The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-15
MlSTAkES 81 4 BAD MAN.
WHEN HE PICKED OUT THIS TEN
DERFOOT FOR 4 VICTIM.
The sale OF the Twilight Mine and
the Big Game Between Its Owners.

ands that came west 10 grow up with the
country. and, not many moons after. had
good reason TO believe that I was gone up
with the country instead. After awhile 1
drlfted into Gold Cross camp Il was in
the days before Gold Cross had come TO
the front as a good thing. and the big
mills that are now eating the sides out Of
the hills up there hadn't been thought Of
The boys We're running rockers down IN
the gulch then, and most Of them didn't
make more between meals than they
could eat-and drink-up at grub time.
There really wasn't much life TO the camp,
and most Of the inhabitants were the kind
of people that tried to make you believe
the Almighty has picked them out for an
especially favored brand of martyrs. And
it was pretty quiet when Pizen Bill John
son came to town.
But Pizen Bill woke up the camp. Bill
wasn't at more than one place at one
time. but his reputation was everywhere
at once in the diggings, and 1t didn't i'm
prove with age. either. William was
dressed TO kill. Whenever he moved, you
We're apt to see the handle of another
weapon. that had escaped your observa-
ton before, sticking out from some new
angle. His record was worse looking than
he was-which is saying a good deal. You
might lay his ugly looks to some dispen-
satiOn OF Providence that you didn't
quite see the drift OF; but few people
would care TO charge a disposition like
his to anything but the devil Sorrow was
his shadow, and the wailing of widows
and the crying of orphans had followed
him out of more than one camp. But,
somehow, when he struck Gold Cross the
general air of condensed shifuessness
seemed TO take the place Of his usual ORR
ginal cussedness, and, being above work.
ing, he just settled down and drank be-
tween meals and ate between drinks
Finally, one day, he developed enough
energy to climb up Bumper HILL which is
first cousin to a precipice and is on the
west side of the gorge. After that he
made several trips up there, generally af-
ter the sun had closed up his days bust
ness, and by and by he let il leak out that
he had located a first-class quartz claim
on a ledge where the pitch was not too
steep to pile rock, and also volunteered
the statement that the name of his new
bonanza was the Twilight, so chrlstened
because he found it better to work up
that 1t was too hot to do any locating or
anything else up there in the day time
which explanation was probably as near
the truth as he usually got. In those days
we most thought that quartz mining was
the calling of arch-idiOts, it being so much
easier to run placer, and so a good many
of the boys laughed at him on the sly:
but those who had heard of him most.
and therefore, worst, just shook their
heads and surmised he was up to some
thing. As for Pizen Bill johnson, when
he got his claim located to suit he just
sat down and waited and waited.
l came to Gold Cross on the hog train,
and, being discouraged with miningY that
didn't pan out board bills, took the first
job that offered itself, which happened to
be that Of barkeeper in the Golden Oriole;
for when man is a hundred miles from
nowhere, without money and without
friends, his conscience gets sleepy. When
there is a promise of bread and butter
In sight, unaccompanied by the prospect
Of term in jail.
The Golden Oriole was in a niche in
the side of the gulch, where some en-
terprising idiots had washed out a few
hundred tons Of dirt in the hope of find
ing something rich, but had finally con-
cluded that there was more money and
considerable less work in holding up
stage coaches. Then jag promoter
from Sacramento appeared on the scene,
and, judging from the looks of the thirs-
ty inhabitants that there were several
good openings that needed filling, built
a board palace Of the ruins, needles or
the fed and shortly afterward there
borhood.
1t was a pretty solid castle for those
days, and Rugged up close on one end
to the side of the gulch. An auction pi-
ano furnished inspiration at one end OF
the big room that constituted the inter-
Tor of the joint, and l. with the valuable
assistance of the bar, furnished the in
spiration at the other end. There was a
window at one end Of the bar, the sill of
which was on a level with a burro trail
that the miners had spoiled when at the
innocent work of laying a foundation
for our house, and I use TO retire through
1t to gaze upon the awe-inspiring scenery
OUTSIDE and mediate upon the beauties
of nature and the comfort of solitude
whenever the guests got to hurting solid
arguments at each other and commenced
shooting off something besides their
mouths. 1t really was a big institution
for Gold Cross and the proprietor con-
sumed considerable time and whisky in
trying to make up his mind what TO
call it, not being able to decide whether
palace" or Pavilion" was the proper
handle, and eventually compromising on
Golden Oriole.' There was a big table
down in the center, which was sometimes
used for an exhibition dance and some
times for laying out corpse and sur
rounding it were lot of small tables
where the boys played poker and pedro
for the drinks. The winning party in
these games was given away by the ex>
press agent who use to have a standing
joke about tWO-thirds Of the bullion OUT
put of Gold Cross coming through the
Golden Oriole on its way to civilization
One day Pizen Bill Johnson's wait came
to an end. The young fellow that got
off the stage was so Internally green that
/ couldn't help looking him over to see
II he didn't have an express tag on, which
in some measure, would account for his
being able to get so far from home, but
the boys were feeling pretty blue about
then, and he made a kind of pleasant
contrast Of cOlOrs. He hadn't no more
than passed one meal time and sampled
a little of our st. Patricks aversion
snake prOducer-till Pizen B. Johnson,
who was a smooth smiler when he tried
to be, had him in tow and knew all about
him and his folks. And pretty soon af-
ter observed that he was showing the
yOungster some of the finest specimens
of free-milling ore from his Twilight bo-
nanZa hat a man ever stole. Thereupon
some of the old miners who were hanging
around in a self-satisfed sort of a way
having no particular interest in the young
mans prospects. l rather pitied the fell
low, but then I knew that if he had any
money somebody would get It mighty
quick; and, besides, 3. Johnson had enough
to answer for without my tombstone cast
ing any reflections on his character. So
the announcement next day that he had
sold a two-thirds interest in the Twilight
for $1,000 to the young chap from Boston
was not altogether a surprise. And then,
with a calm and satisfied air, Bill de-
creased the number of his meals one half
and doubled the number Of his drinks,
which was equivalent to a notice that he
was beginning to celebrate.
The next two days it rained, but the
green young cuss from the east seemed to
thrive out in the damp, for he worked
away developing his sailed Twilight mine.
while the patrons of the Golden Orcle
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