Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-22
F. N. PIKE, MANAGER.
ny22&2s

easy position and proceeded. 1--WE had a
jolly crowd out there at Faro Flat" he be-
gan. There was Joe McKibben here and
Blake and George Gorham and a whole lot
OF US. and tell you we were just digging
the virgin gold out of the earth in chunks
as big as your fist. / reckon we had been
there adding to our wealth and health and
general stock Of joy for four or five months
when Christmas day rolled around. l al
ways was sort of sympathetic in my nature.
so on that eventful morning j thought I'd
climb up from Faro Flat to the top of the
Teak, SO as l could look as far away TO my
dear old eastern home as possible.
While / was up there thinking OF the
roast turkey and the plum pudding, and the
stockings hanging up by the chimney. and
all those things that wanders- remem-
bers when he Is far away from the folks
that are dearest to his heart, a great big
black cloud came rushing along all of a
sudden and before could move was de-
luged with water. / never saw so much
water in my life. 1t just seemed as If the
whole air had changed into ocean, and that
1 was at the bottom of it. four million five
hundred thousand feet deep. But IL was
over as quick as 1t came. When came TO
my senses and wiped out my eyes and look
ed around, doggoned IL there wasn't a dozen
or fifteen great big fish Topping around my
feet. They just jumped and cavorted
around there like IL they'd just been
dragged in by a seine. II didn't take me
more'n minute to realize that they had
swear that they hadn't been dipped up
somewhere in the neighborhood of this
place. cause when i saw the cloud il was
coming straight from the east at the rate
OF about a million miles a minute. Well.
gentlemen, i told you before that / was
pretty sympathetic in my nature and a
mighty big wad of that sympathy extended
to fresh fish, so just gathered those wrig-
snng creatures up in my arms and made a
break for Faro Flat. You ought 10 have
seen George Gorham's eyes stick out VIXEN
L got down there and he saw those fish
You could a hung a beaver hat on each
one OF EN- and still had room for whole
suit OF clothes. He said they were shal nd
that he knew how to plank 'em better than
anybody In the whole corruscatfon of star
like states. You know George was poetic
In those days. just like he is now.
Il told him that hadn't any doubt tina,
ne could do what he said he could do hut
that he'd have a mighty hard time plankine
snad on Faro Flat when there was moi
such thing as plank in the whole outfit
ne looked al me In commiserating sort Of
way, ana said he was aware that there
weren't any planks around there but he'd
IKE TO know If We couldn't get some boards
from our boarding place. l felt sort OF
humble so / went off and got the hoar =
and then Joe McKibben ana Blake came nm
We held council of war and agreed that
the best place for Gorham to do his mighty
deed was right up on top OF the mountain
where the fish had been caught Well NE
CLIMBED up to the top of Dead Mans and
TOOK Mexican greaser along to tote the
f1sh and the boards. and in less time than
IL takes to tell ii, almost we had fire
started and the shad planked-or boarded. or
Whatever you choose to call it-but | saw
pianked. Then we set to and proceeded 10
destroy those fish. We all ate two or three
apiece, except the gree Ser. He always was
the hungriest man that ever hit our section
or California, so when he picked up n fish
ne just bit right into IL and began to chew
Then he yelled till the people down in the
Flat thought that Injuns were coming The
rest of Christmas day, and until pretty
near New Year. he spent all his time picking
bones out of his mouth. He said mis- ex-
perience reminded him OF one time when
the Padre down in his native country had
made him eat prickly pear as penance for
committing a mortal sin. l hope you bows
will be careful about the bones when YOU
tackle the animals that are sizzling away
out there along side of the dining pavilion
now" Mr.. Kilbourn paused. and silence
reiened.
Then Col. Alexander NJ Kennedy tot
tered weakly toward the lemonade bowl.
and in his wake came Senator Stewart.
John Rued. Admiral Amy. Gen. Malone
and Messrs. McKibben and Blake
Il think" said Admiral Almy. that there
is going 10 he change in the weather"
Yes" acquiesced Senator Stewart; and