Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-09

The woman gives $ long. choking sob. as if trying to control her tears-then throws herself on the floor of the wagon and breaks into passionate weeping. The children. too young to und rstand, are frightened, and, hud- ding about their mother, they whim- per from pure sympathy. The man turns in his seat, and swallows, hard, two or three times before he says, kindly: 'sThere, Lindy, dear, don't cry. know tn Lord'll make it all right some day. Don't you worry none, child. reckon we kin buy it back an go next year an live there without botherin' our heads about crops. On'y a few months more an we'll be able t hre. So cheer up, child, there's a good girl"
 Poor Sam Owenl As young man, forced by i'll health to leave the min ing country and give up his dreams of fortune for the humdrum work of the farm-driven out of Kansas by grass ,hoppers, from Minnesota by prairie | fires and storm-now, the home he has worked so hard to build taken from him by King Mortgage-and still he | goes forth into the world with pover- | ty, almost starvation, staring him in the face. and tries to be cheerful! Two months before a letter had come from a stranger in Colorado in- closing a rude map which a dying man an old chum of Owens in the mines l had asked him to send to his old companion At the time, Owen had decided not to avail himself of the in formation given by the man-now, there was nothing else, and, like the man he was, Sam Owen set out to en- counter hardship and privation, ill., health andsperhaps death, in a compar- ative wilderness
 He left his family at Aurora, the town nearest his destination, gave them all the money he had, and went on alone, despite the protests of his wife.
 A week later, hungry, weary, heart sick and i'll, man plodded along the bank of the creek in Kingbolt canyon. Now and then he coughed-that hol- low, terrible cough which chills the nearer. Where gulch led out of the canyon he paused and took a ragged paper from a tattered pocket-then turned up the gulch, wearily. He had searched twenty gulches this way, and still there was othing. He plodded along, and turned the corner of a great, square rock. He looked al the soil under his fcct-went on a few steps-and then, taking off his worn hat, l1nelt reverent:T down and thanked God.
 Then Sam Owen posted his claim no tice, thinking how useless it was, il this wilderness, and went back to hii little shack to take the rest he so sore ly needed.
 !. Three weeks later, Sam Owen, worI and wasted by the fever into which toi and privation had thrown him, agai1 traversed the bank of the creek, nov lined with the tents of the fortune ! seekers who had followed the rush. Weak as he was, he did-not notice thu weight of his pick and shovel, and hi step was quite brisk as he hurrict along, smiling happily to think tha none of these men could possibly fin' his claim. He almost broke into a rul as he passed up the gulch, and whel he reached the square rock his exer tions and the frequent fits of coughin
 had brought forth cold sweat iron
 every pore of his body. Lookin
 ahead eagerly he turned the corner 0
 the rock, and-merciful God!
 We found Mrs. Owen and the littl
 ones in Leadville, whither the poo
 woman had drifted in search of wor
 to keep the babies from starving. He | crief over the loss of her husband wa