Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-03-21
An Atmospheric Revelation,
BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE.

An Atmospheric Revelation,
BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE.
Giles Parsloc and l had spent -four
months Mt mining camp ON the Gila
River, near Florence, in southern Ari-
IONA. We had had tolerablc luck. |
suppose, between us, there may have
been the value of six or seven thousand
dollars. But the vein began to petci
out; ut least we thought so. pcrhaus
the heat and the monotony of our sur
roundings may have had some influence
on our opinion. At all events, we made
up our minds to push on westward Ia
the junction Of The ella and the Colorado
mt Yuma City. The railroad had not
been put through ut that time, and the
region was as remote us il was dcsoatc.
ENot that We mir7G.<t'I:n The romance
5ss3Sk euth, V .tI,llZs2rony in us; we were
{ ,5nc> twea'6sss's14!SSc years out of college.
@sBut we wanted variety AS well rs remote.
ness, and believed, rs all men are apt to
do, that the true Eldolado lay beneath
the horizon.
There was sociu lie, agreeable fellow
Ill the camp, Dick Stapcrs by name, with
whom, more than with any of the others
VIC had found it agreeable to fratcrnizc
lie was some years our elder, and had
beer well educated; knew something of
Classics and OF English literature, and
was fond Of cnriching his conversation
with quotations from ancient and recent
poetry. lie was well acquainted with
the life of the plains, and gave lis not u
rev. useful hints. On the other hand il
must he confessed that he was not n par
ticularly industrious or successful miner
tie seemed unable to take advantage of
his cwn knowledge and experience: but,
being gifted with II winning tongue, he
contrivcd to live along i'll fair comfort,
especially rs lie was II first class poker
player. Ills presence made the place
less lonely and monoionous, and for that
reason no ono thought of grudeing Dick
pull ut his whisky flask, or even hand
full of dust now and them There was no
other standard whereby tc measure the
value of social chccrfulncss.
Giles and were, therefore. anything
but put on when Dick proposed to ac-
company lis on our Journey. In the first
hekpeW The r9atc, and secondly,
3 80 @Yul |oe IL grand at the camp
fire. So lyc accepted his suggestion with
cordially, gaychima good mustang, and ,
one fine mrrning, we all three rode forth
with the sun on our backs. A mule car
ried our camp cquipagc, and Giles, as the
stcadlest and stoutcst of the party, was
intrusted with the larger part OF ON
''dust. There WAS about four hundred
pounds weight in all, of which he carried
TWO and a half hundred, and the re-
nainder. Giles and were each armed
with rifle and revolver. Dick WAS ur-
armed; but as he said: "Nobody will
shoot anybody"
~ few miles below the camp there WAS
ford, which VIC crossed, Keeping thence
forth on the southern bank of the stream.
The SIN glared down at us rs if it had
nothing else in the solar system to attend
to. felt rs if something were prickin4
me in the base of the brain, and Gilc.
plodded doggcdly along with his head
down and q constant succession of drop.
running down his nose and falling on tho
pommel Of his saddle. Dick alone APP
peared liyhtsome and comfortable. ii,
had n jest for every mishap, and remedy
for every ill. And when, after u hare
days journey and innumcrablc petty con
) tririctics, We dismountcd ut length t.
camp in q bend of the stream, ] heard
him mnrmur to himself rs he kindlct
the fire for supper: @ Post tot naufragi;
portusn" (After SO many shipwrccks,
harbor)
"Now, boys" he said, socially, as w,
squatted round the remains of our inca
an hour later. "this is going to be tough
transit, md we've got to scratch our hes
to make it. Those two nags of your
have all they want to do to carry yon ant
your guns. Tho mule isprctty we'll iixct
with the tent and the kettles. But some
thiags got to be done with that fou
Bdrcd pounds weight OF dust. II yo,
ty$ carry it, you'll be on foot in tw
1Ats; it carry 1.-THE fact is, | bclev
" Shall watch my chance to cut and ri
with it. The mule rcm@;ns; she ca
stand good deal, and I believe she cal
stand that four hundred pounds. But
not TO run it too close, here's my propo
sition; I'll pack the tent on my grippe
--my rapacity don't extend to tents
and that will give the mule chance
How does that strike you?p
We talked il over, and finally agree,
that Dicks plan was prudent and ex
pe,iicnt After sound nights sleep
Giles and ] using the bags OF dust fo
piliows-wc arose betimcs, breaEiastcd
and packed up onr own traps, Dick be
80 ipg very active III assisting. TIE mul
took the alteration in her load ouii