisk breeze and a sauce Of
Jolly laughter, ours was a feast of the gods.
In an incredulously short length of time
there was a chaos of closely nibbled crusts.
corks, hats, egg shells, Looking Backward
etc. The formidable volume with the
brown cover which l had groaned under
on our walk to the wharf, and which was a
profound treatise on Bugs" roasted Sc
renely on a ruined tower of cake, while a
glass with little fragments of foam adher
ing stood by like sentinel. Our cargo
was to be a large load of old iron, and Bob
said We would explore the settlement while
the other freight was being loaded.
With skirts well elevated we tranped
through 100 yards of dust that was very
deep and very dusty, toward the mines. 4
few years ago sulphur was mined, but
quicksilver was found to be plentiful. and
now the entire work is confined to it.
Every soul was at dinner and we made
ourselves at home in every department,
and more especially where notices cleaned
ont almost audibly, "No Admittance."
The building are of frame, all very high
and fallen into decay. Everything showed
neglect and ruin. The machinery was