Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-10-16

,?,t3n TE1ng,p ~ assented ps71a.
who always agreed with the major in
everything. "O' course, his actin
mysterious hain't really nothin' p'tic' :
lar ag in i'm. Folks out yere-that is,
they hain't nobody, hardly, th't hain't
got somthin' t. be mys-that is, some
O. them ducks is mysterious an some's
noisy. like" finished Ike, lamely,
realizing that he had almost slipped
into personalities.
"rTried t talk t. i'm, "sighed Lazy"
Wolf, with his customary stretch.
"'S /, Firm tn States, 1 recon?'
yes, IS he. expect t. 40 intuh min
IMP s I. Possibly. S he, an then
e gifts out of good, comlt'ble cheer
an walks off.
"Hain't nobody but my clerk gifts
no talk out of I'm" put in Colonel
Hanks, the landlord, can bout all e
says t. Billy is Nice day. an Cigar,
please But e pays is bills, an car
ries roll, too; I s'pose that's all I
ought t. worry bout"
ooh, yes oh, yesl" snapped little
Ike, e1citedly, San all tn time, him
layin', most likely, f'r t. jerk tn
props firm under ys! I'm f'r startin'
i'm, I am, an pretty quick, tool"
'I wouldn't be too hasty, gentle
men," counseled the mild voice of
Professor Hendrix, editor OF tho Gold
Hill Avalanche. "We may, after all,
be entertaining an angel-that is, a
'sucker'-unawares. Let no guilty
capitalist escape ere he has been in
duced to invest"
"He hain't no capitalist, inter
jected the major, scornfully. "He's
too-too quiet. I think he'd better
have tn run"
"Easy, major, easy" said Hendrix,
softly. 'Now would suggest that
we select a committee of, say, two, to
sound the gentleman and endeavor, by
peaceful means, If possible, to cause
him to give an account of himself.
If he declines to do So" The editor
concluded with q tolerably graceful
wave of his hand, for the subject OF
the foregoing remarks-a pale, some
what ordinary looking young man, in
clothes Of Eastern cut-had just en-
tered and was passing through the
room.
Time was when Gold Hill had been
q thriving, busy camp, with metro
politan aspirations. But its boom
died, and the glories of Gold Hill were
only memory to the three hundred
citizens (who remained behind because
they could not afford to leave what
little was left them of their former
possessions, and to the ''suckers" who
had dropped their money at the time
of the rush. 1t was still the centre of
fairly good but steadily "peterins'
mining district, and there yet re-
NAMED the hope on the part OF many
citizens that some one might make
another big ''strike," and tho old
times come back; in which case they
would be ''in on the ground floor. F"
But several years had seen only a
steady decline in Gold Hill. and an
increase of prosperity on the part OF
it's hated rival, New Kimberley, the
inhabitants Of which were wont to pro-
fess ignorance of the existence of the
former metropolis, albeit only twenty
miles separated the two camps.
1t was In the second year after the
death of Gold Hill boom that the bust
ness men of that camp began to realize
that retrenchment was necessary.
There was always the hope of O
"strike," or a chance of unloading
something at good price on some an
sophisticated "tenderfoot"; but, in
the meantime, it was necessary to
"look after the leaks" The gentle
men who kept the. dispensaries had as
lively sense Of the necessity for re-
trenchment as the rest, and they went
about economizing in practical man.
ner.
There was in the camp o prominent
but somewhat impeeunious citizen,
known as Joe Godfrey, and Mr.. God
frey had formerly resided in the
"moonshine" districts. This latter
fact gave Major Fulton and Colonel
Hanks an idea. The bottom lands
near by grew large quantities of ce
reals, including curn. Putting two
and two together Godfrey ant
the corn-crop-and--why, it was at
easy as anything could be! In shor'
timel Mr.. Godfrey's work made itsell
felt by the wholesale men, who shool
their heals over the decadence of bus
mess, not only in Gold Hill, but il
several outlying camps, as well. Rev
enue officers shook their heads, too
and sought to ascertain the cause o.
this unaccountable state of things
But only one OF them had found what
he sought, and he mysteriously disap
peared, failing even to call for hi
baggage or to pay his bill at the hotel
And Messrs. Fulton, Hanks, ct al.
waxed fat and prosperous IN the midst
of seeming adversity, yet were evel
circumspect, as behooves gentlemen
who defy the laws of Government
There we're no informers in Gold Hill
The nan who gave the revenue office
who mystariously disappeared the in