Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1895-03-30
Ten Minutes to Twelve.
By NJ. G. MCLELLAND.

The city lies in a gulch, which it has
outgrown, and from which it has thrust
itself upward on the hills and outward
into the valley into which the gulch
opens, growing naturally, as a crustacean
grows, and splitting and casting its she'll
1t is fair city to look upon, with long,
straight streets and wide boulevards
planted with cottonwOods and other
shade trees and bordered by beautiful
homes in which are garnered love, hope
enterprise, and frequently unusual cult
ure. Back of the city rise the mountains
of the main range, holding treasures of
gold under exteriors made rugged by
rock and chasm and somber with the
gloom of primeval forests of pine and fir.
Royal, returning from a mining camp
whittier he had been summoned to miti-
gate the results of misunderstanding
which had ended unanimously, rode
quietly along the old trail, letting his
horse regulate the pace. He was tired
and a trife depressed, for there had been
no letter from the east for many days
and he felt anxious-quite without rea-
son, he continually assured himself, for
the last report had been favorable, but
the emotions are mutinOus subjects, 50
he kept on feeling anxious in defiance
both of reason and of reiteration.
AS they came out on a plateau above
the city Royal pulled up his horse and
sat gazing down upon it and letting his
thought absorb the beauty Of the scene
and revel in its promise. He was, com
paratively a newcomer to the place, his
residence only covering a period of
seven or eight years, but he took pride
in it, glOried in its enterprise, its wealth,
its energy and progress. The story of
its birth and growth was of interest to
him, and he used frequently to entrap
that embodiment of legends, the "Oldest
inhabitant," into spinning long yarns of
the days when the town was but hand
full of rough mining shanties and men
drew their supplies from natures store
house round about or went lacking; and
of those earlier days when all had been
unbroken solitude, the haunt Of elk and
bear and lesser wild creatures, until two
miners, working nOrthward, lured by
tales of diggings Of fabulous richness in
the KoOtanie country, had camped in
the gulch one night and there decided
that their supply Of food was too short
to admit of their going farther.
The circumstance which at the time
appeared to defeat all their calculations
eventually developed into the very key
stone of their fortunes, for the men, in
despair of getting away, fell to digging
where they were, and stuck at it pluck
lily, working with more hope and luck
than knowledge. The goddess of chance
justified their faith III her and guided
them to find the fame whereof went
abroad through the land and swelled
with its going, so that before the lucky
miners had learned to wear their good
fortune with ease the world, or that pOr-
ton of it which deals in mines, was
about their ears and clamOrous to
share it.
The nucleus of the city-the rough old
log sha ties-still stood away up the
gulch the abode of Cinnamon and va
grants, on whom, for various incOmpe-
tencies, Dame Fortune persistently turn
ed her back. In the first year of his
coming, when the spell Of the place had
fond of poling about in the old town
and tracking out the evolution of the
''city fathers
He had made his home in the place be-
cause the sister next him in age, and
his special favorite, had married Il man
of the place and was solicitOus to have
him settle near her; in addition to which
the town appeared to offer inducements
to a man Of his profession. He liked
the place and, probably because of that
liking, had prOspered in 1.-THE variety
and vigOr of the life formed fit accom-
paniment to the impulses which domi-
mated his nature.
During those eight years his parents
had died, his old home in the southwest
mad been broken up, and the members
of his family scattered far and wide.
Apart from the sister who lived here,
and in whose life he was of necessity
factor of secondary Importance, Royal
was adrift from all domestic ties. Oc-
caSiOnally, when work was slack or his
physical condition disordered, a sense of
loneliness would settle around Royal
like gray cloud, and the longing for
life apart from that of his profession
would cling to his spirit like the vapor
of which the cloud is formed. His life
was full, but not full enough; he cared
for his profession, taking vivid pride in
its every branch, but it only satisfied
his brain, while his heart stood empty.
Having the intellectual life in full meas
ure, he craved the emotional life-the
strength and virility of the man demand
ed fuller exercises and larger opportu-