The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-01-25
THE /" mINE JUMPER

THE hlNE JUMPER"
The Little ChristRbel mine in Colorado
long ago went through process vulgar.
ly called 'peiering out" 1t is now
mere hole in the ground. The half doz
en- shanties and cabins near it have Ions
ago fallen into disuse. Their roofs have
fallen in, and it is years since the guleh
in which their ruins are was the habita-
ton Of men. The entire gulch is desert
ed now, and the Iittie Chrisiabel is only
& memory to those who once shared in
the prosperity it brought TO F4irplay
gglch.
4 long narrow pile OF decsying logs
and parts Of clapboard roof mark the
spot where the boarding house was
There are still living many Of the men
who once gathered around the long,
rough pine table that ran the full length
of the cabin One of them told me the
story OF Miss Millicent.
Miss Millicent Hay vas the only wo-
man ever seen at the Little Christabel
mine.
When Harley Vance, the owner Of the
mine, advertised in Denver paper for a
cook for his boarding house, Hiss Milf
cent Hay answered the advertisement in
person.
She came walking up the trail leading
to the camp carrying little hand sltch-
el aad a stout walking stick.
have been staying down in Camp
Crystal" she said to the surprise Of Mr..
Vance, who had advertised for a man
cook, "and thought the place would just
slit me- The stage brought me to the
mouth ofthe guleh and walked the rest
OF the way. 1t isa't more than six miles
is it?'
she was a small but resolute looking
woman, with keen gray eyes and a
mouth indicating great iirmness of char
acter. Her thin brown hair was eombed
plainly back from brow beginning TO
show signs Of wrinkles, although she was
bat 40 years old.
"DOyou think I couldn't DO the work
she asked. Il am quite strong and l
have known nothing but hard work all
my life"
she held ont her ungloved hands as
she spoke. They were rough and wrink-
led, With bent fingers and ealoused
palms.
"You might do the work" said Mr..
Vance. There are only about fifteen
bosrders and We live in plain, rough
way. and there is boy 10 help. But it
wouldn't be a leasAnt place for lady to
live. There are no woman in this gulch.'
Il care nothing for that" and Miss
Milliceni. Men are sometimes kinder
than women" she added with trace of
bitterness in her voice.
The end Of it all was that Millicent
was installed as cook in the boarding
house. She hadsvidently come deter
mined to stay, for the stage roach that
went rumbling through the gulch next
day brought up a little hair covered trunk
with NJ. H." on the end of it with brass
headed nails
Before a week the boarders began bles-
sing the good angel that sent them Miss
Millicent Such meals as she served had
never been seen before at the Little
Christabel; and it was wonderful to see
the change she brought about in the dir
ty little boarding-house and its contents.
Her energy and strength seemed unfAil-
ing. She went stepping briskly about,
the neatest and sprightliest of house.
keepers singing at her work end smiling
at everybody.
Atthe end OF a fortnight every man in
the camp knew Miss MilIicent and had
felt the influence a good woman exerts in
every community.
Old hats and caps were doffed to her
wherever she went. No oaths or rough
words were spoken in her presence, and
the man who would have dared to offer
her an indignity would have "rid on a
rail, as my informant said.
For a year Miss Millicent lived at the |
Little Christabel, and in that time she |
had won the sincere regard Of every man |
ia the camp. There had been a great
amount Of sickness among the men that
winter, and some OF them owed their
lives to Miss Millicents careful nursing,
good food and general good sense in
everything pertaining to the. care of the
sick.
her own cheerfulness and good health |
never failed her.
81 don't believe you ever had sorrow
in your life, did your" asked one of the
men one day.
Miss Millicent was standing in the
cabin door at the time. The smile on
her face vanished as she made the reply
she leaned he- head wearily against the
door frame her fAce paled for moment
and her lips quiyered as she said slow
ly:
"EverS heart knoweth its own bitter
ness" then she turned and went to her
own little room at the end Of the cabin,
and the man who had asked the ques-
ton said: :
Some villain of man is at the bottom
of it all, I'll bet; I'd like to help stretch
his neck :"
1t was no secret that one or two Of the
men in camp had been suitors for Miss
Millicent's hand and it was known that
she had received their proposals with a
burst oftears, and had begged them, as
they valued their happiness and hers,
never tc refer to the subject again.
The csmp had been singulsrIy freo
from the brawls and lawlessness that
both distinguish and disgrace most
mountain mining camps Mr.. Vance
would not allow saloon within the lin
its of his mine, and had made il obliga-
torg on the men that they refrain from
many things common to the ordinary