The sun., 1895-01-20
ASTOUNDING RIDE OF K. B.
HE ARRIVED IN CAMP IN a VAT
That PLEASED THE BoYs.

Contlnue rsJourney Down the Mountains.
THAT was an awful steep divide between Gold
HILL New, and Downicvllle, Cal, and the stage
coaches and freight teams had hard work Of It,
making tho climb, even when the road was In
good condition. When the mud was deep. or
there was much snow, the road was all but Inn
passable even with six horses to stage, or six-
teen to q freghter.
ut was one winters day when there was 30
much snow the stage agent announced that the
stage would not 20 out until the road had been
broken by freightcr or two. That was mighty
inconvenent for Brown Kettlebely' We
called him. but the newspaper fellows up in vir-
ginia City called him X. - so much in their
stories he got to believe those were his initials,
although his baptism name was Lemuel.
well, sir Brown felt mighty sore about the
agent refusing to send out n stage, because he
had accepted an engagement to deal at ALI
whitehead's bank in Downlevllle. and on his
promising to be there, that very night Alfs chief
dealer had arranged to go to Sacramento, where
he was to take charge OF n new bank. That
would leave All without a dealer, and II was
pay day. or course that wouldn't do. for =
pretty smooth chap from the bay had just
opened a bank In Downievile, and II Alfs game
closed for want Of dealer on pay day the new
bank would get all the trade, FOR q miner must
play again the bank on pay day, or else 1t don't
seem like pay day to him.
"Wel, sir. when the stage agent said he would
not buckle up to swing out, of course one else
would, for II the stage horses couldn't make tho
trip none others could. Chuggage the line
in those days. and. Lord You know what kind
OF stock he had. His horses could climb tree
IL they had to. but tho agent said he'd be
damned II n head of stock left the barn that day,
even IL Mackey and Fair had to get tn Downie-
vile, and he certainly wouldn't for Kettlebelly.
"A lot of us were sitting around Orndorff's
stovo-that was before Jim Orndorff moved up
Slippery Gulch to his small place on G street in
Virginia Cty-sitting around discussing what
X. Is. could do, and 1t did seem like he couldn't
do ything but just sit there.
After n while X. b. got up, walked TO the
front of the bar, and looked up at the snow
the mountain, kind of savage like, when he saw
some miners who were building a sheeve with
12xl2 timber. He that the heaviest piece
they wero handling didn't go through the crust
and he says:
"If it will bear that it will bear even me. I'm
going to walk over the dividel I'm not going to
give ALI Whitehead no double cross like that.
I'll deal bank in Downieville this night or you'll
fnd ne cached In the snow up there
we all took a drink. but that didn't seem to do
him any good, for he kept right
w LAST xtiH m ,s sun IN don't out
strong. and believe can turn the trick,
s al just s naturally took sas another meth
young fellow who had come out from Heidel-
burg 70 be an ss,,y assHyer says that he'd e, too
and we just naturally took another drink and
then got ready We all wrapped gunny bags
and some pipes and tobacco and crackers in his
overcoat pocket. and then. when we'd all had .
"it wasn't very cold. but the crust was good
and and hard and and ihe going r. wasn't % bad or wouldn't
derstand' but Straight up The sid. Of Of ths noun
sdering that in those days he didn't weigh
ounce less than 300 pounds. You'd never know
sage brush, for all these were buried out Of
sight. and only the few digger pines cropped up
MY! but it was hard work. suppose VIC
hadn't got more than half way up to the ridge
tried 70 fire him up with LIQUOR. but it just
naturally wasn't any use He was tenderfoot.
Of % wRsRey drank on the Lode IN Rose " days
"'Well cache him, them said X. b.. and he
thpguEh the air eeR M RnS he e
around beneath the crust and made nice case
ne R%
our share Of grub and tobacco, as he was quite
was; ! had great notion to stay with him: IN
start of K. BIS journey on the other side.
But before fore we got to the ridge was Just
might be able to keep on. because the going
even after got there; | couldn't stand on my
feet minute longer. although drank quito .
then and the crust was getting soft.
{" When X. b. saw that was clean petered, he
All right, old son, I'll have to cache you.
for I'm going on,
the ridge on the Downievil!e side, and K. B. said
u would make good cave to cache me In.
landing kind of broadside, and then the darnd-
est thing happened you ever heard OF. Tho
o%n@ s ss s * K s pamS
toppled over and started down the side of the
*. BIS weight made the ball so heavy that It
kept breaking through the t crust Isl, which was
big as "A stage coach in minute.
We'll, sir. thought there wasn't any more
laws of perspective. for the ball seemed to be as
was when it started; but that was because it
was getting bigger as fast as it ought 70 seem to
e"I could see. the houses in Dowinsyille away
down there and the SNOWFALL with K. b. inside
now and then making clean jump OF a hum
dred yards or so when grade sleeper than the
Esad up fTs trail yas yfas'f
brush in a way you might not believe il hadn't
"Well, sir, at last II struck the corner of that
house II was soidly built log house-and
speck fy out and land in a snowdrift.
He All Whitehead told trns me IL the rest & OF u e istsr
awful bad Tor he had ii" let his dealer 20 that
wouldn't be over that day and there would DO
no TO deal faro for him that night. He hap
pened TO look up the divide. and he saw that big
SNOWFALL come rolling down the mountain side
10 beat hell, saw II tearing up the sage brush by
the roots, and was wondering whether 1t would
Il, when it struck. split and X. B. came flying
through the air, and landed in q snowdrift right
in front OF his place as soft as kitten ina
basket.
* Is. just naturally accepted Alrs invita-
ton TO take drink. and then sent up expe-
iitiOn to rescue me. but | sent them on TO get
he assayer, for had no trouble in getting
Town then: X. BIS SNOWFALL having made Rs
ine rOud as ever yOu walked over in your life;
not even rock or sage brush in it,
"Wcll sir, X. Il. dealt in Alfs bank that
night, and tho new fellow from the Bay didn't
ave player, all the boys being so tickled with
he way X. B. had come into camp that they
stuck TO his game"