The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-08-03
Digging Ig!g DIAMONDS.


"Yaas, mates," said an aged e a
farer to three or four hangers on In q
down town saloon, "only for that ar
flask I'd "a been capting of the skewn-
err"
THAT amt ez bad ez me-" said al
solemn looking man, squirting a
mouthful of tobacco Juice with re-
markabie accuracy of aim in the di~
rection Of a forlorn looking bull pup
"Only fur an ornary yaller dorg u
might hev bin a millionaire"
"Draw it mild, kurnel," said the n
cient mariner feebly.
Naked truth, commodore. III tell
We how It happened. Ye see, me an
Three Fingered Jack, my pard. wes
were crusin round the Cape of Good
Hope; I reckon We know whar tibet u.s.
gentsY"
Several of the company surmiSed
that it Lay somewhere along the New
England coast, but the superannuated
navigator decided that it lay to the
left Of Botany bay, whereupon the
narrator proceeded.
Anyhow, We were prospectin fur
diamonds in one of the mountains
down there when all of a sudden Z
came across a dorg-a plain, IN
vanished yaller dorg-tfed to a tree
an nearly starvin. So I SEE to Jack,
'Supposfn we unhitch the miserable
%critter.'
"But Jack just jabbed me in the side,
with his bowie knife. He was a funny
cuss, Jack was, an seq to me, let him.
be, ye gol darned fule; mebbe he's got
the hy~drofoby.'
II was bound to loosen the miserable
critter though. so I went back and cut
the ropes that held him. thinkin I'd
never sot yes onto him again.
"He wasn't het kind of a hairpins
though. He came smilin up to the
crack bout an hour after. with a ten
pound diamond shinin between his
teeth"
"Let her go slow, cap" remarked the
ancient mariner in a weak voice.
"Givin it to We straight, commodorea
it weighed jes ten pounds and the best
Of it was he kept fetchin a couple more
every day, and I'll be goI darned if we
didn't have enuff at the end OF the!
week to buy out the hull state of
Rhode Island.
II knew, though, that it couldn't lasts
81 I SEE to Jack:
"I low, pard, we'd better mizzle out
Of here before an wner comes foolinl
round
"'Foller the dorg, We cussed tilt seq
Jack. and see whar he gifts the stuff
"'All right sez l, like an everlasting
fule, thinkin 1t a good idee; SO I fol-
Tered the coyote an found the hole
whar he scratched out diamonds, butt
thar wasn't only one left, an jess as II
was agoin to take it five or six miners
grabbed me.
We've got him. sez the biggest of
them, a redheaded Teller they called
Doc Stevens. We've got the skulkinl
skunk that came sneakin round here
an stole old Abe's diamonds, that he
left fur his orphan boy
Lynch himv yelled the others, an
n Teller chucked a Iasso over my
head.
Hold on, gentlemen SEE Doc
Stevens: let's do this on the square,
What hev ye to say fur yerself, stranI
gerT
".I reckonaI'm able to clar' myself
seq I. So I told them bout the dorg,
but they kinder seemed to doubt it, sol
I SEE:
IT low it seems a sorter stranges
gentlemen. but I'm ready to prove it
by takin ye. to my pard an handin owe
the diamonds
"aThat sounds fair enuff,' SEE Doc
Stevens, so we all started to whar me
an Jack were camping; it vas bout
three miles off, an when we got thar,
I'll be goI jaggered if Jack wasn't
after cparin out with the hull consarn-
You kin bet 1 was riled. I saw the
game was up, so 1 turned to Doc
Stevens and seq:
Lynch ahead, stranger, my pard,
has played me fur a sucker; afore L
hang, however, I'd ask We to tell N.Y.
friends that Kurnel Bill Suffer of Old
Rye Keonty, Kaintuck, died in his
boots like a man.
"'Hold on, stranger said Doc, kind
er s'prised like. Were ye emmy rela-
ton Of old Abe Suffer-
If We mean old Abe with the crook
ed eyes and red hair says ], 7 reckon
I'm his SON.
"'That settles 1t, stranger SEE he;
old Abe died q couple of weeks ago
an left those diamonds fur his orphan
boy; he sed the dog'd find We out, an
/ reckon he did
"tGreat goshP I yelled, an started of
on Jacks trail, but l never found him.
I guess he was scalped by the Injuns."
Here the solemn looking mar paus-
ed, and. heavtng q mournful sigh, he
medttattpety filed his pockets With
forned beat sandwiches from of the
free lunch counter and departed--New