Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-08-28

use the upper porr1on OF 1t vxcepu ,m
fishing, hunting and gathering berries
in the spring and summer, for in the
winter they reside on the Alaskan coast
and the numerous islands near the
mouth of the river in the vicinity Of
Fort Wrangell, where they have per-
manent villages
Most delicious salmon berries and
two OF three kinds of huckleberries grow
in great abundance along the river, and
during the time covered by this story a
small party of natives were camped on
it a few miles above our camp, engaged
principally in picking them. Jane and
her mother were with this party, and
almost every day some Of the squaws
would bring down berries in variety to
sell to the miners. One night soon after
Jane made her first appearance at the
bar it rained very hard, causing Beaver
creek, from which we took our water
for mining purposes, to rise unusually
high and flood our main fume to such
an extent that it broke. This stopped
work until the break could be repaired
Part of the men, therefore, went up
early in the morning to mend the fume,
while the others lounged about the
camp and the bar, talking, smoking
and doing odd Chores waiting to begin
work as soon as thy could get water for
their sluiceboxes.
Dublin Dan and four or five others
were sitting on large hemlock log near
the camp, talking and smoking to kill
time, when Jane came along the path
by the log with basket Of berries. As
she came in front of fellow known in
camp as Jack of Clubs, because of sup
posed resemblance to that rather no.
torious knave, he suddenly put out his
foot. As she was walking pretty fast
she tripped and fell headlong down a
steep bank seven or eight feet on to
some rocks below, spilling the berries
and smashing the basket in the fall
Now, I do not think that Jack in
tended to throw the girl down the bank,
but he did not have that quality Of
manhood which prompts noble nature
to admit a wrong, and he was inclined
to make joke of the matter. But as
Jane lay where she fell Dan quickly |
leaped down and picked her up with
gentle hands. He wrapped his silk hand
kerchief around her hand, which was
bleeding freely from a cut made by the
sharp rocks. He picked up her basket,
spoke kindly to her and gave her 81 to
pay for the spilled berries Fortunately |
she was not seriously hurt, and after |
thanking Dan and giving him a CRATE
full look she went down to the river and |
joined her mother.
When Dan came back to where the |
men were, he looked angry and said to
Jack, eye blackguard, ye ought to be |
ashamed to do thing loike that!'
Jack said he had no thought of hurt |
ing the girl, but just meant to scare her |
little, and to turn it off tried to joke |
Dan for the interest he took III her. See
ing that Jack was not disposed to have |
any quarrel, Dams good humor soon as
serted itself and the affair ended without |
further trouble.
In short time afterwarG the men
went to work as usual, and in the ex-
citement Of mining life this little Incl
dent was forgotten by all but Dan. As |
several days passed and the girl did not |
come there any more, he began to won |
der if her absence was due to injuries |
received by her fall, and he resolved in |
his own mind if such were the case he |
would take the first opportunity to pick |
quarrel and whip Jack for it. After |
about week, however, one morning |
Jane appeared again at the camp. But |
how changed i'll appearance At first no |
one recognized her. She was very neatly |
dressed in every way, and the gum boots |
were replaced by nice pair of shoes;
her black hair hung down her back in |
two heavy plaits, the ends being joined |
with bow of pink ribbon. In her new |
suit she was quite picturesque and pleas
ing, and it was not surprising that she |
was not at first recognized as ''Gum- |
boots Jane"
But what had wrought this wondrous |
change in so short time? Had that |
strange magic called love, which can |
suddenly transform the girl into wom-
an and the woman into a heroine, ready |
to do and dare anything Tor her lover, |
touched her heart? Perhaps so. At any |
rate it is certain that Dan g kind actions |
and words of sympathy made deep i'm
preston upon this simple girl. Still, |
she was more bashful and shy toward |
him than she had been before she was
hurt, for, while she came down to our |
camp almost every day, she hardly ever
ventured within speaking distance Of |
Dan, though she would often sit or stand |
where she could see him and anxiously |
watch him as long as she was unob |
served or time would permit. But after
this had been going on for week or |
two he was much surprised one day by |
her walking straight up to him, and |
without hesitation saying: 81 like you.
Bad Indian want to kill white man.
Look out!' Before he recovered from
his surprise or could say word, she |
turned and walked rapidly away.
Dan thought over the matter and |
tried to reach some conclusion as to
what she meant, without any definite |
result. But he decided that unless the |
girl knew of some danger either to him
or his companions she would not have
given this warning, and that it would |
be proper to tell them about it That
same day, however, man called Scotty,
from Nevada, was down at Bucks sta
tion on some business, and on his return
brought news that caused considerable
excitement at the bar and explained
what Jane meant by her warning. He
said there had been trouble between
some Cassiar packers and Indians work
ing for them, which had resulted in the
packers killing one Of the Indians. Now
the natives Of Alaska and the adjacent
territory have 2 law, running back as
fa.r a. their TIA. -loDs reach, that when
a member of one tribe kills a member of
a different tribe the killing must be |
paid fer with hlan&cts or other prop |
erty, Or, if not, then it must be settled by |
human blood and a life for life is de- |!
manded T;rn a;be Of ,he deceased will |
then XII 1aeog tha ayh"E tribe at the \
first olatGto ity. Ibey $50 iot seek the |
person Vl9 to'omi5ed the homicide,
but take tie i;a oi ANY member of his |
tribe that ls afu thoir power.
Whea yh"a en aame into this coun |