Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1896-02-06

continuing along tuAs ue resFiou
tion began from the tl4z9 of his frs
offense. But If he ha< cone rronf
somewhere else and ha< come ints
the gulch to reform an - square
in his condnct from tAn< time til
he had passed in hi1 zhecks' hii
past 'didn't count.
This man was pref posed to
certain sort of exclusIx4 mess which
was in his favor. Tie noisy man
who talked uith his rnd1th' In thai
country was generaIly snotted. Al
times this man would BE- MISSED
from she camp. HsNtsEa be away
three days, . week, or occasionally
three weeks. He never made known
the day of his departure and he al
ways came back in the night, and
no one knew he was back until he
walked out to his breakfast. II
soon came to be known that he did
not want 20 be questioned about bis
trips. When a man in that conn
try let an intimation of that kind
drop it was respected.
He never received q letter while
he was in the camp and one never
saw him write one. He never read
newspaper or book, and occas-
ionally, when the news of some
event of national import was heard
of and discussed in the evening, he
was as Indifferent as an Indian when
he is posing. He asked no ques-
tions. He had a name. of course,
but that has escaped me. But |
remembered that he had been tag
ged with some nickname or title, /
have forgotten which, and by that
be was known in all that section.
One morning after be had been
off on q characteristic trip, he was
found dead. There was no doctors
in the camp, and such an official as
q Coroner was not necessary in those
days. The boys removed his clothes
and turned over the body several
times to satisfy themselves that he
had not ended his own existence.
They looked in all his pockets, but
there was not scratch OF a pencil
mark, and no letters or memoran-
da. There was in piece of tight
ly-twisted paper little bunch of
hair. 1t was not braided, nor
plated, nor tied with u ribbon, nor
string. Rnt the boys allowed it
was some woman's,' and they put
it back in the greasy bit of paper
and into the pocket from which it
had been taken.
A committee took the body up
on the side of the mountain. dug a
whole in the ground, and made the
ouryin'.' Somebody stuck bit of
branch at the head of the grave.
The committee returned and re-
ported to the man, who was sort
of ruler in the camp, and he gave
it out that little game that had
been arranged for was not to be
played that night, and the Post
master was told not to open the
mail that day when it should ar
rive. The usual season of mourn
ing could not be carried ont in this
case, but there was no business in
camp for "a hours.
That night the man who was in
authority called for volunteers to
write, and one young man who had
a face like girl stepped out. The
others excused themselves on the
ground that they could write. but
their 'spellin' was poor. The
young volunteer SAL be could spell
names of people and Of towns if
they we're not too long, bnt that his
'writin' was bad He was instruc-
ted by the man in authority to
write a piece for the paper about
the dead man, tellin' where he is
buried, and that he didn't say moth
in about his intentions to pass in
his checks, and that he didn't have
uothin' comm to him except a
check at the Golden Nugget for one
drink, which the friends Of the de-
ceased had and would keep till called
for by his friends or his kim
The young man who drew the
ticket for writing the piece was ex-
cnsed from other duty that day SO
far as to give him . chance to 'do
it clean and decent And then the
piece was sent by courier to q town
SO miles away to . preacher, who
was asked to look it over and fix ii
so as it would read all right in the
paper.