Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-12-11
AT THE BALE"

drunk lie mad been In tnaJ cOnulIlon ever
since the grand opening" of the Gold Bar
liquor dispensary Barnes, the superin-
tendent of the Aladdin group, was mad.
The state Of mind on the part of the "old
man" also dated from the grand opening
aforesaid These conditions resulted in
Mr.. Gerry's retirement from his position
as engineer and left him free to exchange
his time" even unto the last cent, for
the doubtful oblivion producer dispensed
4 at the Gold Bar and other institutions of
its kind, of which there were several in
camp.
The old man hesitated before letting
Gerry go. 1t is usually easy enough to
find plenty of men to thump a drill or
dump car, but good engineers are not al
ways available, so Barnes reasoned and
pleaded with the erring Gerry, and tried
every possible way to get him to sober up
and go back to work, but without success
Gerry would promise to go on shift he
would promise anything, and back up his
word with much profanity and an occa-
sional flow of maudlin tears, but when the
whistle blew for his shift he would be too
drunk to lie on the ground without hold
ing on. Once, indeed, Barnes got him to
bed and slept him for several hours, and
Gerry started for the mine that evening
with lunch pail and quite an assortment
of good resolutions, but the seductive Gold
Bar lay almost in his path; he fell, and the
next day the old man drove to town to find
another engineer
The new engineer was rather out of the
usual order | have often wondered how
IL happened that Barnes took him on, for
the old man always insisted that mine
was no place for boys, much less an engine
room. And the newcomer was certainly
not a man. He could not have been more
than eighteen, to judge from appearances,
and was small for his age. But he could
handle an engine with the best of them.
Flies at it like a veteran, doesn't he"
remarked the old man, as he watched the
new engineer, on the evening of his arrival,
handling the engine as though he had
made it himself And Barnes rode down
the gulch TO camp, actually whistling in
his satisfaction at having found a COM
petent engineer who did not indulge In
any habits likely to incapacitate him for
duty.
Next morning Rice, the assayer, who had
been over near the ella for several days on
business for the company, returned. The
new engineer and myself were sitting at a
rather late breakfast when the assayer en-
tered the dining room. The latter came
over and shook hands with me, and in
troduced the new arrival. Rice shook
hands with him in his frank way, glancing
at the engineer rather keenly The latter
seemed embarrassed and acted strangely,
thought, though | paid no particular at
tention to the fact at the time When
afterward | had occasion to think Of it,
remembered that Rice was unusually ST.
lent that morning for some reason.
The new engineer soon became the most
popular man in the camp. He was SC
pleasant and obliging, and withal so gen
tlemanly and nice in his ways that every
body "cottoned" to him straight off
Maybe it was partly because he was never
profane and had no bad habits, but,
despite this, never preached" that we
liked him at first And then we liked
him because he was "white'-that is about
the most expressive adjective we could APP
ply to him.
And "Milly," as we called him (his name
was Milton Ledyard), seemed in return TO
like all the boys In his quiet, undemon-
strative way, though it was quite plain
that he took a particular liking to Rice.
This in itself was not surprising. Every
body liked Rice. He was big and hand
some and had a deep bass voice and a
jovial, hearty way about him. Moreover,
he could shoot quicker and straighter than
any one else in camp; could and did drink
more than any other one man in the whole
district, without showing it, and was
always ready to help the weaker side ia
g row, albeit even Milly was not more
gentle.
But there was something about Millys
admiration for Rice that distinguished it
"a. a
for him. When the engineer was off shift
he invariably stayed around the assay Of
fee, OF II Rice was not there at a saloon
OF anywhere else the big assayer happened
TO be-generally at a saloon, more's the
pity. When Rice spoke Milly seemed "a
hang upon his words, and when he moved
about Milly's eyes would follow him in
such a queer way. II was evident that
Rice did not like to have the little en-.
gineer hang about him so closely-it made
him nervous, although he never was
otherwise than kind to and friendly with
the little chap.
by Jove, old man, IL just gives me the
fdgets," he said to me one day as we
sat chatting in my Office, "to have the
little cuss tag me around so. | wish be
didn't like me quite so well-no, don't
either; but, d-n it all, it makes a man
feel like Swallowed criminal" He laughed
uneasily, and | noticed that his eyes did
not meet mine.
Then for the first time since had knewn
him, wondered if there could have been
anything in that old story that was cir
culated when he ran for the county clerk
ship five years before. At that time there
was a rumor started. no doubt by the op
position, to the effect that he was fugi
tive from justice on account of young
woman he had betrayed. But this yarn
had gained no credence, and was speedily
lost sight Of 1t seemed impossible that a
man as frank and honest as Arthur Rice
could have anything in his past to be
ashamed Of so it was not long before the
story was forgotten. And /, after think.
ing It over, concluded that there was moth.
ing haunting him, and that his shifty
actions proceeded from that embarrass-
"a lfy ~ nj manly man al vs