The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-05-20
TROUBLE AT SAINTS REST.
BY PAUL SHOUP.

BY PAUL sHOUP.
The group of waiting idlers, who had
followed in it's course the shade of the
big pine in front of the stage Office, were
listening with languid though critical
interest to Long Jake's story. Old man
Summers walked slowly over to the
stage road and gazed down into the val
ley.
Here she comes!" he shouted, stand.
ing in the middle of the road, with his
right hand over his eyes. The listeners
sprang to their feet and fastened to the
roadside.
A swirl of dust appeared around the
bend, and out of it came the noise of
the rafting of wheels and the beating
of hoofs. Then stage appeared, and
a minute later the driver made his usual
theatrical stop before the Office.
The guard, jumping lightly to the
ground, held open the stage door. Mrs.
higgins, fat, fair, and certainly more
than forty, awkwardly descended to
the ground, and then appeared Miss
higgins. Miss higgins was young and
Miss higgins was pretty. Charming
glances from her melting blue eyes &C I.
companied her musical voice, while her
red cheeks and hair of gold made the
surrender of the hearts of the men OF
Saints Rest unconditional.
The last roll of blankets had found
its owner, the horses had been led away,
and the sleeping stage coach stood to
one side. The major was enthusiastic
snd the group before him was atten-
tive: "At last the eye of the world
is becoming focused upon the great nat
ural resources of Saints Rest. 1t is
quite evident, sub, even to supe'f fetal
observer, that Mrs. higgins and her
lovely daughter have been lured hither
by the unparalleled attractions of
Saints Rest to spend their days in
rapturous contemplation of the. beau
ties of nature
eyer mistaken, major" said old man
Summers, who had been diligently
ecraping his pipe. "Mrs. higgins ez
goin' to open a boardin' house."
- "Who said SOP" demanded the major,
blankly.
THAT sage-brush pirate who pilots
the stage. Mrs. higgins told him.
On the evening following the day
Of Miss higgins descent upon the
peaceful camp of Saints Rest, every
miner in the Lost Horse gulch, from
the crest of the ridge to the bed of the
wash, found that he had pressing bust
Uess on the main street of the camp.
Among those who took their in
genious ways up and down the I'M
even paths was Jim Bowloe. Nature
had not been niggardly with her ma
terials in his building, and Jim was
fully aware that his appearance justi-
fed the turning of heads in admiring
glances. When he stumbled on the
best claim in the gulch, he accepted the
fact nonchalantly, realizing that it was
but the due of a man Of his superior
gifts, and when black-eyed 'Cencion
joined her mother, who ran the Bonita
restaurant, the camp murmuringly rec
ognized his right to be first in love as
well as in business. But now, with the
spell of Miss higgins over them all,
Jim was panied and surprised to note
that about every other able-bodied man
in the gulch was obtrusively present.
Jim Bowloe had bunk-house part
ner, Bob Henderson, who, being in
stature and ambition rather insig-
nificant in comparison with his
partner, was usually referred to
as "Bowloe's partner" He, too, was
with the crowd, wearing look of con-
scious innocence, and Jim wasn't ex-
actly pleased to observe that his hair,
which had not heretofore had an en-
counter with brush since he left the
states, was now combed as nearly
straight as nature would permit.
Great changes in the social life of
Saints Rest followed the arrival of
Miss higgins. Every day there was
that noticeable air of dressed-up stiff
ness which had before appeared at first
class funerals only. Certain promi-
nent citizens declined to get hilarious
except after nightfall, tribute to the
influence of Miss higgins, which at first
excited some uneasiness among the dis
pensers of various elixirs, but when
they found that her presence did not
prevent the scrupulous ones from re-
manning under the rule of Bacchus the
following day, they accepted the re-
form with great good nature.
The partners, who lived in cabin
on the hillside, did not become guests
of the new boarding house, partly be-:
cause Of pride, party because of an in
"disposition on the part of either to
sbroacn the subject, and largely because
'of the very great distance of the Mig
gins establishment from their claims.
But neither was long in obtaining an in
PRODUCTION to the daughter of the house.
= Since the junior Summers was fid-
dler whose fame stopped not short of
two days. travel from the camp, there
was really no good reason for not hay
ing Thanksgiving ball. A commit
tee secured for a ballroom the large
card annex of the Saints Retreat, a re-
sort with a somewhat misleading name,
and the camp resolved itself into COM
mittee of the whole to see that the ball