The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-01-10
CHAPTER Ill

Dell, VINO has plunged body and soul
INTO ms work, they have seemed but the
illIul passing of an idle dream. In work
ana work alone could he find the for
getfulness he sought. These long years
OF unremlttent labor have not been I'M
pfohtaple, but have borne a rich mar
vest OF Tolden fruit. A party of rich
Eastern capitalists, hearing of his NINE.
sent thelr agents into the klondlke
country to inspect it. The results nave
proven eminently satisfactory to All
parties concerned. To-day he is in re-
celpt OF a letter calling him to New
YORK, there to complete the final ar
rangements for the purchase Of n;s
NINE which to his own surprise has
turned out to be one of the richest nroo-
critics on the Klondike
The prospect of wealth no longer has
the power to dazzle him. He has abso-
iu,ely no one dependent upon him; he
IS alone IN the world. friendless save
ioi the rou-h miners he has come in
coh'acl with, for he has deliberately cut
niilselI on from all communication with
the outside world. With the SCATTERING
OF ms ideal the best part of his life went
CUT and he had worked doggedly, per-
slstently to earn for himself the tempo
fary respite from the thoughts which
haunted him night and day.
Now that his work was done. he was
unhappy. He dreaded the return to civ
lllzatlon. He had grown to love the
eternal snow-clad grandeur of his sur
roundings. In his despair and lone
someness, when the first flush of his
sorrow was fresh upon him. he used to
wander far over the desolate hills and
tnere pour out all his troubles: it was
the only relief he could find for his over
burdened heart. Somehow he felt as
though the Sphinx-like hills knew and
understood his wild, respondent moods.
sometimes the wind on the hill TOP
would be blowing boisterously and
would take the words out of his mouth
ana carry them away, far out to sea:
tnen again. it would sink to low fitful
Whispers Infinitely soothing. But he
must leave it all now, and at the Thought
great wave of sadness comes over him.
He walked with bowed head and knit
ted brows scarcely needing the greet
lngs of the miners who had grown ac-
customed TO his moroseness. While
holding himself aloof from them yet he
them, and into his ear many a tale of
JOY ana sorrow was poured, the boys al
ways being sure of ready sympathiz-
er. Letters have become almost I'M
known to him, yet to-day he has been
surprised by the receipt of one which
again tore open the old wound he was
trying with such infinite care and pa
thence TO heal over. The letter was
months old and told of how Faith. who
had married the man of her family's
selection, and her husband had gone into
the klondike to open a boarding house.
The man had willfully deceived her
family as to his financial position in or
der to marry the girl, and ever since
their marriage they had been living in
hand to mouth sort of way, supported
chiefly BIZ her people,
Campbell thought with a groan of
how calling this must have been to the
sensitive, high-strung girl, and crushed
the letter systematically in his hands.
The thought that she was in this desc
late country at all caused him infinite
pain. How long she had been here, Just
where she was living, and above all had
her marriage proven happy one, were
thoughts which agitated his mind
Something of the old-time love and ten
derness he had once felt for her revived
within him
Busy with his thoughts he walked on
and on unheeding where he went. FL
nally he found himself in front of a
large, implanted, rough board structure
bearing across it's face in garish letters
the words Boarding house." Ordina-
him, the sight was too common to elicit
more than a passing glance. But the
sight that arrested him was the form of
woman with young old face, face
which bore on it the marks of an in
nate refinement, in spite of hardships
and adversities, who tried with all of
her feeble strength to lift from the bench
before the door heavy wash tub and
carry it into the house With that in
stinctive refinement and delicacy of feel
ing which never leaves some men in
spite of their environment, Campbell
was at her side in an instant, and almost
before the astonished woman could
grasp his meaning he had taken the tub
from her and carried it to the kitchen
where he deposited it on the floor. The
woman thanked him for his courtesy
and as she did so something in the tone
of her voice caused him to look sbarnlv
at her.
falth! he said, scarcely believing
the evidences Of his senses. The woman
buried her poor emaciated face in her
hands and wept silently, unobtrusivelv
as one who had run the whole gamut of
| sorrows and had nothing left.
shakespeare in the Courtroom.
When Chase was elected Senator from
Ohio Joshua r. Giddings Voc tbo go