Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-04-19

Nluil u MI w do d IlOHtlCOu1D OI mines.
Breaking off suddenly in the midst of
one of his favorite exploits, he smiled
broadly and exclaimed: There he
comes now!" indicating, pipe in hand,
with an oracular wave, sturdy-look-
ing young man coming down the trail
that led from Humbug City to the
mine.
you all thought he'd been budgin'
over to Humbug, cause | coined in late
this morning; but hadn't I'd jest been
attendin' little before breakfast mat
inee in which thet young Teller there
played solo part way up-er down.
Iouse know him mostly-he's the ex-
press agent what hangs out at Win.
ming Card. Well, where dye spose l
found him this morning?"
You shut up, Dan. Here is the
quart promised YOU" said the subject
OF Dams remarks, coming up and hand
ing out bottle marked Egyptian
Cough Mixture, S. T., 1860, ~" which
Dan promptly appropriated and fondly
applied to his lips, his movements fol-
lowed by six pairs of envious eyes,
You can't keep it, so l might as well
tell the straight of it myself" contin-
ued the young man, balancing himself
precariously upon an overturned wheel
barrow. II guess you will laugh-Dan
did; but l amt seen where the laugh
comes in yet. / may when my hair
gets to laying fiat enough for me to
comb, which it amt as yet
you see, it was like this. / had
been over at Humbug, calling on a
female friend of mine at the Gold Dust
hotel, and the time slipped by so pleas
antly that when l looked at my watch
found had less than an hour to get
over to Winning Card to get the bullion
out of the safe for the Silver City stage,
which passes about eleven o'clock
You know how the road winds around
Quartz hill from Humbug to the Card?
it's good five mile, mostly uphill.
Well, l knew that I couldn't make it
that way, and as it was such bright,
moonlight night thought that l would
chance Old Ashby's trail over the hill,
| which isn't over two mile. You know
Ashby's trail, Dan? That's the one
him and Dick Dunn fought about, and
he had to kill Dick"
Yep" replied Dan, his eyes twink
ling with amusement. II coined over
it break o day this mornin', an"
Never mind" broke in Hastings 81
thought l could see we'll enough to
keep out of the holes and make pretty
good time, but that old hills got an
, abandoned mine every fifty foot, ant
they run from ten to five hundred fee
3 deep. l don't believe there is a curb OF
t board over the whole blessed lot.
| Well, / was making good time enough
until / came along to where | judged
the Bobtail extension was-a good six
hundred feet deep, if it's foot-when
l noticed that the sky was clouding up.
In about five minutes | felt chilly
gust of wind, and then it suddenly got
blacker than stack of black cats.
Knowing where | was, and the danger
of stepping into the Bobtail, made the
cold chills play tag up and down my
spinal colum. l slowed up, and for
awhile showed one foot ahead of the
other until l begun to get careless,
thinking that l knew the lay of the
land well enough to know that I was
r past the worst of it. Suddenly, just us
q l started to sing the first verse of The
Days of 49, stepped on nothing but
oxygen-and | knew to dead Ger
tainy that was falling into the Bob
tall
IF live to be thousand years old
l will never forget the feeling of hor-
ror that took possession of me. As
plunged forward, instinctively threw