The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-07-08

discipline. They, like savages, are
uninhuenced by the possibilities of the
future. The present alone interests |
and moves them. So John Black grew |
feebler and less stable every month,
and though feverishly eager for fortune,
could not endure any steady toll or
submit to any monotonous duty. Little
by little the veneer of civilization was
wearing off him, and the instincts and
tendencies of savagery were asserting
themselves. Already he had tired of
the life of prospector, Already he
had habituated himself to loaing about
the bar-rooms and to playing cards in
working hours, without shame. Some
times, too, he drank more than was
good for himself, and he no longer felt
degraded in his own eyes when he
came out of debauch. He had fallen
far and was near the bottom.
Mollie Black, arrived at San Fran
cisco, was not long in realizing that it
would be quite useless for her to stay
in the big city. Her husband might be
there, but even if 50, she could never
hope to find him in that crowd. How
ever, she had one of those ineXplicable
impressions which come to women
alone, and this impression told her that
Jack was in the interior-in the noun
tains somewhere. Before yielding alto
gether to this inner voice, however,
she spent some time in making inquir-
les, and by judiciously following his
tracks up to the point at which he had
last been heard from, she gained infor
nation which at least seemed to make
it certain that he had gone to Califor-
MIA in 1861. 1t seemed probable that
he had stayed for a time in the high
Sierra. He might even have taken up
a claim in that region; though, if he
had done that, and had made a bare
living, there was no reason why he
should have stopped writing to her.
1t may be thought strange that Mollie
did not suspect Jack of infidelity to
her, but somehow such a suspicion did
not enter her head. Perhaps her
knowledge of his character assured her
on that point. Perhaps the depth and
strength of her affection cast out fear.
However it was, jealousy never APP
preached her, and in all the imaginings
with which she sought to explain her
husbands silence, some misfortune
occurring to him, and preventing him
from writing, was invariably the loyal
conclusion reached. AS the term of
his silence heightened, moreover, her
faith did not decline. Only she said to
her own heart how great the misfor-
tune must have been which sealed his
lips so long.
But time came when Mollie Black
felt that she could no longer delay the
opening of her quest. In truth she
had shrunk from it little, not having,
after all, full and perfect faith in her
own intentions. What if she were I'M
able to find Jack? What if, notwith-
standing all interior reassurances, news
of his death should encounter her?
She did not often yield to such dark
thoughts, but when they came they
stimulated, while making her tremble,
and as she was woman of action, she
resolved to put away all hesitation.
She did not attempt to deceive herself
as to The difficulties of the quest. She
even foresaw the possibility that Jack
might have changed his name. She
knew that this was frequently done on
the Pacific coast particularly when
men had got into trouble of one kind
or another and if he had resorted to
cuIA a ulSSuioCs IL NOulu NC UOuDll udIu
to trace him. Then, again, she could
not conceal from herself that, in going
about asking for and describing him,
she might be doing him an i'll turn; for
though she would not allow even to
herself the possibility that he might
have fallen under the ban of the law,
it was entirely supposable that he
might have got into some mining diff
culties which would require conceal
ment for time. All these considera-
tons necessitated the greatest tact and
caution in the prosecution of her
search.
Nevertheless, she was not dismayed
or discouraged With maps of the
region lying before her, she planned
series of tours through the mining
counties; and being careful to dress
in the most unpretentious and retiring
way, she set out sometimes riding in
the local stages, sometimes hiring a
buggy, putting up at wretched noun
tain taverns, enduring all manner of
discomforts and privations, scorched by
the sun and half smothered by the red
dust; exposed sometimes to the insults
of drunken men, still oftener embar-
Iucocu ny lu6 ClluSFNc anu uOlGSI uOSpl-
tally of miners who looked upon the
fair-faced traveller with sort of rough,
chivalrous rapture, For weeks and
months the quest went on, and all this
time nothing was learned. The de-
scriptions of Jack seemed to be the
descriptions of so many other people.
Dozens of false clews were put in her
hands, and when she had followed them
up and discovered their illusiveness,
she would feel desperately tired. Yet
she would not give way; did not COM
plain much even when alone; was
buoyed up with the expectation of years
bygone, and pressed forward upon
the weary search with a courage and
persistence not always paralleled among
men. 1t was trying and protracted
ordeal. Even the purely physical fea-
lures of the situation were full of an
noyance and vexation. Want of sleep,
want of fit food, want of comfortable con-
veyances, especially want of women's
companionship, exposure to all kinds
of weather-everything seemed COM
bined to render her undertaking as