The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1891-01-25
ON GUARD.
THE STORY OF LITTLE ALLIR AND
HER MAYNARD HEART.

The Fate of sluice Robber Among
the Mountains OF Ne
vada County.
Especial Correspondence of SUNDAY UNIoN.l
NEVADA CITY, Jan. 81, 1891.
1t was a warm, still night. The earth,
made hot by the blistering rays of an
August sun, was not yet cool. Ten
O'Clock had struck, and the little town
had become quiet. Here and there lights
were shining, and from the open doors of
a GROCERY came the muffled, half intelli-
gible vaporings of an inebriate who was
delivering a lecture to the furniture upon
the evils of intemperance. Now and then
asullen boom rumbled up from the mines,
mile away, and echoed through the
hills.
sat in the dry house, waiting for Fred.
Fred and I were detailed to guard the
long sluice, and see that thieves should
not succeed in taking from it a portion of
the gold 1t contained. 1t was not d pleas
ant, task. Not hard work, sitting in the
photoN Va 10 pOW1uci OI pdClIlH up duu
down the sluice, with heavy shotgun
and revolver, but very tedious. No
sleeping was allowed, and even if it had
been We should not have slept. Men who
guard sluices are put on only when
the RIFLES are well stocked with
conscientious men. Dark nights
make them bold, and they might
not hesitate If they discovered the guard
asleep. A little tap on the head with a
stone, and who would ever know who
killed the guard?
At a quarter past 10 Fred came.
Ready?" he asked.
IAN ready, Fred. Seen anything?"
"No."
swell, we'll go down now, 1 guess.''
Sandy has been put on below the
shaft, " said Fred, as we picked our way
carefully along, and we are to keep to-
gether tonight. The fact is somebody
picked up nice little nest-egg below the
dump last night, and there is some reason
to suppose that the thief will tackle the
upper end tonight"
He'd better not" replied, and then
we were silent until we reached the
sluice, long black line, curving away
into the darkness like snake.
Here" said Fred, as we came to
huge bowlder that lay within few yards
of the sluice, " think this is as good
place as any. You can watch the cut
above and I will keep an eye ON the
lower part. If anybody come up over
that little knoll shall see him.
Near by, following the line of the sluice,
was the huge pipe, three feet in diameter,
which carried the water into the mine.
There was no water passing through it at
night, for the cutoff below was closed,
but the gates above were leaking, and the
great tube was full of water. At every
joint there were little leaks, and there
was pressure enough to send forth in
Vulnerable tiny spays that Kissed and
sang and spluttered Increasingly. 1t was
not loud noise, but it was sufficiently
sharp to drown a conversation carried on
in very low tone, and as Fred and I
lay there in the shadow of the bowlder
we talked. Guards who cared nothing
for the killing of sluice robber, or We're
overstocked with courage, would have not
been silent. But it was understood be-
tween us that it was as well to frighten a
thief ever heard US talking he stole away
without doing us any damage or disturb
ing the treasure in the sluice.
''Do you KNOW" said Fred, as he dug
hole into the sand with sharp-pointed
pebble, ''that I cannot imagine why
Jones is the fool he is ~
"Why?u
"Umph! Haven't you noticed y,
Il have not noticed anything strange
about JONES'" said.
WELL returned Fred, ct have. You
know how desperately in love he is with
waiter girl at the Miners Hotel 2"
rs he in love with her?'
Fred stared at me increduously through
the darkness.
Are you blind?" he asked, pettishly.
why, it's the plainest thing in the
world. And Allie is not one particle in
love with him. She is a fiirt; one of those
heartless things one reads about. A
woman who loves admiration; she would
sell her soul to get it, and cares not one
penny for any man. She never knew
what 1t was to love man, and she never
good fellow, too"
killing. Jones! Bah! Jones is not
isn't he? You don't know him, then.
tell you that man is one of the best fell
lows on earth. He has a heart that will
taken Allie into it and made her his idol,
and when his eyes are opened the best
part in him will be killed; his faith in
womankind will be destroyed. Destroy
that part of man and he is ruined"
but, Fred" i said, ''how do you know
Allie is fiirt? How do you know that
she is only playing fast and loose2 What
proof have your
Fred was silent for moment. A
cricket began its shrill chirping near us.
ne plckeu up stone ana threw 1t to-
ward the offending insect.
Hang it! What proof have +? Pll tell
you how know. 1 loved her once my
self"
''Ah! And she Tilted you. Then you
are not an impartia judge"
But have reason to be against her.
Not simply because she Tilted me, but be-
cause in casting me off she exposed her
true shallowness of soul, the contempti-
BILE llttleneSS of her heart"
Fred" said, II have never heard of
this before. Tell me about it.''
We'll, it is not long story. 1t hap
TO this camp. In the first place I'll tell
You how / first met Allie.
Ten years ago there came to this town
dilapidated, starving old man who was
decidedly off in his head. Where he came
from nobody ever knew, but with him he
brought a little girl, only ten years old; a
wee little tot with luminous gray eyes
and wealth of singularly white hair.
The old fellow was hen father, or at least
she called him dad and he always
spoke of her as his child.
The old man wanted work in the Mines
and out of charity he was given place
picking.pipe-clay. He was not able to do
much, but the bosses, for the little girls
sake, were easy with him. He was going
fast with consumption, and it was not
long before he died. I was with him
when he died. Father and I carried him
home when the first hemorrhage oc-
CURED, in the mine, and we remained
with him until the end came.
1.-The old fellow-sCracker.' we called
him-was always talking about his little
girl; moaning and fretting his life away,
when it was already going fast enough.
One night-it was the last night of his