St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-27
THE YOUNG LOVERS

little Isabella Eell.
Months passed away and letters came and
Went uncouth, ungrammatical, badly written
and spelled, but having for all that the elo-
queace and beauty OF love and truth, and the
pathos of hope deferred. Johnny could not
yet say that he was in the line of success and
Bella could only wait and prattle of her love,
and tell her innocent gossip of the people
and Goings in Bellevue. The months became
year and still no start. Two years had
gone and Johnny had a fourth interest in a
mining claim of doubtful raiue.. Still an
other year, and Johnny could not say that he
had accomplished anything definite and GER
tain towards the home he had hoped to build
for his sweetheart. For seven months BelIa's
letters had altogether ceased. johnny was
hesrt-sore, but he still hoped for the best,
and toiied away developing the Lucky Star
mining claim.
Seven, eight, nine months more dragged
on, and Frisco capitalists who had been
smelling around the Lucky Star for three
months, made a definite offer of 100000
cash down. Johnny's earnest arguments
persuaded his partners, and the bargain was
concluded at Tomtown, twenty miles oc,d by
mule trail from the Lucky Star. He learned
by telegraph that S24, 500 had been deposited
to his credit in Sacramento bank. Out of
$500 he paid his share of the debts of the
partnership, bought a ticket to Sacramento.
and still had more money in his pockets than
he had ever had at one time before
1t was nearly 800 miles to Anita on the s.
P. i. +. by stage which ratified recklessly up
and down the foothills, over the toughest of
disable roads; but at the fastest gallop down
steep, narrow cut in the mountain side
Johnny was mentally cursing the slow prog
ress OF the coach. Road-agents barred their
way in narrow canyon, and each passenger
held up his hands while his baggage and per-
son, were carefully searched, thing which
had not been known on that read for sixty
daysa at least, and which was doubtless one
result of the sale of the Lucky STAR johnny
cared little for his cash, but he cursed the
road-agents to their faces for being so infer
nally Slow. The stage started again and by
dint Of extra hard driving it managed to be
on time at Anita.
Still Johnny was one of the most dissatis-
fled of mortais. He growled when he entered
the train, and as it ratified along he elabo-
rated his most picturesque curses for Sanford
and Croker and Huntingdon, and all the
other railway magnates, their aiders and
abettors, servants and slaves, because they
made only twenty miles an hour, and he
thought they ought to cover forty at the very
least, land reach Sacramento in less than
three hours instead of six. Then he would
lapse into meditation, recall happy incidents
of his boyhood, each having some relation to
fIa ABB &ho ~,
nimble5feet, or some other part or attribute
of "a mfsehief-loving little mink, afterwards
his promised bride, sweet little, pretty little
Isabella Bell, the belle of Bellevue. But the
sweetest of the past, and the
widest flights of his fancy, could only make
Johnny more miserably impatient, and he
turned from them all to cursing the railroad
This was contrary to all his philosophy; it
was as unusual to him as the journey he was
making. It was o very natural result of the
circumstances.
In Sacramento Johnny inspected his bank
account, replenished his wardrobe, and then
took the first train south to Stockton, where
he rushed around for good team, expecting
to drive all night and reach Bellevue some
time next day. The first liveryman had no
team that would stand the sort of driving he
intended. He tried a second with no better
fortune, and then he bought horse, and
after seeing it well fed and forcing himself to
eat a substantial supper, he started out for
nights ride. He covered more than fifty
miles Of the well-remembered road and then
traded horses and got his breakfast at
ranch in the gray of early morning. Pro-
ceeding on his fresh mount, about nine
O'Clock he arrived at the mouth of the name.
less little stream on which Unexpected to
iint. the little Iog-cabin settlement of Belle
We, and to his utter astonishment, he had to
,osS a railroad track to continue his jour-
rey. Ee Thought of the time and fatigue he