The DeLamar nugget. [volume] (DeLamar, Idaho) 1891-1900, 1894-01-27
De Witt Duncan Prospector.

| 1t was on this old mountain side we
met more than year ago He was a
miner, that you could see, his very
pake-np told OF -copper-rivefed over
aIls tucked in rubber boots, from the
! tops Of which several sticks of giant
powder dangerously protruded, fan
mel shirt open at the neck, blue blouse
and sloucbed hat stained with mud and
spatiered with csndlegrease. In his
belt he carried singir-hand hammer,
aud his lips pressed firmly the stem of u
briar-root pipe. He had mined for sill
yer aud had dug for gold. Hand him a
piece OF quartz and he, wefting it with
his tongne, would tell you whether the
black streaks in it were sulphnrets of
silver or merely antimony or iron. He
could separate the gangne and leave a
shining trail of gold in the horn, and
c,uld closely guess how much in value
the ore would mill to The ton. Being
aware that better days had known him
in the past, let the burden of The talk
fall upon him, and questioning at art
! ful intervals to draw him out, trndged
quietly by his side these are some of
the rambling words that fell from his
lips that day, and held my lingering
steps, and made the pleasant afternoon
pass all too soon
'In the long ago, perhaps five years
=. 7 4. ~
there is no use in growing sentimental,
but Indeed she was darling. You
yourself have known girls and girls.
Picture in your mental eye the loveliest
girl you ever saw she cannot compare
with mine FIRE assay of her soul.
would 20 one Thousand fine in purity
and show base metal none. We parted.
could not endure slavery on a high
three-legged stool nor drudgery on the
day book and ledger. | was poor fig
urehead. The world is wild for gold.
Without brains money makes a scrnb
think himself man. The times are
out osjoint, yet. and | know not how
they Will 5e righted. came out West
in search for gold. Here lead lonely
life. My partner, by working in the
mines, supplies the grnbstake, and
both of us are always broke. have
spent, in summer and in winter, months
without going away from the claim. l
eat, sleep and work day in and day out
80 does prisoner in the pen. Soli-
tude and are chums. / tell you, sir,
queer feelings take hold of man who
is left so much alone with nature. II
often, very often, as ! gaze into the
darkness outside my cabin door, thinks
of my friends far distant, and the dead
seem almost as real to me as the liv-
ing"
De Witt hesitated. stopped, and blush
ing. said that be had at one time made
some verses with this idea as the theme,
and that II / cared 10 hear he would re-
cite them now. told him that could
stand it if he could, when, in low
voice, soft and mellow he read these
lines:
"Ye winds that roar, ye blghting winds
That madly whirl the earth above,
Oh, sleet that stings, oh, snow that blinds,
Take this brief message 10 the girl L love
My love, o dear, sweet love of mine,
Altho' the space is vast between
Me and that ender heart of thine,
love thee only, of thee dream.
"Cold, billing blasts from zero zones
Chill not my ardent love and true;
Fond mem'ry still with Joy enthrones
Thee, queen of my life. Adeul adleui
.'The gale meier halted. but, raging blew
Fierce lunges of fantipathy;l
1t spurned my words, needless it few,
And my living love was dead to me.
"Ye gentle winds that wait and sigh
Requiems DER my beloved dead,
o winds from heaven, have ye no reply
From her in whose dear steps l treadf
10 love, sweet mother love. of mine
Let thy pure soul speak 10 my SOUL
Round NE let thy soft arms entwine
And hold me, while the ages roll.
81 think of thee throughout all days;
At night my troubled brain In dreams
Bridges vast space o'er psychic ways.
To greet nay mother queen OF Queens.
"The south winds blew with perfumed breath |
This message over land and sea;
BE good, be true, and fear not DEATH,
Aid my dead love was alive to me-"
De's pipe had gone out. He struck
match. turned towards the west whence /
a breeze was blowing, shielded the
fame in the hollow Of his hands, and
between puffs said he would knock off
half shift some sunny afternoon and
come over to the Black Jack and see me,
for he ed 10 talk to q man " ho could |