Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-07-14

no such mercenary purpose.
be was not more than Ave and sven
ty, with curly brown hair And eyes.
and silky mustache anil beard OF IT,.
same hue, and mouth full OF even
white teeth, anil his fne face seemel
ever the home OF gool nature an
laughter. No matter how long the
march or Aeep the trail, no matter the
long miles between the springs, or the
Indications OF Indians in the neirhbor-
MOOD, Frank was ALWAYS CHEEKY nn1
happy, and his laughter and his songs,
for he had an excellent voice, light
cned manya long march. anil dispelle.l
the gloom from many lonely camp
in the heart Of the canyons.
We had not been many days ont be.
fore Frank Edgerton opened his hear.
and gave us the secret Of his constant
happiness. He Was in love, not dead
in love- but living in love, the glori.
Gus passion possessed him It bubbled
from his lips in laughter and song, and
glared from his eyes in exultation.
who is she, boys?' he said one
day In answer to my question. for I,
an old. loveless and perhaps uni ovable
bachelor, half envi5d HIM his posses.
sion. '.Sbe amt no ordinary girl.
Susie Burns amt. Heaven cut her out
for first-class angel and never changed
the original plan. Here's her picture,
and let me say, you two are the only
strangers that ever looked inside the
lids since she fastened it round my
neck. and told me, as she kissed me,
that SO long as / wore it next my heart
I'll remain true to her-just as if I
could ever dream Of being false to
Susie
BY the camp FIRE he opened his coat
and hunting shirt, and brought to
light slender gold chain that hung
about his neck, and at the end Of
which there was n fiat golden me-
dallion. He opened it, kissed tho
| picture with the alteration of q pagan
for his idol, and then let us look at
the face of beautiful, blue-eyed girl
of nineteen or twenty, who seemed SO
! life like that it looked more like the
reflection in mirror than a oolored
ivorytype.
''Susie Burns amt rich, for Heaven
couldn't give her all the blessings
| without being unfair" continued
Frank, as he restored the picture to
| his breast, ''but she'll be rich some
day, if there's gold to be found in
these mountains Meanwhile, while
I'm out here prospecting. Susie's a
| teaching school down by the banks OF
| the Cumberland, and you can bet, if
she has any time to spare from her
| work, she puts it in a-praying for me.
That's why feel so sure, boys, that
we are going to win. | tell you an
outfit can't fail that has an angel like
that a-praying for it. ~
Frank filled us with his enthusiasm,
and Ned Copley and myself felt that
we, too, were Interested in the girl,
AS We we're very sure she would have
been in us. had she known the circum-
| stances
! don't know the name of the
stream, for it was in the days before
names were given to every strip OF
wet ground in the West. but it rose io
the avalanches of the Sierra Madre
and came down by our camp ice cold,
and rs II brought flecks of yellow gold
with it. we decided 80 stop there and
| so to panning out the gravel.
We did fairly we'll What we got
| would have been big wages anywhere
else. but to compensate for what We
suffered and the dangers We faced, we
| naturally wanted more.
| A hundred dollars day between
/
| three wasn't so bad. but ~e were IN a
mood when thousand dollars a day
would not have satisfied us.
Nv. how hard an cneerfullv Frank
| did work Why, he got SO deeply IN
terested In that unknown girl, away
| on the banks OF the Cum berland Ia
old Kentucky, that he got into the
habit Of saying every morning. as We
ate breakfas, by the light OF the camp
ire Another days work for Susie,
boys.
Although tho stronges: % the three
Frank uas no. used 70 this sort o.
rough life. and soou sae II began &c
tell on him. and | vAntei him TO lei
| ,,~ I,,t tba hr,ra felior s&-rt 70 II