St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-11-27

impulse that causes one to linger and
dwell upon the sight of suffering which
they may not relieve-kept her notion
less, her book still open, her pencil still
in her hand.
"I'll tell you the whole story" he
said at length, his voice heavy and
tired. "l've gone over and over it my
self, and 1t seems like the more | study
on it the worse snarl | make Of it. y on
seem a mighty peart young woman.
Maybe you cab see clearer than all ola
man."
He looked at her with some appre-
henSion. Perhaps his confidence WAS
misplaced. How could he tell but what
the sorry problem that weighed him
down might De a mere jest to her-a
comical Jest to be rec0unted for the en-
tertainment Of frivolous young com-
panions? Her grave expression reaS-
sured him.
lit begins like most of the stories of
men of my aye in California;" he said,
and it was noticeable that as he revert
ed to the past he dropped the cOrrup-
tons of the time and place and eX-
pressed himself in purer English. al
though his speech was still character
ized by the soft Southern draWl, and
now and then he made use of phrase
or word that is only learned south OF
Mason and Dixon's line. Il caught
the gold fever of '49. had a
wife and child and comfortable
property. Against the advice of
all my friends, in spite of my wife'o
gentle entreatIes. sold Off everything
had in the world, and, leaving Il small
sum with her. started overland 10 Cali
fornia 1t was a dangerous journey III
those days. | don't think / realized
how serious an undertaking it was until
| started. | can see my wife yet as she
looked that day, and the face OF my
little Miriam has been with me all these
years"
You don't mean TO say that you de-
serted your family; that you never went
back to tbem?" exclaimed the girl.
Some people might call it so. But it al
WAYS seemed to me as if the world went
back on me. Good luck, fortune, sue
cess, all abandoned me from that
moment | reckon you've read lin
books OF heard old people tell what it
meant to 90 overland to the Pacific
coast in those days. Months of hard
ship and danger. People and cattle
dying all along the trail Indian mas
saGreS on the plains. CoWarlly gangs of
whites OH the scent or every train that
was known to carry money, watching for
a chance OF pillage. Before we reached
Salt Lake our train was robbed by a
couple of rascalS who had asked our
protection fifty miles back, and lost
everything | had; my money, my sup
plies, my blankets, everything but the
horse | rode and the clothes / wore. A
x1rltf JY,,I
dered. The kindness of strangers
saved ne from perishing with cold and
hunger in crossing the SierraS about
three months after we reached Sacra-
mento very sick with fever. When |
rot well enough L crawled off to the
diggings at the first bar up the river. 1t
had been arranged when | left home
that as soon as 1 reached California l
was to fix some kind Of a home and send
for my wife and little daughter. They
were TO start by steamer as soon as they
had word from me. | couldn't write
home ana let them know the plight |
was in. But | had heap of courage.
The country was full of gold, and men
were all the while returning from the
diggingS with heaps of dust. l would
strike it rich like the rest and then send
back for my wife and child.
The bar was Overcrowded, but they
took pity Oh me- was a pitiable object.
weak and wasted by fever-and they let
Inc stake out a claim in the richest spot.
All the men around me were banning
out two OF three ounces a day. Every
now and then some man took out fort
une. | scarcely got color 1 moved
on further up the river 10 new dig
gings. 1t was no better there. On
again. The same luck followed me
everywhere. When | took hold t
the most promising sort of claim |
could barely find pay dirt. When |
gave up and moved on L was sure to
hear that some other fellow had jumped
my claim and made pile out of it. |
left the placers and went prospecting
for quartz. The first ledge | struck
made big show on the surface, but it
was pockety and l didn't dare to sink
further for fear the ore would play out.
/ sold it for song. The man who
bought it stocked it, floated few shares,
put UP big stamp mill and kept on
taking out rich ore. He has $1,C0),000
OH the dump today. Everywhere
it was the same story with me; never
the world or getting enough together to
Y
when my claim was worked out. Be
fore knew it the months and years
had piled up, and writing home was for
ever out of the question, unless some
splendid stroke Of luck favored me-"
He arose and began to walk up and
down in straight line under the oaks.
The census marshal observed that there
was hard beaten path there. She won
dered now often his feet had paced it.
I'm 80 | came here" he said, STOP
ping to reach his hand to great burr
on one of the oak D0les, on a level of
his shoulder and to rest it there. You've
heard the yarns they tell yet about the
gold that was taken out of this creek in
those days. | Staked out my claim
along with the first on the spot 1t was
the same old story. On all sides OF me
other men took out quantities of dust.
There was no more gold inside my lines
than you could find on church floor.
I'd had enough of chasing luck up the
rivers and over the mountains, and hav-
ing it slip up behind me unawares
whenever L moved on. 1 lowed I'd
camp down here and wait tor it
to come to me. I've toiled steady
from morning till night, every day |
could lift my hand. sometimes at the
old placerS, more often prospecting the
Lodges i'll the mountains above. Eve
made some promising finds and | pan
out little dust all the while, but often
times haven't enough to pay for hav-
ing my drills pointed, and have to quit
work and take my gun and go over the
range for veniS0n or bear meat. But it
can't last forever. Last week found
some rich float in the creek bed. Pm
on the track of that ledge now"
And have you never written homer"
"What could l write? don't dare
think about them. Some day I'll strike
it rich and then Pll go back"
The census marshal could make no
comment. In her heart she was i'm
pressed by the singleness of mind with
which the old miner had persevered in
his hunt after precious metal, and his
faith that he was bound to ''strike it
rich" some day struck her as almost pa
thetic. He seemed wholly oblivious of
the fact that there were other ways of
obtaining gold that did not call for pick pick
or sluice. During all his lone years of
toll it did not appear to have occurred
to him that the same energy, expended
in any legitimate ware earninr jxaei,.4-