The news & observer., 1896-12-27


Ilorry had been 20 a high mountain,
ever so far away. and on the Top of it
here was Il lying around, and shin
figure Was rgiaE a#ay To the peo-
g.
"a who wcre 1Aa people FlOrry
ear 2' said Mr Staples, persua s;vely: <
yajy ye know heref"
"The7 woz angels, said EIorry, with q
nsf. 1l glance over her shoulder
sy.e,e q. ssr that Mr. Staples iid NOT
c 2a pie ser, at the celestial vision as
"a a1glys haze. ana poor SEs. Fraser
proesbly S>w that in her cAiId's face
whr5 .eove ot1er ahinzs trom her aiad
Ys NJ .}s-f,iss 2erzAsted.
'Au3 wss .e5 "a 10 tAis he5sEfsl
aosr,s&is ass i; sRsYy'
"Sc.
"wko EAea
Florry opened her e7ea ca the sgeaI-
err. Il fnk II was Dod," she said, and
closed them again
Bue here Or. Duchesne hREriea in, and
after single glance st the cAild hustled
Mr.. Staples FROM the ROOFS. fcs there
were grave complications that paHzled
sim. Florry seemed eaaier and aaieter
under hiS kindly voice and toaeA, bat did
NOT speak agnin--and no, slowly
sinking passed away thSs. nixAt in a
dreamless slesp. This wsa followed
by q mad panic sc Burnt Spring the
aext day, snd Mrs. Medlikor fed
with her two girls TO Sacramento,
leaving Johnny, ostensibly strong and ac-
tive. to keep house until his fathers re-
turn. But Mr.. Medliker's return was
again delayed and in the epideAic which
had nov taken n fast hold of the settle
ment, Johnny's secret-apd indeed the
boy himselt-wss quite forgotten. 1t
was only on Mr. Medliker's arrival that
it vas known he had been lying danger
ously ill, alone in the abandoned house.
In bis strange reticenee and frmness Of
purpose be had kept his sufferings 10 him
self-ss he had his other secret-and they
were revealed only in the wasted, hollow
figure that feebly opened the door to his
father
0n which Intelligence 3Ir Staples was,
~ nsual, promply ON the spot with his
story Of Johnny's secret TO the father
and his usual e2gar questioning to the
fast sinking hoy And now, Johnny"
he said, leaning over tbe bed "teH us
ali. There is One from whom no secrets
are hid Remember. too. that dear
Hiorry who is now with the angels. has
already confessed"
Perhaps il was because johnny. even
at that moment hsted the man; perhaps
it was because at that moment he loved
and believed in F'lorry, or perhaps it was
only that because that moment he was
nearer the greater truth than his oues-
TONER, bet he said in husky voice. ''You
iier'
Staples drew back with Aushed face.
but lips th&t writhed in a panied and still
persistent eagerness. bat, johnny, at
least, tell as e-wh-wow-wow."
! ana obliged to admit that these un-
dignifed accents came from Mr. Staples's
own iips and were due to the sudden
pressure OF Mr.. Medliker's arm around his
throst. The teamsteP was irascible and
prompt through much mule driving. and
his srm was, from the same reason.
strong and sinewy. Mr.. Staples felt
himself sarrOted and dragged from the
room, and only came to under the stars
outside, with the hoarse voice OF Mr.
Aedliker in his ears:
You're a minister Of the Gospel, I know.
but ef ye say another word to my Johnny,
III knock the Gospel stuffln' out Of We.
Ae hear me! I've driven mules aforep'
He then strode back into the room.
''Ye needn't answer. Johnny-he's gone"
But 80, too, had Johnny, for he never,
answered the question in this world-nor.
please God, was he required to in the
next. he lay still and dead. The commu-
nifty was scandalized the next day when
Mr.. Mediiker sent for a minister from
Sacramento to oficiate 1T his child's
funeral in place OF Mr.. Staples, and then
the subject was dropped.
But the influence of Johnny's hidden
treasure still remained as superstition
IN the locality. Prospecting parties were
continually made up to discover the un-
known claim, but always from evidence
and data altogether apocryphal. 1t was
even alleged that n miner had one night
seen the little figures OF Johnny and
Florry walking over the hilltop, hand in
hand, but that they had vanished among
the stars at the very moment he thought
he had discovered their secret And then
1t was forgotten: the prosperous Mr.. Med
iker, now the proprietor Of q stage coach
route, moved away to Sacramento; Med
iker's Ranch became station for chang
ing horses, and, as the new railway in
time superseded even that sunk into a
blacksmith's shop on the outskirts of the
new town OF Burnt Spring. And then
one day, six years after, news fell as
bolt from the bluei
1t was thus recorded in the county
paper: "a piece OF rare good fortune,
involving, it is said, the development of a
lead OF extraordinary value, has lately
fallen to the lot OF NJ. .bhn Silsbee. the
popular blacksmith, on the site of the old
Medliker Ranch. In clearing out the
failing water-course known as Burnt
Spring. Mr.. Silsbee came upon a rich
ledge or pocket st the actual source of
the spring-a fissure in the ground a few
rods from the road. The present WELD
has been estimated to be from eight To
ten thousand dollars. But the event is
considered as one OF the most remark.
able instances of the vagaries OF 'prospec-
ting, ever known, as this valuable 'pot-
hole existed undisturbed for eight years
aot fifty yards from the old cabin that
was in former time the residence OF }.
Medliker, Esq. and the station of the
OF thePioneer State Company. and was
utterly unknown and unsuspected by the
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