The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-06-17

~ gclly, no! I jist hauled him up,
knlte ana all, ard. giNln' the hlooCy thing
a sling into the gulch, took him in my
arms and made short cut for the cabin
had to 80 up the road little way aforo
l could strike the trail, and all the time
was afeared would meet them men
comm back down the road If they d
a-seed me, they'd a-taken' a shot at me,
sure, and one dead man TO a cabin was
enough / theBght. Thar was no deayit'
the fact he'd passed in his checks-and
| IL he hadn't been pretty small ard con
siderable under weight / don't think
! could have got him home that night I
| called Joe Daniels out O. bed bout 'Ieven
O'Clock, and KNOWN I could depend on
| MIN told him. every thing. We Went
! right to work, made Il box and by
o CLOCK In the morning Dick was asleep
mere instead of down in cur cabin. Poor
Joe! He Went up the fume eight or nine
years ago, and jist why 1 should have
lived to tell Dicks story to a STRANGER
seems mighty queer. You know, he was
klrd o WQmarlX bout some things,
specially howers, so 1 got lot o dan
dellolis toget hef--they was the easiest q
get, cause | know places III the hills
chock full of 'em-and planted en-,
here; and every Sunday 1 allus come up
here to see how they look and give EN-
little .teEdin'. to; iii the summer time I
u
other / feel like I was a-doin' somethin'
rellglous-like, and perhaps Dicks a.
Watehln me up thar, and L want my OILS
pard to see hain't forgot. him. .
Dld he leave no personal property?''
asked Mrs. ThaXtcr, as she unconscious
~ plueked one of the yellow blossoms.
Nothln but little trunk, with hard
~ anythin in it-nothin' of any value. L
didn't want to keep it down to the cabin.
not KNOWN how things might go with
me, so L took it up to the hotel, and tOle
Johnson / guessed Dick had gone off fur
good, and I'd be SO much obleeged if he'd
let it stay in the attic, and if anybody
ever aXed after Dick, to let EN- look at
the trunk if they wanted to-"
AS the miner. turned to lift the water
ing-pot, Mrs. Thaxter thanked him for
his story, and bidding him a hasty good
night, flew, rather than walked, down
the path which led to the gate The
moon was just rising above a gray peak,
and the night winds had begun to whis-
per around the graves. Excited at the
story, and with the return of the preach
ers words, which rang through her brain
again and again, she reached the hotel in
agony Of mind and body. The lights
were lit when she entered the parlor.
and Mrs. johnson was seated at the cen
ter table reading an Illustrated weekly.
Hardly stopping to take breath, Mrs.
Thaxter asked: Have you an old trunk
in the attic which was left here some
years ago by miner?"
Why, yes, l believe that there IS one
up there" said the landlady," Though 1
hardly ever have occasion to go there
did you wish to look at it?"
yes, [ think that 1 might recognize
the owner but L hope that 1 am not
troubling you"
mot at ALL" said Mrs. Johnson. and
taking a candle, she went up stairs, fol-
lowed by hersguest, who stopped to take
breath many times during the short as
cent al
The trunk was found to be unlocked.
but beyond a. couple of suits of under
wear and some wooden socks there was
nothing found Of any Importance, till
suddenly Mrs. Johnson brought up from
One the corners a small Bible and
an old-fashioned daguerreotype. Handing
them to the trembling woman at her
side. the Bible fell to the, floor, and
as Mrs ThaX5ef made a desperate eff
fort to unclasp the case the picture fol-
lowed 1t. Mrs. Johnson picked them up.
and handed them, both open, to the al
most fainting woman. On the f1y-leaf
she read, Dick. from Mother" but ere
she had looked at the picture, her
trembling hands had sprung the clasp.
as if Fate's voice had cried, Look not!'
Would you care if 1 took the picture
down stairs to better light?" she gasp
ed, she clutched it with her clammy
hands. "a - r..
-. Certainly not" said the Iandlady, and
they both descended to the second floor. ~
''Mariat'' called the landlord, as the
stage from Nevada City drew up at the
hotel and excusing herself. Mrs. John-
son hurried down to the ''parlor.' 20
Several ladies having arrived and desir-
ing accommodations for the night Mrs.
Johnson hustled busily back and forth
through the halls, arranging extra rooms
and experimenting -the late supper
1t wanted but a few miputess~of midi
might when the landlord and his twife re-
tired. and all was still save the. rustling
of the whispering pines. = 20
HtFhe next morning the birds sang early
in the cypress and willow trees which
shaded the cemetery, and far up the cool,
emerald ravines the wild dove notes were
echoed from hill to hill.
The village school house lay just under
the brow Of the slope where the white
headstones cleaned and the half past
bell had ceased ringing when a group of
children came up path which led to a
cut off, across the graveyard The last.
tiny tot, with slate and red luncheon pail.
had crawled through the rail fence when
a young girl, who was in advance of the
Others uttered cry of horror and ran
back toward the group, who, seeing her
pale face and excited gestures, pressed
forward and found an aged woman dead
upon grave, a picture clasped to her
breast, her white face upturned among
the dandelions.
She had asked and received; she had
sought and found; she had knocked, and
the angels had let her in.
There is now in the attic of the Metro
politan hotel at North San Juan an en-
brotdered linen bag lying on the old
trunk. 1t contains nothing by which the
owner might be identified save a dupli-
cate of the dagu6rreotype which was
clasped so closely BY the thin hands of the
dead stranger. : Be- -