Crawford avalanche., 1891-08-06

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Wimmenl as l hope to live, and hearing
right down on this campT
AS at that time none OF the gentler sex
were known TO have penetrated within q
hundred miles Of us, we very nearly
shared his astonishmept. Neither Tom
nor l spoke word, but am ashamed
to confess that our first thoughts were Of
our shabby costumes, cleanly, to be sure,
but coarse and fcarfully fraycd.
Fright from Arkansas, probably" re-
marked Tom. coofiy.
"Mormons," suggested.
''Bet your life, no. Quality folks |"
insisted Jim.
We had no time for further conjec-
ture. for the party, consisting OF two
ladies and a gentleman, were now in
sight, and the younger of the ladies
surgcd ahead of the others and came
down upon us at dashing gallop. A
| sirlish figure, at that time and in that
place. she 5, cmed like vision of celes.
tial beauty, with her golden locks
streaming IN the wind, her cheeks
blanched with anxiety and her eager
blue eyes fixed upon the central figure in
our group. Oblivious Of all else, she
sprang unaided from the saddle. and
casting her arms around the invalid, ex-
claimed, "Oh, father! iatherv' and
burst into tears.
Annette" said Mr.. Holland. looking
up to Tom. who stood near him. "thi.
is Mr.. Hamilton, the gentleman of whom
l wrote you, and whom think you
should show some gratitude"
go, Mr. Hamilton" she excleimed,
show can thank your"
"One deserves no thanks for simply
doing ones duty" said Tom.
Annette was of that golden age, half
child, half woman. and the assurance
that Tom regarded her act as caprice of
childish gratitude, silenced her own mis-
givings.
The elder lady was now introduced as
Hollands widowed sister, and the young
man hastened. with vigorous handshak-
TO declare his everlasting gratitude to
Tom and me.
MIRA Belden. the widowed sister, a
lady of great intelligence and Of that
quiet, self possessed repose of character.
as lovable as it is rare, now explained
their sudden appearance. When they
received her brothers letter, announcing
the accident they were very much
alarmed, and both Annette and George,
who was home spending his vacation,
were determined to 60 at once to their
father. They had not telegraphed him
because they knew that it would take
several days for message to reach him
from the nearest station, and feared that
he might attempt to move further east to
meet them.
During their short stay Tom and did
day for years. Always leaving one to
care for our crippled friend, we took the
visitors each day to some new scene in
that grand and romantic region. Now
il was q majestic waterfall that had sung
its weird song for ages to the rocks and
trees Of some solitary gorge; now cas-
cade, dashing down thousands of feet,
from rock to rock, foaming. white as
driSted snow; and sometimes it was to
look down stupendous chasms, or to be-
hold somber depths of forests, or climb
the snow-seamed SUBMITS.
How dream-li like was this episode in
our hard miners R.s e was urlci !;
49, /. siIorJ time sufficed to make the in
valid sufficiently strong to be removed
to his eastern home.
A year passed; year Of hardship and
toll to us. Occasionally a letter came
from Holland, always referring to his
stay with us, with expressions of gra {
itude for our attention. At the close of
one letter he wrote:
"Many thanks for the rare specimens
Of Pleurotornaria Taggarti received; |
port of 1875. Was unable to visit Col
know whether shall ever dare TO visit
my old >hapnts again, unless accompanied
I by my daughter, for since my unfortun-
ate accident that young lady seems to
think that am not to be trusted far
from home without guardian.
"By the way, Annette wishes me to
ask Mr.. Hamilton If ne will he kind
enough to send her a few OF those tiny
blue, swec.-scentod arctic flowers, such
as he gathered for her from the summit
of Bellevue last summer"
A month later, Tom Hamilton to S.
c. Holland
"CAMP SKY-HIGH. Sept. 10.
RESPECTED Friend-I take the liberty
to send you by express the antlers of an
elk, in the velvet, for a specimen of
which remember you expressed de-
wns ssss s Mnen nere; rne wesrer 81 the horns
in one OF the little parks on the Mount
of the Holy Cross.
II send the flowers as requested by
Miss Annette. / send also for her ac-
ceptance some specimens of peculiar
rose-colored crystals from Crystal noun
tain, near the head of Rock Creek. These
are called amethyst by the miners, but
they are not very valuable, being rare
enly because Of their peculiar tint +"
Another year passed. and it was an
eventful one to us. The great carbonate
discoveries had been made and the noun
tains were ovcrrun with prospectors,
while the mountain villages swarmed
with spectators. We sold our claims
for ten fold the sum we had ever hoped
to realize. Although neither Vanderbilts
nor Astors, we still had capital enough
to start an important business in Denver
and looked back to our years OF manual
labor as prospectors with that true
American pride that regards no honest
toll as degrading
Meanwhile our friend "Stovepipe" was
back in his old field, and one day the
following letter came:
..EAGLE RIyEl,. Aug, 10. 1s7==.
"Mr. Thomas Hamilton, Denver, Col. !:
Dear Friendly daughter is expected
to arrive in your city the first of Septe.n-
Der, en.route for. Twin Lakes, where /
am to meet her. Will you kindly see
her safely embarked for that point, and