Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-11-25
AT THE BALE"

AT THE BALE"
Gerry, engineer at the Aladdin. was
drunk. He had been in that condition 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
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-
sionai 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. l have often wondered how
it 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 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 hep"
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
rather late breakfast when the assayer en-
tered the dining room. The latter came
over and shook hands with me, and l in
PRODUCED 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 l had occasion to think of it, ]
remembered 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 SO
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 name
was Milton Ledyard) seemed in return tc
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
ioyial, 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 in
a row, albeit even Milly was not more
gentle.
But there was something about Milly's
admiration for Rice that distinguished it
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 saloon
or anywhere else the big assayer happened
to be-generally at saloon, more's the
pity. When Rice spoke Milly seemed to
hang upon his words, and when he moved
about Milly's eyes would follow him in
such queer way. 1t 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.
SPY Jove. old man, it just gives me the
fdgets," he said to me one day as we
sat chatting in my office, ito have the
little cuss tag me around so. wish he
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 known
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 rumor started. no doubt by the op
position, to the effect that he was fugi
tive from justice on account of a 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-
ment a big, powerful, manly man always
feels when he is made much Of.
Let's go over to the bale tonight"
suggested Rice at the breakfast table one
morning. ''There'll be plenty beer and
lots of ella monsters to dance with Come
on. colonel; we're getting rusty and need
a little shaking up You can get Jerry
McNichol's little cayuse, and I'll borrow
Barnes nag. Want to go and shake a
foot, :Milly?" he added, noting the wistful
look in the lads eyes. "All right, let's
make up a crowd and CO. And put on
YOUR best bibs and fuckers, boys-two of
old Miles girls are just back from St.
Louis, and we want to create an impress
sion"
So that evening we set off in high spirits
Rice, Milly, Jones and MacTavish, two
shift bosses, and myself. On the way to
the ella we passed through two other
camps and were joined by half dozen
| others.