, 1891-03-11
THE SAD FATE OF A FoRrY-NNeR.
Might BE "A Bonanza King " He Hadn't
Converted His Mule Into n CaIIIope.

Might he "A Bonanza King ~ He Hadn't
Converted His Mule Into IA CaIIIope.
A party of prospecfors had located their
dry camp on the headwauers Of the Meadow
and were having rather Indifferent c
1t is a broken mp country, and its redeem
ing feature is the abundance OF game of
all kinds. While it may be termedR hunt
er's paradise, it is certainly a miners
sheol. Flour and bacon and beans had run
low, and the boys had begun to ''cuss" the
country.
They were sitting around the fire one
night smoking when a. visitor, "a tranger
with about as little ceremony as Poe's
Raven, made his way into the circle and
perched, not on a bust Of Pallas, but on Il
busted aparahoe. For about two minutes
the remarks were about as extended and
interesting as We're those OF the famous
Forty-niner. Finally he was induced to
chew, and then he gave an account Of him
self He was as near "A nobob As "A pros,
pector can ever become; that Is, he was
making no attempt to better his condition,
making his way afoot from one prospect
or's or trapper's camp to another. He was
an old man, bowed and wrinkled. 1t was
evident that the end Of the rocky trail Of
life that he was travelling was not far of.
In the course of the evening one Of the
boys happened to speak of the old mans
condition. Thu old fellow Strengthened
up, adjusted one moccasined foot under
him, %'lnjun' fashion, and remarked: 1T
may seem a little tough to you fellers to
see me knockin' round this way when /
ought to be a respectable member Of sas-
siety, holdin' my own with Mackay, Flood,
Hearst and Lucky Baldwin. l used to
train with them ~fellcrs. I'm "A '4ger, / am,
and l might now be a millynair il it wasn't
fer u piece of mar luck 1 struck way back
in the SOS.
II struck out one spring mornin' in Cal
iforny with n mule packed with plenty of
grub, and a good prospecting outfit. |
had two dogs, cross between bull and shep-
herd, along for company. / packed with
me a tin horn that / called EN- up with
when they got too far away
Il was maxim for the Mokeleuune hill
district, which hadn't been prospected
hardly any yet. made burned good time,
considerin' all things, till on the second
week that gosh blamed mule got sick. The
sun OF a gun begun to swell. He got down
and rolled. Well, he kept swellin' and
rollin' and groanin', and | thought every
minute he'd bust
The sweat stood out on the old mans
brow as he related this. He paused a while,
reflected, and continued:
The way l fingered it out was that he
had collie. l couldn't think Of ANYTHING to
give him but the soda used to cook with.
I'd heard it was good for the stomach. so
fixed mp a drench of soda and water, stuck
the dinner horn inter his throat, and com.
menced pouring the stuff inter him. 1t
skeart him. He sneezed and snorted all at
wunst, and spit out the drench. And when
he snorted he blowed that 'ere horn. IL
seemed surprised to find that he wuz a mu.
stefan. His ears riz, and he prunced round
an footed that derned horn. The dogs
heerd the t%ootin', and, true to their %trainin',
they come along head an tail up That
derned mule KEEP a tootin' that ere horn,
all the time a-tootin' the wind on'n his
stomach, and all at once, by gum, he struck
out H toOtin' that horn, an the dogs fol.
lerin'.
Il wuz left thar 800 miles from nowhar,
with no grub, mule, dogs nor nothin'. |
wandered back to the nearest camp, and
sence then I've been "a %wanderer, with no
aim in life but to find my mules an dogs.
For forty years Tve been chasin' the cussed
varmints. I've seen lotso mules. but none
uv'm he'd er tin dinner horn In lis mouth.
nor two brindle dogs folierin' him. Have
any Of you fellers seen a stray mule around
hereg"
The old mans story created Il profound
impression. The boys unanimously elected
him grand patriarch and assistant cook
for ~ long a. he cared to luy oil from his
wild ana thrilling cha-s-Spok.ne Falls
Spokesman.