The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1900-06-28

The rank and file of the non-union
prisoners were of the ordinary class OF
western miners who pack" their
blankets from camp to camp, but
among the number were several men OF
better condition. and of more than
average ability and intelligence, who
had held responsible positions at the
mines; and these, as If unconscious Of
nnfriendly observation-both aboard
OF the train, where union men, armed
with Winchesters, sat in the same
the guards had left them and returned
kept apart by themselves, and were
quiet and wary.
Michael Casson, ex-foreman of the
Caltrop, one Of the upper-country
mines, had his wife and children with
him on the train. The wife, comely,
high-spirited woman. with well-sea-
trouble. kept a motherly watch upon
Faith, coming down in the same car
with her from Wallace. Faith was
known to be Manager Bingham's
daughter. leaving the country under
the special protection and guarantee
OF the union leaders; but the signs
OF recent trouble in her tear-flushed
face aroused Mrs. Casson's sym
pathies, and that neighborly wom-
an soon discovered that the man
ayers daughter, notwithstanding her
fashionable dress, prosperous connec-
tions, and look of delicate pride, was
very much alone, and very warmly dis
posed toward the ostracized portion of
the laboring community to which Mrs.
Casson and her man" belonged. Hence
a sudden and, on Faiths part, rather
hystericul intimacy. The voice of the
kind woman, speaking with the rich,
sympathetic, Irish intonaton, touched
the chord that vibrntes i'll sobs or laugh
ter. Sometimes Faiths eyes filled,
sometimes she laughed, at Mrs. Casson's
delicious, hearty talk. The train rum
blcd on between the river and the
mountains, laundering over its bridges,
and the green, fair vista of the Mission
opened. The outbound passengers dis
embarked and gathered in groups, or
scattered till the moment of departure.
At the Mission Mrs. Casson's children
had to lie fed. Faith was not enticed
by the sort of meal that the Mission
set forth that day to its seventy Wis
itors; anything at all. at good round
price, was right for the scabs the Mis-
sion did what it could to retain little
IF that apostate money in the land of
the faithful. But Nature offered them
her own refreshment - flowers. and
dccp. soft grass to lie upon--and shed
the light of her jocund sunshine upon
Their recent troubles, and upon the
anxious future before them; and the
habit of making the. best of bad out
look was the habit of them all.
Faith had idly extended her acquaint-
nnce to a chatty little lad, one of the
rising hopes of the Mission, who. hav-
ing his time much at his own disposal
was pleased to bestow it largely upon
her He was wise child in the hap
piest sort of knowiedge-that of the
footpath way" He took her across
the meadows. where the blue camass
flower was just falling from over
bloom. They crept under the boughs
along the river, and loaded themselves
with wild roses. pale and red. and every
shade OF pink between. He told her the
names of the new flowers. as he knew
them, and she likened them to; other
flowers ut home. She noted the strange
character of the river. which here at
the Mission is not like n mountain
Mt ha oh
land, deep and still, like a southern
bayou, and has no beaches, but only
banks, which drop off suddenly into
thirty feet of water, or put forth a toe
OF tree-roots overlaid with dried mud
where driftwood gathers, or great
logs, travelling downstream. halt as at
landing-place. Lovely reflections line
the shores, binding the land and water
together in an inverted borderage of
green, with clear sky pattern down
The middle stream, dashed out of sight
by the breeze, or returning again like
a smile.
They crossed to the knoll, where
stands the old church of the Mission.
built in the days ofintrepid zeal, where,
IN the deep forest wilderness, want of
skill or want of tools was no detri-
nent, and men wrought with faith and
their bare hands in the sincerity of
wood and imperishable stone. The
priests house adjoining the church,
and shabby modern foil to its ancient
was closed, and Faith was
forced to abandon her desire to enter
the church of the fathers; but they
sat upon the steps, the odd young pair.
and talked of the past The little boy
was not much of a historian; Faith |
did not put implicit confidence in his |
tales of Father de Smet. who was dead |
that at least was true-and of Father
josette, who was still of the living |
She knew, perhaps, quite as much about
the history of the "old church" as he
did, born in its shadow. But there |
we're other subjects of contemporaries
Gus and imperative interest on which |
he could offer her few surprises. He |
had gathered that he was talking with |
no less a parsonage than. the young |
lady of the Big Horn, and, for rea-
sons which we know, the name of her |
fathers mine inspired this wise child
If the union with the fullest faith in |