The Holly chieftain., 1898-10-14
A GIRL WHOSE NAME is FAITH.

A GIRL WHOSE NAME is FAITH.
On the trail which crosses Sunset
peak from the gold camps Of Eagle
and Murray to the mines in Big Horn
gulch is prospect tunnel located un-
der the name of the Black Dwarf.
In the summer of 1892 two men were
working it and sharing the cabin of
mud-chinked logs that made trifing
excrescencc on the, profile of the hill
into which the tunnel of the Black
Dwarf re,reated. The senior partner
ard more experienced miner of the
firm was a big. valiant. hilarious Irish
man. Mike McGowan, man of his
hands, yet not disdaining weapons; the
other was a young gentleman of pre-
possessing appearance and uncertain
antecedents, who had come into the
partnership rather on the strength of
small capital than of his muscle. Mike
called him little Darcie;" but this
must be understood as term of en-
dearment, for Darcie's inches were as
many as Mikes, though his pounds
avoirdupos were fewer.
Mike had learned that his partner was
OF Scottish family and English educa-
tion, and that he had Travelled in vari-
Gus parts OF the world. He was easy
tempered, and clever in ways in which
Mike had the skill of bear; but he
was slack about camp work and clean
ing up after meals. Mikes acquain-
tances said he was too tony" for Il
miner. People called him Darcie be-
cause he seemed to expect it; but doubts
were entertained in cautious circles as
to its being his name, or all of it
caution, not to say suspicion, being the
common attitude in the summer of 1892
of persons who were not sure of one
another's sympathies aud business in
the Coeur d'Alene.
The situation of the Black Dwarf is
exceedingly shy. The crypt-dark en-
trance to the tunnel gives upon a mar
row ledge formed by an excavation of
the hill; the trail crosses this ledge.
after diving down toward it with ex-
t.ene and slippery suddenness, between
the tunnel mouth and tire duIip.. tts:.eef...-
above or from below the humble plant
is equally invisible; but all travellers
by the old trail know Of the Black
Dwarf, and on the last night of June,
closing in thunderous and wild with
rain, two riders, overtaken on their way
from Canon Creek, came knocking at
the door of the cabin.
Imagine the CONSERVATION, delight,
embarrassment and concern of the two
L. of - ,Lnv1
seen that one of their guests was the
lovely young lady of the Big Horn, and
that her first imperative need, after
shelter from the storm, was total
change Of clothing.
She stood beside her father, the man
ager of the famous Big Horn--a COM
nionplace man who borrowed his inn
portance from the mine-in front of
the fire which McGowan was heaping
with fuel, while Darcie, the only mem
ber of the firm possessed of a trunk.
searched wildly among its contents for
any garment remotely suggestive of
the needs and proportions of a nymph-
like girl. Her glowing cheeks told of n
rough encounter with the wind and
rain, her eyes beamed intelligence and
mirth, her lips smiled pleasure and
sympathy and appreciation. She was
an adorable girl.
In despair Darcie placed at her dis
posal his entire wardrobe, including his
a Turkish bathrobe, a red and white
Navajo blanket for drapery and set
of deplorable fannels which Mistress
Mallory, of Gem, had soaped and
punched and kneaded till no vestige re-
mained of their original size, sex or
condition.
"It's better than going to bed, like
naughty child" laughed the girl. She
rescued the situation from much of its
awkwardness by her lightness of touch
and her practical, womanly frankness,
which rather abashed the more conven-
tional young Briton. while her beauty
and girlish rapture in the nights ad-
venture quite went to his head.
Mike, in trice, rugged a rope across
the low, far end of the cabin, and strung
upon it line Of camp blankets, to make
dressing-room for the lady. who re-
tired to her bower as damp as Undine,
duu US guy uut " u AAiouCAh1iiioSoAo anu
more enhancing because SO entirely
human.
Meantime. in the mems part of the
cabin most distressing complication
was waxing to crisis. Mike was cook
ing supper. sitting on his heels in front
Of the mud hearth, with his old hat on
his head, taking It on occasionally to
use it as q holder, in shifting his sauce
pans over the coals. Darcie was laying
the table in high ecstasy, brought to
earth only by the discovery that there
was no more butter, and by renewed
sense Of the deplorable state Of the
Black Dwarf's table service, the dingi-
ness Of its tin-plate, and the grittiness
Of its cutlery. Manager Bingham, that
great parsonage, dressed partly in his
own clothes, partly in the lendings Of
his hosts, wss lapsing deeper and deep |
er, in his chair by the Are, into state |
Of semi-obliviousness from fatigue
and other causes.
Nike looked Ut him critically, and
listened to his remarks, which were in
frequent and far from lucid: but he
kept his suspicions to himself for the |