Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-06-20

IA &E country instead.
VIEaH {4tSysv5y' After while
RXtgSRst@W drifted into Gold
NHISMNII/ CrossY camp. 1t
WV was in the days
n before Gold Gross
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
were running rockers down in the
gulch then, and most OF them didn't
make more between meals than they
could eat-and drink-up Mt grub
time. And it was pretty quiet when
Pizen Bill johnson 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 every
where at once in the diggings, and it
didn't improve with age, either. Will
lam was dressed to kill. Whenever
he moved you were apt to see the
handle of another weapon, that had
escaped your observation before, stick
ing out from some new angle. His
record was worse looking than he was
which is saying n good deal. You
might lay his ugly looks to some dis
pensation of Providence that you
didn't quite see the drift of, but few
people would care to charge DISPOSE.
ton like his to anything but Satan.
Sorrow was his shadow, and the wall
ing of widows and the crying of or
phans had followed him out of more
than one camp. But, somehow, when
he struck Gold Cross, the general air
of condensed shiftlessness seemed to
take the place of his usual original
cussedness, and, beng above working,
he just settled down and drank be-
tween meals and ate between drinks.
Finally, ono day, he developed
enough energy to climb up Bumper
Hill, which is first cousin to preci-
pice and is on the west side of the
gorge. After that he made several
trips up there, generally after the sun
had closed up his days business, and
by and by he let it leak out that he
had located 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
christened because he found it better
to work up there after nightfall; his
explanation being that it was too hot
to do any locating or anything else up
there in the day time which explain
alton was probably as near the truth
as he usually got. In those days we
mostly thought that quartz mining
was the calling of arch idiots, it being
so much easier to run placer, and so
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 sur
missed he was up to something. Not
being interested in the cemetery bust.
ness, they didn't try to investigate.
As for Pizen Bill Johnson, when he
got his claim located to suit, he just
sat down and waited and waited.
came to Gold Cross on the hog
train, and, being discouraged with
mining that didn't pan out board bills,
took the first job that offered itself,
which happened to be that of bar
keeper in the Golden Oriole for,
when a man is hundred miles from
nowhere, without money and without
friends, his conscience gets sleepy
when there is promise OF bread and
butter in sight, unaccompanied by the
prospect of term in jail.
The Golden Oriole was in niche
in the side of the gulch, where some
enterprising idiots had washed out IL
few hundred tons of dirt in the hope
of finding something rich, but had
finally concluded 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 thirsty inhabitants that
there were several good openings that
needed filling, built board palace on
the ruins, "heedless of the fed," and
shortly afterward there was revelry in
carload lots in that neighborhood. 1t
was pretty solid castle for those days,
and Rugged up close on one end to the
side of the gulch. An auction piano
furnished inspiration at one end of the
big room that constituted the interior
OF the joint, and !, with the valuable
assistance of the bar, furnished the in
SEPARATION 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 n
foundation for our house, and used
to retire through it 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 argu.
ments at each other and commenced
shooting off something besides their
mouths. 1t was really big institu-
ton for Gold Cross, and the proprie-
tor consumed considerable time in
trying to make up his mind what to
call it, not being able to decide wheth-
er "palace" or pavilion" was the
proper handle, and eventually com.
promising on Golden Oriole." There
was big table down the centre,
which was sometimes used for an ex.
hibition dance and sometimes for lay.
ing out corpse, AID surrounding it
were lot OF small tables.
One day Pizen Bill Johnson's wait
came to IN end. The young fellow
that got off the stage was so green
that l couldn't help looking him over
to see if he didn't have an express tag
on, which, in some measure, would
account for his being able to get so
far away from home, but the boys
were feeling pretty blue about then,
and he made kind of pleasant con.
trast of colors. He hadn't more than
passed one meal time till Pizen B.
johnson, who was smooth smiler
when he tried to be, had him in tow
and knew all about him and all his
folks. And pretty soon after OBJ
served he was showing the youngster
come of the finest specimens of free
milling ore from his Twilight bonanza