Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-11-18
AT THE BALE"

drunk He had been In that condition ever
since the grand opening" of the Gold Bar
liuuor 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 conditiens 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
ut the Gold Bar and other institutions of
it's kind of which there were several in
camp.
The old man hesitated before letting
Gerry 20. 1t is usually easy enough to
find plenty of men to thump drill OF
dump Il 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 mp
and go back to work. but without success.
Gerry would promise to 20 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 he toe
drunk to lie on the ground without hold.
ing on. Once, indeed, Barnes got him to
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
it happened that Barnes took him on, for
the old man always insisted that n mine
was no place for boys much less an engine
room. And the newcomer was certainly
not man. lie 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 veteran, doesn't heY"
remarked the a!d 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 canIY. actually whstling in
his sati~facjian at having found Il com
petent engineer who did not indulge in
any habits likely to incapactate him fo1
duty.
Next morning Rice, the assayer, who had
been over near the ella for several days IN
business for the company, returned. The
new engineer and myself were sitting at a
rather late lreakfast when the assayer en-
tered the dining ROOM The latter came
over and shook hands with me- and in
PRODUCED the new arrival Rice shook
hands with him in his frank way, CHANGING
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,
remem bered that Rice was unusually 81
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 ap
ply to him.
And "Milly," as we called him (his nam,
was Milton l.edyard), seemed in return tC
like all the boys in his quiet, undemon
strative way, though it was quite plar
that he took 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
jovial, hearty way about him. Moreover
he could shoot quicker and straighter than
any one else in camp; could and did drinl
more than any other one man in the who'll
district, without showing it, and wa
always ready to help the weaker side il
row, albeit even Milly was not mor
gentle.
But there was something about Milly'
4 Il a., 4
from the feelings the rest of us entertained
for him. When the engineer was off shift
he invariably stayed around the assay of
fee or if Rice was not there at "A salool
or anywhere else the big assayer happene,
to be-generally at a saloon, more's tn
pity. When Rice spoke Milly seemed t
hang upon his words, and when lac move
about Milly's eyes would follow him il
such queer way. 1t was evident tina
Rice did not like to Lave the little Ell
gineer hang about him so closely-it mad
him nervous, although he never wa
otherwise than kind TO and friendly wit
the little chap.
"By Jove. old man, it just gives me tn
fidgets," he said TO me one day as W
sat chatting i'll my office, ito have tn
little cuss tag me around so. ! wish h
didn't like me quite so well-nO, don
either; but, d-n it all, it makes a ma
feel like Swallowed criminal" He laughe
uneasily, and ! noticed that his eyes di
not meet mine.
Then for the first time since | had know
him, wondered if there could have bee
anything in that old story that was ci
culated when he ran for the county clerl
ship five years before. At that time thel
was rumor started, no doubt by the o.
position, to the effect that he was a fug
tive from justice on account of your
woman he had betrayed But this yai
had gained no credence, and was speed
lost sight Of 1t seemed impossible that
man as frank and honest as Arthur Ri
could have anything in his past to
ashamed of so it was not long be ore ii
story was forgotten. And |, after thin
- ing it over, concluded that there was not
ing haunting him, and that his shift
actions proceeded from that embarras
ment big, powerful, manly man alwa
feels when he is made much of.
Lets 20 over to the bale tonight
suggested Rice at the break fast table o